The Ultimate Nintendo Console

Ngamer writes "Logan West, a member of a fanatical group of gamers known as "The Elite," recently created a Nintendo fan's ultimate dream: his Nintendo Entertainment Console is a composite of the NES, SNES, N64, GC, and Gameboy, all combined into a single system! With no shortage of electrical/carpentry ability, Logan carefully dissected his consoles, wired them to a central unit, then crafted a wooden vessel to host all five systems as one. Logan has already gotten a response from Nintendo after submitting his creation to them--they were quite impressed!"

Comments

Capability?

[mfh]

> ...a composite of the NES, SNES, N64, GC, and Gameboy, all combined into a single system!

Yes, but can it run Doom 3??

Re:Capability?

[foidulus]

No, but it can run Linux

Re:Capability?

[Jerf]

Well, it run several incarnations of Doom 1 and Doom 2:

• Dooms 1 and 2 for the GBA
• Doom "64" for the N64 (neither 1 or 2, so lets call it 1.5)
• Super Nintendo Doom (~ equivalent to Doom 1)

So if I'm doing my math right, this should support Doom 5.5.

(What, you say it doesn't work that way...?)

Re:Capability?

[abaynes]

ha.

Re:Capability?

[Antarius]

Nah, but by some fluke (some refer to it as the "1 Million Monkies Theory"), when you power all of these devices at the same time, it plays Duke Nukem Forever!

Re:Capability?

[NanoGator]

"Yes, but can it run Doom 3??"

Has Doom3 been announced for the GC?

Re:Capability?

[sirGullible]

well...isn't doom3 also native for linux?
so maybe its possible to coax doom3 into running on a gamecube, through some forgotten dark arts.

Re:Capability?

[Afrosheen]

Has anything new or cool been announced for the GC?

*ducks*

Yeah yeah, I'm under the bridge today, pay the toll.

Re:Capability?

[NanoGator]

"Doom 3 on nintendo? ... nah too gory."

That's so... 1991.

Re:Capability?

[msh104]

even IF the goddamn would have been fast enough, there is still a PowerPC cpu in it, so it would be way hard to get the "linux" version to run on it. (you need cpu emulation because pc linux doom III uses x86). the "best" chance would be to run mac os under the linux gamecube edition using something like www.maconlinux.org and running the "when it's done" mac version of doom III under that. but all the files would have to come from a network server since the gamecube lacks a harddisk, but that should be doable using nfs or simulair. anyway, it will look g33k if you get it running, but it will be darn slow and probably not the worth the time and money.

Epa!

[Chess_the_cat]

That thing looks positively retarded.

Re:Epa!

[Solder Fumes]

Agreed, that's pretty bad. And if you read the article, Nintendo wasn't actually impressed, instead saying that they could not condone such a project due to the bypassing of the Class 1 laser safety interlock.

Re:Epa!

[Jahf]

I kinda like it, could be done a bit better in places, but not bad at all. Sure looks better than having all of those systems on a shelf with cables and whatnot everywhere.

It could use:

* grabhandles on the top

* wheels

* a projector in the back

* a generator

Once you have those mods, it's time to go camping and see what happens when people see you playing games on a 60' rock embankment.

Oh yeah.

Re:Epa!

[foidulus]

Heh, till the people who went camping to get away from electronics "accidentally" toss it off the embankment. Gravity can do terrible things to a gamecube....

Re:Epa!

[Elendur]

From my reading Nintendo was in fact impressed but didn't want to promote the project for the reason you stated.

From the article:

As an added note, I did send something similar to this to Nintendo of America and got a response back which said that it was very neat that I could develop something like this, but they could not host it in their magazine for the following reason: Namely that the Nintendo GameCube has a Class I laser housed inside a Class I case and if the mechanism is bypassed that prevents operation of the laser while the lid is open, then potential eye damage is probable. They didn't want to give anyone the idea to take apart a GameCube and damage their vision.

Re:Epa!

[Solder Fumes]

They said it was neat that he could develop something like that. And then they gave a reason, Class 1 laser safety interlock bypass, which is later proved in this thread to be bogus.

Re:Epa!

[Megane]

Yeah, it does look kind of silly, but I did think it was pretty clever how he put two of the systems on the sides. I wouldn't have thought of that. I'll just stick with my SNES+Tri-Star combo under my TV along with my N64, GC, GBA, PS2, and DC.

Re:Epa!

[Netaku]

Yes. Jesus, he took out the guts from the consoles and put them in a shitty, bulky, ugly wodden case. Wheee. Good job taking a good idea and fucking it all up.

Re:Epa!

[grepistan]

that explains it, I was wondering what that was about. Too late, tho, as it has already been marked as flamebait for some reason... thanks for the info!

Heh

[Anonymous Coward]

My ultimate Nintendo console does all that and it's called a Power Macintosh.... [i]if you get my drift here[/i]

Seriously though the Gamecube is about the ultimate Nintendo console, stick in a GBP and between ports, GBA ports, and Animal Crossing w/Action Replay you can play a really big hunk of Nintendo. In particular a Gamecube with GBP is capable of playing every single Zelda game ever made*

* Not counting the Phillips CD-I titles. Which you shouldn't.

Re:Heh

[TechniMyoko]

* Not counting the Phillips CD-I titles. Which you shouldn't.

Lol, ain't it the truth

Re:Heh

[TigerDragon]

In particular a Gamecube with GBP is capable of playing every single Zelda game ever made* Really? When did Nintendo release Zelda II for the Game Boy? The original was recently released along with other classic NES titles, but I don't remember seeing the second one.

Re:Heh

[lightcycle]

One of my friends has a Gamecube disc containing Zelda 1, 2, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, along with a trailer for Windwaker. He got it when he signed up for membership in the Nintendo club of Sweden, so yes, you can play Zelda 2 on a Gamecube.

Re:Heh

[TigerDragon]

Thanks. Now I'm jealous :) I didn't know they made that disk.

Re:Heh

[Stuart Gibson]

eBay :)

I got my copy of the Zelda retrospective disc there for about UK£12. Coupled with the Gameboy Player (UK£25) I can basically play every (Nintendo) Zelda game there is on the TV.

Next step is to find a cheap 3DO for the dire Zelda games released on that patform.

Stuart

Re:Heh

[Zangief]

I don't think you have a computer powerful enough to emulate a GC (or Xbox, or even playstation2), in any playable way (no, 5fps doesn't cut it.

Re:Heh

[syntax]

Nintendo had deal last Winter where if you bought either 2 specified Nintendo games (I got mine with FF:CC and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga) -or- if you bought a new Gamecube in that period -or- if you signed up for Nintendo Power, you would get a disc with Zelda 1, 2, OoT, and MM.

Collector's Promo Disc

I have one too

[SpooForBrains]

I made myself one of those too, and very effective it is too.

For anyone else who wants one, what you do is, you walk down to your local furniture store and buy what we in England like to call a "shelf".

Re:I have one too

[BagOBones]

Your's probably looks better and takes up less space.

Re:I have one too

[bs_02_06_02]

That thing is huge! In fact, it's so big I think if you just added a glass top, you could call it a coffee table.

Oh, before you think about putting wheels on it, you might ask the police if they'll tag you for not having license plates on the thing.

Does it have its' own chair?
How about air conditioning?

Love

[FractusMan]

That is quite possibly the sexiest piece of mahogany I have ever seen.

Re:Love

[spinlocked]

Sadly there's no such thing as mahogany any more. Not growing at least. It's one of the reasons Chippendale furniture is so jolly expensive.

Re:Love

[secolactico]

Dang, I didn't believe you at first, but after some googling, I found out your are correct.

While not yet extinct, it's almost there. Almost makes me feel bad for putting all that wooden furniture my grampa/grandma left me in a storage.

We are truly killing this planet(*)... not that I'm doing anything to prevent it. :-(

(*) In a manner of speaking. As George Carlin said, the planet isn't going anywhere... we are.

Re:Love

[Sporkinum]

Looks like cedar to me. It will smell good and keep moths (bugs?) away.

Re:Love

[SharkJumper]

Bit of an exaggeration, there.

For those basement-dwelling geeks who don't occasionally get up to the garage/shop, Honduran Mahogany (aka Genuine Mahogany, aka Swietenia Macrophylla) has some properties that make it incredibly desirable to the consumer as well as the woodworker. It naturally darkens with age. It has tight, smooth grains which make it easy to turn and carve, but it is hard enough to make sturdy furniture out of. Because of this, much of the wild-growing Honduran Mahogany from Central and South America was consumed and shipped worldwide. However, there are still many countries who have a bit more restraint. There are huge sustainable Honduran Mahogany plantations.

Also, there are several species of wood which have begun to replace its use including African Mahogany (Khaya ivorensis).

Of course, all that being said, it is still difficult and expensive to obtain Honduran Mahogany. And Chippendale furniture is jolly expensive.

But it's not quite the case that "there's no such thing as mahogany any more. Not growing at least." It grows. Not so much in the wild, any more. Of course that will just be nitpicking to some people.

Re:Love

[l4m3z0r]

There are still Mahogany trees, even the true Honduras type. If you would like to purchase some there is a tree farm in Costa Rica that sells them and provides growing services. They cost $3,517 per 100 trees.

Dealing with heat?

[chrispyman]

While that is quite an awesome beast, how does it deal as far as heat output. While I know the NES, SNES, and GB probably don't put out much of any heat, I'd imagine the N64 and GameCube would. Without any ventilation (being a wooden box and all), couldn't you meltdown you N64 and Cube?

Re:Dealing with heat?

[solive1]

You'll notice [See Picture] that I have all the power switches and reset buttons in an easy to access position right on top if this system, that fifth switch over on the far right is for my monster DC fan. I'm certain that I don't need a fan half this size with all the space inside this box, but you know boys, they love their fans!

