And the fact that it’s open source is amazing. It means that once they release the source people can mod it and improve it, and it won’t disappear if the devs decide not to support or sell it some time in the future .
this is and that gba drop in display are my favorite mods so far because they keep the integrity of original parts and are much easier for regular consumers like me who don't own or possess soldering skills
as you were putting the bracket on covering the one screw hole i was thinking "oh thats a really good way to lose a screw which sucks if you ever want to remove this" and then you showed off the extra screw holder. absolutely brilliant, this mod kit is incredibly designed
Genuinely the most impressively designed mod yet. Non-destructive, elegant, and well integrated with the console style no less? I'm floored. The ribbon cable alone blows me away.
Yeah, the only destructive part is bending👀and then completely creasing👀the ribbon cable no less than three👀times and AlaKaBlamm!!! It’s done son!!! The ribbon cable that is, that won’t be done till the next arrives in the mail.😳
@@annacurransmotherofmeghanc1841 Yeah these ribbon cables are going to fail, creasing ribbon cables is terrible for them. they should offer a more permanent solder able option.
For the con of SD card inaccessibility, you can buy an SD card extender and put the socket wherever you want for better access. They're often used for Raspberry Pi projects, so they're available in many different lengths.
Hopefully the Ethernet add-on will resolve this with storing ISOs on a external NAS instead of an internal SD card, or perhaps some kind of FTP functionally with an update? ether way looks to be something there aware of and %100 should be easier with the final design.
I have memory of some card reader not supporting the resistance of the cable ( voltage and data trasnfer wise), but if this supports it it will be perfect with it indeed !
@aidenanderson9310 as well as the device already including wifi/Bluetooth, and could be used to transfer wirelessly to the SD card. Not the quickest, but it is also much easier and cheaper solution if you don't already have an SD card reader.
My jaw dropped when you said they were targeting under $40 for the unit - i feel like i've seen several times that for other mods in this vein. This looks seriously impressive, props to Chris and Trevor!
Absolutely! I was 100% expecting one of the cons being the price and it being listed for $100 to $150 or so. The fact that it's $40 is pretty insane. I just hope they can keep up with demand!
Even since people were price gouging gdemu's for dreamcast, I kind of lost hope for reasonable priced items... I'll buy this in a heartbeat when it comes out...
It really feels like Chris and Trevor took a refreshing approach to this. It appears to addresses so many of the stressors that come with console modding.
If this mindset and application could spread to the other ODE developers it would be a boon to all communities. I'm one of those who would rather not completely gut and modify their original console just for an ODE.
My favorite thing about Cubeboot is the stock look. One thing that always irked me about other OS patches like Swiss and the others is how it always looks backend, like it loudly announces "this console is running homebrew software."
@@Ac_Adapter yeah I'd rather have features than a stock looking home screen. Swiss plus gc loader is the way to go. Loading games off of network is a cool idea but ss cards are so cheap it's not a relevant feature. 256gb is like 20$ now. Plus I can change my SD card without disassembling
I absolutely love the solution of simply shoving the modchip's cable inside the original disc drive connection. That's some serious outside-the-box thinking that makes for a stunningly clean install. I don't think I'll redo my current pico/swiss build for this, but I definitely look forward to seeing where it goes from here.
Absolutely bonkers. This is the ultimate gc mod for beginners. I don't have soldering skills but want to keep my optical in my cube so this is the answer to my specific desires. And it's cheap! And fully reversable! The mixing community is truly incredible
I’m a fan of sleeper builds, mods that have menus that look like the stock console, and mods that still keep the console mostly stock, so I am definitely gonna pick this up.
That foldable ribbon cable connector is pure design elegance, I usually focus on PS1 modding but this might convince me to pick up a GC just to try this out. Excellent work flippydrive!
Maybe because it isn't idiot-proof. Someone will probably break the ribbon or short some contacts. I'm sure it's within tolerance but it seems the ribbon is slightly thinner than the connector.
It's quite literally one of the best mod chip installations I've ever seen. It's so simple it's so clean it's absolutely perfect. Can't wait to see what they do with those two expansion plugs as well. I have PICO boot already but i'm going to 100% grab a couple of these for myself and a few friends!
I love seeing the RP2040 showing up in more and more mods! I would love to see it replace expensive FPGA chips in ODEs for other consoles too! That little chip has been a beast for the modding community in so many ways!!
It is completely murdering FPGAs, it's amazing. The PIO is the best idea in microcontrollers in a long time. I can't wait to see if RP can go completely all in with a future successor to the RP2040 - they could potentially remove all of the peripheral IP blocks and do everything (UART, USB, I2C, SPI) completely with software defined PIO modules.
A solution to the SD card being inaccessible is, since the device has WiFi, maybe you could access (remove/add) it's contents via ftp. It's not the fastest solution but the bottleneck is really mostly the SD card's I/O speed so it shouldn't really have a noticable difference anyway. Also it helps that Gamecube discs are really small in size.
Or allow loading roms onto the SDcard via the micro USB port. That would be my favorite solution. No messing about with network settings, just leave an old micro USB cable plugged in upon installation and store the USB A side in one of the extension ports.
Alternatively, it supports Wi-Fi. I wonder if it would be possible to set it up as an FTP server to write games to the SD card over the network. That's how I installed games on my hacked PS3, it worked great there. Edit: did he add in that bit about FTP after I posted this comment?
Not only can you play both, but you can play both off of the optical drive port. This comes with a literal TON of advantages. The biggest being the read speed, and the fact you don't have to sacrifice any of your expansion ports.
Suggestion: given that the ribbon cable is being bent significantly... one thing I've learned is that is a recipe for one of the traces to fail at some point. I think if you make that ribbon cable available for purchase separately for like $5-$7, some people (including myself) would probably add on one or two to their order to have backups. Of course, this still assumes everything else works as advertised, but it would be a great option to make available.
That ribbon cable is probably the cheapest part of the unit. Likely 25 to 50 cents a piece, but let say it cost $2. Just bump up the price and put two more.
