Maybe, but the GameCube was really riding a particular techno aesthetic, both externally and in the menu design. It was really the very tail-end of the “just because we can!” breed of design.
The Wii went all nice and soft white, rounded buttons, happy and family-friendly, which was absolutely the correct move for Nintendo commercially to make it mass-market, but it lost something at the same time.
Yeah, the original Wii revision with the ports for GC controllers and memory cards had legit GameCube hardware right on the motherboard, much like the OG “fat” PS2 had built-in PS1 hardware.
In fact, some custom Gamecube builds eschew the GC motherboard altogether in favor of a cut-down Wii motherboard, modified to boot directly into GC mode. It’s pretty cool.
I see what you’re going for, but for the average console modder, it’s far easier to just trim the “wrong” motherboard than transplant the relevant chips onto a custom substrate.
Wasn’t the Wii objectively better since it could also play GameCube games?
Maybe, but the GameCube was really riding a particular techno aesthetic, both externally and in the menu design. It was really the very tail-end of the “just because we can!” breed of design.
The Wii went all nice and soft white, rounded buttons, happy and family-friendly, which was absolutely the correct move for Nintendo commercially to make it mass-market, but it lost something at the same time.
By that logic, PC is objectively better because it can emulate almost any console.
Yeah, the original Wii revision with the ports for GC controllers and memory cards had legit GameCube hardware right on the motherboard, much like the OG “fat” PS2 had built-in PS1 hardware.
In fact, some custom Gamecube builds eschew the GC motherboard altogether in favor of a cut-down Wii motherboard, modified to boot directly into GC mode. It’s pretty cool.
I’m surprised they aren’t just desoldering chips off the Wii at this point. It wouldn’t be any less nerve-wracking.
I see what you’re going for, but for the average console modder, it’s far easier to just trim the “wrong” motherboard than transplant the relevant chips onto a custom substrate.
People cramming a Gamecube into a GBA SP are not average.
Note - That’s why I said “average console modder”, not “average person”, the two are very much not the same 😂
Here’s a great example of a trimmed Wii board project