The
Nintendo GameCube Broadband Adapter and
Modem Adapter are a
network adapterAlthough other network technologies exist, Ethernet has achieved near-ubiquity since the mid-1990s. Every Ethernet network card has a unique 48-bit serial number called a MAC address, which is stored in ROM carried on the card. Every computer on an Ethernet network must have a card with a unique...
and 56k
dial-upDial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses telephone lines. The user's computer or router uses an attached modem connected to a telephone line to dial into an Internet service provider's node to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then used to route Internet Protocol...
modemModem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
, respectively, for the
Nintendo GameCubeThe is Nintendo's fourth home video game console with Wii being fifth, and is part of the sixth generation console era. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and predecessor to Nintendo's Wii....
. They were produced by
ConexantConexant Systems Inc. is a publicly listed US semiconductor company, which was formerly the semiconductor division of Rockwell International.-History:...
and made in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
. The adapters fit flush into "Serial Port 1" on the underside of the GameCube and add a
8P8CThe 8P8C is a modular connector commonly used to terminate twisted pair and multiconductor flat cable...
or RJ-11 port to the side of the console.
The adapters enable online play for four titles:
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II,
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus, and
Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D.
The
Nintendo GameCube Broadband Adapter and
Modem Adapter are a
network adapterAlthough other network technologies exist, Ethernet has achieved near-ubiquity since the mid-1990s. Every Ethernet network card has a unique 48-bit serial number called a MAC address, which is stored in ROM carried on the card. Every computer on an Ethernet network must have a card with a unique...
and 56k
dial-upDial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses telephone lines. The user's computer or router uses an attached modem connected to a telephone line to dial into an Internet service provider's node to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then used to route Internet Protocol...
modemModem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
, respectively, for the
Nintendo GameCubeThe is Nintendo's fourth home video game console with Wii being fifth, and is part of the sixth generation console era. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 and predecessor to Nintendo's Wii....
. They were produced by
ConexantConexant Systems Inc. is a publicly listed US semiconductor company, which was formerly the semiconductor division of Rockwell International.-History:...
and made in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
. The adapters fit flush into "Serial Port 1" on the underside of the GameCube and add a
8P8CThe 8P8C is a modular connector commonly used to terminate twisted pair and multiconductor flat cable...
or RJ-11 port to the side of the console.
Online and LAN play
The adapters enable online play for four titles:
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II,
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus, and
Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution from
Segais a multinational video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and console manufacturer headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan...
, and
HomelandHomeland is a role-playing video game for the GameCube by Chunsoft only released in Japan.Homeland comes on two discs. The first disc of the game is a single player quest and the second allows the player to assume the role of a dungeon master and create an online game for up to thirty other players...
from
Chunsoftis a Japanese video game developer specializing in console RPGs. It was founded by Koichi Nakamura, a video game designer from Enix. They are best known as the creators of the Fushigi no Dungeon series and the first five installments of the Dragon Quest series.Its name is taken from Chun, a...
, which was only released in Japan.
The broadband adapter allows
LANA local area network is a computer network covering a small physical area, like a home, office, or small group of buildings, such as a school, or an airport...
play with
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!is a racing game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003. The game is the fourth installment in the Mario Kart series, following Mario Kart: Super Circuit from 2001...
,
Kirby Air Rideis a racing video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the GameCube video game console starring Kirby, one of HAL's characters.Kirby Air Ride has the players and computer-controlled racers ride on Air Ride Machines...
, and
1080° Avalanche1080° Avalanche is a snowboarding game for the Nintendo GameCube, developed by Nintendo's in-house development studio, NST, and published by Nintendo. Avalanche is a sequel to 1080° Snowboarding for the Nintendo 64. The game has an emphasis on racing, rather than doing tricks, in contrast to other...
. Warp Pipe and
XLink KaiXLink Kai is a method developed by Team-XLink for online play of certain compatible console games.It enables players on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo GameCube and other consoles to play games across the Internet using a network configuration that simulates a...
have created unofficial tunneling software that allows these games to be played over the Internet.
Possibilities for running unsigned code
Soon after
PSO I & II was released for the GameCube, it was discovered that a
PCA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator...
could be made to simulate the conditions of the server that the game would connect to. This information started as a method of
tunnelingComputer networks use a tunneling protocol when one network protocol encapsulates a different payload protocol...
the online service. When simulating this server, unsigned code can be streamed back to the GameCube, allowing
homebrewHomebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods. This might include games developed with official development kits, such as Net Yaroze or...
, or information could be streamed back, allowing one to play copied games. This was also implemented to allow online gameplay in games for which it is not intended. Early dumps of GameCube games were created using this technique. From there, methods of running the games off of a computer through a GameCube were created. Nintendo and Sega responded by releasing the
Plus version of the game.
External links