@@madmen2288 yeah if they're making large quantities, 50 cents or less is probably accurate. I aimed high a bit to give them margin, maybe factor in shipping, etc. Maybe they could say $5 if buying on its own, $2 if buying together with the kit
I wouldn't say that a 90 degree bend is that egregious with that bend radius. Yes, just by nature of being stressed the flex circuit is likely to be the first point of failure in the Flippy Drive, but relatively speaking, I'd be much more concerned that the most recent OEM hardware is going on 15 years at this point. Edit: I realized you might be referring to the crimping of the contacts into the vertical header. That's a more valid concern.. I would still expect a pretty robust service life, but I'm not as confident there.
Ribbon cables don't just randomly fail on their own unless you repeatedly bend them and cause metal fatigue. Bending them once for installation purposes is perfectly fine and reasonable. That's why they used ribbon cables in the first place, because they're easy to bend and form. A lot of commerical and consumer product from almost any electronics company has ribbon cables in them, and almost all oif them have a bend or two. Just look in any Playstation, Xbox, car stereo, laptop, Bluray player, TV or other electronic equipement...bent ribbon cables are in many of of them.
This is really a new gold standard for console mods. I've always preferred softmods for their reversibility but a mod like this blurs the lines of what we thought were the set in stone rules of what a hardmod entailed. Not to mention the price point, wow.
As a collector keeping the optical drive is a must for me, but I love being able to play games before I buy physical copies so this is perfect. Put myself down on the pre-order list, great video as always Tito thanks and Happy new year!
@@marcusbruns9729 That's awesome. I ended up customizing a phat 360 myself and can't part with it, so I'm gonna take my chances with a modding service eventually. I really need GoldenEye XBLA on real hardware.
This is so incredible elegant that I almost can not believe it seems to work so good. Absolute top tier engineering. Also the UI is just the cherry on top. And $40? Almost free with this set of features. Well done!
Another proof of the greatness the community can achieve united. I know been mentioned in one the previous videos but its just that things like this makes me so happy. Not for the device itself but for how it was developed. Thank you for showing us this amazing project and also to both guys for showing us what a true partnership through a common goal means. Blessings for everyone. (Tito, you rock!)
This design is so thoughtful and purpose-driven, I am absolutely floored. This is some of the most elegant, simple innovation I think I have ever seen in the retro gaming mod community. Amazing work by the designers.
Looks amazing! Will definitely be getting one of these at some point. Hopefully there is a way to toggle a setting so that the disk works when you do nothing, and the trigger is needed to access the mod instead of the other way around. Probably would be more frustrating for most people, but I like the idea of it being a completely hidden feature unless you know it's there
This is easily one of the highest quality 3rd-party mods I have ever seen. The solder-less installation with that ribbon cable is brilliant. The fact that it has it's own mounting bracket to mount the hardware properly inside the console is astounding. Way to go gentlemen, this is quality work. EDIT: FOR $40 DOLLARS?! WHAT?! I was watching a video earlier about some company doing a case for DreamCast that they're selling for $200. A BLOODY CASE. These guys want $40 to significantly increase the functionality of your console? Heroes.
This truly is awesome! I wouldn’t mind the SDcard being internal, if loading roms to it could be acheived in other ways. Perhaps ripping through the discdrive or ftp’ing over the network could be possible in the future 🙃
It looks like the network option is possibly already in the works/present with the wifi and future ethernet. Disc ripping would be a cool feature to have.
There a wifi chip so more than likely moving games on and off the card is going to be done over the network. loll One of the smallest stealth NAS ever made.
Will definetly aquire it! I still have my old Gamecube lying around, but I never tried modding or even soft-modding. I don't even have a soldering kit to begin with, so seeing this, really excites me to try it out!
@@andreamitchell4758 Considering GC games are rarely over 1Gb, and many are often 500-ish mb. There are 651 GC games published through its whole lifespan. So I'd hazard a guess a 512Gb SD card could possibly hold the entire GC library.
@@andreamitchell4758 if you're talking about the entire gamecube library (867GB in total) just get the 1 tb micro sd card. If it's just your favorite games, with the best games, and romhacks. Just get 128 gb or 512 gb.
@@andreamitchell4758from what I read from a quick Google search, the full US GameCube library is a around 520GB, Euro is around 450GB, Japan is nearly 300GB. I would've recommended a 512GB microSD even without having looked that up. They're very affordable from recognizable brands, in the range of 50-75 USD.
This is an absolutely amazing kit. The drive connector solution is just plain wild, though honestly I'd be slightly worried about the thickness of the ribbon causing some stretching similar to the issue with the old-school NES's cartridge connector. Nonetheless it is a truly awesome development and it'll revolutionize how future mods get done.
@@jakesteel2423 I would still think that if the connector is inserted with the ribbon cable inserted, it would still stretch out the connector plugging into it over time while it sits in there, right?
@@anthonycomeaux1804 it's not being stretched and relaxed over and over again. If you have a non beveled edge cartridge in a genesis or nes, it wouldnt be a problem if it's the only cartridge you ever plug in and never take out.
This is an amazing idea. I will definitely purchase one. Although I have one small suggestion for it. I think I would rather have it so that the L button activates CubeBoot with the optical drive as the default instead. I think that would keep the system as stock as possible. Although, it's really a non issue, and an incredible project nonetheless.
This is pretty bad-ass! For now I think I'd prefer to load through Swiss simply to force 480p for all games and the like, but if those features could be introduced to the software that would be perfect.
Finally a mod that cares to keep the UI similar to the original UI! Something I've never liked about mods, is how the completely different interfaces take away from the original nostalgia and immersion. Not in this case!