That's how.

Re:Dealing with heat?

[slashrogue]

Wellll... if you RTFA he says he has a huge ass fan in there but apparently with the space inside of the... contraption he's put together he hasn't found a need for it.

I might just be nostalgic

[Joe Tie.]

But the look brought back a lot of memories of my old atari 2600! When it comes to visual design I don't know if I'd qualify that as a good thing, but it was still a bit neat in a way.

Re:I might just be nostalgic

[Dogtanian]

But the look brought back a lot of memories of my old atari 2600!

Going by the size of the thing, I'd say it's more likely to bring back memories of ENIAC.

Class 1 Laser, eh?

[casuist99]

the Nintendo GameCube has a Class I laser housed inside a Class I case and if the mechanism is bypassed that prevents operation of the laser while the lid is open, then potential eye damage is probable. They didn't want to give anyone the idea to take apart a GameCube and damage their vision.

Well, drawing upon the definition of class 1 lasers, we can see that:

No individual, regardless of exposure conditions to the eyes or skin, would be expected to be injured by a Class I laser. No safety requirements are needed to use Class I laser devices.

It is neat that they replied with a non-canned response, but it was total BS. You don't have anything to worry about with this laser, and they just don't want to encourage people to modify their products like this for some reason.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[fejes]

This just gets my imagination going... wouldn't it be cool to have this unit do a laser show too? Just point it at the wall, and not only can you play all your favorite games, your cat can enjoy it too!

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[casuist99]

Some extra checking shows that they might not be totally full of shit. Wikipedia discusses Laser safety and mentions that a laser may be defined as a class I laser system if there is an interlock preventing exposure with the laser. It's not obvious that's what Nintendo meant to say, but it's possible the laser is actually class II but the interlock makes it class I. Or it's still possible the laser itself is class I and there's nothing to worry about. Either way, I think they should have published the photos.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[Jahf]

To be honest, the person who wrote the response probably doesn't have a clue that this is BS.

In fact, their lawyers probably make them state this even if it isn't true just to cover their butts from a lawsuit. And the lawyers are probably correct to do so since for the price of a few extra micrograms of ink they can insulate themselves from yet another silly lawsuit.

So BS, yes, but in the end not Nintendo's fault.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[Grey Ninja]

Actually, I've written to Nintendo a number of times, and I have NEVER gotten a canned response.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[gl4ss]

*No safety requirements are needed to use Class I laser devices.*

normally you wouldn't be able to hurt yourself with a class I device because it won't operate when open, hence you don't need special training to use a cd player.

(however, i think it's quite unlikely anyways to hurt yourself as it's focused very near..)

a definition I digged up goes something like this "Class 1 Laser devices are not considered to be hazardous when used for their intended purpose.", intended purpose is the key.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[Sonicated]

Wikipedia also goes on to say:

"class II: the blinking reflex of the human eye will prevent eye damage"

So as long as you blink you're ok ;)

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[DNS-and-BIND]

Lasers are hazardous, and ignoring common hazards is a hallmark of amateur design.

He needs to put this sticker on the outside of the unit: "WARNING! DO NOT LOOK AT LASER WITH REMAINING EYE".

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[casuist99]

You're assuming the laser emits radiation in a visible wavelength. Some CD player lasers user IR laser diodes which could POTENTIALLY damage your vision without any perception that the laser was on. But yeah, you'd probably be fine.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[sploxx]

I think this says it all: .. Class I laser housed inside a Class I case..

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[Monkelectric]

I once had this CD player I took apart which said inside, "If you can read this you are being exposed to low level radiation." Not quite sure how that works when it was off ... but nevertheless

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[Jeremy Erwin]

The Nintendo Gamecube uses a 0.8 mW, 668 nm semiconductor laser, with a 0.6 numeric aperture

source (lengthy pdf)

Class I lasers are limited to 0.4 mW. sourceThe Gamecube laser would be a class II device, were it not for the safety interlock. OSHA explains

Since lasers are not classified on beam access during service, most all Class I industrial lasers will consist of a higher class (high power) laser enclosed in a properly interlocked and labeled protective enclosure. In some cases, the enclosure may be a room (walk-in protective housing) which requires a means to prevent operation when operators are inside the room.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[binarybum]

hmm, unless your CD player doubled as a smoke detector and it was referring to ionizing radioactive decay from a small piece of Americium.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[Jeremy Erwin]

A little vague and uncertain, aren't you? The laser's specifications are disclosed in the gamecube's manual. From those specifications, you can deduce the expected health effects.

By the way, the gamecube's laser produces visible light. (668nm)

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[alienw]

Almost any laser can damage your vision. Even a laser pointer-class laser is several times brighter than the sun when focused. However, it won't damage your eyes unless you act like a total idiot and stare into it. In any case, putting lots of BS or non-BS warnings on a DIY project is commonly referred to as "covering your ass" and is done by many people, mainly to avoid getting sued.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[scarolan]

In other words,

"Do not look directly into laser with remaining eye."

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[ttrafford]

Your quote is wrong. It is a Class II laser inside a Class I case.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[ttrafford]

hmmm, or not. Google cached version of that text appears to be different.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[Moridineas]

If you had actually read the article (too much to ask, I know..) you would have seen that the author wrote:

All I did with the GameCube is unscrew the case and remove the top housing. The rest of it is fairly well screwed together except for that front plate which is held on by a cable and two little plastic clips. I also removed the back plastic panel, though it's not really necessary. The usual lid has a small arm that comes down and presses against two switches when the lid is closed, if the switches are not pressed down the GameCube will not operate. That was easy to bypass (just tied them down) but this means that the system can run even with the lid open, which is potentially dangerous with a Class II laser inside. Just beware that eye damage can be sustained if operated with the lid open.

Class II.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[casuist99]

he's not internally consistant with his page. The quote in the original post is a direct copy and paste. Also, yes, we've determined it's class II, but you've really got nothing to worry about since, as another poster pointed out, it's a red laser of less that 1mW. It's Nintendo covering their ass and a lot of /.'ers not seeing the point of my original post. It's nintendo covering their ass, but there's very little to worry about and it was just some lame-ass excuse to not publish the project.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[Analogy Man]

I actually found it refreshing that Nintendo didn't spout some nonsense about his hack being illegal and sending a lawyerly letter to pull his site down.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[lachlan76]

Ok, I'll explain this all now:

• Class 1: Cannot come into contact with you (interlock)
• Class 2: Cannnot do anything before you notice it and get it out of your eyes ( less than 5mW )
• Class 3a: Fairly Dangerous ( less than 10mW )
• Class 3b: Very dangerous - stay away ( less than 500mW )
• Class 4: RUN!!! ( above 500mW )

And the thing you have to be careful about with CD lasers is that they are IR, sou you can only just see them, and by the time you notice anything, the damage has been done. DVDs use red lasers (???), so they wouldn't be as bad (you can see them), but remember, it's focussed into a very small area.

Re:Class 1 Laser, eh?

[hesiod]

> the Nintendo GameCube has a Class I laser housed inside a Class I case

Copied & pasted from the article (well, the google cache of it):
> Namely that the Nintendo GameCube has a Class II laser housed inside a Class I case

I don't know the difference between Class I & Class II lasers, but I assume there is one, probably significant.

Ummm OK

[Prince Vegeta SSJ4]

I don't intend to be overly critical, but that thing looks like he put all of the systems into one box, and just combined the video outputs. (i know the voltages and power supplies et all). But I thought I was gonna see some streamlined piece of beauty and not a behomoth of a monster. Got to give him some props though for doing this.

Re:Ummm OK

[real_smiff]

difficult to make it much tighter given the size of the motherboards and the fact that you must be ablet get carts/discs in&out, you could squeeze them in a little harder (b**ger getting them in and out then) and use a thinner material for the case, but that's about it unless anyone has a brainwave? of course Nintendo, with the designs and money to burn could shrink them all onto one board but that's way beyond what a hobbyist can do - maybe this'll give N an idea for us nostalgia freaks, hehe :p

Re:Ummm OK

[real_smiff]

yeah, what's with that awful name, almost so bad it's good - irony or something? it's a bunch of guys who play Goldeneye and PD, apparently. "known as The Elite" or they call themselves the elite.. whatever, being linked to really made their day.

Re:Ummm OK

[squaretorus]

Quite - you can tell this thing is awful as no on so far down this thread has created a mirror. Never a good sign.

His carpentry isnt even up to scratch. He could have really gone to town with an ingenious design here, he probably started down that line and just thought 'fuck it - I'll shove em in a big box'

MythTV

[john_smith_45678]

Couldn't you have the same sort of thing, plus a whole lot more, with MythTV? Doesn't MythTV have emulators for all those platforms?

Re:MythTV

[drinkypoo]

Gamecube emulation is very much in its infancy and N64 emulation is still kind of spotty. You can emulate the NES and SNES very well, though.

Re:MythTV

[JamesKPolk]

1. Emulation doesn't get you the original controllers

2. Emulation doesn't get you your saves on your real cartridges

3. Emulators of many systems only gets the games playable. It doesn't get you perfect sound and picture of the original.

Re:MythTV

[bogie]

" 1. Emulation doesn't get you the original controllers"

Not always an issue. A Dual Shock is IMHO the greatest consoel controller ever made. I have no problems playing Atari,Gensis,SMS, NES,SNES, N64 etc games all on a joystick that I'm comfortable with. Why would I want to suffer with those old Atari joysticks? Sorry but I did enough of that 20 years ago.

"2. Emulation doesn't get you your saves on your real cartridges."

And you would want this because? With an EMU you can save whenever you want if that's you thing.

"3. Emulators of many systems only gets the games playable. It doesn't get you perfect sound and picture of the original."

