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y2kerr · Jul 1, 2003, 02:28 PM

I'm going to buy a Powerbook at some point in the summer, and I'm thinking of buying a Gamecube as well. I'll be moving to Japan in the fall for a year or longer, and when I get there, I'd like to avoid bringing a TV or buying one there.

Is it possible to hook the Gamecube up to a Powerbook either directly or through some sort of adapter?

Thanks,
Mike

GORDYmac · Jul 1, 2003, 04:06 PM

Yes, any USB (El Gato's EyeTV, Eskape Labs' MyTV) or FireWire (Formac's Studio, Sony's DVMC-DA1) video input solution will do. I'm no gamer, but I thought framerates and response times were a big deal. I'm not sure you'll have the best gaming experience going this route. Dropped frames may be an issue.

Why not get a small LCD?

ender2002 · Jul 5, 2003, 08:02 AM

http://a1964.g.akamaitech.net/7/1964...20246941_l.gif

i think that will work, but the lcd might be crap and get washed out easily.

and i hope there is a black version.

tooki · Jul 5, 2003, 02:34 PM

All of the USB and FireWire capture devices introduce a bit of latency... fine for video capture or watching TV, but not for live video, methinks...

tooki

:XI: · Jul 5, 2003, 04:19 PM

Why is this in modification?

At first I was thinking, emulation, which would have put this in software (I suppose it could go in games).
Then I thought 'Powerbook, it should go in the Powerbook forum' then, I thought some more and realised it should go in 'Peripherals'.

Since none of you guys/girls seem bothered, maybe I should just not bother posting this thread...

nah...

{click}

nforcer · Jul 9, 2003, 09:27 PM

Originally posted by tooki:
All of the USB and FireWire capture devices introduce a bit of latency... fine for video capture or watching TV, but not for live video, methinks...

There is a little bit of lag between the time you do something and the time you see it, but I've found it to be largely dependant on the application you are using to display the video. I have a firewire analog -> digital converter and I have played GC games on my comp (iMac G4/700). In BTV, the lag is about 1 second off (very critical for most games where timing is key). But letting the signal play through in iMovie resulted in much more playable gameplay (not much lag between input and result at all, but it is still slightly detectable).

There are also a few other things to consider if you are going to be using your comp as a display device for any gaming system. For example, if you have already invested in something like a component input cable for your system, you are going to have to pay a little more to find a converter that supports a component input cable (if you want to have a better signal).

octavius · Jul 11, 2003, 09:08 PM

i live in japan and you can find a TV for under 40$ that is larger than your monitor i think.. by the way.. you should buy a japanese power supply for the gamecube too since you cant use your american one. they are like 1200� anywhere.

erise · Jul 25, 2003, 01:01 PM

Any solutions for me cause I don't live in Japan. I'd really not rather have to drag an addition screen onto college in a year. Those little GC screens are too small.

angelmb · Jul 27, 2003, 09:49 AM

I have a Pismo 500. I use a capsure pc card, so I can view the Nintendo GAMECUBE and the Nintendo 64 under Mac OS 9 with Apple Video Player. A pity it does not work (not supported) under Mac OS X.

Here you can see it in action, with a Nintendo 64 game from 1998, note the ads in the field

erise · Jul 28, 2003, 01:02 AM

The capsure pc card looks great but OS 9 only.

Are there any other PC cards that are for OS X?

Godzilla · Aug 1, 2003, 11:44 PM

About the small LCD. A company called InterAct makes both black and purple 5.4" LCDs that attatched to the top of your Gamecube. I used to own one, and it's not that bad really, just small. It's got adapters too, so you can play in the car, etc.

Besides that, my friend used to use Formac's A/V hardware to capture images from his Gamecube that connected to his monitor. For a gamer, this isn't going to be good, considering the fact that there's too big a lag. Consider it like this: Mario shoots a fireball in the monitor, but if you had used a TV or the LCD, the fireball would have already turned Bowser's head into ash...

erise · Aug 2, 2003, 06:15 PM

My cousin has the Interact screen and I wasn't too impressed. In Electronic Gaming Monthly, they said that the Intec screen was much better but I haven't seen one personally yet.

erise · Sep 1, 2003, 07:12 PM

I found this drive which is firewire AND real-time. Seems like it would work, just expensive:

http://www.canopus.us/US/products/ad...t_advc-100.asp

Jansar · Sep 2, 2003, 07:51 PM

I have both a Formac TVR device and an Intec monitor for the GameCube. The Intec monitor works great, but remember it's only a 5" monitor. As far as the Formac TVR device, it's definitely NOT made for gaming because of the major lag.

hadocon · Sep 2, 2003, 10:12 PM

Originally posted by erise:
I found this drive which is firewire AND real-time. Seems like it would work, just expensive:

http://www.canopus.us/US/products/ad...t_advc-100.asp

That won't work.

erise · Sep 3, 2003, 11:58 PM

Originally posted by hadocon:
That won't work.

How come? On the site they say you can plug video games systems into it. And the device captures in real-time, so you should be able to start up iMovie and play the game in that.

hadocon · Sep 7, 2003, 10:55 PM

Originally posted by erise:
How come? On the site they say you can plug video games systems into it. And the device captures in real-time, so you should be able to start up iMovie and play the game in that.

The device may be "real time", but there is a lag when teh Mac decodes and plays the DV stream. how is that system more "real time" than a Formac or Sony DV box (both of which I own)?

erise · Sep 8, 2003, 12:02 AM

Originally posted by hadocon:
The device may be "real time", but there is a lag when teh Mac decodes and plays the DV stream. how is that system more "real time" than a Formac or Sony DV box (both of which I own)?

You're right. I found some forum posts on the official site and they said basically the same thing. Looks like, as of right now, the only solutions are the little monitors for the GameCube or buying an external monitor with video inputs.

nobitacu · Sep 8, 2003, 09:30 AM

Yea... the games you play on it will be ab out 2 to 3 seconds behind what it really is doing... you push a button, wait for 2 to 3 seconds... and finallly it does it on screen... not a good idea if you are playing games that can kill you in one hit, since you can't really see what is really going on in real time, since what you are seeing is always 2 to 3 seconds behind...

Ming