I LOVE That it uses most of the gamecubes original menu's. Its VERY Important to me with modded consoles to be as close to "original experience" as possible I didn't know this about flippy drive, and will 100% be purchasing one
I'm so pumped for this it seems to be exactly what I want a clean stock looking easy install mod that doesn't sacrifice the disc drive Great work guys! Now if only the dreamcast can get a ODE without sacrificing the disc drive and I'd be over the moon
No less than freaking AMAZING. Well designed, easy install, fully reversible & none destructive!! + full functioning optical drive when installed. All for a LOW COST!!! Unheard of in this space for a hardware mod. (I like some others in the comments went "wow" when hearing the price, had to sit up & pay attention after that 😲) These devs just set a new standard, fantastic 👏👏👏👏 Great video Tito.
The one thing keeping me from going "this is the best thing ever" is the lack of 480p patching, like SWISS can do it. As a PAL Gamer this option is probably the biggest feature I want in any loader for the GC. I can play in 480i, but even Upscalers like the RetroTink just work better with a progressive source.
whoever came up with that ribbon cable connector hack is a genius, i work in tech repairs, and do some retrofitting on my own and always thought about a solution to splice in microcontrollers without breaking the old connections.
I don’t mind the soldering because I know how to but to keep the disc player as well is pretty awesome, I can’t wait to get one. Great review great video.
Having installed the PiBoot and the Kunai recently, I have to say this is the best one thus far -- it makes my engineer's heart throb. Can't wait for it to drop! Now the only critque I have is getting access to the SD card. But thinking about it now, they may offer uploads form wifi to the SD card and then I don't need to have access to it. And if updates are done by placing a firmware file in the root then that also is solved.
Because of the fact that Dolphin and pcsx2 etc runs games so fantastically on windows in 4k and stuff, you kinda have to be dedicated to original hardware to really appreciate all the fantastic things that has happened on the hardware mod scene in recent years. Not to mention the fact that you can run Super Mario 64 natively on PS2.
I hope they keep improving it. I'm excited about the network adapter. I hope its what I think they are talking about. I'd love to setup some Mario Kart DD Lan play.
Hearing from Trevor and Chris was amazing and I hope you can add more modder commentary in the future. :) I could easily justify spending about $40 (+shipping, +tools) to get this. For someone whose soldering skills are... well, nonexistent, this seems like the perfect mod to get more out of my GCN without sacrificing any functionality. A great weekend afternoon project!
I’d want at least some of the extra features of Swiss before I use this. De-flicker filter, forced resolutions and GameID for the MemCardPro for example. And SD card accessibility would be nice, I don’t like the idea of taking my Cube apart just to get at the SD card. I’ll be sticking with Picoboot and an SD2SP2 for now. But for $40, I might just buy one anyway and stick it in my spare GameCube just to tinker with. I can’t wait to see this mature.
Yeah, not mentioning if Swiss works on this. If it doesn't, then its a no deal for me. Swiss is so useful in many ways. Virtual memory card, backing up/loading saves, excellent emulator support and GBi.
@@wryyyyI was hoping they would mention it at the end but they said that's all they have planned after talking about gui stuff and Ethernet. There are a lot of downsides to this with the only upsides being price and disc drive support...
@@jakesteel2423 The Ethernet module sounds interesting for sure. If it functions to replace the original Broadband Adapter. It could really be the thing to get people back to LAN partying Mario Kart, or even getting on PSO fan servers.
@@wryyyy that would be really cool, the impression I got was that was just another way to load games though. I hope that they can do more than just be a replacement for a SD card.
You saved the absolute best feature for last! Loading games off a network is a feature I've been wanting from optical mods for all my old consoles for AGES. And a solderless one at that?! I'm definitely getting one of these.
Really incredible mod. I can’t wait to get my hands on it for my Japanese Gamecube. A couple of questions that weren’t covered: When you say this changes the region does that mean say a Japanese Gamecube could boot US discs through this? Also, I’m curious if this has a way to run Game Boy Interface and other Gamecube homebrew.
This is awesome. I’m not planning on doing any emulating with my gamecube but this is probably the most beautiful aftermarket console modification that I have ever seen period. So clean, so respectful, so unobtrusive and elegant, and the software is kickass as well. Even using the original UI! Ten out of ten to the developers, absolutely masterful job.
I know holding L while plugging in the controller can default the analog incorrectly, wonder if that would be the case with powering on the console too. Curious if they could switch it to Z or something instead, if that’s an issue. Regardless, very interesting project and I’m excited to hear more updates :)
Right, I thought of that too. I know the sticks have that problem, I don't remember if it affects the triggers as well. If nothing else, you can work around it by re-plugging.
Absolutely insane! Amazing how far technology came. One of my Game Cubes uses a adapter to use a Wode modchip (which was actually made for the Wii). But I had to buy this homemade adapter from Ashen back in 2011 😅
The Cube mod I've been waiting all my life for! Tito what you mentioned about having some easier way to access the SD card to add more games maybe there is a way to do it through the EXT on the bottom of the cube? it would probably limit the function of the Gameboy player though, im sure these guys would work something out. but i am really excited have just signed up for presales!!! and thank you to the Dev Team for making it affordable. you're too good! please make enough units to prevent scalpers.
what I would really like to see, is Swiss being able to use the FlippyDrive simply as a means to access the optical drive - so basically like if you have a PicoBoot installed you could use the speed of the optical drive to run games at full speed rather than using something like Serial Port 2.
Almost exactly one year ago I soldered a picoboot inside a heavy used GC, because I didn't wanted to mess with the nice one :D turns out if I would have waited a year I didn't had to buy a second GC and solder stuff into it :D
the discord in the description gives updates. but the sale site just dropped today. the sale isnt live but it should be very soon. edit: and its live now
The link he posted will take you to their site, once there it says in the second quarter of the year it will be released which should be after June or July.
This is exactly what I want from disc based console mods. I've been hesitant to mod an extra gamecube I have because I don't like removing disc reading for rom loading. This is awesome.
Don't watch Troon content always stop watching content when troons show up so that the creator knows that this is the point where users clicked off the video. Its a self correcting problem.