Actually for many older console systems you do get perfect sound and picture. Have you looked into Emulated gaming recently? There are a ton of really good emu's out there and even the oldest systems have new emulators coded for them now and then.

Plus with Emulation you don't have to keep 20 consoles around cluttering up your livingroom. The cartridges don't have to be cleaned, you won't wear the parts out, and you don't have to spend huge amount of money on games. I say this as someone who grew up with Atari, NES etc and I own a bunch of console systems and I won't be getting rid of any time soon. IMO Emulation is simply more practical and a better solution. Remember, its the games and gaming that matter, not the screws, chips, and solder that are holding the systems together. The games need to survive, the actual hardware which will become rarer and rarer and more likely to stop working doesn't.

btw my preferred setup is currently MHTPC which serves as a fantastic front end for all my console and arcade gaming needs.

Re:MythTV

[JamesKPolk]

It's rare that an emulator even gets the sound and picture right for the NES! XMESS isn't close yet, for example.

Plus, you can't even accurately emulate all the games.

Re:MythTV

[Senjutsu]

The NES is, as far as I know, at this time more or less perfectly emulated

The SNES is mostly perfect, although I can think of a few games that are fairly glitchy on all the emulators I've tried.

The N64 emulators still have some issues with a number of games.

The GameCube isn't remotely close to having a playable emulator for it. Period.

So no, in absolutely no sense could you possible do all of this with MythTV. It's not even close.

Re:MythTV

[Jagasian]

If you think that the dual shock is the best gamepad ever made, then you must have never used the official SNES gamepad... which has the best directional pad ever. Sure the dual shock has analog and vibrating feedback, but when it comes to digital controlled games (NES, Gameboy, SNES, Genesis, etc)... the SNES gamepad wins.

Also, on the topic of emulation accuracy. The NES is probably the most accurately emulated console to date (check out FCE Ultra). However, the SNES emulators still have a ways to go... yes even ZSNES and SNES9x have trouble correctly emulating popular SNES games such as Super Mario Kart.

So basically, don't throw away the real thing just yet. Emulation will be the future for classic console gaming, but until emulation accuracy improves and quality retro-like USB gamepads are produced... you are better off playing on a real SNES or NES.

Not to mention the fact that my SNES is completely solid state and consumes very little power compared to a PC capable of emulating the SNES at full speed.

Re:MythTV

[fwitness]

Just in case you're thinking of doing it, MythTV is an excellent project. I just bought a Shuttle case and have MythTV running very nicely.

However, the emulator plugin MythGame has literally zero documentation and has a lot of weird issues which result in a lot of forum combing. As an example, the setup requires setting up many different paths for the different emulators. Well, do you specify path with the / or without? Just guess because some work some ways and others work others. Oh did I say path? Well guess what it *means* file.

It's been 3 weeks since I started playing with MythGame and I still can't get it to find any of my roms for any emulator.

Oh, and 'contact the author' is pretty much out, because finding him is extremely difficult and I don't think he replies very much from what I've heard. He started a great project but others will need to continue it. I'm looking at the sources as we speak. :)

You have been warned.

Re:MythTV

[john_smith_45678]

Yep, I'm thinking about setting up a MythTV box.

The MythTV project would probably love to have any documentation you might be willing to contribute related to MythGame (or anything else for that matter).

Re:MythTV

[real_smiff]

i'll go futher than that.. if it's so hard to get the NES right (and it is), the more advanced systems (we're not talking a bit more advanced either, even a SNES is much much more complex than a NES to emulate) will probably never be done perfectly. So yeah, it depends whether "playing most of the games alright" outweighs the convenience factor for you or not. for me it does, but there's a lot to be said for 'backup' units.// most serious gamers swear by them over f***ing around with emulators. even now. so back to this guys sticking all the original hardware in a box - yeah there's a point. i just wouldn't do it.

Re:MythTV

[number]

Actually it's tending towards the opposite direction - as older consoles were less powerful, every last cycle had to be squeezed out of the CPU, along with every last little hard-to-predict nuance of the PPU itself. This makes the games much more susceptible to slight variations in the timing of emulated instructions/interrupts.

As consoles get newer, more and more work is done in high-level development environments (somewhat with the SNES, almost all with the generation of consoles that followed) so that emulators have more leeway and more forgiving games. Heck, with new consoles like the N64, Playstation and even the Gamecube, you can recompile the game's assembly code into native x86 assembly (thus throwing off the timing) and reroute the graphics calls to DirectX, yet still have most games work properly, thanks to more modern, frame-skip-tolerant written-in-C-or-C++-with-frameworks console games.

Re:MythTV

[thrash242]

I agree, but I don't think he's planning on throwing the real thing away, rather, keeping it preserved and playing emulated games day-to-day. One day the games and consoles will be rare and you don't see record collectors playing rare vinyl all the time, do you?

Personally, I hate to see old consoles, arcade machines and the like torn apart to make various things. I just think that a better idea would be to build a dedicated Nintendo emulator machine rather than hacking Nintendos together like this.

Re:MythTV

[XMyth]

Nesticle and another one I can't think of ATM emulate 90+% of all NES games flawlessly....

ZSNES and Snes9x as well as far as SNES games go.

Re:MythTV

[real_smiff]

yeah, you're not wrong, but it comes back to how fussy you are about the "real thing" issue that some people seem to get very anal about. witness the scanlines debates, filtering, and so on, some people will purposefully turn down options to give a more authentic experience.. i'm just happy for the games to look & sound as good as possible, but there's a significant number of people who played the originals who will notice every little thing that's 'wrong'.. and these are the poeple still messing with old consoles.. but yes arguably the SNES generation are the hardest to emulate because they were (and probably always will be) the most complex systems ever to use almost exclusively low level programming, custom chips in carts, direct hardware access, exploiting bugs for effects, and so forth.. but i have a feeling even if you get The Perfect Emu, you'll have people swearing on the Real Thing instead.. it's like Audiophiles or something. whatever floats your boat.

Re:MythTV

[staticdaze]

http://www.dreamcliff.com/personal/daniel/jump/spe cs.htm I currently have the 4 port version with an official NES and official SNES controller hooked up. What more do you need? ps - apparently there is a SNES USB adapter now, but it wasn't around when I got this. Check it out http://www.jandaman.com/games.mvc?p=snesusb&Catego ry_Code=PC

Re:MythTV

[JamesKPolk]

zsnes and snes9x are playable, but the graphics and sound aren't perfect.

Yes, it matters if you're one who really appreciate the graphics and sound of the games.

Re:MythTV

[JamesKPolk]

Sure, it'd be nice to have perfect emulation, but at present it's more likely that a picky fan of the old games can simply buy replacement consoles and games if they break, than to read the NES-related patents, reverse engineer what's not documented, then write a perfect emulator.

Worse, that would have to be re-done for every console in the unit. Don't forget that the unit in the article has more than the NES and SNES.

Re:MythTV

[Polymorph2000]

"Actually for many older console systems you do get perfect sound and picture."

Emulating the sound of older game consoles can be a problem. It's the newer ones (SNES and up) where it get easier. Have you actually playing an emulated NES or Genesis game with the sound on? It sounds terrible (especially the genesis, NES might have improved lately) and far from the audio on the real console.

Re:MythTV

[thrash242]

Well, I agree that emulation is not yet perfect, but it's getting better. My main point was that having a multi-emulator box would be better than having a Franken-tendo. Even better would be having all the Nintendo consoles (which I do).

There are already quite good emulators for NES and SNES. As far as I know there are N64 emulators out there, but I've never tried one. I like having emulators, but I also like having the actual consoles. Emulation is more useful with arcade games, since having 5000+ arcade games (that's how many MAME ROMs I have) would be insanely expensive and would require several large warehouses to store. It would probably take the rest of your life (if not longer) to track down all those games in decent condition. Aquiring Nintendo systems and games isn't too hard or expensive, these days, so I'd rather have the originals as well.

My other point was that emulation, once it get better, might be a better way to play aging games which will eventually wear out. I'm sure one day there'll be a market for rare old game like there is for other items of nostalgia today. I wouldn't be surprised if record collectors store their rare records and rarely use them, but listen to MP3 copies of them regularly.

Re:MythTV

[JamesKPolk]

Well, record collectors have the luxury of not having to worry about imperfect emulation.

I just replaced my broken NES, and have it alongside an SNES, Sega Master System,a Playstation 2 (For Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, and Mega Man), and a Game Boy Advance. Being able to have everything plugged into the television with one pair of wires, and plugged into the outlet with one cord, would be VERY convenient for me.

I handle the controller mess now by putting away the ones I'm not using, but there's no getting around the RCA jack and outlet headaches.

Re:MythTV

[Echnin]

NESten, maybe? FCE Ultra? Nesticle is way old, and is not really recommended as far better emulators have eventually come out. Though even the NESten creator admits it's not perfect; "nesten" means "almost" in Norwegian. One emulator, however, Nestopia, is pretty much perfect, though. So perfect it won't run smoothly on iBook. Zophar's Domain has a huge archive of emulators for all systems. Highly recommended. For emulation on a Mac, though, EmuScene has more information.

Re:MythTV

[number]

We are getting closer though - VirtuaNES is looking great, and SnesGT looks/sounds far more authentic than zsnes/snes9x ever have for me. Heck, SNESAPU has at last managed to be a bit-exact match of the SNES digital audio output, so we already have 'perfect' sound in that case (read up on the reverse engineering that required some time!).

While it'll never be perfect, eventually those old consoles (not to mention the battery backups for save games) will die, and I'll be happy to play on with emulators. I can't really afford the alternative.

Re:MythTV

[mushroom blue]

that's okay, because if you don't like using XMESS, here's a few other NES emulators:

FCE Ultra
NEStopia
VirtuaNES
FakeNES
TuxNES
Nesti cle
NESten
iNes
FWnes
Famtasia

these are just the ones I could name off the top of my head. I'm sure one will work. in any OS you'd like, in fact.

