Resources - Emulation - Nintendo Gamecube (& Triforce)

🗃️ Specifications

📰 Title:	Resources - Emulation - Nintendo Gamecube (& Triforce)	🕹️ / 🛠️ Type:	Info
🗃️ Genre:	Emulation	👁️ Visual:	Text
🏷️ Category:	Emulation ➤ Engine ➤ Nintendo	🏝️ Perspective:	Third person
🔖 Tags:	Documentation; Resources; Emulation; NINTENDO; gamecube	⏱️ Pacing:	Real Time
🐣️ Approx. start:		👫️ Played:	Single
🐓️ Latest:		🚦 Status:	11. Documentation (no status)
📍️ Version:	Latest: -	❤️ Like it:	9. ⏳️
🏛️ License type:	🕊️ Libre	🎀️ Quality:	7. ⏳️
🏛️ License:	CC BY	✨️ (temporary):
🐛️ Created:	2011-12-30	🐜️ Updated:	2024-06-17

🚦 Entry status

📰 What's new?:		👔️ Already shown:
💡 Lights on:		💭️ New version published (to be updated):
🎨️ Significant improvement:		🦺️ Work in progress:
🎖️ This work:		🚧️ Some work remains to be done:
👫️ Contrib.:	goupildb & Louis	👻️ Temporary:
🎰️ ID:	12590

📖️ Summary

📜️[en]:	A set of links to resources and / or documentation for the Nintendo Gamecube game console	📜️[fr]:	Un ensemble de liens vers des ressources ou documentations relatives à l'émulation de la console de jeu Nintendo Gamecube

🎥️ Videos

🎮️ Showcase:

📕 Description [en]

📜️ "blabla" 📜️

A set of links to resources and / or documentation for the Nintendo Gamecube game console.

🌍️ Wikipedia :

The GameCube (officially called Nintendo GameCube, abbreviated NGC in Japan and GCN in North America) is a video game console released by Nintendo on September 14, 2001, in Japan and November 18, 2001, in North America. It was later released worldwide in 2002. The sixth-generation console was the successor to the Nintendo 64 and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2, Microsoft's Xbox, and Sega's Dreamcast.

The GameCube was the first Nintendo console to use optical discs for its primary storage medium. The discs are similar to the miniDVD format, and as a result of their smaller size, the system was not designed to play standard DVDs or audio CDs. Nintendo also introduced a variety of connectivity options for the GameCube. It was the first Nintendo console to support online gaming, which relied on the use of an add-on broadband or modem adapter that was sold separately. Game support and availability of the adapter was, however, very limited. The GameCube also supported connectivity to the Game Boy Advance, allowing players to access exclusive in-game features using the handheld as a second screen and controller.

Reception of the GameCube was generally mixed. Some praised the extensive software library and high-quality games, while others criticized the console's exterior design and lack of features. The GameCube sold approximately 22 million units worldwide before being discontinued in 2007. Its successor, the Wii, was released in November 2006.

Hardware

Nintendo partnered with IBM and ATI Technologies to design their next-generation video game console. IBM designed a PowerPC-based processor for the GameCube, known as Gekko, which runs at 485 MHz and features a floating point unit (FPU) capable of 1.9 GFLOPS. Howard Cheng, technical director of Nintendo technology development, said the company's goal was to select a "simple RISC architecture" to help speed development of games by making it easier on software developers. Flipper, the console's graphics processor (GPU), was designed by ArtX – a company that was acquired by ATI soon after being contracted by Nintendo to design the processor. The GPU runs at 162 MHz and, in addition to graphics, manages other tasks through its audio and input/output (I/O) processors.

The GameCube introduced a proprietary miniDVD optical disc format as the storage medium for the console, capable of storing up to 1.5 GB of data. The technology was designed by Matsushita Electric Industrial (now Panasonic Corporation) which utilized a high level encryption scheme – a custom form of the Content Scramble System (CSS) found in standard DVDs – to prevent unauthorized reproduction. The Famicom and Nintendo 64 experimented with other storage technologies, but the GameCube was Nintendo's first console to move away from cartridge-based media altogether.

Like its predecessor, the Nintendo 64, the GameCube was available in several colors. "Indigo" – the primary color shown in advertising and on the logo – and "Jet Black" were both offered at launch. A year later, Nintendo released a "Platinum" limited edition GameCube, which used a silver color scheme for both the console and controller. A "Spice" orange-colored console was eventually released as well only in Japan, though the color scheme could be found on controllers released in other countries.

Nintendo developed stereoscopic 3D technology for the GameCube, and one launch title, Luigi's Mansion, supported it. However, the feature was never enabled outside of development. 3D televisions were not widespread at the time, and it was deemed that compatible displays would be too cost-prohibitive for the consumer. Another unofficial feature are two audio Easter eggs that can be invoked during the console's startup routine. When the power is activated with the "Z" button on the Player 1 controller held down, a kiddie startup sound is heard in place of the standard one. With four controllers connected, holding down the "Z" button on all four simultaneously produces a "ninja-like" tune at startup.

Memory and storage

The GameCube features two memory card ports for saving game data. Nintendo released three official memory card options – 512 KB (59 save blocks), 2 MB (251 save blocks), and 8 MB (1019 save blocks). Several games were known to have compatibility issues with the 8 MB memory card, and at least two games have save issues with any size. Memory cards with larger capacities were released by third-party manufacturers.