I don't know whats more impressive. The amount of work put down by these guys to get this hardware and software to work. OR that they added a freaking "bump" to put the unused screw for safe keeping for future use?!! Blew my mind! This to me shows they are not just after your money, they want to provide something they can be proud to oput their name on! Great work Chris and Trevor!
this is imo the best mod for the gamecube - I thought about the other mods which work with swiss but never got really behind them. This is just straight forward - I love it
Gamecube was the first console I bought with "my money" as a kid. I've never thought about physically modding any console, but nostalgia and the ease of installing this mod made me sign up for the preorder announcement.
I’m blown away by this modification!! It’s perfect! All it needs is a 1tb card and that will eliminate sd card changing! Can’t wait to get my hands on one for my extra GameCube I have on hand.
the installation of this was SO satisfying. The fact that they even give you a place to store that extra screw is an incredible attention to detail. Kudos to these guys
Legit this is a game changer for console modders. We do quite a few Xeno chips in the shop and it's such a pain, my soldering is terrible even after years of installing them and we often take returns after like 9 months of use due to dead disc drives from burned games. With this guy, looks like I can just rip the drive out, use existing 3d print drive blanks and an sd to sd adapter cable and have a chip installed (and 30-40 dead cubes off the pile) and back in stock for less than the price of a refurb drive. This is gonna put a LOT of previously 'dead' consoles back into circulation. If they hold that $40 price point and offer bulk discounts, you're gonna see a lot of happy retro game shops over in europe.
Yo this flippy drive is a game changer. I was looking everywhere for a GC loader, Black Dog Tech never seemed to have them in stock , but now the flippy drive is looking like a much better option. Awesome video and can't wait to see how this mod evolves.
Would absolutely purchase one of these. As much as I enjoy my picoboot, flippyboot doesn't work from slot b, so with a DOL-101 I can't use a memory card. This looks like a huge plus.
Probably the best designed mod I've ever seen. I'm beyond blown away. Will absolutely be buying in once the project matures. I think anyone with a GameCube owes it to the device to future proof it against drive failure. Keeping the drive functional and giving it the option of cubeboot is unreal for anyone who has respect for the console.
It is nice to see something like this developed and not given an insane retail price, I hope they do really well with it and develop for some other systems next
All for only $38. I usually have reservations about new mods, but this is basically a no-brainer. I signed up for the preorder notification before I was even done watching your video.
This is an amazing device, I wish more mod devs were as innovative as this. Hats off to them! And to you too Tito, that was a gorgeous installation video.
The extra screw holder... Ingenuous! I love it! I bet @RetroRGB loves it too, because like him, I also like to tape original, unused pieces after a mod to inside the console for safekeeping.
This is actually amazing. I have had 2 GameCube systems sitting in storage for years because of bad disk drives, and now I'll be able to finally breathe new life into them at a price that is actually super affordable!
This mod is pretty much perfect! What an amazing idea and execution all around. Happy to hear they're ironing out small issues with compatibility and also aiming for such an accessible price. Many thanks to Chris and Trevor for this!
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The most elegant and COST EFFECTIVE device. I applaud the Devs of flippydrive. I wish every ODE was like this.
It's def not an onion!😊
And the fact that it’s open source is amazing. It means that once they release the source people can mod it and improve it, and it won’t disappear if the devs decide not to support or sell it some time in the future .
this is and that gba drop in display are my favorite mods so far because they keep the integrity of original parts and are much easier for regular consumers like me who don't own or possess soldering skills
Wouldn't that be a Wii?
The price point blew me away. Minimum I was thinking was $75. I made an audible, "Wow!" when the expected price came on screen.
as you were putting the bracket on covering the one screw hole i was thinking "oh thats a really good way to lose a screw which sucks if you ever want to remove this" and then you showed off the extra screw holder. absolutely brilliant, this mod kit is incredibly designed
Genuinely the most impressively designed mod yet. Non-destructive, elegant, and well integrated with the console style no less? I'm floored. The ribbon cable alone blows me away.
Yeah, the only destructive part is bending👀and then completely creasing👀the ribbon cable no less than three👀times and AlaKaBlamm!!! It’s done son!!! The ribbon cable that is, that won’t be done till the next arrives in the mail.😳
These 2 guys should redesign the picofly flex cables for the switches. so cool.
@@annacurransmotherofmeghanc1841 Yeah these ribbon cables are going to fail, creasing ribbon cables is terrible for them. they should offer a more permanent solder able option.
@@annacurransmotherofmeghanc1841 it'snon destructive relative to the console. If you ruin the ribbon, ah well. Order another one. lol
@@annacurransmotherofmeghanc1841 the ribbon isn't part of the original gamecube ;)
For the con of SD card inaccessibility, you can buy an SD card extender and put the socket wherever you want for better access. They're often used for Raspberry Pi projects, so they're available in many different lengths.
Hopefully the Ethernet add-on will resolve this with storing ISOs on a external NAS instead of an internal SD card, or perhaps some kind of FTP functionally with an update? ether way looks to be something there aware of and %100 should be easier with the final design.
I have memory of some card reader not supporting the resistance of the cable ( voltage and data trasnfer wise), but if this supports it it will be perfect with it indeed !
I mean with 1 TB sd cards, what do you need? just make few backups and leave it in there
@@WizavPRO true lol
@aidenanderson9310 as well as the device already including wifi/Bluetooth, and could be used to transfer wirelessly to the SD card. Not the quickest, but it is also much easier and cheaper solution if you don't already have an SD card reader.
My jaw dropped when you said they were targeting under $40 for the unit - i feel like i've seen several times that for other mods in this vein. This looks seriously impressive, props to Chris and Trevor!
I looked at the description linked halfway through the video and did a double take at the price. Chris and Trevor are amazing!
If it had the features of the gc loader plus new ones id be impressed. You are trading disc drive for swiss..
Absolutely! I was 100% expecting one of the cons being the price and it being listed for $100 to $150 or so. The fact that it's $40 is pretty insane. I just hope they can keep up with demand!
I love that it microSD let face it nobody buying full SD cards in 2024.