XMESS is going to for complete accuracy over speed. unfortunately, accuracy depends on the skills of the developers, not to mention free time and motivation.

there are good emulators for just about every system, on every OS. this is not an issue. check out Zophar's Domain for a list of good emulators for every system.

Re:MythTV

[thrash242]

Well, many vinyl afficianados consider digital audio to be vastly inferior to any vinyl, much less MP3, which has a lossy compression format. It could be argued that they have imperfect "emulation" also.

I have all the Nintendo consoles and I'm going to be getting a PS2 soon. Up until this point I've been a Nintendo loyalist, but there are so many games for PS2 (and XBOX, but I'm not going that route) that aren't available for GC that I'm taking the plunge. Being able to play PS1 games is a nice motivation as well.

Re:MythTV

[XMyth]

Ahh....been a while since I've played NES games on an emu. Thanks for the clarification.

Re:MythTV

[3vi1]

> 1. Emulation doesn't get you the original controllers.

A simple google search shows there are many interfaces that do this for emulators: http://www.dreamcliff.com/personal/daniel/jump/ind ex.html for one.

Now, why the hell would you wan't to play using "authentic" controllers on a system that is not? This goes both for emulators and the frankensystem of the article.

Re:MythTV

[Zangief]

Actually for many older console systems you do get perfect sound and picture. Have you looked into Emulated gaming recently? There are a ton of really good emu's out there and even the oldest systems have new emulators coded for them now and then.

Actually, the sound emulation for snes and genesis (I am sure there are other examples), is far from perfect. Yes, it sounds good, it even may sound better after aplying some filters, but it is not the same sound you got from your snes/genesis. If you really played the original games (or if still you have the real console at your side), you can tell the diference.

(Oh man, I feel like those bastards who aren't happy with 320kbps mp3 compression!)

Re:MythTV

[Jagasian]

Like I said, emulation is the future, but at least for me and specifically the SNES, it isn't there yet. Some of the DSP games are my favorite SNES games, and they are definitely not emulated close enough.

Re:MythTV

[fwitness]

*If* I manage to do something useful, I will definetly add my contributions. As for right now, I have nothing in MythGame working. So my contribution is that earlier /. rant. For now. :)

Re:MythTV

[Jagasian]

www.tototek.com has a really nice backup unit for the SNES. It is a 64Mb flash cart for the SNES, similar to the quality Gameboy flash carts. Now you can have something damn close to the real thing, without the hassel of those noisey floppy based backup units.

Re:MythTV

[Zangief]

If you think that the dual shock is the best gamepad ever made, then you must have never used the official SNES gamepad... which has the best directional pad ever. Sure the dual shock has analog and vibrating feedback, but when it comes to digital controlled games (NES, Gameboy, SNES, Genesis, etc)... the SNES gamepad wins.

I don't think that such a thing as a perfect controller exists yet. I will name my favourites, though:

SNES original controller. Yes, it was sweet. At first the directional pad was very stiff , but after a year of Street Fighting, it reaches a very good sensibility. At the day I thought it was perfect, but nowadays, I think that the 4 main buttons (ybxa) are too separated. If you want one, I recommend you get the ones that came with the Super Nes. The ones sold separately were good only for the first years. After that, they became crap.

Genesis six button controller. Simply put, it had the best directional pad ever. From day one, through five years, it delivered the best sensibility you can get without wiring your brain. The six button layout was good for street fighter, but worthelss for anything else (althoug, I must say that few games supported it). I have heard that the Saturn controller was very similar to this one.

PSX dual shock: I think this one is the evolution of the snes pad. But the controller cross is crap (too hard on the fingers, and bad diagonals). The four main buttons (Circle, Triangle, x and square) are still too separated. And the analog sticks are bad positioned. Four shoulder buttons = genius!.

GC game controller. A great controller. The directional pad is too small, but after some practice I can even do a Final Atomic Buster in CVS2. My friends can't do that though. The Z button is ill positioned (it should be UNDER the R button). The anatomic shoulder buttons are great also, but the lack of another couple of (probably smaller) shoulder buttons hurt it. The four main button layout is PERFECT.

Xbox controller. I haven't used it, but it looks good (the S-type; the original one is too big). It has 6 main buttons, which are very close, and that is good. I have heard that it has the best analog sticks. The shoulder buttons don't look very good, but all those people using them to shoot in Halo aren't complaining (well, they complained about the size, but that it is).

Re:MythTV

[JamesKPolk]

People who like how their old records sound are capable of making lossless copies, though. "mp3" is a red herring.

Re:MythTV

[JamesKPolk]

I've tried them all and more.

Most of them just emulate the same mappers, because they have the same information available to them, so greater choice doesn't bring greater coverage. Remember that with the NES, you're not just emulating the console. You have to emulate the hardware in the cartridge, too.

The death of the cartridge was a sad day for consoles. Cheapo CDs and DVDs are slow and unexpandable. This almightly playstation 2 can't even run lowly old Chrono Trigger without regular slowdowns because the DVD can't keep up with the dedicated hardware of the old cartridge.

You also omitted nofrendo by the way, which I got involved with doing an SDL version of because it had the best sound I'd ever heard from an NES emulator.

Argh! My retina!

[BoneThugND]

Looks like he took a walk on the wild side while building it...

As an added note, I did send something similar to this to Nintendo of America and got a response back which said that it was very neat that I could develop something like this, but they could not host it in their magazine for the following reason: Namely that the Nintendo GameCube has a Class I laser housed inside a Class I case and if the mechanism is bypassed that prevents operation of the laser while the lid is open, then potential eye damage is probable. They didn't want to give anyone the idea to take apart a GameCube and damage their vision. I totally understand, but it was neat to get a response that wasn't automated! - The Story of the NEC

Controller nightmare...

[GarryOwen]

My biggest problem with having so many game systems, is that the controller wires always end up in knots. What I would love to see is a combo system that lets use just one set controllers that is switched to what ever system is currently active (like an AB switch). That being said, the woodworking is impressive, I loved the cd player top.

Re:Controller nightmare...

[chis101]

XBOX with emulators :) of course, you have to use the XBOX controller, which doesn't work quite as well as a good ol' NES controller on some games.

Re:Controller nightmare...

[svallarian]

Go wireless...

NES had a wireless 3rd party adapter
SNES had some really really crappy wireless adapters
N64 not sure
GC - Wavebird

Re:Controller nightmare...

[ryen]

man, you stole my post =)
although i would have to say the xbox controller for nes games is far superior. the buttons on the classes nes controller lie parallel with the controller, which i always thought was uncomfortable. the xbox controller has close to a 45 degree angle for the two buttons needed for nes. plus you could map any of the other 8 or so buttons to your liking as well.

Re:Controller nightmare...

[TechniMyoko]

Yeah, the XBOX controller lacks the special feature of being a brick

Re:Controller nightmare...

[xsupergr0verx]

It adds a layer of authenticity by still being uncomfortable though...

Looks like he forgot the Virtual Boy

[cpt kangarooski]

Making it, eh, okay, but hardly all that impressive.

Ive seen better

[SteveXE]

I dont remember what site i saw it on, possibly HardOCP, but it was a SNES, Genesis, N64, Gamecube, PS2, and an Xbox all inside a custom PC case it looked a 1000 times better then this and since the xbox can emulate every console before Dreamcast id wager it was way more usefull.

Re:Ive seen better

[tuffy]

and since the xbox can emulate every console before Dreamcast id wager it was way more usefull.

Every one except the Saturn, that is.

Re:Ive seen better

[SteveXE]

Someone is working on a Saturn emulator from what i hear.

Wow - That thing is HUGE!

[Virtual PC Guy]

I mean - as a gaming enthusiast I can understand the desire to combine all of these systems - but it does not look like he saved much physical space in the process.

Given the choice of having all the listed systems working in their original cases - or having all of them in one large block of mahogany that took up the same amount of space - I would have to go with leaving them alone (I personally enjoy the 'cool' factor of having mint condintion, working, old game consoles)

Re:Wow - That thing is HUGE!

[lavar78]

It's almost as big as the Xbox!

Re:Wow - That thing is HUGE!

[burns210]

Instead of a big wood box, he should have gutted an old coffee table... Heck, buying a 15 or 17 inch flat screen for the center, and you could have the games load on the front(where your knees would normally touch the table... Just find the right model/size table that has the room to hold the circui boards and hollow out (or similar) 1 leg for a single power(extension cord feeding to surge protector) and video cable and you are all set...

A coffe table would look nicer, take up less room(hardly any, since you already have the table) and have been a cooler conversation peice... Besides, the kids could be playing that while the adults are watching the news in the same room.

A better combination would be...

[twalls]

a PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and GameBoy Advance SP so that you can play every game currently on the market with one box! I'd call it the XcubeStation Advance. :)

Re:A better combination would be...

[Monthenor]

Well, every game except for Kirby's Tilt N Tumble. Good luck with that on your 50-pound hard-drive-havin' console.

Re:A better combination would be...

[Ignignot]

Or howabout BoyPubeBox? or maybe even PoxCubeBoy?

Re:A better combination would be...

[KDR_11k]

You know, instead of an Gameboy Advance you can just add the Gameboy Player to the Gamecube. That thing works with controllers, too.

Game Boy in that thing?

[Lifix]

Ok, call me crazy, but I bought a Gameboy Advance SP so I could play games when I wasn't infront of my TV. And, when I am playing games on my TV or computer, I don't want to be playing gba games. If I recall correctally, they make a thing, that you stick on the bottom of a gamecube that lets it play gba games, its probably cheaper and more effective then sticking a whole gameboy into a console.

