Anyone can go out and buy a handheld console, and if you want to be the cool kid on the school bus, you can always ask your parents to take you out to get one. But if you want real street cred that lasts through your adult years, you’ve gotta put something together yourself. [GingerOfMods] has done just that with the Wiiboy Color.
Yes, it’s another home-console-turned-portable, and it’s perfomed with exquisite execution. The Wii motherboard is cut and sliced to the absolute bare minimum, as the aim was to build the entire system to the rough form factor of the original Game Boy Color. Custom PCBs were then used to link the chopped ‘board to peripherals, such as the USB drive used to load games and the circuitry from a Gamecube controller. The screen is a beautiful looking 3.5″ IPS LCD, running at 480p and originally intended for use as an automotive backup camera. Battery life is around 2-3 hours, with a USB-C port included for easy charging. More details are included on the forum build log.
It’s a tidy build, and the 3D printed case, Switch joysticks and DS Lite buttons give it a near-production quality finish. [GingerOfMods] intends to build more for commissions, though expect a hefty price tag given the labor and custom work involved. We’ve seen other portable Wiis before too, like this tightly-packed Kapton-heavy build. Video after the break.
[Thanks to LG Dirk for the tip!]
I want one. Dont make me make it.
he sells them!
where?
Neat build! From the posts I couldn’t figure out which display was used and how. Anyone know offhand what it is and how it’s wired up?
I’m not sure of the specific display used here but you can look for G-Boy Rev III – DIY Portable Kit online. Its a kit with all the things you need to build one like this one.
https://www.globalsources.com/si/AS/Shenzhen-Geelyce/6008848523471/pdtl/3.5-inch-TFT-LCD-Display/1120436374.htm
not sure where to actually buy it though…
Wow, that’s not nearly as thick as I expected. It almost looks like it’s the thickness of an original Gameboy.
In the video he says it fits the maximum dimensions of the Gameboy color. It’s not as contoured since he is fitting a lot more in there, including bigger batteries than the original AAs, so volume wise it is bigger.
The one thing I don’t see is the IR LED to let a Wiimote function fully – admittedly on that tiny screen it would be very strange to use even if the Wiimotes trig functions combined with accelerometer data didn’t make it go crazy (it would tilt very very little for large perceived screen motions).. But I’d love to see it tried, and in theory it should work as the wiimote is just looking at the two IR points relative to each other, the sensor bar doesn’t actually have to be the stock size..
You mean 3 leds?
And requierd to make the wiimote work.
Where’s the third? I thought the light bar only had 2 and the Wii software just kinda guessed at the size and shape of the TV. Aside from any game like House of The Dead which has it’s own calibration routine.
I’m sure you are right there is only two of them. It does a little more than just guess however- if I recall correctly you had to tell the wii if the bar was above the TV or not, and there was calibration on the wii’s home startpage somewhere i think, though I don’t remember ever actually needing it (but then I wasn’t a big wii gamer – I got the system because the wiimotes are intresting HID devices mostly)…
They are not actually required to use a wiimote though. Only certain games and perhaps the wii’s start menu require the wiimote to ‘see’ the tv’s orientation, many games will let you use them as horribly unconformable game pads or with just the accelerometer data.
Nice, needs a mini HDMI port though, case you’re over at a friends and want the big screen experience.
i need this
Great build. Needs mini-hdmi to connect direct to tv. Can it be used with second controller, as that would be awesome, especially if can connect direct to tv.
where can i buy one?! i need this