Inside the modded GameCube is where most of the compromises had to be made. It was impossible to fit a disc drive inside the custom housing, so the slot on the front exists mostly for cosmetic reasons—although a game disc can still be slid inside. There are also no actual GameCube parts inside the GameCube Advance. Instead, GingerOfOz opted for Nintendo Wii hardware which is less power-hungry, much easier to trim and miniaturize, and more compatible with custom software.
The final creation plays ROM files instead of games on disc, but since the Wii was fully compatible with the GameCube, all of the games from that console’s library play absolutely perfectly on this thing—just not for very long. Because of the space constraints inside the housing, there was only enough room for two rechargeable batteries providing less than an hour-and-a-half of gameplay.
What might be even more impressive than GingerOfOz’s build is the fact that they successfully tracked down the artist who had created the 3D render of the Nintendo GameCube Advance that inspired the project. The designer created the mockup in the early aughts as a way to practice using a 3D modeling app called 3D Studio Max (now known as 3ds Max) while studying art in college, and to see if their skills were up to the task of fooling the internet masses, which, were apparently just as gullible then as they are now.
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