The GameCube modding and homebrew scene keeps growing and growing year on year, with remarkable new apps, accessories and products entering the market, but at times it can be a little difficult to find those applications in one place, often having to scour the web in random areas, or through untrusted sources, or even worse, a Subreddit, but that’s not coming to an end thanks to a brand new app store that works on the Nintendo GameCube hardware that connects you to a bunch of cool new homebrew projects to download.
This new app store is being called Dolphin Depot, and began development back in February by developer webhdx on X, a self-acclaimed “GameCube & Wii enthusiast, wannabe hardware hacker and electrical engineer”, and as far as the project goes, I believe him! Since then, it has been undergoing a lot of work by himself and the GameCube homebrewing community and is now available to check out, though it is in Beta, so you may come across some bugs.
What You Need
- Homebrew-capable console: Your GameCube needs a way to run unsigned code. Common options include game save exploits, modchips such as PicoBoot or PicoLoader, and optical drive emulators (ODE) like GC Loader or FlippyDrive.
- Network adapter: Use either the official Nintendo Broadband Adapter or a modern alternative such as ETH2GC. The Nintendo Modem Adapter and the FlippyDrive Ethernet Adapter are not supported.
- Storage device: You’ll need somewhere to save downloaded apps. SD2SP2, SD Gecko or MMCE with an appropriately sized SD card are supported.
Anyone with a GameCube and a network adapter can browse the catalogue and download homebrew straight to their console, opening up the ability to explore new games and software that was originally thought to be impossible on the hardware. There are games such as Retro League GX to play, which is a demake of Rocket League, an array of GAME BOY emulators, a PS1 emulator, a new vertical shooter called Raptor: Call of the Shadows and a whole lot more.
To be honest, it’s about time someone developed this in a modern, clean UI with knowledge of how actual homebrew applications are distributed for mass consumption. So a big shout-out to webhdx for making this happen, alongside the AI-assisting tools that likely helped bring this into reality.
❤️
