SUPERTENDO portable SNES hack elevates an artform to something impressively commercial

Yeah, we're all been-there-done-that with portable SNESs these days, but we've never seen it done like this. Marshall posted his creation, dubbed the "SUPERTENDO," to Ben Heck's forums, which seems to imply (along with the looks) that he took some queues from similar designs already floating around those parts. What really sets this one apart, however, is the vacuum-formed chassis and the instant "make me an offer" move to a sale -- being owned by a major faceless media conglomerate ourselves, we like to see a guy who's out for a buck. A quick hands-on Video is after the break.

[Via benheck.com]

[Brian @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:14AM]

The licensing with Nintendo would be a nightmare, but I would buy one of these in a heartbeat!

[Hirudin @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:24AM]

I'm pretty sure this IS a Super Nintendo, no need to license it again.

[ilovethewaggle @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:50AM]

I'd be all over that, though the start/select buttons need to either be in the middle of the thing under the screen or above the control buttons, they jsut like look they'd get in the way or inadvertantly pressed.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:15AM]

Reminds me of my Dingoo A320 except this doesn't do 1/10th as much.

Oh it's awesome and all, it's just that Ben Heck's designs got us so comfortable with these hacks that they're kind of commonplace now.

[skyblaze @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:47AM]

forgot about that thing. sounded pretty cool when i read about it before. how's it treating you? might just go and buy it today (got paid :P)

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:05AM]

The A320?
It's not perfect, but that being said it's still pretty darn cool. I love mine!

It's got a growing community and a bunch of folks hacking the bejesus out of it.

[skyblaze @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:10AM]

for real? i was on the fence about it since i kept hearing it had issues, but knowing there's a strong community behind it gives me the feeling that sooner or later the problems'll be fixed. great! think i'll head to the cheapest retailer site now :D

[Thanatos @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:00PM]

I almost pulled the trigger on it but i read it didnt do SNES emulation worth shit, that would be the #1 reason why i would buy one as my DS doesnt do SNES to my satisfaction. If they fixed that i would definately buy one, i would love to have portable Cybernator, Super Metroid and bunch of other SNES games i never got to.

[Verythrax @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:15AM]

My God...
I want it!

[Hirudin @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:25AM]

Says the guy with the Contra avatar.

[GRAMMAR POLICE @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:16AM]

ROMs > Cartridges

You can back them up, your save data never goes corrupt (see "back them up"), they weigh less and they won't shut off when they're jostled too hard.

Oh, and the graphics are heavily, heavily upgraded with a multitude of filtering options. Build this with ROM capability and lose the cart slot and I'd pay top dollar.

[anantha92 @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:21AM]

Get a PSP.

[Spencer @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:25AM]

If you're the grammar police, how come you didn't point out that it should be "...he took some CUES...", not "queues"?

You are, however, totally right about ROMs being superior. But, of course, if you're going to use ROMs, you don't really need a dedicated device - just play them on your phone, computer, or other portable gaming system!

Still, the remnants of my childhood self cannot help but marvel at such a sexy portable Super Nintendo - I'd trade my Game Gear for it! (Probably)

[Hirudin @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:33AM]

Oddly enough, this is addressed in the FAQ at the end of the build log...

Q: Why don't you just buy a PSP?
A: Go ahead, I'm not stopping you.

[Massmass @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:50PM]

Yes, roms are more convenient. However, they are not superior because emulation still isn't 100% perfect, even on the PC. Not every game is emulated perfectly. For most, it doesn't matter because it's usually not even noticeable. But until emulation is perfect, there will always be room for hardware. Assuming this isn't a SNES on a chip or anything like that, but a true hacked console.

[GRAMMAR POLICE @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:03PM]

"Yes, roms are more convenient. However, they are not superior because emulation still isn't 100% perfect, even on the PC."

Of all the SNES ROMS I have tried, maybe 2 or 3 were not perfectly playable. On top of that, have you ever played an SNES on an HDTV? It is actually PAINFUL to witness. It looks atrocious. Just try it. Then try scaling it to 1080p with an HQ4 filter on with ZSNES and tell me if emulation isn't worth it for that small, SMALL handful of games not supported (especially on old hardware). It's not 1995 anymore, man. Emulators do quite a bit for the visuals and the simplicity of use. Using original hardware is actually a hinderance to your experience in today's world of high definition.

[ishism @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:26PM]

I hear that. The HQ filters make not just the snes roms but the NES, N64 and I'm sure other game roms look great on PC emulators.

[mocax @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:18AM]

looks like game gear... with a big screen....

[AMiSH PiRATE @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:13PM]

and not black. and with more buttons. and a non-circular d-pad. and a bigger screen. and more square. but otherwise, yeah, this looks exactly like a game gear, a psp, a gameboy advance, a sega nomad, or an atari lynx. But this definitely doesn't look like the turbo express.

[Brian @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:20AM]

WANT. Recession antidote nao, pl0x.

[Excelsium @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:22PM]

is that slang unique to MMO players?

[Erb @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:02PM]

4chan ftw!

[Csht @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:25AM]

doesn't look as large until you see the video and realize there is a cartridge in there and its quite a large screen.

[JTork @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:28AM]

Can one of the recession antidote prizes be this thing? I bet you'd see a record number of entries for that one...

[Aaron Brown @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:32AM]

I want!!!!!

[CtrlBurn @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:34AM]

cues

[Bro @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:35AM]

It's too big to be a portable. Why do they keep making these things?