Speaking of a gameboy in a console, how did he end up hooking it up a tv? Last time I was at best buy looking around, I didn't see any way to connect it, and I was looking for cube cables, so I believe I would have seen the adaptors if there were any.

Re:Game Boy in that thing?

[Quarters]

If I recall correctally, they make a thing, that you stick on the bottom of a gamecube that lets it play gba games, its probably cheaper and more effective then sticking a whole gameboy into a console.

Which would explain why he used the Gameboy Player for the Gamecube instead of an actual Gameboy. RTFA.

Re:Game Boy in that thing?

[PedanticSpellingTrol]

He is using the thing that sticks on the bottom of a gamecube.

Re:Game Boy in that thing?

[solive1]

On the GameCube, I wanted the GBA player so I could play ALL the Nintendo games on this system...

He did use the Gameboy Player.

Re:Game Boy in that thing?

[timmi]

Hate to be a spoil-sport, but that's exactly what he did. you can't run a gba's video signal directly to a tv.

Re:Game Boy in that thing?

[Lifix]

Ah, I did read it but I thought that he did indeed take apart a game boy. Makes much more sense now, I am going to go reread it and see where I got confused.

Thanks for pointing my mistake out.

Re:Game Boy in that thing?

[Sancho]

He never saw this, I guess. This project ALMOST looks fake, but there's a similar one that Lik-Sang sold awhile back that let you connect a GBA to a TV, but without an external controller.

pretty damn creative

[bl8n8r]

Takes a good bit of imagination.. more than I've seen in most of the posts about it.

Re:So many devices

[nkh]

Who actually owns so many Nintendo consoles?

Me! I have three NES, two SNES and a GC. Actually I've got a lot of NES because all my games were sold with the consoles.

Electrical and carpentry ability?

[Gannoc]

Hahaha. It looks like he superglued 4 consoles together and covered it in wood.

Now he has a 40lb console that would look completely awful if you actually plugged all the controllers and power supplies in.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[Bender_]

I think you caught the essentials. Its just a small step from strapping them all together with duck-tape. Its the epitome of a totally useless console mod, imo.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[DNS-and-BIND]

Like you said, "duck tape" is a misnomer and a mere brand name. Duct tape is the name of the product. In other words, the Duck Tape Company manufactures a product known as duct tape. Plenty of other uncreative individuals have made stupid, confusing names for their products, from Megahertz computers to ASCII gamepads.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[0racle]

Can't read? Here let me help.

A commercial firm has named its product "Duck Tape," harkening back to the original name for this adhesive tape...

It was originally called duck tape because of its water proofing, but has since been used in duct work, so the colour was changed and people now call it duct tape. There were two links.

Incidentally, it seems that its poor at sealing duct work. From near the bottom of this article "Duct Tape It's not for ducts any more. In fact, it never was."

Studies by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California suggest that even top-of-the-line duct tapes are poor at sealing ducts ... Clear polyester tapes with acrylic adhesives, in spite of their puny tensile strength, maintained their seals far longer than duct tape. Partly because of the Berkeley study, a California program that provides tax credits for building energy-efficient structures now prohibits the use of duct tape as a sealant, as does the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[DNS-and-BIND]

The original brand name. Duck Tape is a brand name. Duct tape is the generic term. This is the last time I will explain this.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[0racle]

And heres the last post I'll waste on you. Since you seem to be so adverse to reading, here is the short blurb in the link you seem to have trouble with:

A commercial firm has named its product "Duck Tape," harkening back to the original name for this adhesive tape (which was green), developed by Johnson & Johnson during World War II to waterproof ammunition cases. It is now usually called "duct tape," for its common use in connecting ventilation and other ducts (which match its current silver color).

There is now a company that has Duck Tape as a product name, but they named it that because thats what it was originally called before everyone, including you, got it wrong and called it duct tape.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[DNS-and-BIND]

Are we reading the same thing? It says, "JOHNSON & JOHNSON PRODUCT". It's a name brand. Duh.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[0racle]

How could 'duct tape' be the common name for a product that was called Duck tape, used for its water proofing during WW2, wasn't used in duct work till after WW2, and is apparently completely useless for duct work anyway. It was originally called Duck Tape by the creator, the fact that they also used that as a product name doesn't magically change that. 'Duct Tape' is the bastardized name of Duck Tape once it was put in a situation it shouldn't have been.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[thrash242]

It was *originally* called "DUCK TAPE". It was used by the military and called duck tape before it was ever called duct tape. Brand name has nothing to do with it. Duck tape is and was the original generic name for it.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[Belgand]

Not just wood, but, in my opinion at least, rather ugly wood. Personally the wood finish on that reminds me of these bulbous arms on the hideous sofa in my apartment right now. The one my girlfriend found two years ago after being abandoned in the storage room of the dorm.

It just looks way too 70s for my tastes. Not to mention the very, very ugly knob used to eject those gameboy cartridges.

I'd much rather just have the original consoles in my house on a shelf along with a composite switcher if I don't have enough inputs already.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[Dogtanian]

It just looks way too 70s for my tastes.

70s my ass. Looks more like a piece of valve-powered physics equipment from the 1920s or something, but not as small.

Re:Electrical and carpentry ability?

[swankypimp]

Hey, if you had every Nintendo game ever made, you would have ugly, bulbous wood also.

Nintoilet

[LGagnon]

Is it just me, or does this thing look a lot like a toilet for an outhouse?

Re:Nintoilet

[fireman sam]

I would have to agree with you. That last picture made me think. I wonder if he leaves the lid up when he is finished playing, and does his girlfriend always complain about it... What am I saying, this guy has every nintendo, he couldn't have a girlfriend.

Re:Nintoilet

[miketang16]

Yep, complete with a Gamecube "receiver".

Re:Nintoilet

[real_smiff]

ah, a Class 1 laser in your Jap's eye.

That's what Nintendo was worried about..

How about a PC running emulators?

[neuro.slug]

Aside from the GameCube, you could easily build a rather nice PC with the appropriate emulators. Heck, even an X-Box would do the job. There are nearly flawless emulators for the NES, SNES, GB, GBA, and N64. The end result would be much cleaner, and a properly configured game controller setup would make it feel like the real thing.

-- n

Re:So many devices

[mjgeiger]

I own them all too, and each system has their own classics which I go back and play every once in a while. Good old Nintendo never released anything that was backwards compatable. That is why they are still kicking around.

Re:So many devices

[aflat362]

Its very nice that your PS2 plays PS1 games. But unfortunately it doesn't play NES, SNES, N64 or GameCube games.

If you own and want to play those games. You would need that many systems.

Personally I own all of the above mentioned Nintendo Systems, the PS2, a nice Gaming PC and I have an XBox on order?

Why? Because I like video games. And there are some games that you can't get on other systems, or they just aren't as good.

Re:So many devices

[GFLPraxis]

I own every Nintendo system he used, and more :) (Gameboy, gameboy color, and gameboy advanced sp)

Well...

[Trejkaz]

I use the Xbox to play all the old Nintendo games. It might seem wrong, but I didn't have to pay $100 for a GameBoy Player either.

Re:Well...

[Jeff Reed]

Too bad the GameBoy Player costs $50.

Re:Well...

[Trejkaz]

Maybe in US dollars, it does.

Re:So many devices

[drinkypoo]

I have gb, gbc, gba, gba sp, nes, snes, gc. (I got right of my N64 because they brought out the only good games for it for gc.) I (or my girlfriend, in the case of the gbc) use all of these systems.

Nice Case

[CastrTroy]

I never understood why they didn't make nice computer cases out of wood. People have these nice solid wood desks, with leather chairs, and hardwood floors in their offices, and their computer is made out of sheet metal and plastic. I would love to get a wood, or even wood-look computer case.

Re:Nice Case

[gwoodrow]

Ask and you shall receive: Wooden computer cases

Splah-dow!

Re:Nice Case

[peteMG]

Tough call. I look around in my apartment and everything that I see made of wood is:

• big
• heavy
• more than a year old

... none of which are qualities I like to have in a piece of electronics. It's tough to make something out of wood and maintain the thin edges and the tiny buttons that are everywhere on today's gadgetry.

I'm working on my laptop on a nice wood desk right now. Underneath it, however, are two black towers taking up floorspace, a subwoofer, and, of course, the wires... A better use of space and a nice project would be to have a desk that contained a couple drawers prefitted with ATX mounts, fans, and soundproofing foam. Need another PC? Slide open an empty drawer and load in the electronics. Cables all get routed around the back and status lights get routed to some blue LED's (of course) embedded in the surface of the desk and smoothed out so they're just part of the finish.

Get Thos. Moser to build it and I'll send in a deposit today.

Re:Nice Case

[DaEMoN128]

They do make wood veneer computer cases. just go to http://www.exoticwoodcrafts.com/default.asp

Re:Nice Case

[bluekanoodle]

This doesn't look like it made of wood. Rather they took a standard antec case and put a wood veneer over the metal sides. Still kind of cool looking

Re:Nice Case

[arsheive]

While settle for just a wodden case? Luddite, "Nature's computer company" will make you a computer entirely out of natural materials.

Re:Nice Case

[Guppy06]

Because wood is a very poor conductor of heat and I'm running AMD.

Re:Nice Case

[gwoodrow]

Unfortunately, no. Apparently, the almighty god "Google" sensed your sarcastic insolence and decided to endow me with no applicable results.

:)

Re:Nice Case

[Kiryat Malachi]

If your sub ain't made of wood (well, technically processed wood, MDF generally) i.e. it's plastic, then its a really, really crappy sub.

Re:Nice Case

[Kiryat Malachi]

OK, I'd like you to conduct a small experiment.

Touch your computer case.

Now turn off your computer, and leave it off for a while. I recommend playing Gamecube to deal with the withdrawal symptoms. Touch the case again.