Even since people were price gouging gdemu's for dreamcast, I kind of lost hope for reasonable priced items... I'll buy this in a heartbeat when it comes out...
It really feels like Chris and Trevor took a refreshing approach to this. It appears to addresses so many of the stressors that come with console modding.
If this mindset and application could spread to the other ODE developers it would be a boon to all communities. I'm one of those who would rather not completely gut and modify their original console just for an ODE.
My favorite thing about Cubeboot is the stock look. One thing that always irked me about other OS patches like Swiss and the others is how it always looks backend, like it loudly announces "this console is running homebrew software."
@@Ac_Adapteryou weren’t irked??
@@brkbtjunkie I wasn't irked, Jerry!!
@@Ac_Adapter Thanks.
@@Ac_Adapter yeah I'd rather have features than a stock looking home screen. Swiss plus gc loader is the way to go. Loading games off of network is a cool idea but ss cards are so cheap it's not a relevant feature. 256gb is like 20$ now. Plus I can change my SD card without disassembling
@@jakesteel2423 Exactly what I was thinking.
I absolutely love the solution of simply shoving the modchip's cable inside the original disc drive connection. That's some serious outside-the-box thinking that makes for a stunningly clean install.
I don't think I'll redo my current pico/swiss build for this, but I definitely look forward to seeing where it goes from here.
The skill and talent that these developers possess to create these kinds of devices is what really amazes me. Well done guys. Great work!
Absolutely bonkers. This is the ultimate gc mod for beginners. I don't have soldering skills but want to keep my optical in my cube so this is the answer to my specific desires. And it's cheap! And fully reversable! The mixing community is truly incredible
I’m a fan of sleeper builds, mods that have menus that look like the stock console, and mods that still keep the console mostly stock, so I am definitely gonna pick this up.
That foldable ribbon cable connector is pure design elegance, I usually focus on PS1 modding but this might convince me to pick up a GC just to try this out. Excellent work flippydrive!
That flex cable piggy backing the connector. I'm so impressed. I can't believe I haven't seen something like that before. It's so elegant.
Maybe because it isn't idiot-proof.
Someone will probably break the ribbon or short some contacts. I'm sure it's within tolerance but it seems the ribbon is slightly thinner than the connector.
It's quite literally one of the best mod chip installations I've ever seen. It's so simple it's so clean it's absolutely perfect. Can't wait to see what they do with those two expansion plugs as well. I have PICO boot already but i'm going to 100% grab a couple of these for myself and a few friends!
It would not be a bad idea to include a couple of spare in case the users fuck up the origami. @@mister_milkman
I love seeing the RP2040 showing up in more and more mods! I would love to see it replace expensive FPGA chips in ODEs for other consoles too! That little chip has been a beast for the modding community in so many ways!!
As someone from the Switch modding scene it amazes me that the RP2040 has allowed $100+ modchips to come down to $10. Neat little chip for sure!
It is completely murdering FPGAs, it's amazing. The PIO is the best idea in microcontrollers in a long time. I can't wait to see if RP can go completely all in with a future successor to the RP2040 - they could potentially remove all of the peripheral IP blocks and do everything (UART, USB, I2C, SPI) completely with software defined PIO modules.
A solution to the SD card being inaccessible is, since the device has WiFi, maybe you could access (remove/add) it's contents via ftp. It's not the fastest solution but the bottleneck is really mostly the SD card's I/O speed so it shouldn't really have a noticable difference anyway. Also it helps that Gamecube discs are really small in size.
Or allow loading roms onto the SDcard via the micro USB port. That would be my favorite solution. No messing about with network settings, just leave an old micro USB cable plugged in upon installation and store the USB A side in one of the extension ports.
Alternatively, it supports Wi-Fi. I wonder if it would be possible to set it up as an FTP server to write games to the SD card over the network. That's how I installed games on my hacked PS3, it worked great there.
Edit: did he add in that bit about FTP after I posted this comment?
"origami flat flex as connector interposer" is perhaps the single most genius idea i've seen in a project to date. it's beautiful.
That’s a really cool mod! Completely solder free and you can play both your physical library of games and load them off of an SD card. Awesome! 🤩
Yep game cube are pretty easy to come by so if your current machine die, you just get another and transfer the mod.
Not only can you play both, but you can play both off of the optical drive port. This comes with a literal TON of advantages. The biggest being the read speed, and the fact you don't have to sacrifice any of your expansion ports.
Suggestion: given that the ribbon cable is being bent significantly... one thing I've learned is that is a recipe for one of the traces to fail at some point. I think if you make that ribbon cable available for purchase separately for like $5-$7, some people (including myself) would probably add on one or two to their order to have backups. Of course, this still assumes everything else works as advertised, but it would be a great option to make available.
That ribbon cable is probably the cheapest part of the unit. Likely 25 to 50 cents a piece, but let say it cost $2. Just bump up the price and put two more.
@@madmen2288 yeah if they're making large quantities, 50 cents or less is probably accurate. I aimed high a bit to give them margin, maybe factor in shipping, etc. Maybe they could say $5 if buying on its own, $2 if buying together with the kit
Agree, I would buy 3 for worst case scenario
I wouldn't say that a 90 degree bend is that egregious with that bend radius. Yes, just by nature of being stressed the flex circuit is likely to be the first point of failure in the Flippy Drive, but relatively speaking, I'd be much more concerned that the most recent OEM hardware is going on 15 years at this point.
Edit: I realized you might be referring to the crimping of the contacts into the vertical header. That's a more valid concern.. I would still expect a pretty robust service life, but I'm not as confident there.
Ribbon cables don't just randomly fail on their own unless you repeatedly bend them and cause metal fatigue. Bending them once for installation purposes is perfectly fine and reasonable. That's why they used ribbon cables in the first place, because they're easy to bend and form. A lot of commerical and consumer product from almost any electronics company has ribbon cables in them, and almost all oif them have a bend or two. Just look in any Playstation, Xbox, car stereo, laptop, Bluray player, TV or other electronic equipement...bent ribbon cables are in many of of them.
