Topic: All Data (and hope) is Lost. Corrupted Gamecube memory card.

[Khushrenada]

Long topic so I've divided my post into 4 to make it more managable to read. I've got a lot to say.
 
Why I have never heard of Gamecube memory cards getting corrupted before? I've just discovered a terrible secret.
 
Recently, I bought a couple new Gamecube games for my collection. This caused to pop in some discs I hadn't played in sometime. However, when loading the file, I was greeted with the message that this file is corrupted and must be deleted. Over and over again.
 
With dread, I began going through my entire Gamecube collection. In the end, 35 of my games had to have their files erased completely, 3 were able to save some data and only 1 was able to repair its save file and haven no ill effects. Only 12 survived with no corruption.
 

[Khushrenada]

In some cases, the losses were minor. A few games I had played maybe an hour of and nothing more. Others were more extensive. And now a moment of silence for the files lost:
 
Mario Kart: Double Dash - All Time Trial ghosts. This one is more sentimental than anything. While the rest of the Double Dash records were saved from corruption I lost the Time Trial ghosts all set by my brother. This was one of the few games he would play all the time and he set all the Time Trial records. I lose a piece of him.
 
Metroid Prime 1 and 2 - 100% completions on Easy and Hard. I can live with losing the Easy saves. It's the Hard completions that are a killer. So, I have to face the Boost Ball guardian again? Great.
 
Sonic Adventure 2 - All S Ranks and Chao data. This is one of those accomplishments you just have to grind out playing levels over and over again. Some are easy to accomplish than others. The Sonic/Shadow levels I remember being the toughest. But far worse is having to raise a whole new chao from scratch. That was the dullest part of the game as I had to keep going back through levels and getting certain colored crystals to power up my chao in a deficancy. That's a back breaker.
 
Super Smash Bros. Melee - Everything lost. All trophies, extra stages, extra characters, records, and event data lost. And I had a 100% trophies. Sucks, sucks, sucks, sucks, sucks.
 
F-Zero GX - Nooooooooo. The crown jewel in my Gamecube accomplishments. Lost. Everything unlocked. All racers, vehicles and parts. All stages and cups unlocked. All characters beating an expert race giving me their little clip video and 100% story mode on expert completed. And at least half of the staff ghosts on Time trials beaten with my winning ghost data lost. You don't know the heartbreak of having to hitting the delete button and realizing the hours sunk in this game are now lost.
 
These were the games that hurt the most because of the time sunk into them. I lost other things like all my Battalion Wars data but I never got around to finishing with all S-Ranks so I can absorb that loss a bit easier. And other situations like that.

[Khushrenada]

As for the games that survived this disaster, here is a list of the notables:
 
Zelda: Wind Waker - Thank goodness. I finally am set up with a GBA and GC link cable to finish my figurine galley and get the Tingle statues hereby putting the final cap on this game. While I've played through Windwaker three times already, I've never bothered to do another Figurine galley in those games.
 
Sonic Adventure DX - With the loss of SA2, I was prepared for the worst but thankfully this file survived in tact. Which is good. Because if I had to choose between losing this data or SA2, I would choose SA2. Because I never want to fish with Big the Cat again. Plus, this game offers the bonus of around 14 Sonic Game Gear games to play for getting all S-Ranks and all SA2 does is offer you Green Hill Zone in 3D.
 
Twilight Princess - As far as I can remember, I finished this game 100% meaning I've upgraded Link to all he can be, I've gotten all 20 hearts, I have all the Poes souls and golden bugs and I can't think of any other side quest I may have missed. Maybe I'll pull out a FAQ to double check this sometime soon. While I've sometimes thought of playing this adventure again, I start to remember the length and realize I've got other Zelda games still to play for the first time.
 
Stars Wars: Rogue Leader 2 - Thank goodness. All gold medals and Ace Medals survive! No more Endurance for me.
 
Other notables:
 
Chibi Robo - 100% complete. #1 ranking. All stickers and items acquired.
 
StarFox Adventures and StarFox Assault  Why did Starfox escape the madness? Who knows. I haven't finished Adventures and I've yet to acquire top ranking in all Assault missions.
 
Super Mario Sunshine - I'd have been happy to lose this data as it is no bother for me to get 100% in this game. I like to do it all the time
 
Mario Party 5 & 6 - All unlockables unlocked and all records in tact. Unlike it's brother Mario Party 7.
 
Odama - I've only gotten through the first stage, I haven't played it since I bought it which is like 5 years ago, and its data survives while I lose all my Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Data and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Data.
 

[Khushrenada]

Unfortunately, there is no way to repair data if it is corrupted. I searched around on the web for awhile but no had any solution. There's no way to know what caused it which makes me wonder if I should even try to bother to reacquire some of the records I lost since I don't know if it will occur again. Will the untouched data on this memory card potentially become corrupted because so many other files were?
 
