Our chatroom is one of the most active parts of the Planet GameCube community. Inside, we talk about not only Nintendo releated stuff, but any other non-gaming stuff that's on our minds. Also, on Friday nights, there's PlanetTrivia, the longest-running event of its kind.

Many people access PlanetChat through Java client. This is good for many people that can't access chatrooms by other means, and it's very convienent for people who just want to drop by once in a while. However, it also has its disadvantages. You can only talk in one chatroom on one server at a time. The Java client really eats up your system's resources, using a lot of memory and CPU time, making it an inefficent way of chatting. It also hurts the site, chewing up bandwidth that could be better used for reporting news or showing off screenshots.

Because of the prominent disadvantages that using Java causes, we recommend using an IRC client to chat. IRC stands for "Internet Relay Chat," and it does exactly what it sounds like it should do. It's a program that allows you to chat with others, much like Java can, except that since it's its own dedicated program, as opposed to an open internet browser window, you can simultaneously surf the internet and chat, unlike Java where you're either chatting or surfing.

All the PGC staff uses an IRC client, because of the ease of use and convience of it being in a dedicated window. Since you want to be cool like us, doesn't it make sense for you to use one too?

Well, it's really quite easy to setup. First things first, you're going to have get your hands on an IRC client. We recommend using mIRC, the #1 IRC client out there. To grab it, simply go to their website, http://www.mirc.com, click on the "Download mIRC" link on the left, choose any download site (they all carry the exact same program), and download. (1.2 MB) Then, click on the program after downloading, install it like any other program, then read the next page to find your way to PlanetChat!