How different are they in temperature? Not very. Most of the heat inside of your case exits with the air, not through case heat transfer. That's why plastic computer cases are fine also - plastic sucks at heat transfer just like wood.

Re:Nice Case

[the_weasel]

I hear your complaint. Years ago, I was working at a place in Vancouver, supplying game companies and visual effects facilities with computers and software (3D Studio, Softimage, and computers to run them). Often we would also build personal computers for artists at these places.

One day I get a personal visit from an art director with one of the movies filming locally. He explains that he wants a computer with a custom case - one that will match the decor. At first I thought he was talking about a prop for the show, but eventually it became clear, he wanted a working computer that he could put in his office at home.

This was almost 10 years ago - No home computer was pretty, and most were just butt-ugly. If you could get a case in a color (other than beige), it was a shiny primary color.

This guy had dropped almost 1,000,000 dollars on his new home, and the office alone had seen over 40,000 in renovations. As he described it, he would be damned if he was then going to put feature a very ugly computer in this very attractive office.

I spent about a week looking for a source of attractive cases. There were none to be be found anywhere. So I called him back, and explained that we could do what he wanted, but the case would have to be custom fabricated, and it would be expensive as hell.

To my shock, his answer was "If it comes in under 2,000 (Can) and you can work with my designer to ensure a perfect match, that would be fine with me."

2000 Canadian for a case? SOLD. I got a deposit, and called his decorator/designer. The result of our discussions was an absolutely beautiful wooden cabinet for the computer hardware, made from the same oak that formed the desk, and the tables next to the couch he kept for clients. Total cost to my client, 1750, and I made GOOD profit.

I made 7 more variations on cases like this, mostly with the same designer but different clients. There were a couple other word of mouths too. Some were wood, and one was made from bryushed aluminium. One was built into a console radio from the late 1930's (that was my favorite)

I seriously considered going into this as a full time business. If a job had not appeared at the same time, doing something I had been dreaming of doing for years, I would have done it too.

The moral of this long tale - there is a market for well designed computer gear, but its a very small one. The vast majority of the population would be unwilling to spend the kind of money it takes to build one of these, and even the rich don't tend to see computers as furniture yet.

True custom manufactured computer cases are a novelty for people with plenty of disposable income.

Re:Nice Case

[John Courtland]

Wow, those do look very, VERY nice. I think the dark stain on some of them is really amazing looking. I never imagined a wooden computer not looking like shit.

Re:Nice Case

[Ophion]

They did make wooden computer cases (Apple I).

Re:Nice Case

[AnimeFreak]

From one Vancouverite to another, did this guy live in Kits or something? =P

Re:Nice Case

[builderbob_nz]

Me thinks you haven't seen how hot the Prescotts run, mind you I guess it would make a good smoker for a nice piece of fish.

Re:Nice Case

[flink]

I don't know, my 2 CPU rx2600 is a little toasty to the touch....

Re:Nice Case

[Kiryat Malachi]

I'd like to submit that most people who have dual CPU rx2600's that they keep in plain sight probably don't care whether or not their computer looks good.

Re:Nice Case

[the_weasel]

He lived near the near the top of the hill, in west van. Damn nice view of the city. Plenty of multimillion dollar homes up that way.

Kits is trendy, and the houses go for plenty, but the really pricy homes are on that mountain, looking down on the rest of us :->

Re:So many devices

[gknac]

i do, plus virtual boy, gameboy advanced, Gameboy SP, Playstation 1, 2 Playstation 2s, a Sega Saturn, Sega Genesis, GameGear, Dreamcast and an Atari 7800. XBrick i will never own. you could not pay me to own one of those...

Worst part... no s-video...

[Rahga]

Call me a spoiled kid with a big TV, but Nintendo's systems since SNES have had the capability to support s-video cables, and I love it on my TV. Great picture quality... Even on NES, I can't be bothered with using anything but A/V out, and have successfully rewired my Atari 2600 to support A/V cables.

As for the merits, I don't really like this mod. I wouldn't call it "The Ultimate Nintendo Console", that's for sure.

Re:Worst part... no s-video...

[DNS-and-BIND]

What would you expect from a fanatical group that gave itself the title, "The Elite"? Something less than ultimate?

Nah, all kidding aside, this is just sad people desperately trying to express themselves creatively. It should be encouraged, as I doubt they get much chance otherwise. Poor souls. I used to be just like them, and it wasn't pretty.

Re:Worst part... no s-video...

[Darth Maul]

Yeah, re-wiring the Atari for composite video and audio out (RCA-type) should be necessary for all who wish to call themselves geeks.

It was easy enough to do, and quite fun. Google for "2600 composite video" and you should be set.

Re:Worst part... no s-video...

[Guppy06]

"but Nintendo's systems since SNES have had the capability to support s-video cables,"

Only the older SNES supported S-video. The newer, smaller model (which they used) doesn't support S-video without modification. You'll note the warning if you browse to Nintendo's S-video cable in their online store.

It's kinda like the top-loading NES not supporting composite outputs, only not as stupid. :)

Re:Worst part... no s-video...

[Megane]

Yeah, re-wiring the Atari for composite video and audio out (RCA-type) should be necessary for all who wish to call themselves geeks.

Composite? A true geek would settle for nothing less than S-video from an Atari 2600. And then hook it up to a Commodore monitor.

Re:Worst part... no s-video...

[geekboy2k]

Hmm, I am not sure about that. I haven't played it in a while, but I am almost certain I use my S-Video cable with the newer, smaller unit. I will have to check when I get home...

Re:Worst part... no s-video...

[Guppy06]

It's quite possibly the most perfect piece of political satire I have ever come across. Consider the line it's lampooning and the context in which it was said:

"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?"

Its just like my dream!

[gotr00t]

After learning about the Gameboy Player that attaches to the bottom of the GameCube, I had a dream about this other attachment that allowed inserting of SNES cartridges on the left side, NES cartridges on the right side, and N64 cartridges in the middle. Technically, I believe that this is entirely possible as the GameCube has enough computing power to emulate all these systems. Except that in my dream, I could insert Sega Genesis cartridges in the back, but in reality, that would be somewhat of an oddity...

Re:Its just like my dream!

[windex]

Nintendo seems to be busy giving it to Sega for it to work the other way around. ;)

Re:Its just like my dream!

[Anonymous Freak]

Unfortunately, PowerPC and 68000 are in no way compatible. Yes, Apple transitioned their Macintosh line from the 68000 to the PowerPC, but they cheated. They wrote a 68000 emulator (it specifically emulated the 68020 with MMU,) for the PowerPC, and ran all 68000 code through the emulator. They are not compatible at all. (Motorola designed the 88000 series as IBM was designing the 'Power' series. Apple wanted a RISC processor that had the best of both lines, so they convinced the two processor compaies to make a compromise line, the PowerPC.)

And PearPC emulates a PowerPC on an x86 system. That is completely unneeded, as this already has a PowerPC. But, there should be no problem emulating the Genesis, anyway. Since a PowerPC 601 at 100Mhz outperforms a 68040 at 80MHz (the fastest 68000-series processor used in a Mac,) and I'm assuming the GameCube has something better than a PPC601, it should be more than capable.

Re:Its just like my dream!

[Anonymous Freak]

Ah, okay. Yeah, I thought you meant using PearPC code to make a Sega emulator for the GameCube. Yeah, PearPC would be useful for a GC emulator on the PC. But with the whopping performance hit PearPC causes, I don't see GC emulation anytime soon. (Because of the differences between x86 and PowerPC, it's easy for PPC to emulate x86, but hard for x86 to emulate PPC. Even the Pentium 4 and Athlon64 don't make it easy.)

Re:Its just like my dream!

[uglydude]

Get an Xbox, then mod it, then you graqb a bunch of emulators and voila! a console the emulates a bunch others. Of course the only way this isn't possible is if you live in UK.

Re:Its just like my dream!

[KDR_11k]

The Sonic Mega Collection (or something) uses a Megadrive emulator to play a lot of Megadrive games on the Gamecube. I don't know how accurate the emu is since I never payed the original versions. But there seems to be no slowdown. The Gameboy Player uses Hardware emulation, though. It has the GBA processors built in.

No, just general CYA

[Sycraft-fu]

Lasers can be dangerous, so you warn people about them. Same thing as toxicity warnings on poison. No shit, it's poison, of COURSE it's toxic, wouldn't do much good if it wasn't.

The US is just really lawsuit happy thesedays, so you cover your ass as much as possible. I mean there might be some way to injure yourself with that laser. Maybe you pump more power through it than normal and stare right at it for 5 hours. Stupid? Yes, but better the company be able to say "we told you not to do that" than to loose a multi-million dollar lawsuit over it.

Google Cache

[citking]

Google Cache, since their servers are apparently far from elite :)

Positively wretched!

[SID*C64]

Way to take a bunch of cool consoles and turn them into something that looks like a reject from Ikea!

Re:Positively wretched!

[radio.cgt]

it doesnt look flatpack enough to be ikea :D

Heres a mirror in case it needs it.

[HybridJeff]

mirror

Money

[Sycraft-fu]

Wood is expensive, even just particle board with a nice veneer on it costs far more than a plastic or metal case. Computers are expected to be cheap, and a wood case would add a significant amount to it, espically if it were something nice like solid cherry.

If you want a wood case, and are willing to drop som cash on it, find a local woodworker (they are out there, frequently they do construction jobs) and comission them. It will be expensive though.

Re:So many devices

[skurk]

I only have NES, SNES (type 1) and N64 from Nintendo, but I also have a PSX and PS2, and a Sega Megadrive.

It's not just for the games. I code a lot of stuff on the consoles (mainly the PS2 these days). It reminds me of coding on the good old C64 - you know exactly what's inside the box, no surprises ahead.

heat dissipation

[Corf]

Wood also tends to insulate much better than aluminum or even steel... which is not what you want with a stable system.