This is really a new gold standard for console mods. I've always preferred softmods for their reversibility but a mod like this blurs the lines of what we thought were the set in stone rules of what a hardmod entailed. Not to mention the price point, wow.
As a collector keeping the optical drive is a must for me, but I love being able to play games before I buy physical copies so this is perfect. Put myself down on the pre-order list, great video as always Tito thanks and Happy new year!
Price, ease of use, quality. This is what o think a lot of people were waiting for.
I personally wish more and more to have Solderless options to mod consoles nowadays. So I'm very happy to see this!
I would give an organ for a solder less Xbox 360 mod.
@@winlover37I ended up buying an RGH slim for $135. While not ideal, it was a great purchase.
@@marcusbruns9729 That's awesome. I ended up customizing a phat 360 myself and can't part with it, so I'm gonna take my chances with a modding service eventually. I really need GoldenEye XBLA on real hardware.
@@winlover37 same
Those two developers are great for this work. Truly an impressive and well thought out modification.
This is so incredible elegant that I almost can not believe it seems to work so good. Absolute top tier engineering. Also the UI is just the cherry on top. And $40? Almost free with this set of features. Well done!
can you buy one for me?
Such a beautiful mod, genuinely incredible work from the team involved. I love how the OS uses existing assets and keeps the system feeling stock.
This is the first time I'm actually excited for a mod just because it's solderless while keeping your disc drive. Can't wait for its release!
Another proof of the greatness the community can achieve united. I know been mentioned in one the previous videos but its just that things like this makes me so happy. Not for the device itself but for how it was developed. Thank you for showing us this amazing project and also to both guys for showing us what a true partnership through a common goal means. Blessings for everyone.
(Tito, you rock!)
This design is so thoughtful and purpose-driven, I am absolutely floored. This is some of the most elegant, simple innovation I think I have ever seen in the retro gaming mod community. Amazing work by the designers.
This is the most exciting console mod I’ve seen in a long time. Great coverage, Tito! And special thanks and hype to the devs!
Looks amazing! Will definitely be getting one of these at some point. Hopefully there is a way to toggle a setting so that the disk works when you do nothing, and the trigger is needed to access the mod instead of the other way around. Probably would be more frustrating for most people, but I like the idea of it being a completely hidden feature unless you know it's there
Incredibly well thought out. The holder for the screw is just the cherry on top. Kudos to the devs.
That ribbon cable is really neat gimmick! I love how active the Gamecube community is, so many cool projects in the last few years.
Sold, sold, and sold. Holy crap. This is a next level feat of retro engineering.
Would love to see a similar product for N64 and Genesis.
This is easily one of the highest quality 3rd-party mods I have ever seen. The solder-less installation with that ribbon cable is brilliant. The fact that it has it's own mounting bracket to mount the hardware properly inside the console is astounding. Way to go gentlemen, this is quality work.
EDIT: FOR $40 DOLLARS?! WHAT?! I was watching a video earlier about some company doing a case for DreamCast that they're selling for $200. A BLOODY CASE. These guys want $40 to significantly increase the functionality of your console? Heroes.
I really appreciate the ODEs that keep the unit in original working.
Looking forward to more information down the line.
I'm 42 and all this stuff blows my retro inner child's mind. What a time to be alive!!
This truly is awesome! I wouldn’t mind the SDcard being internal, if loading roms to it could be acheived in other ways. Perhaps ripping through the discdrive or ftp’ing over the network could be possible in the future 🙃
It looks like the network option is possibly already in the works/present with the wifi and future ethernet. Disc ripping would be a cool feature to have.
Literally what I was thinking lol. I think ftp would be better bc then someone can write a disc ripper and you can ftp that over lol
There a wifi chip so more than likely moving games on and off the card is going to be done over the network. loll One of the smallest stealth NAS ever made.
Will definetly aquire it! I still have my old Gamecube lying around, but I never tried modding or even soft-modding. I don't even have a soldering kit to begin with, so seeing this, really excites me to try it out!
The fact I'm seeing the consoles of my youth get complete libraries playable internally before my eyes is amazing.
What size.card would I need for a full set you think?
@@andreamitchell4758 Considering GC games are rarely over 1Gb, and many are often 500-ish mb. There are 651 GC games published through its whole lifespan. So I'd hazard a guess a 512Gb SD card could possibly hold the entire GC library.
@@andreamitchell4758 if you're talking about the entire gamecube library (867GB in total) just get the 1 tb micro sd card.
If it's just your favorite games, with the best games, and romhacks. Just get 128 gb or 512 gb.
@@andreamitchell4758from what I read from a quick Google search, the full US GameCube library is a around 520GB, Euro is around 450GB, Japan is nearly 300GB.
I would've recommended a 512GB microSD even without having looked that up. They're very affordable from recognizable brands, in the range of 50-75 USD.
@@andreamitchell4758 For the complete GC library? Not including any GBA, GBC, GB or NES games? At least 675.1 GB.
Dude, I was sold when I saw the little spot to keep the extra screw, but then to find out it's only going to be $38, this thing is a no-brainer.
This is an absolutely amazing kit. The drive connector solution is just plain wild, though honestly I'd be slightly worried about the thickness of the ribbon causing some stretching similar to the issue with the old-school NES's cartridge connector. Nonetheless it is a truly awesome development and it'll revolutionize how future mods get done.
I wouldn’t trust that connector to last too long. I’d want a spare ribbon cable on hand just in case.
It doesn't get plugged in and out hundreds of times, it should be fine.
Much thinner than the Nes cart slot and it’s not being moved multiple times.
@@jakesteel2423 I would still think that if the connector is inserted with the ribbon cable inserted, it would still stretch out the connector plugging into it over time while it sits in there, right?
@@anthonycomeaux1804 it's not being stretched and relaxed over and over again. If you have a non beveled edge cartridge in a genesis or nes, it wouldnt be a problem if it's the only cartridge you ever plug in and never take out.
Very impressing work! congrats to Chris and Trevor!!
