How To Connect Your Retro Game Cube To A Modern TV

Overview

How to connect your retro Game Cube to a modern TV

With the 25th anniversary of the Game Cube rapidly approaching, it's never been a better time to revisit Nintendo's sixth generation console. Sure, it might have been less popular than the Play Station 2, but the Game Cube had some incredible games that still hold up today, including The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Metroid Prime. Some releases, like Resident Evil 4, were even better on the Game Cube than on PS2.

Details

First, some bad news. Not all Game Cubes were created equally. Between the time Nintendo first released the console in Japan on September 14, 2001 and eventually discontinued it in early 2007, the company made one major revision to the hardware to cut costs. Unfortunately, if you own that later model, it's harder to connect your Game Cube to a modern TV.

Ideally, what you want is a DOL-001 model Game Cube. If you own a DOL-101 variant, things are more complicated. This is because the latter is missing a Digital AV Out connection. In the US and other NTSC regions, this port was originally designed to allow the Game Cube to output a 480p signal over a set of component video cables Nintendo sold separately. In 2026, a handful of companies make adapters that use that same port to allow the Game Cube to output video over HDMI to a modern TV.

Finding out whether you own a DOL-001 Game Cube is easy. If the back of the console has two audio-video ports, with one labeled Digital AV Out, you're in luck. Another way to check is to flip the console over and read the label on the bottom. If it says DOL-001 toward the top, you have the correct model.

With the right variant, playing Game Cube games on an LCD or OLED TV is as simple as buying an adapter and connecting the two devices over HDMI. While you can find plenty of cheap HDMI adapters online, I recommend spending a bit more to buy the Retro-Bit Prism HD Adapter. Retro-Bit makes great stuff, and its Game Cube adapter is no exception. Most Game Cube HDMI adapters rely on open-source software called GC Video. The Retro-Bit comes with a USB-C port to make updating that software easy; no need to take apart the device.

Another option is the Carby from Insurrection Industries or, for a more affordable alternative, consider Bitfunx's offering. Just note, depending on the dongle you buy, you may also need to get a separate HDMI cable if don't have a spare.

Once you have an adapter, all you need to do is plug it into your Game Cube's Digital AV Out port, and then connect an HDMI cable from the adapter to you TV. All three of the models recommended above come with a remote that allows you to bring up GC Video's on-screen menu to adjust settings like output resolution.

Now this is where things get a bit more complicated. To get the best image quality from your Game Cube, you'll want to consult this webpage to find out if you own any games that support 480p output. If you find one that does, pop it your console first and hold down the B button on your controller as the game boots up. You will see a dialogue that asks "Enable progressive scan display?" Select Yes. Provided the game supports this feature, progressive scan will give you the best possible image quality from the old console. Some games also support native widescreen output. Typically, you can enable this from the settings menu of a compatible game.

If your Game Cube doesn't have a Digital AV Out, your best bet is a device like Retro TINK-2X Mini that can convert the analog signal from your console to a digital one. You can take the composite cables that came with your Game Cube and connect them to Retro TINK-2X Mini, and then connect an HDMI cable from that device to your TV. Retro TINK also sells devices that can upscale the signal from Game Cube, but those are quite expensive and only worth it if you have a collection of retro consoles.

If all of the above sounds like a hassle, emulation can provide another path to play your favorite Game Cube games on a modern TV. If you own a Switch 2, Nintendo offers a selection of emulated Game Cube games through its Nintendo Switch Online service. You'll need to pay for the $50 per year Expansion Pack tier to access the Switch 2's Game Cube library.

Despite its limited selection of games, the Switch 2 is a great way to experience some of the Game Cube's best games. The console outputs the games at 900p, meaning they'll look sharper on modern TV. What's more, games that include multiplayer, such as F-Zero GX, offer online play, with support for up to four players, and there's even support for controller remapping.

As of August 2026, there are nine Game Cube games available through Nintendo Switch Online, with two more on the way. See the full list below:

If you already own a collection of old Game Cube games, another option is to emulate your library by connecting a PC or laptop to a TV. The Dolphin emulator has been around for more than two decades. It's free, extremely stable and has additional features that can improve the experience of playing older games like resolution scaling and custom save states. You don't need a powerful machine to run Dolphin: Virtually every Windows or Mac machine made in the past decade can run any game, but advanced graphical options can require a little more horsepower.

Key Takeaways

How to connect your retro Game Cube to a modern TV
With the 25th anniversary of the Game Cube rapidly approaching, it's never been a better time to revisit Nintendo's sixth generation console
Ideally, what you want is a DOL-001 model Game Cube
Finding out whether you own a DOL-001 Game Cube is easy