Portable Wii

portablewii

Not content with Nintendo’s current portable video game offerings, fifteen year old hardware hacker [Xteaphn] (pronounced “Steven”) has come up with a series of hardware modifications to make a battery-operated Wii console. The hacked console features a folding laptop-like screen, which apparently includes the IR emitters necessary to make the Wiimote operate properly, as well as a set of tiny stereo speakers. To show how tiny the modified console is, [Xteaphn] provides size comparisons with thirteen- and fifteen-inch laptops as well as with a classic Nintendo Game Boy. The only potential hindrance to its long-term durability, as best as we can tell from the video, is that the battery pack and its associated connecting wires hang crudely off the back of the console like a sort of electric colostomy bag.

Check out [Xteaphn]’s YouTube video after the break.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUvQFaOGyYY]

[via Engadget]

32 thoughts on “Portable Wii

  1. Actually his nickname is ‘Xteaph-N’;
    “I am Steven. However my nick name, pronounced the same, is Xteaph-N. I make portable hardware. I even go as far as making the current systems portable. I can and will take requests.”

    But yesh, nice hack :) *’ed

  2. You know I heard that the dolphin GC emulator is beginning to emulate Wii games. Given the fact the a PS3 lets you install LINUX and has bluetooth… Is Dolphin emulator LINUX compatible? Anyone thinking what I’m thinking?

  3. Ah, give him a break. I know for you guys this isn’t a “hack” but he did it himself and I bet his proud of it !

    It’s a bit like saying he is a lvl 1 hacker when you are a lvl 10. The lvl 1 guy is still a hacker he is just hacking with the knowledge that he has. While your hacking with much greater knowledge. He will learn, and “lvl up”.

  4. But does this level of hacking merit being placed on HAD? Readers like myself don’t come to this site to learn about lvl 1 hackers and their achievements. I come to this site to see innovative hacks that make you think, “that’s not something I would have considered before”, or “excellent use of an otherwise useless, or inappropriate device/item to achieve specific results”
    For instance, as much as I think the steampunk thing has run it’s course I would much prefer see something like that here, rather than something like this. Don’t get me wrong, he did good (I guess) but IMO it simply doesn’t belong here.

  5. This kid posted on the benheck forums showing off his skillz. He was told that these are hardly portable, but why listen to a very very experienced hacking community when HackaDay has run so dry as to accept this as a “hack”.

    For shame.

  6. Yeah, the quality of posts has been going to hell lately. Glancing at it, I thought it was pretty neat, nothing wrong with taking a console apart and cramming it into a smaller box… then I looked more closely and read the comments. If this is hacking, I might as well have a post on here about how I plugged a USB cable into the back of my computer today. Oooh, look at that, I’m using two commercial components for what they were designed for. I’ll just start calling myself xam-e and become a fucking internet superstar.

  7. Before his tut i would have never guessed you can make a bat powered Wii nor the fact that you can turn DC into AC current “im more of a software hacker” as for the screen being retail you ppl act as if the other moders make the screen from scratch, milled and purified the materials them selves, get real. funny you would hate on ppl just because they have more skill then you, not as if i seen you guys modding a Wii or doing anything other than flapping your cock suckers i mean lips.

  8. You might consider reeling your self-righteous attitude back a bit. I don’t see anyone hating on this kid. The issue here is the posters don’t feel this remedial level of hacking is appropriate for this site. This site has set a standard by setting the bar so high initially, and the readers have come to expect a level of commitment to that end, not just filler.

    You might consider understanding what you’re reading before you pick up your super hero cape, and leap to the aid of the underdog. Because all you did was make yourself look ridiculous, and ruin all credibility for your site. Gratz! :)

  9. > and ruin all credibility for your site. Gratz! :)

    his website had credibility? It looked to me like a “Web 2.0” version of the standard 1996 pissed off teenager’s H/C/P/A/V tripod website. Only the technology has advanced.

  10. I’m no electrical engineer, nor am i apt in programming or any of the like, i was a chile who liked to take things apart, put them back together and have a few extra pieces laying around but have everything working correctly.

    this is far less then any of that.

    the screen i saw the other day and thought of a small micro atx media center ( to use at work )

    an inverter, a battery pack are all thats involved here. pretty much as complicated as a console in a car.

    it is a shame, maybe if the kid was 12 i’d feel all great about it .

    anarchy angel you stated
    “as for the screen being retail you ppl act as if the other moders make the screen from scratch, milled and purified the materials them selves, get real.”

    no but most of the readers here probably have a project that utilized a screen , possibly touch screen in an application , yes maybe even cncing their own curround, . not some store bought unit with speakers and a screen and oh a handy fancy connector,

    not how many pins wired to etc. .

    sorry but i have to agree this wasnt a worthwhile post,

  11. I for one think this is pretty cool.

    To all you who are saying “this is not a hack”, think back to your first mod. How was it? Was it perfect? We all start somewhere, and this kid has done just that. Heck, I just now started learning to mod, and I’m 17. He’s done what I can’t do 10 years earlier.

    Give him a break. Jeez….

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