NES gamepad-controlled espresso machine

We've touted the benefits of espresso machine modding in the past, but Tim Herzel has taken the dark art to even geekier caffeine-fueled heights with his latest contraption, an espresso machine controllable by an NES gamepad. That bit of retro engineering alone would be enough to get our attention, but the machine (a Rancilio Silvia number) has also been outfitted with an array of other "improvements," including the ever-present PIC microcontroller, a 20 character VFD display, three zero-crossing solid state relays, an IC thermometer, and a laser cut acrylic top to put all that hard work on display. Not present, unfortunately, is an actual NES embedded in the machine to let you squeeze in a bout of Punch-Out!! while you wait for your brew, though maybe we can convince our pal Ben Heckendorn to hook us up with that feature.

[Via MAKE:Blog]

[IWantTouchScreen @ Dec 6th 2006 2:24PM]

omg Buried as Lame

[jim @ Dec 6th 2006 2:34PM]

Oh for Christ's sake WHY??????????

[Parky @ Dec 6th 2006 3:03PM]

Why not?

[NHAnimator @ Dec 6th 2006 3:08PM]

Isn't Mario hopped-up enough?

[Tigidal @ Dec 6th 2006 3:08PM]

Up, Down, Left, Right, B, A, Start gets you an extra cup. Sweet.

[James @ Dec 6th 2006 3:20PM]

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start will gove you 30 extra shots. :o

[Zach Gulley @ Dec 6th 2006 3:27PM]

Here's a Nes controlled(somewhat) dvdplayer.
http://flickr.com/photos/66652920@N00/309458876/in/set-72157594397639279/
But the espresso machine is great too.

[Blue Sam @ Dec 6th 2006 4:08PM]

up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B, A, B.

volia! I get 100% caffeine!

[Isaac @ Dec 6th 2006 4:23PM]

Where's the Bluetooth? :-P Bluetooth to help give me brown teeth? Irony? Naw.

[Jonathan Allen @ Dec 6th 2006 6:34PM]

Oh my gosh, you all have it wrong! up, up, down, down, B, A, B, A, select, start.

[Nobuyuki Idei @ Dec 6th 2006 6:46PM]

Looks like a sybian.

[sickandtiredofpostslikethis @ Dec 6th 2006 10:50PM]

This is just stupid. Go volunteer for a charity if you have so much time on your hands and nothing better to do.

[cambio @ Dec 7th 2006 12:36AM]

What does U+U+D+D+L+R+L+R+B+A+START get you?

[zerosozha @ Dec 7th 2006 1:02AM]

Guys, come on! From Wikipedia: The Konami Code (also known as the Contra Code) is a cheat code that can be used in many Konami video games, usually giving the player a large number of lives or fully charging up the abilities of the character. The code was first used in the 1986 release of Gradius for the Nintendo Entertainment System but was made famous in the Contra series. During the game, the player presses the following sequence of buttons on the game controller:

↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A