If I were to blame anything, I'd blame my Wii where my memory card has been sitting for a couple years.
 
Also, Sega sucks. You can copy virtually any other game record and make a backup file except for Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Adventure 2 and your Chao data and F-Zero GX. Gaming records I'd have put in triplicate if I could.
 
So, hopefully you have all been warned and will take precautions around your GC Memory Cards before this happens to you. But who knows if it can be prevented. There was no rhyme or reason as to why some files were corrupted while others weren't.
 
The moral of the story is: It's not worth it to get 100% in video games and life sucks.

[Caliban]

Darn. Sorry for your loss.

I never had that happen to me, but if it did I would probably play those games again. Then again I'm not the type that always goes for 100% in a game. I do what I can, or what I want. That's that because I have other things to do.

[Khushrenada]

That's that because I have other things to do.

What's that supposed to mean? Sign up for the Jeopardy game in the Funhouse and we'll see how we stack up. Actually, I'm just taking that line out of context to try and drum up some more support for the Jeopardy tournament in The Lindy Chronicles Forum.

That said, I think I might have some minor obsessive compulsive disorders. Fortunately, games allow me a place to channel them so that it doesn't affect me in real life. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Frankly, it's nice to be able to look at games in your collection and know you beat every challange thrown at you in that game. You mastered that sucker and there's nothing else left to do. You've done it all. And you have your save files to back it up. Or at least used to. I look at other games and know that there is still this to do or that to do and it irks me.

In fact, for the past two days, I've been playing Mario Kart DS again because I never beat the Staff Ghost on the Desert Plains 2 retro course. I want that final obstacle to 100% completion beaten. But man, does it give my wrist cramps. Carpel Tunnel Syndrome for the win! There's a reason I didn't finish a few years ago. Plus, I've never learned how to snake.

[UncleBob]

I know how you feel, losing my Wii save data, with Animal Crossing, Smash Bros. and Mario Kart.

Did you have an official Nintendo Memory Card or an off brand card?  And was it one of those 1019 cards?

[Khushrenada]

Official Memory 1019 card. I've also got another one never opened which I have now cracked and copied what data could be saved over. However, like I said earlier, I'm unable to copy the SA:DX file over. I don't even think I can move it over.

[Chozo Ghost]

Was the memory card ever exposed to strong magnetic fields? Or harsh conditions?

[UncleBob]

Official Memory 1019 card. I've also got another one never opened which I have now cracked and copied what data could be saved over. However, like I said earlier, I'm unable to copy the SA:DX file over. I don't even think I can move it over.

Hm.  I asked about it being the 1019 card for a reason.  Oddly enough, I've heard of this issue before.  Nothing in particular, just individuals who have had their memory card corrupted and it was an official 1019 card.

I'll stick with all of my MC59's.

[Caliban]

What's that supposed to mean? Sign up for the Jeopardy game in the Funhouse and we'll see how we stack up. Actually, I'm just taking that line out of context to try and drum up some more support for the Jeopardy tournament in The Lindy Chronicles Forum.

Hahahahahaha, I see. I would lose for obvious reasons, and I would still love to play, but I'm going to have to decline for now. If in the near future I'm less busy then I will participate.

[BeautifulShy]

Just finished reading through this Khushrenada and I am sorry to hear about this. As UncleBob pointed out the 1019 cards for some reason have this issue. Also I think it may have to do with Wii Connect 24 and it being on. I usually keep my memory cards in a Gamecube case. Inside they have a little place where you can put them.

Also I gotta say. Damn. I am really impressed at your gaming skills Khushrenada.You finished up Both Metroid Primes on Hard?!? and you did all that in F-Zero GX. That is amazing.

[Khushrenada]

Was the memory card ever exposed to strong magnetic fields? Or harsh conditions?

Nope. I babied my memory card. I used to take my GC over to some a friends house for Melee or Mario Party gaming and I was always of protective of the memory card. It was about two years ago that I popped in the Wii and just left it plugged into it. Recently, though, I wanted to just hook up my gamecube in my room with another TV I have so I took it out of the Wii and it just sat in my closet with my GC games until a couple weeks ago when I finally hooked everything all up and put it back in the GC.


But from what everyone is describing, it sounds like the 1019 is the trouble. Great. I bought those cards thinking that was all the memory I would ever need but it looks like I should be going down to the half size. What was it the 527 or something?

Anyways, I'm just going to leave the Memory card in the GC from now on and hopefully that will be enough since I never had an issue in the 7 odd years I kept it in the GC and off the Wii.

[Khushrenada]

Also I gotta say. Damn. I am really impressed at your gaming skills Khushrenada.You finished up Both Metroid Primes on Hard?!? and you did all that in F-Zero GX. That is amazing.

