Modded Game Gear becomes portable home for N64 (video)

It may or may not actually be the most compact Nintendo 64 we've ever seen, but even if it's holding down the second spot, you can't knock the ingenuity here. Crafted by one Evil Nod, the self-proclaimed N Gear 64 is little more than an N64 console tucked, shoved and crammed inside a Sega Game Gear enclosure. Best of all, the modder somehow stuffed an N64 controller in there too, yet still left all of the original markings for nostalgia's sake. Head on past the jump for a video of it in action, or tap that source link to learn more about the build process. Riveting stuff, we tell ya.

[Thanks, Alon]

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[SlimSpaceman Posted Jul 16th 2010 6:30AM]

Goldeneye FTW!

[mrtnrwn Posted Jul 16th 2010 6:42AM]

So now the battery on the damn thing lasts 2 seconds rather than 2 minutes :)

[jr amo deus Posted Jul 16th 2010 6:43AM]

@mrtnrwn

This is just the prototype, the final one will have a nuclear power cell. :-)

[unf2011 Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:03AM]

@mrtnrwn
Kids these days don't know how life without rechargable batteries are. In my day I used to have to buy new batteries everyday while walking barefoot in the snow uphill both ways.

[lnm4444 Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:39AM]

@mrtnrwn My sister had a Game Gear and I had a Gameboy. Guess which console lasted longer both in batteries and support.

[thelolotov Posted Jul 16th 2010 8:34AM]

@pple is poo
As a kid who grew up with a GameGear, I can honestly say:
Wait, was it that bad? I don't remember it being that bad....
I am replacing my dead GameGear this weekend, actually, I can test your statements then, I'm glad I held onto my games.

I'll finally beat STH2, even if it kills me.

[thelolotov Posted Jul 16th 2010 2:01PM]

@unf2011

I do! Because I grew up on a Game Gear, XD

We never got any new systems until the Gamecube, I grew up on my NES, with SMB/Duck Hunt, and DK Classics, and a Game Gear with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Ecco, and Columns (Tetris clone)

[DeanXeL Posted Jul 26th 2010 1:21PM]

@mrtnrwn

that big rechargable batterypack was pretty good, and gave a really good grip too. Only problem was, you couldn't hold it up for long, damn that thing was heavy!

[Hobsie Posted Jul 16th 2010 6:46AM]

Blasphemous!

[unf2011 Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:01AM]

I had a game gear when I was little. That thing ate batteries like the cookie monstar eats cookies. Nom nom nom.

[DefPoet Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:57AM]

@unf2011 your not kidding. My family probably save hundreds when we made a recharge pack for our nomad

[Kelmon Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:11AM]

I'll see your "Riveting stuff" pun and raise you a "soldered on"...

[Nickmate Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:16AM]

Funny, they trie so hard to stuff a full n64 into a portable enclosure, they could design a powerful, slim portable game with an emulator software and games on a sd card with a 5" hd screen!!!

[migmanson Posted Jul 16th 2010 10:09AM]

There are no 5" HD screens.

[misterquin Posted Jul 16th 2010 10:30AM]

@Nickmate You don't get it bro.

[Nickmate Posted Jul 16th 2010 11:00AM]

@misterquin I know mate it's about how they managed to get a box into a portable design. Btw guys there are 5" hd screens, not for public but German scientists have made a 1280x720p 5.2" screen but has bad contrast!! 250:1...

[Jayenkai Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:26AM]

What a waste of a perfectly good GameGear :(

[7egend Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:59AM]

@Jayenkai

Was just about to say the same. I have fond memories of my Game Gear.

[thelolotov Posted Jul 16th 2010 8:36AM]

@7egend
Yeah, I thought the same thing, I have a broken one right here, if he had just asked, he could have had it....

[amcd1982 Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:37AM]

I loved the shape and feel of the game gear, but hated the games (except for Sonic).

I would happily stump up the cash if he could hack my old devices into this form factor (I'm sure I'd mess it up trying it myself!!)