On the other hand, it strikes me that a nice wooden case would dampen sound better, so if you had half a dozen fans in it forcing air through, it might work nicely. If you wanted an expensive custom-designed job, anyway.

Re:God damn that's fugly!

[ibmman85]

it looks like it would be alot easier to clean than individual systems... i have genesis, playstation, dreamcast and n64 and it gets annoying cleaning them all...

Logan has already gotten a response from Nintendo

[Anonymous Coward]

after submitting his creation to them--they were quite impressed!"

Translation, they sent him a cease & desist letter. ;)

Re:So many devices

[skurk]

Its very nice that your PS2 plays PS1 games. But unfortunately it doesn't play NES, SNES, N64 or GameCube games.

Sure it does. At least NES, SNES (and hey, even C64)

Already been done

[JuggleNuts]

Yoshi from TechTV has already done this, and it looks a hell of a lot better. See it here.

Re:So many devices

[Kirby-meister]

The parent underestimates the fanatical console gamer :)

I own an NES, SNES, Genesis, Saturn, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Playstation 2, GameCube, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance SP, and a Neo Geo Pocket Color.

Own four controllers for all but the handhelds, multitaps where applicable. I have about 200 *legally owned* titles spanning on those machines. All but the handhelds have some kind of boot disc/mod to play imports/backups (mod chips, Game Genie made to fit any cartridge...). I've replaced the drive motors in my Saturn and my old PSX (before it got sold due to owning a PS2). I also own some flash cartridges to play around with GBA development.

It's good to own the consoles since I have the original cartridges and/or CDs, along with all the controllers and miscellaneous accessories that made the gaming experience fun (and costly :); don't have to worry about emulator incompatibilities (for example, the SNES emulators, last time I checked, STILL can't emulate that Sony sound chip 100% accurately...and don't get me started on Saturn emulation...).

Also, if you happen to know anybody selling a Virtual Boy, I'd be glad to pick it off their hands. :)

Must...have...cable...management!

[1337 Twinkie]

To be quite honest, I was expecting something more like an arcade cabinet. Oh, well, it was neat idea, but the case is horribly ugly. And I bet it would be horrendous if a decent percentage of the controllers were plugged in at once It would be way cooler with some sort of cable management system and a little door behind which to store the controllers.

On the aside, I have always wanted to take one of the three Atari 2600's I own and condense it to the size of a Nomad so I could play on the road.

Re:Must...have...cable...management!

[prockcore]

And I bet it would be horrendous if a decent percentage of the controllers were plugged in at once

Must..have..wireless..controllers.

Why anyone would use anything but wireless controllers these days is beyond me. The SNES, the N64 and the Gamecube all have excellent wireless controllers.

Re:Must...have...cable...management!

[thegoogler]

i never saw a SNES wireless controller that didn't suck, same for the n64, although the wavebird(NGC) is the best one ive ever used. also, i still dont see why he didnt just use a shuttle, after all a fast pc can emulate ANY current game system.

Re:Must...have...cable...management!

[Aggrazel]

Why use wired controllers?

Cause the wavebird doesn't vibrate, and vibrating is fun. :)

Re:So many devices

[foidulus]

Um, Gameboy advance? That is backwards compatible with gameboy. And the Japanese version of the super nintendo(super famicom) was compatible with Famicom games.

Advantage???

[Kujah]

I fail to see the advantage of his box. It weighs a ton, is really loud, and it doesn't add any functionality. You'll notice if you RTFA that he didn't actually take apart gameboy guts and stick it in his box, but rather relies on the GG's GBP to run DMG/GBC/GBA games. By combining all of Ninny's consoles together in one box he's created a bloated piece of eyecandy that has the functionality of a newt. (XBOX anyone?) I fail to see any instance in which he's used any special electrical abilities at all, and his carpentry is pretty shotty too. It would have been cooler if he had integrated the guts of his consoles into a tv - for instance - he could use the tape portion of a tv/vcr combo for the NES, and place the guts of the other consoles around in the empty space around the crt for a truely useful conglomeration. How is this stuff that matters?

Re:Advantage???

[74nova]

eh... i spose im just feeding the troll, but i really dont understand how being encased in wood would somehow make those consoles louder. i also dont understand how you can say the xbox is a bloated piece of eyecandy. wait, isnt it even supposed to be eyecandy?

Re:Advantage???

[uglydude]

Number 1. I think you wouldn't even have the technical knowledge to do something like that much less screw a screw. So shut up and stop critizicing someones ingenuity or passion into something they love just because you thought it wasn't purty. Number 2. I can do a lot more in my Xbox that you can and will never get to do on a Nintendo Gamecube. So stop flaming the box also. Number 3. This is stuff that matters, because its nerdy, its geeky and you can't buy it in Kmart.

Required Reference to AP

[D4Vr4nt]

"Mini-me.....stop humping the 'laser'.....honest to god......why dont you and giant 'laser' get a freakin room.

Dr. Evil

Translation

[ShadowRage]

We dont want to publish anything that will get us sued by dumbasses.

not as simple as whacking a big fan on it

[real_smiff]

I still think it will be unstable, possibly only showing up in long gaming sessions. the conductivity of air is much lower than aluminium, and he's removed the heatsinks from the n64 internal (CPU&RSP) and 4MB RDRAM expansion. i can tell you these get hot even with the heat sinks on (and convection flow).

So i _would_ doubt the stability of this thing.

Secondly, assuming you can get enough cooling off the surface of these chips, you have to give thought to the actual airflow inside the case, even with a big fan, with all these bits everywhere it's very possible that the air will take the path of least resistannce, there'll be dead spots and not cool the chips effectively. just my speculation, but he doesn't say whether he's tried it. Apart from this, the GCN will probably be fine 'cos he left that pretty much intact, and IIRC the NES&SNES don't produce much heat (could be wrong, been a while since i handled those).

play every game, ever made, ever

[Saeger]

An all-in-one Nintendo cabinet sounds great. The only thing missing is support for a few other classic consoles and a cheap and legal subscription to a server containing every game ROM ever made for those platforms (couple gig). Do that and then you've got yourself something!

Too bad it'll never happen, so the technically 'illegal' abandon-ware ROMS will have to do (but it's actual work collecting them).

--

Re:hmm

[Trejkaz]

The modchip was AU$40, so probably about $25 in yank dollars.

I bought the Xbox itself on rewards from my credit card for AU$250, which I guess equates to $150 in yank dollars. Of course, it was bought for the purpose of replacing my broken DVD player, not for gaming since the GameCube was doing excellently at that, but when I discovered it could fairly effectively emulate the N64 as well as the GBA and SNES, I was fairly pleased (although I really do need to find a way to use the real controllers...)

Mirror

[billatq]

I went ahead and mirrored it here.

Re:no

[Cyno01]

Except individual computer components are FCC certified, otherwise thay wouldn't be user upgradable. They sell plenty of all plastic cases.

The Response From Nintendo

[ArcticCelt]

Logan has already gotten a response from Nintendo after submitting his creation to them--they were quite impressed!"

And they answered him:

Dear Logan, We are quite impressed by your resourcefulness and ingeniousity. Its always remarkable to see that individuals with limited resources can make more original and inspiring toys than the average established big corporation. Nevertheless your limited resources guarantee us that you probably wont be able to defend correctly in court against a giant monster with unlimited legal war chest like us. For that reason we simply decided to sue you ass to the bone.

Surrender immediately (and by immediately we mean in the next 15 minutes) all the Nintendo modified material, the tools you used to do your exploit, the residence were the manipulation of our proprietary design as been done and your first new born girl.

Any attempt to delay or negotiate the terms of this request will be considered as an hostile act against Nintendo Corp. and all of is partners. We are currently seeking permission from court to shoot you on sign and this formality will be accomplish in the next minutes. Our black suited agents in black SUV's are already on their way to your home

Resistance is futile

Again, congratulation for you impressive fun home made gizmo and have a nice day. Sincerely yours.

Al Suy Ouras
Nintendo legal department director and VP of the kitties and puppies crushing department

Re:The Response From Nintendo

[neurosis101]

All jokes aside I gotta say its cool that they didn't tell him to go f himself. I mean, with all the DMCA laws and stuff its really expected they would say they're coming after him.

Re:The Response From Nintendo

[KDR_11k]

DMCA? That wouldn't hold up in court, after all this "NEC" is nothing more than a fancy case mod.

Re:So many devices

[Kirby-meister]

Quote the SNES emulator website:

Compatibility and speed are not yet 100%, but this is still very much a work in progress.

I think I'll stick with my full speed, 100% compatible SNES hardware...

hello? xbox!!

[Anonymous Coward]

how bout just get an xbox with all the emulators installed. hello? mod-spot.com

Similar mod was done

[detritus.]

A similar project was done by Yoshi on TechTV a few years back.. He combined a PC, X-Box, Game Cube, PS2, Atari 2600 and 8-Bit Nintendo all into one.

One for the crapper

[Servo]

I swear, the way he designed the box the cd access lid makes it look like an old fasion toilet.

Re:One for the crapper

[Chuck Bucket]

Agreed, it's completely horrible looking. I don't suppose a can of black paint will be used on it?

And what's with that know to open the GC door? Horrible, just horrible.

DFBCV$

"Stuff that matters" comes second

[Ngamer]

...after "News for Nerds." Which this particular article fits more or less exactly.

Here's how to get Doom 3 to run...

[OOO0000OO0O0]

...hook together an XBox, GameCube, PS2, PS1, SNES, NES, N64, Sega 16, Sega Saturn, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, Virtual Boy, Game Gear, and Nomad. A hard drive completes the collection.

Then you load a custom cartridge/CD in each system that is a fragment of the main game loop. Each console's firmware has been modified to execute things like glTriangle and stuff very efficiently (ask John Carmack to do it).

