Handheld Plays SNES And NES Carts

[Lovable Chevy] finished her portable build, ending up with a handheld that takes both SNES and NES cartridges. We’ve got to say congratulations on reaching the finish line as her first build log post was in March of ’08. But it was worth the wait. The little device, which is a mash-up of the hardware from a Retro Duo along with a PSone screen and 4250 mAh battery, looks quite nice thanks to her skill and patience when building the case. Take a look at the obligatory demo video after the break.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX36JHB1ONc]

23 thoughts on “Handheld Plays SNES And NES Carts

  1. I don’t mean to sound demeaning and I understand that the process is sometimes as important, if not more so than the result but I don’t personally understand these type of hacks. The NES cartridge is huge and only holds one game. You could theoretically put every single NES and SNES and Genesis and GB and GBA and such on a single SD card and play on a DS or GB mini or the like – it would be significantly smaller and you would not have to carry around multiple cartridges and it would be more comfortable to play as there is less weight, bulk, etc.

    Nice hack but I am not sure how practical these truly are.

  2. @PolyJetter
    The point of portable system hacks isn’t necessarily to make them “practical.” It’s the act of planning, designing, and following through to create something with your own hands that’s important in all hacks/mods. The hacker in this case obviously spent some time in not only getting/building the right case, but also making it look good. Pulling off this sort of portable hack at this quality requires the individual to be skilled in multiple areas and really shows not only their love for the console (to keep it alive and well in a new age) but also their attention to craftsmanship.

  3. well i think it’s awesome. anyone can do it with an SD/microSD because all it takes is a computer and a card reader, but to make it actually accept and play standard NES/SNES carts that you actually own.. takes skill. an NES or SNES could be built in the size of a wristwatch nowadays, and a microSDHC could hold all the games ever made for them. but the screen would be really small and this is the perfect size because games from those systems really look better on a small screen, since there wasnt a ton of detail, as opposed to ps3 graphics.
    i took a $5 broken laptop, fixed it, found out it was 2ghz with 512 mb ram, 30gb hard drive. the touchpad connector broke so i removed the touchpad, i accidentally shorted out the backlight in the screen (can make it light up by bridging 2 points on the board, but dont know if that would cause problems like overheating) so i ripped off the screen as well, since the hinges were destroyed and i would have had to use ductape to make it back into a laptop.. then i loaded up all the atari, gb/gbc/gba, nes, snes, sega games i could find, a few n64 and the ones for MAME that i could find bios for. now you need a mouse bc the touchpad cant connect, and it only has 2 usb ports, so using a usb mouse means you can only plug in one controller without using a pcmcia card or hub for extra usb ports.. but you connect to tv via VGA or RCA and play all the games you want. except for marvel vs capcom 2 which i wanted but didnt get working with MAME before i gave it a new home.
    anyway, that thing looks really good and works better than the original NES and is faster turning on than either of the original systems too. the only thing i would do differently is use a bigger display, but that = more $ and less battery life, plus it’s probably big enough in person since you arent going to be playing 2 players or anything. this is what i always thought should have fit inside those big old original gameboys. looks about the same size, just better looking. there would def. be a market for that, even today. for the kids of the future(present) that haven’t had the chance to play the games we grew up on. cuz when you’re 3 you should be able to beat some old school mario, i know i was doing it when i was 2. pretty sure i didnt have a game genie yet. and it has awesome replayability, or we wouldnt still be playing it 20 years later.

  4. jeditalian: I have made many friends happy with softmodded original xboxes loaded with emus. Ya can pick up old xboxes for all of $20 and from there it takes about an hour to get everything FTP’d to it. I like your laptop fix up as well. Had a guy kinda rip me off on CL with a nice core2duo with bad screen. I yanked the screen, ran VGA out to the tv, USB capture card and we have a tiny lil HTPC that sits under the entertainment center :) A couple of hopefully helpful suggestions. The USB problem: Targus 4 port adapter for $10 or perhaps a bluetooth mouse that you can use from the couch :) Cheers

    Also nice build on this game system :)

  5. i have a broken xbox in a closet. might not be broken but the games are definitely broken. i hate optical media, the idea of charging ~$60 for a game on an optical disc that needs to be handled with care and won’t get replaced by the manufacturer when it does die. LONG LIVB CARTRIDGE GAMING! playstation, xbox.. i am not buying another console until they start packing the games on flash memory carts again like the good ol’ days, no matter how awesome they get, the cd/dvd/bd is still going to get FUBAR one day. that’s what’s awesome about this handheld. those carts will outlive their owners.

  6. Neat build, but too bad about the hardware he based it on is just an emulator and not the original console hardware. It is not compatible with some very popular games such as Battletoads, Paperboy, Secret of Mana, Donkey Kong Country, Kirby Super Star, Super Metroid, Super Mario Kart, or Super Mario RPG :(

  7. @ david r – ummmm… can you read? or look at a picture? or watch a video…? i’m a GIRL. not a he. and you are not really correct about all those games. as you can see in the top picture, it plays super mario rpg just fine. and it does all the donkey kong counries as well. and super metroid and super mario kart and secret of mana. get your facts straight or at least learn to read a little. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aVHCGduREo

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