This is an amazing idea. I will definitely purchase one. Although I have one small suggestion for it. I think I would rather have it so that the L button activates CubeBoot with the optical drive as the default instead. I think that would keep the system as stock as possible. Although, it's really a non issue, and an incredible project nonetheless.
Agreed. More of an opt-in as opposed to an opt-out
I want that too
This is pretty bad-ass! For now I think I'd prefer to load through Swiss simply to force 480p for all games and the like, but if those features could be introduced to the software that would be perfect.
This duo should release an ODE for every console! They're geniuses!
Brother, those takes are super profesional and clean, BRAVO!
Finally a mod that cares to keep the UI similar to the original UI!
Something I've never liked about mods, is how the completely different interfaces take away from the original nostalgia and immersion. Not in this case!
I LOVE That it uses most of the gamecubes original menu's.
Its VERY Important to me with modded consoles to be as close to "original experience" as possible
I didn't know this about flippy drive, and will 100% be purchasing one
I'm so pumped for this it seems to be exactly what I want a clean stock looking easy install mod that doesn't sacrifice the disc drive
Great work guys!
Now if only the dreamcast can get a ODE without sacrificing the disc drive and I'd be over the moon
No less than freaking AMAZING. Well designed, easy install, fully reversible & none destructive!! + full functioning optical drive when installed. All for a LOW COST!!! Unheard of in this space for a hardware mod. (I like some others in the comments went "wow" when hearing the price, had to sit up & pay attention after that 😲)
These devs just set a new standard, fantastic 👏👏👏👏
Great video Tito.
The one thing keeping me from going "this is the best thing ever" is the lack of 480p patching, like SWISS can do it. As a PAL Gamer this option is probably the biggest feature I want in any loader for the GC. I can play in 480i, but even Upscalers like the RetroTink just work better with a progressive source.
I’m in the same boat, progressive scan is a must. The fact that this ui is so much better than Swiss really hurts 😭
whoever came up with that ribbon cable connector hack is a genius, i work in tech repairs, and do some retrofitting on my own and always thought about a solution to splice in microcontrollers without breaking the old connections.
It's all got quiet... Any release date on this device yet?
Have you joined there discord?
@@CaptainW_rCrimes…what does the discord say about the release date of this device?
@@Fridgidice nothing atm but we get updates
Where do you find their discord?
Q2 2024 so I the next months normally
I don’t mind the soldering because I know how to but to keep the disc player as well is pretty awesome, I can’t wait to get one. Great review great video.
Having installed the PiBoot and the Kunai recently, I have to say this is the best one thus far -- it makes my engineer's heart throb. Can't wait for it to drop!
Now the only critque I have is getting access to the SD card. But thinking about it now, they may offer uploads form wifi to the SD card and then I don't need to have access to it. And if updates are done by placing a firmware file in the root then that also is solved.
I'm thinking of picking up an extender and running it to one of the slots in the back or somewhere. Should be easy to work around.
This is exactly what I was hoping for!
This, plus a digital out to HDMI adapter is the perfect no-cut no-solder upgrade!
$38 and no soldering… this might be the most insane mod to come out in 5 years
Because of the fact that Dolphin and pcsx2 etc runs games so fantastically on windows in 4k and stuff, you kinda have to be dedicated to original hardware to really appreciate all the fantastic things that has happened on the hardware mod scene in recent years. Not to mention the fact that you can run Super Mario 64 natively on PS2.
I hope they keep improving it. I'm excited about the network adapter. I hope its what I think they are talking about. I'd love to setup some Mario Kart DD Lan play.
Hearing from Trevor and Chris was amazing and I hope you can add more modder commentary in the future. :)
I could easily justify spending about $40 (+shipping, +tools) to get this. For someone whose soldering skills are... well, nonexistent, this seems like the perfect mod to get more out of my GCN without sacrificing any functionality. A great weekend afternoon project!
I’d want at least some of the extra features of Swiss before I use this. De-flicker filter, forced resolutions and GameID for the MemCardPro for example. And SD card accessibility would be nice, I don’t like the idea of taking my Cube apart just to get at the SD card.
I’ll be sticking with Picoboot and an SD2SP2 for now. But for $40, I might just buy one anyway and stick it in my spare GameCube just to tinker with.
I can’t wait to see this mature.
Yeah, not mentioning if Swiss works on this. If it doesn't, then its a no deal for me. Swiss is so useful in many ways. Virtual memory card, backing up/loading saves, excellent emulator support and GBi.
@@wryyyyI was hoping they would mention it at the end but they said that's all they have planned after talking about gui stuff and Ethernet. There are a lot of downsides to this with the only upsides being price and disc drive support...
I read that it will be compatible with Swiss. And Cubeboot will be compatible with other ODEs. But I don't think it's going to be right away.@@wryyyy
@@jakesteel2423 The Ethernet module sounds interesting for sure. If it functions to replace the original Broadband Adapter. It could really be the thing to get people back to LAN partying Mario Kart, or even getting on PSO fan servers.
@@wryyyy that would be really cool, the impression I got was that was just another way to load games though. I hope that they can do more than just be a replacement for a SD card.
You saved the absolute best feature for last! Loading games off a network is a feature I've been wanting from optical mods for all my old consoles for AGES. And a solderless one at that?! I'm definitely getting one of these.
Really incredible mod. I can’t wait to get my hands on it for my Japanese Gamecube. A couple of questions that weren’t covered: When you say this changes the region does that mean say a Japanese Gamecube could boot US discs through this? Also, I’m curious if this has a way to run Game Boy Interface and other Gamecube homebrew.
This is awesome. I’m not planning on doing any emulating with my gamecube but this is probably the most beautiful aftermarket console modification that I have ever seen period. So clean, so respectful, so unobtrusive and elegant, and the software is kickass as well. Even using the original UI! Ten out of ten to the developers, absolutely masterful job.
I know holding L while plugging in the controller can default the analog incorrectly, wonder if that would be the case with powering on the console too.
Curious if they could switch it to Z or something instead, if that’s an issue.