Then custom-machine a motherboard and bus that takes in the inputs from the consoles and at the same time manages them for parallel processing. A video output to the TV, connect a controller, and BAM Doom 3 on your TV!

*runs*

Re:no

[DarkMan]

Mmm, yeah. About that certification. This is technically UK based, but I belive that it's essentially the same.

The FCC certification states that the part will comply with EMI regulations, when assembled as expected. That 'as expected' is critical, but I'll come back to that.

In the UK, it is illegal to sell a computer that is not certified to meet EMI regs. There are two ways to do this - one is to test a system (expensive!), the other is to say that each part shouldn't cause a problem, and the assembly shouldn't, so it's fine (and kinda handwave passed it). Unsurpisingly, the latter is what's done.

On the 'as expected', if you dig into it, you'll find that the parts are only specified as confroming to regs when in a metal case. Basically, they haven't given them a full test (expensive!), but stuck them in a steel or aluminium box, booted it, and waved a meter around, and noted that it was under the limits.

The important point that it's illegal to _sell_ a computer that doesn't conform - so you can buy an all plastic case, and that's all fine. But you can't sell a computer in an all plastic case, unless you either test, or certify, that you have reasonable cause to belive that it meets the EMI regs. Case on its own - that' fine, not a problem (provided the power supply is either separate, or in it's own metal box (Faraday cage).

For this reason, I doubt you'll find anywhere that will sell a computer that's not in a Faraday cage (and I suspect that selling computers in a windowed case is boarderline). It's just too expensive to test, and they don't have 'reasonable grounds' to think that it will pass.

Just what we need.

[JoshRoss]

There have been too many stories here about people cramming things in a box. I want to see something new. Something like a Nintendo with a hard disk with all the games ever made for the NES on it. And, a good interface to navigate those numerous titles.

It's 668 nm, you know, RED.

[Ayanami Rei]

And at less than 1mW? That's nothing. A laser pointer is more damaging to the eye.

Re:It's 668 nm, you know, RED.

[Jeremy Erwin]

Not that a laser pointer is particularly safe.

In other news...

[OOO0000OO0O0]

Someone finds a way to get a computer, motherboard, CPU, video card, drives and all into one convenient box.

Re:So many devices

[thrash242]

I have an NES, SNES N64, Gamecube and Gameboy SP. So, uh, me. And I know several people that still have at least some of those also, if not all.

Re:Uhh..

[thrash242]

Well, you can't stack them on top of each other. The NES has a hatch that opens vertically. The SNES and N64 have top-mounted cartridges and the Gamecube has disc access on top.

I personally would (and, I do) just have all the consoles seperate rather than hacking them together. Or if I wanted a Pan-Nintendo machine, I'd build a dedicated computer with all the Nintendo emulators and keep the original consoles intact. It's a pretty neat idea, though.

Indeed

[Nurgled]

I was a little disappointed when I read what the guy had really done. He's just de-cased his consoles and put them in a big box.

I imagined some clever wiring/electronics to have all the consoles driven by one set of four controllers, with one SCART/Component output for all of the consoles, a cleverer switch setup that doesn't boil down to having one reset button for each console, etc. Now that would have been neat, although

I suppose hardcore Nintendo fans would balk at the idea of using the wrong kind of controller with the wrong game -- a Game Cube controller for the NES? NOOOOOO! I assume, also, that the GC controllers are a bit more complex than just some pushbuttons hooked up to some wires as the old controllers were. Still, it would have been cool!

Re:Indeed

[UnassumingLocalGuy]

I assume, also, that the GC controllers are a bit more complex than just some pushbuttons hooked up to some wires as the old controllers were.

Actually, the older controllers were semi-complex. All the Nintendo controllers, from the NES on up, run through a serial-type communications protocol. Not just buttons hooked to wires (like the Atari 2600 VCS and such). More information here

Re:Indeed

[glesga_kiss]

I was a little disappointed when I read what the guy had really done. He's just de-cased his consoles and put them in a big box.

I was a little concerned. What is a Nintendo fan doing using power tools? Children should not be let near dangerous tools!! :-)

Re:......YIKES!

[thrash242]

... I mean who actually plays video games that much?

I hope this is a lame attempt at humor. This is Slashdot, after all.

How can BOTH of your posts be "Informative?"

[mattbot 5000]

Clearly one (or both) of these posts are somewhat mis-informative, since you took the trouble to correct your first post.

Tsk tsk, slashdot mods.

Re:How can BOTH of your posts be "Informative?"

[casuist99]

clarification != correction

Doh

[ElliotLee]

They couldn't call it the Nintendo Entertainment System, because that was taken (NES), and definitely wouldn't do the system justice. They thought they were safe with Nintendo Entertainment Console - but that's taken too (NEC).

Re:MAME - multi machine arcade emulator

[thrash242]

Uh, yeah, people also build full-size MAME cabinets (that will include me as soon as I get some money saved up) that have console emulators and jukebox software to boot.

I think a dedicated console emulator in a mini case that plugs into a TV would be a cool idea. You could play games that are hard to find and save wear and tear on your original consoles and games.

Re:hmm

[cosmicg]

You don't need to spend any money on modchips. I have my XBox hacked exclusively using softmods, and have had no problems running any software, or even replacing the HD.

As a girl who isn't blind

[TechniMyoko]

I'd never touch that ugly monstrosity.

Give me a Cube with a gameboy player, and an N64 with a Tristar 64

blowing the NES

[jmobley]

The images won't load for me, so I don't know what the case looks like, but my question is: Do you still have to blow into the thing to get the NES to work? :p

This exists, but you don't want it.

[Animats]

That actually exists. There was a networked version of the NES used for onboard airline entertainment systems. Games were downloaded from a server somewhere in the aircraft. It's on some older Virgin aircraft. The user-end unit is in a box under the seat, reducing legroom.

Replacing the 72 pin connector

[Vale of Shadow]

My old NES might just work if I knew where or how to accomplish this task. Any good places to get a new one? Instructions on the replacement procedure?

Re:Replacing the 72 pin connector

[zhar]

There is a compreshensive howto and places to get parts over on Ars Technica.

The military anounces its newest weapon...

[uglydude]

"Namely that the Nintendo GameCube has a Class I laser housed inside a Class I case and if the mechanism is bypassed that prevents operation of the laser while the lid is open, then potential eye damage is probable."

Later on we will see, that the military's newest rifle is actually a gamecube strapped to a broomstick. This new weapon is the sniper rifle of the future. Just aim at the targets retina and WHAMO! blinded...

I want one.

[quiddam]

If I had money I might wish for one. But since I don't, nevermind.

You're mistaken, it's class II

[zoloto]

from his site:

but they could not host it in their magazine for the following reason: Class II laser housed inside a Class I case and if the mechanism is bypassed that prevents operation of the laser while the lid is open, then potential eye damage is probable.

emphasis mine...

nuff said

Should change the title of the article...

[grahamtriggs]

Looks more like the ultimate Nintendo commode to me.

Batteries and other solutions to "knotting".

[blahplusplus]

Some people don't want to have to worry about their batteries running out and making a trip to the store to buy new ones. It just adds an extra expense most people don't want or need. If you've got the cash $$$ to burn that's great but I think its more convenient to have controllers that will always work /w no interference from multiple wireless controllers. So the cords may get wound up or knotted from time to time but this could be alleviated using better plastic casing around the wire so that isn't prone to twist and knot.

Unplug each time

[EnglishTim]

I used to have that problem, until I formulated a simple rule:

After playing a game, unplug any controllers you have plugged in, wind the cables round them, and put them in a box sat next to your TV for that specific purpose.

You'll never have wires all tangled everywhere, and it only takes two minutes. Sure, with n consoles plugged in to the TV you'll still have a cable jungle around the back, but at least it's not sprawled all across your living room / bedroom floor.

You're just as mistaken as I

[casuist99]

Again, he's not internally consistant with his own story. You can quote and I can quote and we'll end up with two different values for the class of the laser because he lists two different values himself. I posted on the topic because there was no way a class I laser could cause ANY harm and I knew it. I still think they're being dumb for not publishing because the interlock was circumvented and a class II laser is now potentially exposed. It's visible light and your blink reflex will prevent vision damage.

Re:hello? this is fucking gay!

[sotonboy]

I amazed how long it took for someone to point this out. This truly is an apalling mod. The guy has some woodworking skills, but you could have made a better mod by nailing all the systems to a tree.

Why, why, why???

[sammaffei]

I always wondered what would happen to those kids that took "Shop" 20 years later...

Stop the madness.

Use an XBOX

[Sp00nMan]

My ultimate gaming console is a modded XBOX with emulators for all the Nintendo consoles, and a 160 gig drive to house the emulators. Much easier to install, and heck, you can play XBOX games too :)

Re:Use an XBOX

[checkup21]

and is the best media/dvd player you can get, and runs linux and and and..... some people just don't get it ;) let them be happy with their toys. regards from germany

Re:......YIKES!

[atheken]

well, I wasn't trying to be humorous, but I did forget who my audience was... sorry. :-)

IAWTTP

[wheany]

I agree with these two posts. Well except the "gay" part.

So stacking the consoles isn't a mod, but putting a wooden box over the stack is.

The article sounded interesting when he said that the consoles use different voltages, but then he just decided to put each console's power supply inside the box...

That poor SNES!

[glindsey]

The travesty is that this guy took apart a much rarer SNES-2 system, instead of selling that one on eBay and picking up a classic SNES for next to nothing. I realize it's smaller than the classic one, but given the final size of this "console" did it really make a difference?

At least he didn't rip apart an NES-2 toploader. Those things routinely go for $80 or more on the collectors' market.

It has to be said...

[StormShaman]

Imagine a beowulf cluster of those!