Thanks Maxi. But is that really that amazing? Is it really that low a number of people who have done that? I guess the amazing thing might be that I do it without snaking since I have no idea how to pull that off. I do it the legit way. Thought I hear that some of the staff ghosts in F-Zero GX actual snake as well so I might have to learn that at some point. I guess it always surprises people when I talk about games since I don't do it to often on these forums. Vudu expressed that sentiment once as well.

Really, in the end, it's just repetition. The more you keep playing something over and over, you just become more and more familiar with everything and eventually you finally succeed in that challange. Frankly, I think my younger brother is even better gifted at games than I am. What's more amazing is that he really doesn't play them anymore. He pretty much has no interest in them aside from a round of Mario Kart or a Mario Party match these days. Yet, when he does actually commit to play a game, he can succeed at a faster rate than I can which floors me since he hardly plays much anymore. It can be quite infuriating. Which is why I'm glad my Rogue Squadron 2 data survived. That was the first game I beat him at completing in a long time and started my revival in video games.

[TJ Spyke]

But from what everyone is describing, it sounds like the 1019 is the trouble. Great. I bought those cards thinking that was all the memory I would ever need but it looks like I should be going down to the half size. What was it the 527 or something?

Official Nintendo memory cards were Memory Card 59, Memory Card 251, and Memory Card 1019. I still remember laughing at the GameCube's launch since only the 59 was available. Why did I laugh? One of the launch games was All-Star Baseball 2002 and its season mode required more than 59 blocks (so you couldn't save your season mode).

[BeautifulShy]

Also I gotta say. Damn. I am really impressed at your gaming skills Khushrenada.You finished up Both Metroid Primes on Hard?!? and you did all that in F-Zero GX. That is amazing.

Thanks Maxi. But is that really that amazing? Is it really that low a number of people who have done that? I guess the amazing thing might be that I do it without snaking since I have no idea how to pull that off. I do it the legit way. Thought I hear that some of the staff ghosts in F-Zero GX actual snake as well so I might have to learn that at some point. I guess it always surprises people when I talk about games since I don't do it to often on these forums. Vudu expressed that sentiment once as well.

Really, in the end, it's just repetition. The more you keep playing something over and over, you just become more and more familiar with everything and eventually you finally succeed in that challange. Frankly, I think my younger brother is even better gifted at games than I am. What's more amazing is that he really doesn't play them anymore. He pretty much has no interest in them aside from a round of Mario Kart or a Mario Party match these days. Yet, when he does actually commit to play a game, he can succeed at a faster rate than I can which floors me since he hardly plays much anymore. It can be quite infuriating. Which is why I'm glad my Rogue Squadron 2 data survived. That was the first game I beat him at completing in a long time and started my revival in video games.

Well for F-Zero GX just beating Story Mode is a feat in its self. The last two missons are a pain to beat. I think I did managed to open up all the courses except the AX courses which I think you have to get 1st in the master class...Hmm I think I know what game I need to finish next from my back log of games.Not going to be easy. As for Metroid Prime I guess it is relative. I think I am at the end boss on Prime 1 and near the begining on Prime 2 even though I am near the end of Hyper Mode of Prime 3. It is relative. Gah now I have to go back and finish those as well. Curse You Khushrenada for bringing these games up.

 Anyway maybe we can make this your play through topic and maybe some of us can play along with these games with you if we happen to not of finished theses games yet. Turn a negative into a positive. Also Khushrenada bit of advice. Don't lend out your GC memory cards out as they are very hard to find if the person doesn't gets them back to you.

[RRR]

 
If you are having problems with your Gamecube memory cards, you can always visit Nintendo Repair Shop.  They will have everything that you need to fix or repair your Gamecube as well as your memory cards.  If they are corrupted the best that you can do is buy a new one and you find some at accessible prices at this website. 

[Chozo Ghost]

I know it won't help you with the data you already lost, but a quick search on amazon revealed this.

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Wii-Card-Adapter-Included/dp/B000RC51Q4

Looks like this is a way you can use SD cards for your game saves, and from that you can make as many backups as you want.

[ejamer]

I know it won't help you with the data you already lost, but a quick search on amazon revealed this.

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Wii-Card-Adapter-Included/dp/B000RC51Q4

Looks like this is a way you can use SD cards for your game saves, and from that you can make as many backups as you want.

Just do some research before buying.


This isn't a memory card replacement at all. Apparently, it's exclusively intended for use with certain GameCube homebrew programs to create backups of data currently on existing memory cards. Several of the reviews also claim that the card doesn't work on Wii - not sure if that is accurate or if it even matters.

[Chozo Ghost]

Yeah, I recommend doing research also. Like I said, that was just a quick search.

I recommend looking into it in more depth, because there should be something out there which could let you backup your GC saves on your PC or on more traditional media. I don't see any reason why such an adapter couldn't exist, unless Nintendo made it impossibly encrypted or something.