CARBY 2 (GameCube Adapter) review

Here’s an interesting tidbit about the GameCube: When Nintendo released their gaming lunchbox in 2001, they included an extra digital output port on the back. This addition was made because the Big N had apparently been toying around with the idea of doing 3D output, which never came to pass—praise the lord! The GameCube’s main output was standard AV cables, of course, and the component cables required for this second port quickly became rare and super expensive.

Still, the Nintendo GameCube had digital output capabilities in 2001. That’s wild, man.

Fast-forward nearly 20 years and the GameCube is still getting widespread play in 2019, almost entirely thanks to the Smash community and their undying love of Super Smash Bros Melee. I too—while not a competitive Smash player—love my GameCube dearly. As new systems come and go, the GC is the one console I absolutely refuse to put in storage. And since GC controllers have continued to be supported by every single Nintendo home console since, I feel like the hardware is useful enough to keep handy.

Here’s the problem though: How do you connect your retro game consoles to a modern HDTV?

As much as I’d love to fire up my Dreamcast and play a few rounds of 3rd Strike/DOA2/Soul Calibur/Project Justice, our current TV only has ports for HDMI. Playstation 2, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, etc, etc, simply aren’t going to work. Heck, I can’t even connect a Wii via HDMI!

Well, the hardware community is here to help! Multiple tinkerers have sought to capitalize on the GameCube’s inexplicable digital capabilities. Unfortunately most of adapters I saw, like EON’s GCHD Mk-II, cost around $150—or twice that, if you want one in black!—and that seemed too steep to get TimeSplitters 2 playing in HD. Luckily, you do have other options.

The CARBY Version 2 from Insurrection Industries is a Digital AV Adapter that allows you to play GameCube on a modern HDTV, and $75, costs about half of what similar products go for. (Actually, the CARBY comes in black, so it’s arguably only a quart of the price if color coordination matters to you.) It actually uses the same open source software that powers the GCHD adapters, so one would assume the visual quality is basically identical. It comes with an infrared remote for adjusting its various options, and you can pair it with a universal remote if you prefer.

Real audio/videophiles probably have more nuanced opinions on why the more-expensive GCHD Mk-II is the superior device, but I can attest that the CARBY gets the job done. And I barely even played with any settings; it was basically just plug-and-play.

From my time using the CARBY, I must say that I’m very satisfying. The device works like a charm, producing an HD picture that is incredibly sharp and clear. Honestly, this somehow looks far better than Wii games via HDMI (running on the Wii U) and that’s crazy considering how much older the GC is!

All in all, the CARBY Version 2 GameCube Digital AV Adapter from Insurrection Industries is awesome. It’s really incredible to be able to hook the GC up to a modern TV and play on original hardware with visuals this crisp. If you’re looking to get some friends together to play match after match of four-player Super Mario Strikers…which obviously we all want to do!…then the the CARBY 2 is my recommended way to do it.