Galaga Mini-Cabinet Using A Nintendo DS

October 14, 2013 by Mike Szczys 16 Comments

galaga-cabinet-from-nintendo-ds

We’re not showing you the finished version of this tiny Galaga arcade cabinet because it doesn’t really testify to the awesome that was packet into this hack. In regards to the features the build is just nuts!. The user controls were customized to look like the real thing, and the attention to detail would make craftsmen from the gilded age of dollhouses proud.

Update: [eLRIC] left a link to an even better forum thread build log as a comment. Among other thing it fully details the joystick modifications.

The machine is driven by a Nintendo DS, which donates its upper screen as the cabinet display. In the image to the right you can see that the lower display is still accessible through an opening in the back of the cabinet. The joystick is a small multi-directional switch which was altered by adding the red ball. It was also housed in a custom metal bracket that includes a washer to limit the movement of the stick. Also shown on the right are the lights for the marquee as well as the two coin-slots.

Check out the video after the break to see the game play. Despite its size it still seems really playable, but if you need something larger you could model your own build off of this project.

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Extreme Game Boy Hack Plays Titles From A Wide Range Of Systems

March 14, 2013 by Mike Szczys 26 Comments

gameboy-ds-in-original-gb-case

[Akira] can play any Game Boy, GBC, GBA, NES, SNES, or SMS game while on the go thanks to all the work he put into this portable gaming hack. The outside seems familiar; it’s an original Game Boy case. But you should immediately notice that it has a few extra buttons. That’s the first clue that what’s inside isn’t stock… which is a huge understatement.

The idea for the project started off rather simple, but quickly got out of hand (check out the build log for full details on that). He thought it would be nice to have a backlight for the original screen. After mixed results he scrapped the original mainboard and started anew with some Nintendo DS Lite hardware. It had a broken LCD connector so he tried a couple of different fixes to get it working again. After some success he started adding more equipment, like the extra pair of buttons, a better speaker on the battery door, and the microSD add-on you can see above.

You can catch a demo of the finished goods after the jump.

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Nintendo DS Mini USB Plug

September 17, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 37 Comments

DSCompare

Noting that so many of his electronics are using the mini USB plug for charging, [Xavier] decided to modify his Nintendo DS to charge via the same adapter. It looks like the existing adapter is basically a proprietary mini USB plug, so replacing it was actually almost a perfectly clean swap job. He has nice pictures of the process and some helpful tips as well. If you’re thinking of consolidating your charging devices, this looks like a step in the right direction.

Hard Core Nintendo DSI Hacking

September 4, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 25 Comments

dsi (Custom)

So, you hacked your DSI did you? Let me guess, you ran a flash cart. No? You probably added some LEDs then right? No? You must be pretty hard core, did you add a NES controler? No? Well what did you do?

We still have no idea what this guy is doing. But he is doing it very meticulously. We found [Micah Dowty]’s photo stream on flicker and we were instantly pulled in. He has done some extensive modifications to his DSI. He has spread its innards for all to see and begun hacking. It appears as though most of this is for memory dumps and direct access to the RAM in the unit, but frankly we just want to stare at these pictures.

DS Optical Mouse Camera

June 5, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 41 Comments

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

[Raguaviva] shows us in this video how he’s using an optical mouse as a low quality camera for his DS. This seems like a pretty cool hack, but we’re at a loss to think of a good use for it. As he gets to the end of the video, he seems to also have trouble thinking of a good use for it. Do you guys have any ideas?

Nintendo DSi Teardown

April 7, 2009 by Eliot 27 Comments

dsiteardown

Now that the Nintendo DSi has been officially released in the US, the team at iFixit has worked their magic. That magic being: completely disassembling it. They found the new 840mAh battery to be much smaller than the DS Lite’s 1000mAh. The device features two cameras, but both are a paltry 0.3megapixels. They note that this is the first Nintendo device that they’ve taken apart that didn’t require a tri-wing screwdriver.

Many more DSi compatible flash carts are available now than our initial report in December, so you can pick up a Nintendo DSi for homebrew without worry.

[via iFixit blog]

NES Controller On A DS

February 22, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 13 Comments

nesds

You can get most of the old NES games for the DS, but they just don’t feel the same. Sure your hands still cramp up, but its just not the same cramp we remember. What is the solution? Put an old Nintendo Entertainment System controller on your DS. [Parker] did exactly that. The method he used is fairly strait forward. He opened the DS, wired extensions onto the buttons he wanted to use to a controller. Instead of making it permanent though, he chose to wire it through the GBA slot. This allows him to plug the controller in whenever he wants to use it. This reminds us of the PSP with a SNES controller we covered back in October.

You can see a video of it in action after the break. You’ll notice in the video, he has also modded his buttons to have LEDs behind them.

In the comments, [tri-edge] points out that you can follow his build in the acidmods forum. There seem to be some other variations as well, including an SNES controller.

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