Modder places USB flash drive in Atari 2600 cart, amuses geeks world o'er

Well, kids, if you like your USB drives with a little style, a little kitsch, and far too large to be carried conveniently, a gentleman named Robotic Evil, Inc. has just the thing for you. The evil one is hard at work as we speak, taking 2GB thumb drives and placing them in the artifacts of genuine geek nostalgia. Really, who wouldn't want to receive a hand-assembled computer peripheral in the shape of an Atari game cartridge or an NES controller? These things cost $29.99 (add another $5 for shipping and handling) and they're available at this dude's Etsy store. Check out the NES controller / drive yourself after the break.

[Via BoingBoing]

[c.wallker.jr @ Jul 6th 2009 7:16PM]

I vote for nixing the cord on the cartridge.

Or....mount a USB port cart slot on a 2600 (or Sears Video Entertainment System) shell.

Mmm...

Yes.

[naz @ Jul 6th 2009 7:16PM]

very retro

[Look_Around_You @ Jul 6th 2009 7:18PM]

25.00?!

Just get a 25 cent Atari cartridge from a garage sale, a usb extension cord and a cheap flash drive.

Take out the guts of the cartridge. Glue usb drive to the inside and attach usb extender cord to it and thread it through the bottom of the cartridge.

Viola! You have the same thing for half the price.

DIY FTW!

[Mike Cerm @ Jul 6th 2009 7:44PM]

For that price, I think that an 8GB drive would be a minimum. 2GB drives come in cereal boxes these days, and just are not worth $30, no matter how much nostalgia you wrap them in.

[miko34 @ Jul 6th 2009 7:20PM]

I'll wait 20 to 30 years for the person to do the same thing with a Wii controller and call it retro, but of course, by that time ... we'll have all the storage we'll need implanted inside of us.

[CubeGuy @ Jul 12th 2009 11:17AM]

I was going to, but the broken Wiimote I was going to use suddenly started working again. I didn't have the heart to kill it.

[Derek @ Jul 6th 2009 7:20PM]

Engadget, please stop covering this garbage. It's a flash drive. A large, inconvenient, expensive flash drive.

[Nxwtypx @ Jul 6th 2009 7:28PM]

Derek, please stop posting this garbage. It's a blog. A blog about gadgets.

[marc @ Jul 6th 2009 7:29PM]

I love Gremlins!

[mjefferson590 @ Jul 6th 2009 7:32PM]

Meh

[Jeremy @ Jul 6th 2009 7:39PM]

If I wanted something the size of an Atari cartridge I wouldn't put in a flash drive. I'd put in a laptop drive. If a 2.5 and SATA/IDE->USB wouldn't fit then use a 1.8. Makes more sense then flash drive.

You could fit a 2.5 and circuits in a SNES cart for sure.

[Mike @ Jul 6th 2009 10:45PM]

personally, i'd put a small usb hub in there, a small notebook drive, and a flash drive.

make the nes controller usable, have a large notebook harddrive for storage, and flash for linux.

word.

[Brian Dizon @ Jul 6th 2009 7:46PM]

drops panties

[brettsinger @ Jul 6th 2009 8:11PM]

If it were a working 2600 emulator, that would be cool. Otherwise, meh.

[Jason @ Jul 6th 2009 8:56PM]

I'm going to have to go ahead and second this comment...

[BigTeebo @ Jul 6th 2009 9:04PM]

It's one thing that's inside another thing!

[Level 5 @ Jul 6th 2009 9:13PM]

Damn I got excited, I thought it was a USB enable flash cart for a 2600 to play ROMs directly, that would had been ill, and a hell of alot less space would had been needed than 2GB.

[Kiv @ Jul 6th 2009 9:59PM]

Use a WD Passport instead. More expensive yes, but if you are going to have your USB storage device be that large, it might as well contain an external HD instead of a meager flash drive. Flash drives are supposed to be small and convenient. Then you'd have an Atari cartridge that had like 500GB storage!

[graywolf790 @ Jul 7th 2009 12:46AM]

FUCKIN' A!!!!! w00t!!!!!!! USB cart FTEW!!!!!!

now just make a 7800 cart, and i'm sold.

[Historian @ Jul 7th 2009 12:58AM]

Just picked up 5 Atari 2600 carts this past weekend. Nothing I'd want to damage though..

[Matt E. @ Jul 7th 2009 2:30AM]

At first, I had goosebumps. It was like what if USB was invented in 1978?. Then it was all such a let-down. This could have been soooo much more cooler. HDD, 2600 emulator with game roms on flash or HDD, and possible USB hub.

[miko34 @ Jul 7th 2009 2:29AM]

What ... no front sticker on the cartridge? What a gyp.

And did they get the Atari or Nintendo license to use their logo?
Or is this considered pop art ... like Warhol with his Campbell's soup?

Maybe that's why it costs $30 plus shipping.

[Ian @ Jul 7th 2009 4:35AM]

Meh. I hacked up a USB card reader from an Atari cart a few years back. It's hardly major news.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smallpictures/317818150/

[Magallanes @ Jul 7th 2009 11:13AM]

YAY for Ian.