It is unholy, and yet, also strangely beautiful.

A deleted feature from Animal Crossing for the GameCube would have let you play a library of 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System games off of your memory card, a passionate and talented fan of the game found out this week.

I play Gran Turismo games because they’re like an interactive version of a glossy car brochure. Others, like Dirt, I play for the sensation of barely keeping in control of a car that looks a lot like the one actually parked in my garage. But then there’s F-Zero GX.

I love my Switch, but you know what was also great? The GameCube. If only there were a way to combine the two...Oh wait, there is! At least if you’re as clever as this DIY modder.

Last week, I set up a Nintendo GameCube to play Suda 51’s cult classic Killer7 on Kotaku’s Twitch channel. I haven’t held a GameCube controller for years, but one small but important feature immediately stuck out. The GameCube has the most comfortable analog stick I’ve ever used.

Metroid Prime is a massive game, but speedrunners bypass most of it with complicated glitches and special tricks. A new trick just before the final boss cuts off nearly a minute of the game and helps solve the nine-year mystery of how to skip directly to the final battle.

Based on art by Samstrojny, this custom GameCube controller was created by SmashproofGC and Design_OOS.

Last year, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker speedrunners found a way to get to the end of the game early, but reaching Ganon for the final fight involved a risky trick that was entirely dependent on luck to complete. A new trick discovered this weekend removes the random chance and makes the game faster than ever.

A new mod promising to make Super Smash Bros. 4 play more like Super Smash Bros. Melee now has a playable beta, as well as a new trailer.

There’s a reason Breath of the Wild is played in German. It’s just a heck of a lot faster. Speedruns use different languages and versions to cut down on time. Here’s how that works for The Legend of Zelda.

When she shoots, Samus Aran doesn’t miss. That’s one of the fundamental truths of the original Metroid Prime, the first-person sci-fi game that came out on the Nintendo GameCube in 2002. You lock her gun onto a target and fire. She hits it every time.

Despite Nintendo’s recent, conspicuous quiet on the topic, the second expansion for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is still coming soon, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told me this afternoon during a quick chat in midtown Manhattan. We talked about that and a host of other topics, including…

The recent 4.00 Nintendo Switch update has a secret: It brings GameCube controller support to the Nintendo Switch.

2004’s Spider-Man 2 is fondly remembered for being a pretty good movie tie-in game with some amazing web swinging. New York is a blast to zip through, but one speedrunner decided to see how fast they could complete the game without using its most exciting feature.

In the 16 years since Super Smash Brothers: Melee came out, it has gotten harder and harder for Smash tournaments and pro players to keep using the controller for which it was originally made. GameCube controllers are getting old. The best ones are are hard to find and expensive to maintain. And some players complain…

This deeply unintimidating GameCube controller is precious to me (and one of the last functional ones I own). It brings me luck and joy and brilliant Super Smash Bros. air dodges. And it has damned many challengers in its long and hard life.

Genyo Takeda has worked on some of Nintendo’s most iconic games, consoles, and tech. As of this June, the 68 year-old is stepping down.