📕 Description [fr]

Un ensemble de liens vers des ressources ou documentations relatives à l'émulation de la console de jeu Nintendo Gamecube.

🌍️ Wikipedia :

La GameCube (Nintendo Gamecube) est une console de jeux vidéo de salon du fabricant japonais Nintendo, sortie en 2001 (2002 en Europe), développée en association avec IBM, NEC et ATI. Ce fut la dernière des consoles de sixième génération, en concurrence la PlayStation 2 de Sony, la Xbox de Microsoft, et la Dreamcast de Sega.

Spécifications techniques :

Processeur GEKKO

• Processeur principal « Gekko »
⚬Producteur : IBM
⚬Base de noyau : Power 750CXe 0,18 µm technologie cuivre
⚬Fréquence de base : 485 MHz
⚬Puissance de calcul : 1 125 Dmips (Dhrystone 2.1)
⚬Précision des données internes :
⚬• Nombres entiers sur 32 bits
⚬• Nombre flottant sur 64 bits
⚬• 128-bit SIMD
⚬Bus externe :
⚬• Largeur de bande maximale du bus externe 1,3 Go/s
⚬• Bus de données 64-bit, adressé sur 32 bits.
⚬• Cadencé à 162 MHz
⚬Cache Interne :
⚬• 32 Kio de cache d'instruction et 32 Kio de cache de données de niveau 1
⚬• 256 Kio de cache de niveau 2

• Système graphique « Flipper »
⚬Producteur : ArtX/Nintendo (ArtX a été acquis par ATI en 2000), d'où le logo "Graphics by ATi" sur la console et la puce équipant cette dernière
⚬Processus de fabrication : 0,18 µm avec DRAM intégrée, fabriquée par NEC
⚬Fréquence de base : 162 MHz
⚬Framebuffer incorporé : taille d'environ 2 Mio avec une latence de 6,2 ns. Le type de RAM est 1T-SRAM
⚬Tampon de texture incorporé :approximativement 1 Mio avec une latence de 6,2 ns. Le type de RAM est 1T-SRAM
⚬Largeur de bande du cache texture : 10,4 Go/s (taux de crête)
⚬Largeur de bande de la mémoire centrale : 2,6 Go/s (taux de crête)
⚬Profondeur des pixels : 24-BIT RVB/RGBA, Z-buffer sur 24 bits

• Fonctionnalités sonores
⚬Fabricant : Macronix
⚬Fréquence de base : 81 MHz
⚬Mémoire des instructions : 8 Ko de RAM, 8 Ko de ROM
⚬Mémoire des données : 8 Ko de RAM, 4 Ko de ROM
⚬Canaux simultanés : 64 canaux en ADPCM à 48 KHz

Autres caractéristiques du système

• Possibilités arithmétiques flottantes de : 10,5 Gflops (en crête) (MPU, moteur de la géométrie, illumination matérielle totale)
• Affichage réel de polygone : de 6 millions à 12 millions de polygones par seconde (en crête) 15 millions en fin de vie(conditions réelles de jeu avec des modèles complexes, entièrement texturés, entièrement éclairés, etc.)
• RAM Principale : approximativement 24 Mo d'une latence de 10 ns le type de RAM est 1T-SRAM
• RAM Auxiliaire : approximativement 16 Mo, cadencée à 81 MHz, le type de RAM est DRAM
• Unité de disques :
⚬le type de lecteur est un CAV (vitesse angulaire constante)
⚬temps d'accès moyen 128 millisecondes pour un débit situé entre 2 Mo/s et 3,125 Mo/s
• Médias :
⚬Nintendo Game Cube Optical Disc : Format propriétaire basé sur le Mini DVD. Diamètre de 80 millimètres (3 pouces), d'une capacité de 1,5 Go
⚬Fabricant : Matsushita
• 4 ports de manettes, 2 ports carte mémoire, 1 sortie audio/vidéo analogique, 1 sortie audio/vidéo numérique, 2 ports série haute vitesse, 1 port parallèle haute vitesse
• Consommation : environ 40 W

Effets graphiques

Voici une description des différents effets graphiques réalisables par le processeur graphique : le Flipper.

• Brouillard : dans les consoles anciennes générations (PS1, Saturn) il permettait de masquer un affichage défaillant, avec la GameCube il permet de donner une réelle impression de profondeur du champ de vision.
• Bump mapping : donne un effet de relief aux textures
• S3 Texture Compression: ce procédé permet une compression des textures en 6:1. La GameCube était la seule console de sa génération avec la Xbox à maîtriser ce procédé.
• Pixel shading : traitement des ombres en temps réel.
• Alpha blending : gère les effets de transparence et d'eau.
• Reflection mapping : gère les reflets sur les textures en temps réel.
• Motion blur : procure une fluidité d'image à partir de 20 ou 30 images par seconde en générant un petit effet de flou sur les objets 3D précalculés.
• Anti-Aliasing : gomme l'effet d'escalier sur les bords des polygones.
• Multi texturing : permet de superposer jusqu'à 8 couches différentes de textures.

💡 Nota:
• La copie d'écran provient du site Wikipedia (licence CC BY-SA 3.0).
• Attention : le téléchargement de ROMS commerciales est illégal à moins de les avoir acquises financièrement.