[Level 5 @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:36AM]

It's way more than I could ever think about doing on my own, and looks awesome. That said, something tells me it's a bitch to hold and play, mainly because the buttons and D-Pad are so close to the top of the device. I'm not sure if moving them towards the middle would had borked usability with the L/R buttons, but it looks as if it'd be a pain to play for extended sessions.

[Randy @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:37AM]

This is amazing! My Hats off to you Ben To bad he can mass-produce these and sell them (legally).

[Kamix @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:42AM]

I don't think it was Ben who created it, just someone who posted on Ben Heck's forums.

[Randy @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:02AM]

@Kamix,

My bad, You're right. It's in the summary it cites Marshall as the creator. Can't visit the benheck.com as it's blocked by my company.

My hat's off to the Creator.

[peepeepants @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:41AM]

oh, fuck.....

[brysky @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:43AM]

Would be nice with rom as was stated earlier, what if it was more condensed in size (since you wouldn't need as bulky for cartridges) and add a memory card slot that you could just throw all your roms on.

[mrazzino @ Jul 3rd 2009 5:53PM]

so you basically want someone to make a PSP? Sony did that for you already.

[GRAMMAR POLICE @ Jul 2nd 2009 10:48AM]

@Spencer

I was off duty.

And as for this PSP business, has anyone here tried SNES or any other emulators on theirs? If so, which ones (GBA/PSX/etc)? And how did they run? If it really can rock emulation like you guys are saying it can, I may pick one up very soon.

[JJBattoe @ Jul 5th 2009 9:47PM]

It depends on what PSP you have. Believe it or not, but the original PSPs (PSP 1XXX, or Phat) seem to fare best for homebrew. PSP 3XXX homebrew, for instance, only lasts as long as you keep the device on, or in sleep mode. As soon as you turn it off you have to do the homebrew install all over again. But anyways, on to the emulation.

NES, SNES, GBA, GBC, etc. all run perfectly of course, as they are easy to emulate on something with a 333mhz CPU. There are also emulators for N64, with many games running almost perfectly now (Super Mario 64, Starfox 64, Mario Kart 64, etc.), sometimes even with sound, but for most games to run well at all you need to disable sound and expect at least minor graphical glitches. Unfortunately many great games are just unplayable at this point (1080 snowboarding, Donkey Kong 64, 007 Goldeneye, Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time), but the emulator keeps improving, so hopefully with time most games will be playable with sound. The latest revision is DaedalusX64 Beta 2, but it's really like the 10th Daedalus, they just got renamed as DaedalusX64 when someone else picked up the project. Here is a compatibility list for DaedalusX64 Beta 2: http://www.gamerspress.com/index.php?title=N64_on_PSP_Compatibility_List

As for PSX, you don't use an emulator but simply a plugin called popsloader. You can load all previous PSP firmwares into it in case a game you want to play runs better on a previous firmware. Compatibility for most good games is great now, with few exceptions. Games that I play (Gran Turismo 1/2, FFVII, Metal Gear Solid) all work perfectly. Here is a compatibility list for popsloader: http://www.gamerspress.com/index.php?title=PSX_on_PSP_Compatibility_List

[ZZMitch @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:23AM]

Portable N64 NAOW?

[Jose @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:30AM]

I think it will break if you happen to drop it. It looks as cheap as a dollar store toy (no offence). Although, i would buy it so I could play Mario RPG on the go

[TTSGEB @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:57PM]

If you watch the video, it actually sounds pretty solid when he puts it on the table, also, if you aren't sure of the quality, just look through the making of pictures.

[raredesign @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:46AM]

I would buy. Donkey Kong, Mario...reliving the good 'ol days!

[Benjamin Heckendorn @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:00PM]

Hey there everyone! We're actually creating a new section of my site specifically for our users to show off the mods they have made. Should be pretty cool, and far better than linking to a forum page.

I know a lot of people say "just buy a PSP" and what not, but believe me, there are plenty of people out there interested in original hardware mods, so there is definitely justification for these kinds of projects.

In our country which is increasingly becoming a service based economy (everyone wants to be a nurse or IT department) I applaud people who still BUILD things with their hands and take interest in engineering and electronics. These are fields in high demand with more people retiring than joining but it doesn't get the press that the health care shortage does.

Go modders!

[Fernando @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:15PM]

Nintendo should of made a portable SNES before the GBA.

[JFredericks7931 @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:35PM]

oh wow. that is so sweet. I would buy one in a heartbeat if it wasn't too expensive. SNES ruled.

[dionelr @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:31PM]

Will import games fit?

[Verythrax @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:47PM]

I want to know, too.

[Matt @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:51PM]

that is a pretty sweet portable.

Side note: I just found an NES controller turned into an iphone dock. http://bit.ly/Lmx5j
I'm all for bringing retro gaming systems back into today's world!

[Eric @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:31PM]

Way cool!

[Blade Genexis @ Jul 2nd 2009 3:53PM]

That actually looks pretty cool. I laughed a little when I noticed the huge cartridge in the back. XD

-Blade Genexis

[tekdroid @ Jul 2nd 2009 4:07PM]

http://retroactive.be/supertendo/making.html
Awesome. 5 inch LED-backlit LCD. Rounded shoulder buttons look comfy.

The lack of easily removing those 6x AAs is a no-no in a device that has only 2 hours of battery life, though.

Thinning out the edges would be nice, though; seems a bit too chunky at the edges to grip for a long game session without discomfort.

Start and Select buttons would be far better off below the LCD.
Aside from those niggles, fantastic effort.

[Gradoman @ Jul 2nd 2009 6:23PM]

Gosh, reminds me of my Sega Nomad...

How many folks owned one of those battery-eaters..?