Solution to Dolphin

This is a puzzle about Nintendo GameCube trivia as clued by the title Dolphin which is the codename for the Nintendo GameCube. The first image is a clue for extraction and is a metapuzzle that uses the answers to the 6 subpuzzles, one for each face of the indicated die.

The first subpuzzle is a Numberlink logic puzzle. Each link connects two squares of the same color or pattern. Each color or pattern clues a specific GameCube console color variation and the length of the color variation's name matches the length of its corresponding link. We can therefore fill in the color variation names along each link, using the starting and ending letters to orient each link. Below are the console color variation names and the filled out Numberlink.

• INDIGO
• JET BLACK
• PLATINUM SILVER
• SPICE ORANGE
• PEARL WHITE
• TALES OF SYMPHONIA
• HANSHIN TIGERS
• STARLIGHT GOLD

Reading the letters on the numbered squares in the order from 1 to 15 spells out the answer to the first subpuzzle: CONSOLE BRAGGING.

If we try searching some of the strange names such as test11 or I_TestM in the second subpuzzle, we might discover that each line refers to a specific unused test or debugging map from a GameCube game. Below is a table listing the test map names and the game they come from.

Each line in the second subpuzzle asks a question about items or trivia regarding the specified test level. The answer is always a number between 1 and 26 or a single letter. To extract we convert the numbers from 1 to 26 to letters and read in order of the questions given. Most of these questions can be answered through careful viewing of YouTube videos that walk through the test levels. There is also a site called noclip that renders the debug levels for some of the above games in our browser and lets us explore the level freely. The answer to each question and the extracted letter is shown in the table below.

Once we've identified all these games we need to figure out how many memory blocks each game uses up for a save file. There are various sites and forums that list inaccurate information unfortunately. The icon hints at how we can verify we have the right number. The back of each game's cover has a memory card icon identical to the one shown in the puzzle. Instead of question marks the required number of memory blocks is displayed. As an example, here is the back of the cover of Super Mario Sunshine.

So to figure out the number of memory blocks each game uses, we can search up the back of each game's cover and read off the number of memory blocks. There are also a couple sites that accurately list the number of memory blocks required based off of the game's back cover. Two such sites that we could reference are the specs section of MobyGames or GameSpy. To extract we convert the number of memory blocks used for each game alphanumerically into letters. The table below shows the number of memory blocks each game uses and the corresponding extracted letter.

Thus the third subpuzzle has answer MATERIAL STORAGE.

The fourth subpuzzle shows us a series of images and quotes missing a word. Most of the images are fairly nondescript. We might try reverse image searching some of these images and realize that the second image is a frame from a Zelda commercial. It turns out that all of these images are frames from GameCube game commercials. If we listen to the commercials we'll hear the quotes in them and can fill in the missing word. The quotes are fairly short and the missing word is always last, suggesting that the length of each quote is significant. Indeed, to extract we index into the missing word by the number of words in the corresponding quote. The data for this subpuzzle is summarized in the table below.

Thus the fourth subpuzzle has answer WITTY COMMERCIAL.

The fifth subpuzzle consists of pixel art of what look to be various GameCube components. We probably can recognize the GameCube controller and the WaveBird wireless controller. Depending on our knowledge of GameCube games we may also recognize the Donkey Kong bongos and DDR dance pad. Most likely we will need to do some searching in order to figure out what is depicted in the other images. Also of note is that each image has a black pixel in the top left corner. Since these images are presented in pixel art format the individual pixels may be important. Opening up each image in an image editor and inspecting the top left black pixel reveals that they are actually not pure black. Instead their hex color codes are numbers between 1 and 26 when converted to decimal numbers. Converting these hex values to letters gives us the phrase DOL MODEL NUMBERS.

If we look up DOL model numbers related to the Nintendo GameCube, we will find that official Nintendo released GameCube hardware have model numbers that are prefixed by DOL (short for "Dolphin"). There are exactly 26 hardware components ranging from DOL-001 to DOL-025 followed by DOL-101. One such site that catalogs this information accurately is MiragePalace. Now that we know exactly what components we are looking for, it is easier to match up the pixel art images with the hardware components. To extract we convert the DOL model numbers alphanumerically to letters. Below is a table summarizing the hardware components, their DOL model number, and the extracted letter.

Thus the fifth subpuzzle has answer EXPO BONUS DEVICE.

The sixth and final subpuzzle appears to be traced images of video game covers. However none of the well-known GameCube games seem to have covers that match the given images. If we look a bit more closely we may notice that all the traced images have a box in the top right whereas the typical game covers we look up do not. This is a regional difference in GameCube cover images. Japanese GameCube games have covers that display the GameCube name and logo in a box in the top right whereas American and European game covers have a centered circular region that displays the GameCube name and logo. Once we notice this we might start looking at Japanese only GameCube games. Indeed if we pull up game covers for Japanese only GameCube games we can soon start to match the covers. The red circle in each of the images in the puzzle line up exactly with an English letter on the corresponding game cover. The table below lists the names of each game and the traced image overlaid on top of the video game cover.

Thus the answer to the sixth subpuzzle is CAN'T PASS CUSTOMS.

As we solve the various subpuzzles we may notice that each answer is exactly 15 letters long. The only information we are given in the meta is a screenshot of something related to the GameCube. This screenshot is the beginning of the startup animation for the GameCube. The startup animation consists of a purple cube rolling 15 times to draw out the GameCube logo. In the meta, there are dice pips on each face of the cube and given the 3 faces visible, we can infer the orientation of the dice at each point in the GameCube startup animation. More specifically, we can figure out which face of the die is "upwards" at each point in the startup animation. To extract, if the Nth face is facing upwards at the Mth point in the startup animation, the Mth letter in our answer is the Mth letter from the Nth subpuzzle's answer. This information is summarized below with the extracted letters in bold and the "upwards" die face in the first row.

135423512651365
CONSOLEBRAGGING
UNPLAYEDLOCALES
MATERIALSTORAGE
WITTYCOMMERCIAL
EXPOBONUSDEVICE
CANTPASSCUSTOMS

Thus we extract the clue CAPTAIN BLUE GAME which gives us the answer to this puzzle: VIEWTIFUL JOE.