Putting Windows NT into the GameCube console, what are these modders trying to do?

Remove the CD drive, insert a modified memory card as a Trojan horse, and insert an SD card - this is the necessary step to get Windows NT 4.0 into the GameCube console. This antique operating system, released in 1996 and built specifically for PowerPC, theoretically has nothing to do with game consoles, but a group of modders spent nearly a year trying to make the two work together.

The starting point is a new version of Windows NT for PowerPC that surfaced last year (2025). The GameCube and its successor Wii also used the PowerPC architecture, and this commonality became a gap. The Entii for Workcubes project on GitHub lays the foundation for porting this 90s-era operating system to hardware from the GameCube to Wii U generations. YouTuber emu_kidid was the first to release a video in February 2025, demonstrating the installation process of the software side; in 2026, Jiga Tech and Michael MJD each added a complete record of the hardware installation - removing the optical disc drive, installing the mod drive, and then completing the software side settings.

Both men managed to get the system running. Michael MJD played a game of "Solitaire" on the modified GameCube, and Jiga Tech further connected the ASCII GameCube keyboard controller, and also gave the DK Bongo bongo controller a certain degree of functional correspondence.

This kind of compatibility is actually traceable: Wii originally used a large amount of GameCube's hardware architecture, including the same PowerPC processor base. Nintendo did not make major changes from the sixth generation to the seventh generation. Although the Wii is the weakest console in terms of performance, its market performance is not inferior. This also explains why modders choose these two old machines to start their work - their underlying logic is close enough to support this kind of cross-generation transplant experiment.

The material does not mention whether this modification has actual application scenarios or follow-up plans.