Video game consoles are a
beloved part of nerd culture. Many of our first trysts with technology
were with machines like the Atari 2600, the Nintendo Entertainment
System, or even the PlayStation. Consoles have remained a tech staple
for decades, and that’s partly because they have traditionally performed
their main task wonderfully: playing games. When nerds latch onto
something, a very common instinct is to tinker with it or to make it
better. Creative use for technology is something we celebrate here at
ExtremeTech, so I wanted to take the time to show off some of my
favorite console mods. From complete transformations of the form factor
to simple facelifts, these mods are perfect examples of what fellow nerds love to do in their spare time.
Yoshi’s Boxx
Long,
long ago there was a television program called The Screen Savers on a
network called ZDTV (later renamed to TechTV, and later absorbed into
G4). Back in May of 2002, one of the on-air personalities named Yoshi DeHerrera took it upon himself to make the ultimate gaming machine.
Not only was it a custom-made PC, but it was also a Frankenstein’s
monster of game consoles. In a single case, he was able to fit the guts
of an Atari 2600, a Nintendo Entertainment System, an original Xbox, a
Gamecube, and a PS2. While it wasn’t a seamless experience because it
required a video switcher, it was a superb example of extreme
engineering. While The Screen Savers is no more, a video of the unveiling is still available on YouTube for posterity purposes.
The iNto64
A fellow by the handle Bacteria produced a portable version of the Nintendo 64 called the iNto64.
Using Sony’s official PSone 5-inch LCD and four amps of battery power,
this handheld monster weighs in at just over 2.2 pounds. With over 20 videos of instruction, it is now possible to even make your own.
PS2 Portable
Even better, veteran console modder Ben Heck made himself a portable PS2. In his very detailed post, he explains how he went about taking the PS2′s guts and cramming it into a tiny handheld system.
It even has a working disc drive — this isn’t for ROMs, folks. Using a
portable DVD player’s battery rated for 5400mA, the console and the
5-inch PSone screen consume an average of 1.9 amps. Perhaps the coolest
part is how he cut out the case: a 60-watt laser engraver. Using plastic
and acrylic, he was able to make a very snazzy case.
Wired Xbox 360 lighted controller mod
The Xbox 360 controller features limited use of LEDs to display which number your controller is (one through four). This cool hack posted on The Llamma’s Adventures
shows you how to make the Select, Start, A, B, X, and Y buttons light
up as well. Once you crack into the controller, just some soldering and
hot gluing will leave you with a unique-looking Xbox 360 controller that
will undoubtedly impress other nerds.
Hemp Wii remote
Let’s go the other direction from the Xbox 360 controller mod. A modder named Dhreck posted a controller mod for the Wii made completely out of hemp.
While this looks like a novelty toy you’d buy from Etsy, it’s actually a
completely functional Wii remote and nunchuk. You can even swap out the
batteries. If you’ve ever wanted a hemp Wii controller, you can follow the tutorial to make your own. Is there anything hemp can’t do?
ROM device that plays cartridges
A
few years ago, Sega took the opportunity to exploit nostalgia. They
shipped a tiny device that had built-in ROMs of classic Sega games.
Well, it turns out that the device is actually capable of playing Genesis cartridges once the port was added.
This is a perfect example of modding just for the sake of modding. No,
it’s not particularly practical, but that is the beauty of this scene.
It’s all about the “could-a,” not the “should-a.”
Dreamcast VMU iPod Nano case
Sega’s
Dreamcast was a pretty innovative machine. Not only did it feature
online connectivity way back in the late 90s, but it also had a quirky
controller add-on called the VMU. It acted as a standard memory card,
but you could take it with you and play mini games on it. Now that the
Dreamcast has been dead for over a decade, you might want to put your
VMU to good use. This hack shows
how the VMU can be hollowed out, and a 6th generation iPod Nano can be
inserted. There’s no better way to show off your dorkiness than to use
an ancient video game accessory as an iPod case.
PS3 laptop
Laptops and video game consoles: two great tastes that taste great together. Ben Heck, as previously mentioned, is a fantastic console modder. He turned an Xbox 360 and Wii into laptops, but the sexiest iteration is undoubtedly the PS3 laptop.
It features a PS2-compatible 60 GB PS3′s guts while sporting a 720p
17-inch display and a built-in keyboard. The downside? This behemoth
weighs in at an astounding 16 pounds. Now that the PS3 has seen some
slimming down, a 2013 PS3 laptop mod would be much lighter, but there is
something quirky and awe-inspiring about the audacity of making a 16
pound portable PS3 laptop.
