Sure, you've seen the
portable wooden SNES, but if you've been looking for something with more of that fresh-off-the-showroom-floor sheen, maybe you should check into this Ben Heck-forum user's design. Using a modified Polycase, dual lithium-ion batteries, a 5-inch Zenith LCD, and a whole bunch of Super Nintendo, the modder created what could easily be mistaken for a bona-fide production model. Sure, the back looks a tad bit messy, but "Life of Brian" (the SNES fan in question) has managed to squeeze in a second controller port and A/V outs -- no small feat. Check the video after the break to see the handheld in action... a lot of action... like, the guy plays StarFox for a long time.
[Via
Switched]
posted Apr 2nd 2008 10:35PM
This just makes me wanna dust off the old SNES and play some Star Fox Myself..
Sweet Mod tho..
I can't wait till 10 years from now someone makes a portable Wii that'll fit in your pocket.. That would be sweet
I've been using my pocket Wii nunchuck for decades.
"Play with your PocketWii"
This might just burst onto the market.
I have a PocketWii in my jeans right now...
what a fuking nerd.
haha listen to him talk!
the comment almost sounds mean until you actually see the video
Console Envy eh?
The guy makes one of the coolest moded consoles ever and you have the balls to laugh at his voice. Classy.
How bout this... Ha Ha listen to this guys comment, he's a douche!
^geez, I respect he got some skills but have you heard him sing along with the Corneria theme?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. No one posting on Engadget has the right to make fun of anyone else for being a nerd.
(But yes, his voice is particularly geeky. Just adds to the authenticity though, IMHO.)
I actually noticed his voice and liked it. He states the features while showing them in a confident and relaxed, though pleased, fashion. I also didn't detect any anatomical irregularities; I think perhaps you picked up on his "drawl". Maybe he's from the South(US).
@John Titor: ... have you heard him sing along with the Corneria theme?
Yes I did while I was humming it myself. StarFox has probably one of the best soundtracks of any Super NES game. I'm just glad he wasn't playing Suck Band/Guitar Queero ... there you can hear some awful uninspired singing.
Nerds rule the world
I can't believe someone in this day and age would use a computer to post in a videogame forum that someone else is a nerd.
Pot meet kettle, sir.
I rather liked the narration, I actually found it rather refreshing how someone who put something so complicated together was then so happy to use it. It really didn't feel like it was entirely about the mod. The old joke about how audiophiles are people listen to their equipment seems to apply in a lot of places.
Haha, yeah his voice is slightly annoying, but I wouldn't mind having that thing.
Looks like a Game Gear though.
no it looks more like a Sega Nomad
But a hell of a lot more awesome.
Nice job. And you've got that "Revenge Of The Nerds" laugh down. '...trying to play while i watch on the camera screen...uuuuuuhhhhh'.
Let me be the first to say that if you could get the price down to about 150$ I would buy one immediately. This is amazing and i wish i had one now!!
You might as well buy a GP2X or something and run SNES emulators on it. Although this is more retro-cool, and guaranteed to work 100% speed, plus you get to blow in the carts whenever it doesn't work. Heck, I do that with my DS sometimes (blow in the cartridge slot, not the carts as that would require taking them apart) and it seems to work (sometimes the DS doesn't recognize the cart for some reason).
do a barrel roll!
never give up... TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS
phil ken sebben FTW
He got so excited after clearing the first stage..
Trying to play while watching on the camera screen but it's kinda hard.... AWYUK!
Cool mod- cooler modder.
He is a genius.
WOW ENGADGET!! LIKE, THIS WAS ONLY ON BENHECK.COM 2 WHOLE WEEKS AGO!!
I wish you'd fuck off two whole weeks ago.
ya... what he said.
Really...??? Dumbass!!!
You did notice that Josh mentioned his sources, right?
If he can do this now, why couldn't Nintendo do it back then.......?
