pureikyubu

GAMECUBE WII EMULATOR

pureikyubu

pureikyubu (プレイキューブ) is an open-source, work-in-progress emulator that targets the Nintendo GameCube hardware. It aims at hardware research, debugging and compatibility experimentation rather than being a polished end-user frontend.

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pureikyubu emulator screenshot.

gamecube wiiPRIMARY SYSTEM

History documentedPROJECT BEGAN

Open sourcePROJECT MODEL

WHY IT MATTERS

Why this project matters

pureikyubu is positioned as a research-grade GameCube emulator focused on reverse engineering, debugging and reproducing hardware behavior (including an integrated GBA/GB core and headless testing modes). It is useful for developers and researchers who need a detailed emulator with heavy diagnostics rather than a turnkey consumer emulator.

BEST FOR

Best use cases

Investigating GameCube hardware behavior, running unattended title sweeps in headless mode, experimenting with software vs OpenGL rendering paths, using the integrated debugger and MCP server for automated inspection, and GBA/GB integration testing.

The people behind pureikyubu

History & status

The repository traces its lineage to Dolwin-era work and now lives as pureikyubu on GitHub under the emu-russia organization. The README describes active development and an incremental compatibility list (releases with per-title throughput). The project presents itself as work-in-progress: core emulation boots many titles, a software CPU renderer and an integrated Game Boy Advance/GB core were added in recent releases, and there are dedicated headless and SDL2 front ends. The project accepts issues on GitHub and publishes binary releases; development activity and release notes indicate ongoing maintenance.

What pureikyubu supports

Nintendo GameCube (primary target)
Integrated Game Boy Advance and Game Boy cores (embedded in emulator)
Windows (x86 and x64; Visual Studio solution provided)
Linux (SDL2 front end; CMake build)
Headless mode for unattended runs and automated testing

Download and availability

OFFICIAL DOWNLOADS

Get pureikyubu

Official releases (prebuilt assets and release notes) are published on the project's GitHub Releases page. Source and tags are available from the repository.

Get pureikyubu ↗

DOCUMENTATION

Official documentation

Read the official configuration, compatibility, and troubleshooting material before changing advanced options.

Read official documentation ↗

Broken or missing download? Emulator projects move and official links sometimes change. Please contact Retro Replay so the source can be verified and updated.

pureikyubu setup guide

Setup note: This guide covers getting pureikyubu running from source (Windows and Linux) and how to use the headless mode and SDL2 front end. The project is intended for developers and assumes you have build tools and developer libraries installed. The emulator does not include game discs, BIOS, or other proprietary files.

Get the source: Clone the official repository and initialise submodules: git clone https://github.com/emu-russia/pureikyubu.git && cd pureikyubu && git submodule init && git submodule update
Windows: build with Visual Studio 2026: Open scripts/VS2026/pureikyubu.sln in Visual Studio 2026. The solution contains projects: pureikyubu (emulator), SDL2, GBA (integrated core) and gba_bench. Choose Release (or Debug) and the platform (x86 or x64) and build. A dedicated headless project scripts/VS2026/pureikyubu_headless.vcxproj is available and can be built directly with MSBuild: MSBuild scripts/VS2026/pureikyubu_headless.vcxproj -p:Configuration=Release -p:Platform=x64
Linux: dependencies and CMake build: Install required development packages (example for Debian/Ubuntu): sudo apt install build-essential cmake libglew-dev libsdl2-dev libgl1-mesa-dev pkg-config. Then in the repo: mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && make. The README notes additional dependencies like imgui; if cmake reports missing components, install the corresponding -dev packages or follow the repo's submodule instructions.
Headless mode and command line usage: A headless build (no SDL/OpenGL/audio/input) is provided for automated runs. Example invocations (from README): pureikyubu_headless "D:\Isos\game.gcm" to run until interrupted; pureikyubu_headless –ipl to run the Bootrom; pureikyubu_headless –bench game.gcm 30 to measure performance; pureikyubu_headless –mcp to serve the debug interface to an MCP client.
Running the SDL2 frontend: The standard build uses SDL2/ImGui for the window, game selector, settings and controller dialogs. After building, run the pureikyubu executable (or use the provided release binaries) and select a GameCube image (.iso/.gcm/.dol as supported by the project) from the front end. The README shows example runs like ./pureikyubu pong.dol on Linux.
Platform and architecture notes: The project provides both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) builds on Windows; the code contains separate JIT/backends for each. The Windows target is set down to Windows 7 compatibility in the project files. Linux builds rely on the usual OpenGL/GLEW/SDL environment.
Debugging and advanced features: pureikyubu includes an integrated debugger, an MCP server for remote debugging/automation, a software CPU renderer in addition to the OpenGL path, and tools for timing and sound corrections in portable machines. Consult the repository wiki and release notes for details on using the MCP interface and the debugger.
What the emulator does not provide: The project does not ship commercial game images, firmware, or BIOS/Bootroms. You must supply any game files or platform firmware yourself. The emulator is research-focused and some titles may hang or fail to render; check the per-release compatibility notes.

Software reminder: Do not ship, download, or use commercial game images, console firmware, BIOS files or other copyrighted materials you do not own. The emulator repository contains only source code and release artifacts provided by the project.