As the Nintendo GameCube and Wii utilise the same emulator, the imaginatively named Dolphin, I've covered both consoles off in this guide.

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The Wii was effectively an extension of the GameCube architecture, which allowed for backward compatibility including the ability to plug in older controllers.  The Wii was a massive seller due to it's innovative controllers and outsold both the PS3 and XBox 360 - impressive stuff!

Emulating both consoles is relatively straightforward (Wii controllers aside) so both this page and the video are relatively short.  The emulator interface is intuitive and easy to manipulate during gameplay so there are no real tricks of for getting this to work, if your system has the minimum specs then this should be simple!  The emulator can be found below.

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Dolphin Emulator website:  https://dolphin-emu.org/download/?ref=btn

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You will obviously need some games, and there is a link below to Internet Archive which has ever has a near complete set of Roms for the GameCube and for the Wii (these are split in to 3 packs and you will need to register with the site to access them - but it doesn't require anything other than an email address and setting a password, no personal data required!).

 

As always I can't vouch for all of the Roms as I have not tested them all - but the Internet Archive generally provides a good source for Retro games. 

 

More generally if you are looking for other options for sourcing ROM files, or off the shelf solutions for emulation and front ends, then consider having a look at my wider games hunting advice - https://www.beanzontech.com/emulation-games-hunting. 

 

Points to note:

Controllers

• GameCube controllers are easy to set up as they follow a generally standard format - not so for the Wii! 

• Due to the various control mechanisms (controller, Nunchuck & controller, movement sensors etc....) Wii controller settings can require some tweaking to enable you to use the controls you find most intuitive - so a bot of trial and error and in game manipulation may be required.

• You can use Wii controllers if you purchase a MayFlash Dolphiin Bar (https://amzn.to/30nUZaD) - if there are enough interested parties I may do a follow up video in the future.

Resolution​

• On the general settings tab, depending on your system, choose the better of Open GL, Direct X11 or 12. 

• You can force GC to display at 16:9 if you want to 

• The enhancements tab - Upscaling is always system dependent - I have a Ryzen 5 3600x coupled with an RTX 2060, 4k is not a problem!  But you can change resolution on the fly so get the setting that works best for your system and setup - I tend not to upscale beyond 1440p as that's my display resolution.

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Ands that's all she wrote. I hope you enjoy the video and the gaming - let me know in the YouTube comments which emulator you prefer and whether you agree that MK Double Dash is the best Mario Kart game...?

 

Until the next one - Go Well! (..or So Long, and thanks for all the fish!)

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Archive.org links:

Roms: 

• https://archive.org/download/GamecubeCollectionByGhostware

• https://archive.org/download/WiiRomSetByGhostware

• https://archive.org/download/WiiRomSetByGhostwarePart2

• https://archive.org/download/WiiRomSetByGhostwarePart3

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Alternatively try Azvarel Retro Gamer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOu56sNffE5cmwpd2ylExGQ

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An individual link to a Mega or Google drive location with a video detailing the content, for example

For MK_DD - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TdJkh8-80Q&list=PLJHH5rRM9w9gp85DkwL8pSnFPjRlUvIlY&index=90

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But watch out for AdF.ly and the sometimes dubious links.....

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