Modder Brings Portable GameCube Console To Reality

A modder has turned the infamous portable GameCube myth into reality

By Najam Ul Hassan March 12, 2022

Nintendo GameCube — Modder Brings Portable GameCube Console To Reality

Though ultimately a failure with sales lower than the Nintendo 64, its own predecessor, the GameCube was sort of like a cult hit with a fair share of dedicated fans populating many forums and message boards. A popular hoax in these forums was the feebled portable GameCube console that looked similar to the Game Boy Advance SP.

Well, it’s finally a reality, and it’s all thanks to a modder who goes by the name GingerOfOz on Twitter. According to his tweet, he tracked down the creator of the original render that had populated the forums back in the day. We can only imagine the surprise when something you created about 15 years ago for the sake of fun in your college days becomes a reality. Well, that’s what happened to Demond, the creator of the original fake render that has populated forums for all these years, when he was contacted by the modder.

Y'know that fake GameCube portable that has floated around the internet for 15 years? Well, I got tired of it being fake. It's real now. pic.twitter.com/Ihox29CoP0

— GingerOfOz (@GingerOfMods) March 12, 2022

It should also be noted that while it does look like the hardware truly is the GameCube, in reality, it is not. It is actually a Wii shrank down to a minuscule Game Boy scale, that runs GameCube games through the Wii’s backward compatibility with the GameCube. To give the illusion of authenticity, custom software was added to include the classic boot-up screen, to remove any apparent evidence of the Wii’s presence and emulation, and to keep it as realistic and close to the original experience as possible.

Supposedly, the whole device was made through the help of 3D printing and graphics rendering software. The screen is 480p and the device also offers headphone support. As would be expected of a mod that reduces the size to this scale, the battery life takes a toll as the device lasts only an hour and a half on a full charge.

The modder then goes on to explain how he came about the idea for this, how he tracked down the creator of the original render, and the process of building this mod, and additional footage, in his YouTube video regarding the portable GameCube console. It’s definitely nostalgic to see a hoax that had been a meme more than a decade back reimagined into reality.