With the NES Classic Edition and the SNES Classic Edition selling millions of units, it’s easy to see that Nintendo‘s old-school systems are in high demand. While we wait to see if the publisher will announce a Nintendo 64 Classic down the road, one fan has taken it upon himself to jump ahead a level and create his own GameCube Classic Edition.
A YouTube enthusiast by the name of Nintendrew, who specializes in Nintendo-related videos, followed up on his previous handmade Nintendo 64 Classic video with this masterpiece, which was put together for around $200.
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Nintendrew’s goal with the system was to make something reasonably sized and functional with a number of emulated GameCube games — and he’s managed to make this quite effective for the most part.
This actually required a greater processor than the Raspberry Pi, which classic emulation systems usually need to run classic games. This is due to the larger ROM size of the GameCube games. But this didn’t stop Nintendrew, as he turned to an Up Squared Board, which provided more space along with the convenience of a fan so that the system wouldn’t overheat.
Although his build was somewhat successful with games like Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Super Smash Bros. Melee running with ease, he noted that about a third of the games ran into slowdown issues, as well as glitches. That said, the fact that first-party games seem to work like a charm indicates that Nintendo could get such a system up and running.
After deciding on a proper operating system and UI, he put together everything with the help of a 3D printer and the Up Squared Board, assembling a GameCube Classic of his own for what’s estimated to be around $229 to $319.
But that probably wouldn’t be pricing for a retail unit if it were to happen. “Even if you account for a direct relationship with manufacturers, odds are Nintendo would still be paying at least $100 for each unit,” he said. A price of $150 might be reasonable, depending on the games that come with it.
For the moment, it looks like Nintendo is focusing on the Nintendo 64 Classic since a trademark was filed for it last year. But don’t give up on those GameCube dreams — we could see a few titles pop up on Nintendo’s Online network, which will be talked about sometime this month.
You can check out the video for the GameCube Classic Edition above. It’s well worth a watch.
