As someone who loves console tinkering, I recently found out about the SD2SP2 for the Nintendo Gamecube and had to get one for myself. The SD2SP2 is a device that connects to Serial Port 2 on the bottom of the Gamecube, and allows you to do a few different things with the integrated microSD slot. There are a few variants of the SD2SP2 that will either allow you to hide the device under the console’s port cover, or the Pro version that allows the microSD slot to be accessible from the side of the console, should you need, or want, to access the microSD card often. I purchased the SD2SP2 Pro (or as the product says SD2SP2 POR), as I felt it was best suited for my needs from the device.

The first benefit of a SD2SP2 device is playing backups straight from the microSD card, saving wear and tear on your game discs. While I do like preserving Gamecube discs, I also feel this benefit of the SD2SP2 is a bit redundant. To interface with the SD2SP2 you will need, at the very least, a soft modded Gamecube. This is achieved by placing a save exploit on a memory card that tricks the Gamecube into booting the software required to interface with the SD2SP2, among other things. The easiest way to do this is to own an already modded Nintendo Wii. If your Wii is already modded you most likely already have emulators installed, allowing you to play backups from the SD slot. With Nintendont installed you’re pretty much already setup to do exactly what you can do with the SD2SP2 in a Gamecube, without having to do the game save exploit every single time you boot the console. If you don’t already own a modded Wii to get the exploit onto a memory card you can easily purchase everything required online.

With all that being said, a better reason to purchase a SD2SP2 device is if you own a Gameboy Player and are missing the illusive boot disc. Sure, if you own a soft modded Wii you can install a Gameboy emulator, but for those who don’t all the necessary things to interface with the SD2SP2 are available for much less than what it would cost to buy the Gameboy Player boot disc. The added bonus being there are programs you can run from the SD2SP2 that make the games played on the Gameboy Player look much better than the original program on the boot disc ever could. Heck, even if you do own the original boot disc, just pack it away in a vault and buy a SD2SP2 and never have to worry about using it again. Someday a sealed copy of the Gameboy Player boot disc will fetch over $1million, mark my words.

I’ve only had my SD2SP2 Pro for a week, at the time I wrote this, so I’m not completely aware of all its uses, but I’m sure I’ll continue to learn more about it as I go. The main drawback is having to use a game save exploit every single time I want to use it, since my Gamecube isn’t chipped, and knowing that my Wii plays Gamecube games just as well while also allowing me to use the Gamecube controller, so I personally see no real benefit in using it for that. It’s the Gameboy Player aspect that really caught my attention, and where I see the most benefit. Gameboy Players seem to be far more ubiquitous than their boot discs. If you’re on the fence about picking up a Gameboy Player because you’re afraid you’ll never be able to use it without the boot disc, consider a SD2SP2 as your potential salvation.