YouTuber Keemstar, the host of the often controversial news show DramaAlert, which largely focuses on current internet drama, recently took to Twitter to show off his modded Nintendo GameCube console. Featuring a custom red and black paint job and a Keemstar logo on top, the retro console has been brought up to date via an extensive modding process. That process is said to have cost Killer Keemstar, real name Daniel Keem, “thousands of dollars” and a two-month wait.
Keemstar offers a look inside the GameCube console’s shell in the video he tweeted (below), revealing that the disc drive and most — if not all — of the original components have been replaced with what’s essentially just a small PC running an emulator. The emulator allows Keemstar to play any and all original GameCube games via an HDMI connection, upscaled to 4K resolution from the comparatively paltry intended 480p. To be clear, upscaling does not mean that the in-game textures themselves have seen any additional enhancement.
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4K GameCube!!! pic.twitter.com/WTyx5cjThF
— KEEM
That being said, as Keem points out whilst briefly demoing GameCube favorite Super Mario Sunshine, the existing graphics are made to look far more “crisp” and “clean.” The upgraded viewing experience comes courtesy of Nintendrew, a prolific video game collector and hardware modder. He’ll have enough work to keep him busy for a while, as Keemstar also shared that 4K GameCubes would be making their way to FaZe Banks, the owner of FaZe Clan, one of the world’s most successful esports teams, as well as Fortnite streamer Ninja. Tyler “Ninja” Blevins recently made waves by leaving the hugely popular streaming website Twitch for a less successful competitor in Microsoft’s Mixer. It’s been speculated that Microsoft paid big money to secure an exclusivity deal, which Twitch appears to be upset about.
It’s unclear whether the 4K GameCube consoles on their way to FaZe Banks and Ninja are gifts from Keemstar, but either way, despite a very hefty apparent asking price this is a piece of modded gaming hardware we can all covet.
