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NINTENDO GAMECUBE/Wii

How to run Gamecube and Wii games on your computer - In 4 Easy Steps

Released in North America on November 18, 2001, the Nintendo Gamecube was the successor to the Nintendo 64 and had a library of 648 mostly impressive game titles, including several from each of the 3 biggest Nintendo mascots: Mario, Zelda & Metroid. This tutorial will show you how to setup and use Dolphin, an emulator dedicated to the Nintendo Gamecube with additional emulation capabilities for a growing list of Wii games. A controller with 2 analog sticks is recommended for playing games from this system on your PC, though it is possible to get started without a controller (see MORE HINTS below for suggestions on PC controllers and USB adapters for popular console controllers (including Gamecube contollers).

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STEP #1: Download the emulator to your computer:

Go to Dolphin-Emu.org and download the latest "Stable Version" of the Dolphin emulator for your system.
- 32-bit Windows should download the x86 version. 64-bit Windows should download x64 version.
- If you don't know which Windows system you have, click "Start", right-click "Computer" and select "Properties".
Your download will be an ".EXE" file (for instance: "dolphin-x64-4.0.2.exe"). Run the file and it will install the program.
- Default install directory is: "C:\Program Files\Dolphin"

STEP #2: Create a folder for Gamecube ISOs:

It doesn't really matter where you create the new folder, as long as you can find it later.
Let's put one in My Documents. Click the Windows Start Button and click Documents.
Right-click the background and from the menu select "New>Folder".
Name the new folder "GCN ISOs", "Gamecube ISOs", "Dolphin ISOs" or something like that.

STEP #3: Download a game ISO for your emulator:

You can just use a real Gamecube (or Wii) game disk in your DVD drive or make your own ISO of your game disk. If you have a Nintendo Gamecube disk, you can skip this step. The other alternative is to download a GCN ISO (or Wii ISO) from an online source, but that is not legal in most places. You are on your own for this step, but this tutorial assumes you either have what you need or know how to get it.

DISCLAIMER: It is not legal to download, store or distribute a Gamecube or Wii ISO in most countries, even if you own a physical copy. Check the local laws in your area on regulations covering backup coppies of software like video games.

Download a file of the appropriate format (ELF, DOL, GCM, ISO, WBFS, CISO, GCZ or WAD) and store it in your new "GCN ISOs" folder...or whatever you named it.
- Most GCN or Wii ISOs come in a compressed or archived format. 7-zip will open most archive formats & it's free.

STEP #4: Setup Dolphin and play your game:

Start Dolphin using your new Desktop shortcut.
Along the top there is a menu. Click the button for "GCpad" to configure your controls:

When you are done making all of your control assignments, click "OK" to save your settings.
- Dolphin (which was the name of the Gamecube during the development phase) is pretty much ready to go with default settings on everything else. The menu options are pretty self-explanatory if you end up having trouble and need to make adjustments.
If your ISO or Game disk title is not visible in the main Dolphin window, then click "File>Open..." to open a particular file OR use "File>Browse For ISOs..." to add a new folder to browse (like an external drive) the location of the folder we made in STEP #2 would be located at this path: "Libraries>Documents (My Documents)>GCN ISOs".
- To open a game disk in your DVD drive, click "File>Boot from DVD drive>[select drive letter]"