You couldn’t wait to get your meaty hands on a Gamecube, so you bought the Japanese system when it came out last summer. Luigi’s Mansion and Super Monkey Ball were great, but now you wish you understood what the hell is going on. If only you’d waited a couple of more months, you’d be playing the American versions…

Well, now you can. Nintendo went out of their way to make sure piracy wouldn’t plague the ‘Cube like it did the PS One. The double-sided discs, the digital watermark, even the proprietary Mini-DVD technology are all solid ideas that should discourage those software pirate bastards. On the other hand, hardcore Nintendo fans were afraid that just like PlayStation 2 owners, they wouldn’t be able to play import games on the GameCube. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. All you need to turn your Japanese GameCube into a universal system is an hour of work, some decent soldering skills, a special screwdriver, and $6 worth of parts. If you’re not all thumbs and pay attention to what you’re doing, you shouldn’t have any problems. But just in case you’re a clumsy, fucked-up as a football-bat moron, GameCubeMod.com takes no responsibility for any damages to equipment, injury, or loss of life arising from the procedure described below. Use the information provided at your own risk! Having said that, here’s a list of what you’ll need: