Archive for April, 2010

Among the three consoles in the last generation, the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube, the Gamecube was the one which caused the most trouble for those looking to backup and play their games. This was largely due to the fact that the Gamecube uses a Mini-DVD disc format, and around the time of its release, there were simply no blank Mini-DVD discs on the market. This has since changed though, as Mini-DVD discs are now widely available both online and in stores, and several programs have been released which even eliminate the need to use Mini-DVD discs entirely when trying to backup Gamecube games.

Firstly, lets start with the hardware and software you’ll need to make backups. While for most consoles, just about any DVD drive will work to make decent copies, this is not the case with the Nintendo Gamecube (or the Nintendo Wii for that matter). For some reason, the majority of drives have all sorts of trouble reading the discs of this console. The best DVD drive to pick up if youre serious about making Gamecube (and Wii) backups is any of a number of LG drives. And no, you don’t need a special Mini-DVD drive, a regular DVD drive will read the Gamecubes Mini-DVD discs.

With the drive out of the way, you need some software to help dump and burn the data. For this we recommend a few game copy software programs, game copy wizard, game copy pro, and copy that game. All three of these programs come with their own little bonuses, but most importantly, they’re all outstanding for copying games of any console.

Finally you need some good Mini-DVD discs to burn the dumped game file to. We recommend either Sony (and not just because using Sony discs with a Nintendo console is slightly ironic and funny) or Ritek media, as they give the most consistent burns. Before burning your game, it’s important to look at the file size of your dump. Both Gamecube and Wii games have uniform sizes, and if your dump is good, it should conform to these standards, if not you likely have a bad dump. For Gamecube games, your file should be exactly 1. 35 GB (1,459,978,240 bytes) when looked at under file properties.

Another important element when trying to backup Gamecube games is to burn at a slow speed. This is generally a good rule of thumb to follow when burning any media, but is especially important with both the Gamecube and the Wii, as these systems tend to get far more read disc errors with backup games when they’ve been burned at high speeds. Keep your burning speed to a maximum of 8X, and ideally 4X or 2X if you can live with the longer wait.

By picking up the necessary tools in this guide, including the proper drive, the right media, and the best game copying software programs, you’ll have no trouble making perfect backup Gamecube games. With Gamecube games becoming more and more difficult to find in stores, backing up your games is now more important than ever, so don’t delay in getting started backing up your favourite games.