[TheMike Posted Jul 16th 2010 7:49AM]

The skills of these enthusiast modders never fails to amaze me.
Granted it is using older hardware but these guys are working for the fun of it and some stuff I've seen modders come up with shits all over whatever big multinational corporations have spent hundreds of man hours designing.
There are some incredibly talented people lurking out there.

[TareG Posted Jul 16th 2010 8:24AM]

The Game Gear used to be my childhood upgrade dream as a Gameboy user. Dreams of playing my favorite Gameboy games in true colors, details, and with a soundblaster plagued my days and nights. Of course when I grew up and read about the downfall of the Game Gear, I thank God my parents didn't get me one...

Turns out it was a battery monster, in way which made people wonder how it had gone into production. It had almost no games, or at least when compared to the Gameboy. It was also thick and heavy, in addition to many other reasons for the failure of this proposed "gameboy-killer".

[TareG Posted Jul 16th 2010 8:28AM]

Actually, it got me to think about Nintendo's brilliance. They could have made a colour screen; the tech was there. But they knew battery life technology wasn't there yet.

Same for the next Wii. They already announced it won't support 3D, because the 3Dtv tech isn't cost effective enough to be widely adopted. Miyamoto said he doesn't think there are enough 3DTV's adopted for the next Wii to support 3D. Truer words have never been spoken.

[Khav Posted Jul 16th 2010 9:17AM]

@TareG You're right about the next Wii; 3D doesn't have wide adoption yet and probably won't for another few years, but Nintendo got it pretty wrong with the current Wii. HDTVs were already affordable in 2006 when the Wii came out, and even more so now. And not to mention DVD support, which would cost them pennies on the dollar to include since all they would've had to do is write a DVD player app (or "channel"). Hell, the Wii homebrew community made one years ago. But, officially, the Wii is the only console within the past 10 years (other than the Gamecube, which physically wouldn't support them) to not have DVD playback.

[Wolfticket Posted Jul 16th 2010 9:28AM]

@Khav
Re:Wii
Wrong ≠ Huge sales and profits

[FroshKiller Posted Jul 16th 2010 8:26AM]

Modded Gear?!

[MrGarak Posted Jul 16th 2010 8:58AM]

To the people complaining about the battery life, you obviously didn't have this baby:
http://imgur.com/NQQbl.jpg

Aw yeah.. Still have a Game Gear going strong, TV tuner equipped and all!

[MrGarak Posted Jul 16th 2010 9:00AM]

@MrGarak
I should note that it probably provided a substantial ~30 minutes of extra battery life. ;)

[Statictrance Posted Jul 16th 2010 9:40AM]

Man - that is just sick... Should've seen this coming since sonic joined Mario for the Olympic games

[Nosmirc Posted Jul 16th 2010 10:06AM]

has this guy never heard of a PSP?

[apocolipse Posted Jul 16th 2010 10:29AM]

Lol, Infusing Old Technology with...Even Older Technology; to take what once sat in your living room, everywhere else, in a rather bulky and uncomfortable manner :P Still awesome though ;) I miss my old game gear, heh.

[Joao Cagao Posted Jul 16th 2010 11:01AM]

I loved my Game Gear, I ruled at Space Harrier! Every now & then I refer to my son's DSi as a Game Gear, and he is like "what the hell is a game gear?"

[niZmo Posted Jul 16th 2010 11:58AM]

I think the red screw driver is rated for 1000V. Just sayin...

[Dignan17 Posted Jul 16th 2010 12:04PM]

Ah, I loved my Game Gear.

I wonder if the Game Gear was specifically suited for this job. I remember that I had an add-on that would let me plat Sega Master System games on my Game Gear (which was totally cool). Perhaps that made it a little easier to do this mod? Probably not... :)

Like other commenters, I remember how badly that GG sucked batteries. Good lord! I remember having this huge external battery pack that let me get about an hour of playing. Yikes!

Oh, and I had the TV adapter that let me watch live TV at recess. I was the coolest kid on the playground (what a dork!).