As the Gamecube gets on in years, gets passed down to younger gamers, and discs continue to increase in wear, there’s an increasing market for backing up and burning Gamecube games. People want to protect their investment, and ensure their beloved classics are playable for years to come. Burning Gamecube games is fairly similar to burning games for any other system, though with a few unique quirks. Well give you the information you’ll need to successfully burn Gamecube games in this article.
First lets look at the tools you’ll need to successfully burn Gamecube games. Naturally you’ll need the image file of the game you intend to burn, and well leave it up to you to either find or make an image file for the game you wish to burn. Next you’ll need a good DVD burner. Gamecube games are notoriously finicky with certain burners, but work well with Pioneer and NEC burners. If you find your burns simply aren’t working, or the quality is low, you may need to look into acquiring a more compatible burner.
Unlike the majority of consoles, movies, etc., the Gamecube doesn’t make use of standard DVDs, but rather Mini DVDs, and these aren’t always easy to find due to being in far less demand. Your best bet for finding blank Mini DVDs may be an online shop, though major chains like Office Depot should also carry some.
Lastly you’ll need a good game burning software program. There are free programs available, as well as paid software such as Game Copy Wizard. We typically recommend the paid software, as its compatibility and quality is much higher than any of the free software programs available when trying to burn Gamecube games. In the event that your game image file is called.gcm, you can simply rename the file to.iso. All of your files should be.iso files before you attempt to burn them with any image burning software.
With all the tools in place, you should be able to go ahead and burn your games, being sure to follow the instructions of your particular image burning program. When burning, its always wise to burn at a slower speed, and you should also shut down any unnecessary programs from running, as any spike in computer activity while burning could negatively impact the quality of the burn. Its a good idea to unhook your internet connection entirely while burning.
Of course, there’s one final element that needs to be considered, and the major issue encountered when trying to play burned games, and that is the fact that video game consoles, including the Gamecube, will never play backup discs without some form of modification (which usually involves having to ruin your warranty). Yes, as silly as it seems on the surface, you’re legally allowed to backup your games, yet those backups are all but useless, as they can’t be played on any console without modifying it, making your backups all but useless unless additional steps are taken.
For the Gamecube, you have two main methods at your disposal, you can either hard mod the console, invalidating its warranty, or you can soft mod it, which involves purchasing the memory card Max Drive Pro, and downloading custom software to it which will allow it to run backup games while inserted into the Gamecube.
We hope this article has helped you learn how to burn Gamecube games. You should be well on your way to burning perfect copies of the greatest Gamecube games ever made. Don’t accept that your old, worn out games have reached the end of their time with you. Burn new copies of them and continue to enjoy them for years to come.