For reasons that really shouldn't need to be listed.
screen tech or maybe battery tech? just throwing that out there. also handhelds are supposed to be cheaper than stationary consoles so they wouldnt have made as much cash.
Isn't this is kinda like a gameboy advance? It always seemed to us like a SNES-in-your pocket... But this is an impressive hardware hack nonetheless!
I love this mod, and all things snes. But I have 500 snes roms on my psp, plus 900 nes games and 400 genesis, all on a 2 gb card with a bigger screen. Not to take away from the novelty of an entire system in a handheld WITH a controller port AND all four control buttons. Just saying.
It's probably technical, I think it has a border when emulated as well. The smaller resolution probably helps it display polygons faster.
Wow, ok if this guy can make a portable SNES handheld with a second controller port on it, how come Engadget can't make a Reply system that works? last reply directed@greg
*yawn*
anyone told this guy about ROMS?
@Mark:
*yawn some more*
Anyone told you about engineering skills and originality? From your point of view he might as well could have connected a Playstation controller to an iPhone and played the Roms from that. But that is not exactly the type of modding goodness demonstrated in this piece.
this is pretty sweet. I wish I could make something like this. But is it just me or would it be annoying to have a 2nd controller attached to this time. Also, why is there a border on the screen? Is that just a bezel or does it not use the entire screen?
Looks like a Game Gear.
Other than the fact that it's black and a little bulky, how?
When he says, "I wish this thing would stay in focus", HE IS TALKING ABOUT HIS ROBOTIC EYEBALLZ UNIT!!! I met up with this guy awhile back, and he is a cyborg.
After coffee, he cut through his forearm skin with a pocket knife and peeled off the skin to reveal what he called, UlnaRadiusSNES. He played StarFox with his fucking forearm alone but was still all, "DUN! . . . Dun, dun- dun, DUN!"
I then got up and left.
there's books at barnes and noble telling you how to do this
Why this is cooler than putting a rom on your PSP:
1. This is SNES hardware.
2. What more do you need?
NES?
Is it just me or did he execute the barrel roll without the L & R buttons?
As far as I can tell there are some buttons above the ABXY. They're probably black so not really good to see but if you look closely during the roll you can see he put his finger way above the other buttons. I don't think this is the best place for the shoulder triggers because you can't use them simultaneously anymore but who cares ... I didn't make that thing.
Ahh how stupid, I didn't look at the pictures in the gallery before. The system has two triggers on the backside right were your index fingers would be. Pretty well made.
That's a sweet mod! Although I wonder how long it was before his mom came down to the basement and told him was making too much noise.
Was it really necessary to have him playing the damn thing for like 5 minutes after showing it off?
And I didn't know Clay Aiken's brother liked to make video game console mods as a hobby.
Does it run on batteries? Like 8 D cell or 6 9 volt?
"Shut up Peppy" "yeah"
will my super scope work for this?
I was so bummed when my SNES crapped out last year.
I want one of these. Link to the Past baby!
Hey cool! That's my portable! Yes, I played Star Fox for a whole level because it's fun. I mean, c'mon, it's a portable Super Nintendo.
At least they gave me credit for my portable. When they posted about Rekarp's wooden SNES portable they didn't even mention his screen name, real name, or anything.
Now that I think about it: Why did they post my second video? I had a much shorter, first video that was just a detailed explanation of the thing and a quick demo. Stupid of them to post this one.
Actually, if anyone wants to see the first video where I actually discuss the portable then check out the (original) youtube video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4T0g5JA750
I wish blogs like this would stop stealing articles from each other and just link back to the original source.
@ Patrick: You guessed correctly, I'm from Oklahoma.
And for everyone else: Yes, of course my voice is kind of geeky - I built a freaking portable Super Nintendo. You were expecting a deep, movie-quality baritone narration?
The other video where I actually describe the portable can be found here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F4T0g5JA750
And this is a video I made of my first portable SNES:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ecTpGT5LXts