Netplay & LAN

Netplay and LAN

A handful of GameCube games support multiplayer over a local network using the Broadband Adapter. With original hardware, period adapters, and a switch, you can recreate the LAN play those titles were designed for.

What supports it

• A famous offline-LAN monster-hunting title links multiple consoles for cooperative play.
• Several racing and sports games offered system-link modes over the adapter.
• Online services for these games are long gone, but direct LAN linking still works.

Setting up a LAN session

1. Fit each console with a Broadband Adapter in the bottom serial port.
2. Connect every console to a common Ethernet switch.
3. Start the same game and region on each unit and use its in-game LAN menu.

Homebrew networking

Beyond gameplay, the adapter enables Swiss network boot, where a PC serves disc images and apps to the console over Ethernet. This is technically network play of a different kind: it lets one machine drive content to one or more consoles without shuffling SD cards. Some community tools also experiment with tunnelling LAN traffic over the internet so distant players can join a session.