Table of Contents
Closed Project GameCube 2 - iQue Box
When I was writing an article about the history of iQue, I noticed one interview (which is the first to appear in the Chinese segment of the internet). There was one very interesting paragraph.
It says here that iQue was developing a GameCube analog under the codename iQue Box. Similar to the iQue Player, which was a modified version of the Nintendo 64 (without a cartridge slot and with other improvements), the iQue Box was supposed to be a modified version of the GameCube. It also mentions that the GameCube was supposed to play games without physical media. The project was not completed because the iQue Player sales failed (although it is obvious that it failed due to the strange decisions of iQue itself). Further, it is stated that the iQue Box was in the development and testing stage, and the design of the console never started.
As with other Nintendo projects (such as Project Atlantis or Project Iris), additional information has emerged over time. In 2018, British security researcher (though I still don't understand why he is not called by the usual term "hacker") Zammis Clark gained access to Nintendo's servers used for game and console development. He downloaded 2.54 terabytes (!) of information from them. This information was released to the internet in small or large batches. And in July 2021, the last batch of information appeared. And among it was a lot of information about the iQue Box.
Concept
The codename for the console was BB2 - BroadOn Board 2.
The general concept was planned to be the same as the iQue Player. If we go back a little, the iQue Player turned out the way it did because of piracy. The main change compared to the Nintendo 64 was the absence of a cartridge slot.
iQue Player
And the games were distributed using the iQue Depot device.
The concept of the iQue Box was planned to be similar. On one hand, the iQue Box was based on the GameCube console, but on the other hand, it did not support GameCube discs. The main idea was to release its own BB2 discs, which would be more secure than GC discs.
At the same time, a full-fledged DVD drive was planned for this console. Moreover, it was needed not only for games. The developers planned to combine three devices in the iQue Box: a game console, a DVD player, and a karaoke system. This expanded the target audience of the console. It was supposed to appeal not only to children but also to adults.
The console was supposed to play discs: DVD, SVCD, VCD, audio CD, and files: MP3, MPEG-4. That is, the console was supposed to become a full-fledged multimedia system based on the GameCube.
The developers also planned to add compatibility with a computer. I don't know how this was planned to be done, but in the internal documents of iQue, there was an indication that media files stored on a computer could be exported as network resources and played on the console. Moreover, not only multimedia files but also GBA games (i.e., on the iQue Box, it was possible to run a ROM image of a game saved on a computer using an emulator).
Console Design
The guys from RetroReversing even drew an approximate design of the console based on the technical information.
The dimensions of the console were 30 by 20 centimeters. And the height was 6.35 centimeters. The body was supposed to be made of ABC plastic.
On the front panel of the console, there were 4 ports for controllers, 2 ports for memory cards (they were needed specifically for GameCube games), and 2 ports for microphones (for karaoke).
On the back panel, there was an expansion slot, a network port, USB ports, and video outputs.
On the top of the console, there was a top-loading DVD drive, like in the GameCube.
Technical Specifications
The same guys from RetroReversing drew a diagram of the iQue Box architecture.
The most interesting thing here is the mix of GameCube chips (Flipper and Gekko) with the new Ali M3358 chip.
It should be noted that Ali bought T-Square Design in 2004 and renamed all the chips. That is why, if you dig into the leak, you will see that the processors are called differently, but in essence, they are the same.
Initially, BB2 was planned to be released on the M3357 chip with a clock speed of 200 MHz, but later the developers switched to the slightly more powerful M3358. This chip was responsible for the multimedia component of the iQue Box.
The developers also paid great attention to storage. It remains unclear whether a hard drive was planned to be installed in the console. But it is known for sure that an expansion for it was supposed to be available. That is, as they wrote, if players were to play online games, the programs would need physical storage for updates, etc. Plus, the saves themselves were planned to be stored on the hard drive.
Hard drive expansion.
iQue planned to release 4 configurations of the console:
1. Model A (Cheap price) - Limited USB 1.1 expansion + No HDD
• 2 USB 1.1 ports (ALI chip)
• Ethernet 10/100 on-board (+$2)
• No IDE HDD expansion
• No 802.11g
• Modem (standard USB 1.1 dongle: $25)
2. Model B (Medium price) – Limited USB 1.1 expansion + HDD expansion
• 2 USB 1.1 ports (ALI chip)
• Ethernet 10/100 on-board (+$2)
• IDE (interface on ALI chip) + mechanical adapter + HDD expansion slot (+$$)
• No 802.11g
• Modem (standard USB 1.1 module: $25)
3. Model C (High price) – Expandable solution using PC Card Bus + HDD expansion
• 2 PC Card slots (PCI-PC Card chip: +$5)
• Ethernet 10/100 (standard PC Card module: $15)
• IDE (interface on ALI chip) + mechanical adapter + HDD expansion slot (+$$)
• 802.11g (standard PC Card module: $40)
• Modem (standard PC Card module: $25)
4. Model D (Highest price) – Expandable solution using USB 2.0 + HDD expansion
• 2 – 4 USB 2.0 ports (USB 2.0 chip: +$6)
• Ethernet 10/100 (standard USB 2.0 module: $15)
• IDE (interface on ALI chip) + mechanical adapter + HDD expansion slot (+$$)
• 802.11g (standard USB 2.0 module: $50)
• Modem (standard USB 1.1 module: $25)
Epilogue
Frankly speaking, two things bother me.
On one hand, the developers planned to add so many features to this console that it sometimes seems like they simply wouldn't have been able to pull it off. Especially considering that this console was supposed to fight piracy, but at the same time, it had the ability to read all kinds of discs, connect to a computer and the internet. And all of this was supposed to be protected from pirates.
On the other hand, they already protected the iQue Player from pirates. They protected it so well that regular users simply gave up on this console, and it failed in sales.
All these thoughts lead me to believe that this project was stillborn from the very beginning, and it's no surprise that the iQue Box was never released. The Wii console was made in a very similar style, but it didn't even come close to implementing as many features.
