The cheap and powerful GameCube Optical Disc Emulator FlippyDrive has just gotten a new firmware update that introduces some welcome upgrades (thanks, RetroRGB).
The headline news is that games now boot much faster, with loading times reduced by half – games load in around 2.5 seconds.
Another big addition is support for the excellent MemCard Pro, which offers loads of storage for save data via MicroSD cards. The GameCube homebrew firmware Swiss has also been updated to r1792-fd-4.
Here's the full list of changes in version 1.4.0:
- Faster console boot times (cut in half down to 2.5sec)
- MemCard Pro support! – Also in cubeboot you can select a game, hit B then go to the MemCard menu and manage saves
- MemCards for a different region will never prompt to format in cubeboot
- Swiss updated to latest (r1792-fd-4)
- We now bypass dead BIOS battery errors (note this does not fix Animal Crossing yet, it only skips warnings in cubeboot)
- Remote SD card management in firmware (Desktop app will need to be updated before it is usable)
- macOS Desktop App is now Signed and Notarized
One of the big advantages of FlippyDrive over its rivals—other than the low price—is that you don't have to remove your GameCube's existing optical drive to install it.