Regardless, very interesting project and I’m excited to hear more updates :)
Right, I thought of that too. I know the sticks have that problem, I don't remember if it affects the triggers as well. If nothing else, you can work around it by re-plugging.
They couldn't use Z. We all know what pressing Z does to the stock firmware. If you don't know, try it sometime.
Absolutely insane! Amazing how far technology came. One of my Game Cubes uses a adapter to use a Wode modchip (which was actually made for the Wii). But I had to buy this homemade adapter from Ashen back in 2011 😅
Is there any news on this??? I signed up for preorder months ago. Q1 is almost over.
The Cube mod I've been waiting all my life for! Tito what you mentioned about having some easier way to access the SD card to add more games maybe there is a way to do it through the EXT on the bottom of the cube? it would probably limit the function of the Gameboy player though, im sure these guys would work something out. but i am really excited have just signed up for presales!!! and thank you to the Dev Team for making it affordable. you're too good! please make enough units to prevent scalpers.
The next couple of months
We have determined that was a lie
what I would really like to see, is Swiss being able to use the FlippyDrive simply as a means to access the optical drive - so basically like if you have a PicoBoot installed you could use the speed of the optical drive to run games at full speed rather than using something like Serial Port 2.
Any updates on when available to order:)
Almost exactly one year ago I soldered a picoboot inside a heavy used GC, because I didn't wanted to mess with the nice one :D turns out if I would have waited a year I didn't had to buy a second GC and solder stuff into it :D
Looks like it’s never coming out ?? Or just gonna be another 6 months ??
the discord in the description gives updates. but the sale site just dropped today. the sale isnt live but it should be very soon.
edit: and its live now
I can’t remember the last time I was just in complete shock watching a tech video. Every step of that install blew my mind even more.
Someone got one ? Will the flippydrive be ever produced ?
The link he posted will take you to their site, once there it says in the second quarter of the year it will be released which should be after June or July.
This is exactly what I want from disc based console mods. I've been hesitant to mod an extra gamecube I have because I don't like removing disc reading for rom loading. This is awesome.
skip 3:00 - 4:17 you'll thank me
Don't watch Troon content always stop watching content when troons show up so that the creator knows that this is the point where users clicked off the video. Its a self correcting problem.
You people are such sensitive little babies lol
I don't know whats more impressive. The amount of work put down by these guys to get this hardware and software to work. OR that they added a freaking "bump" to put the unused screw for safe keeping for future use?!! Blew my mind! This to me shows they are not just after your money, they want to provide something they can be proud to oput their name on! Great work Chris and Trevor!
Ew. some people should not be seen
this is imo the best mod for the gamecube - I thought about the other mods which work with swiss but never got really behind them. This is just straight forward - I love it
Gamecube was the first console I bought with "my money" as a kid. I've never thought about physically modding any console, but nostalgia and the ease of installing this mod made me sign up for the preorder announcement.
Man that flex solution is fantastic. Kudos to the team, seems like a very well-engineered product.
I’m blown away by this modification!! It’s perfect! All it needs is a 1tb card and that will eliminate sd card changing! Can’t wait to get my hands on one for my extra GameCube I have on hand.
the installation of this was SO satisfying. The fact that they even give you a place to store that extra screw is an incredible attention to detail. Kudos to these guys
These guys are geniuses. Affordable, easily installed and doesn’t alter the original console in any meaningful way 👏🏻
Legit this is a game changer for console modders. We do quite a few Xeno chips in the shop and it's such a pain, my soldering is terrible even after years of installing them and we often take returns after like 9 months of use due to dead disc drives from burned games. With this guy, looks like I can just rip the drive out, use existing 3d print drive blanks and an sd to sd adapter cable and have a chip installed (and 30-40 dead cubes off the pile) and back in stock for less than the price of a refurb drive. This is gonna put a LOT of previously 'dead' consoles back into circulation. If they hold that $40 price point and offer bulk discounts, you're gonna see a lot of happy retro game shops over in europe.
Yo this flippy drive is a game changer. I was looking everywhere for a GC loader, Black Dog Tech never seemed to have them in stock , but now the flippy drive is looking like a much better option. Awesome video and can't wait to see how this mod evolves.
Would absolutely purchase one of these. As much as I enjoy my picoboot, flippyboot doesn't work from slot b, so with a DOL-101 I can't use a memory card. This looks like a huge plus.
As always, fantastic video! I love the solderless design with the ribbon cable doing the heavy lifting.
What a nice mod! And it still amazes me how well the GameCube was designed. To this day one of the best looking consoles.
Probably the best designed mod I've ever seen. I'm beyond blown away. Will absolutely be buying in once the project matures. I think anyone with a GameCube owes it to the device to future proof it against drive failure. Keeping the drive functional and giving it the option of cubeboot is unreal for anyone who has respect for the console.
It is nice to see something like this developed and not given an insane retail price, I hope they do really well with it and develop for some other systems next
All for only $38. I usually have reservations about new mods, but this is basically a no-brainer. I signed up for the preorder notification before I was even done watching your video.
This is an amazing device, I wish more mod devs were as innovative as this. Hats off to them! And to you too Tito, that was a gorgeous installation video.
The extra screw holder... Ingenuous! I love it! I bet @RetroRGB loves it too, because like him, I also like to tape original, unused pieces after a mod to inside the console for safekeeping.
Konkret!
Happy New Year 🍻
I ran to pre-order this as soon as I saw the thumbnail. This is exactly what I've been waiting for in a GameCube mod.
This is actually amazing. I have had 2 GameCube systems sitting in storage for years because of bad disk drives, and now I'll be able to finally breathe new life into them at a price that is actually super affordable!
This mod is pretty much perfect! What an amazing idea and execution all around. Happy to hear they're ironing out small issues with compatibility and also aiming for such an accessible price. Many thanks to Chris and Trevor for this!
that ribin cable is so freaking clever. Literally hugging the inside of the port and passing it back to the original disc drive. freaking genius.