Handheld Plays SNES And NES Carts

August 2, 2010 by Mike Szczys 23 Comments

[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. Continue reading →

Super Simple Gaming Controller For Android Or IPhone

July 29, 2010 by Mike Szczys 19 Comments

If you’ve got an iPhone or Android device that you use with a Wii remote when gaming, this quick hack will give you the third hand you need to manage all of that hardware. [Syanni85] mounted his Android phone to a Wii wheel for just a few dollars in parts. He ran across the wheel itself at the dollar store, and the phone is held in place using a universal mounting bracket. A small square pad sticks onto the back of any device and mates with a base. He cut off the unnecessary parts of the base and glued it to the back of the wheel.

If you haven’t tried using a Wii remote with your phone yet, find out how to do it with iPhone or with Android.

4-player SNES And More

July 20, 2010 by Mike Szczys 18 Comments

[Mr.X] added support for four controllers to his Super Nintendo (Google translated) by internalizing the multi-player adapter. In the video after the break you’ll notice that he also added some bling to the case by positioning the power LED beneath the logo and adding a two-digit display. There is a switch on the back that allows him to choose PAL or NTSC standards with the current setting shown on that display. While most people are going with emulators, [Mr.X] ended up with a custom piece of hardware with a clean finish.

Continue reading “4-player SNES And More” →

NES Controller To USB Gamepad

June 30, 2010 by Mike Szczys 24 Comments

Regular Hackaday reader [Osgeld] is at it again with this USB conversion for an NES controller. This is a ubiquitous hack that we started seeing very early on, sometimes involving an adapter kit, and other times including things like a thumb drive and USB hub. But this time around is truly a bare-bones version. He’s using an Arduino but it’s really just an AVR ATmega168 running the bootloader. We’d wager this can be done with an ATmega8 just as easily. Grab a couple of diodes (we never seem to have the 3.6v zener diodes around when we need them), a couple caps and resistors, a crystal and you’re in business. The hack wires each button to a pin and implements a keyboard HID that can be mapped for any purpose you desire.

Gaming’s Newest Accessory: Headbands

June 21, 2010 by Mike Szczys 16 Comments

These aren’t terrorists, they’re electrical engineering students. For their final project they developed a headband and rifle input system for the NES. The controllers send data to a laptop which then maps out the inputs to NES controller commands and sends them to an original NES console, no emulation here.

The controllers in the headband and rifle are Firefly sensor network nodes. Originally, [Kevin] and [Evan] tried using accelerometers for motion information but found the data do be unreliable. After an upgrade to gyroscope modules the interface is much more responsive, as seen about 3:50 into the video after the break. We like seeing motion controller hacks and we appreciate the choice of a classic system (and lesser known game title). This really makes it a whole different game.

Continue reading “Gaming’s Newest Accessory: Headbands” →

Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition 2010 Day One Report

June 5, 2010 by Gerrit Coetzee 19 Comments

The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) is the precursor to the DARPA Grand Challenge, and in many ways it is just as difficult. We have the pleasure of being at the competition this year with the Tennessee Technological University Autonomous Robotics Team. The teams at the competition pull off some amazing home-brew robotics, so we’ve decided to do a short section on some exemplary robotic hacking each day of the competition.

Today’s robot comes from the York College of Pennsylvania. The robot, dubbed “Green Lightning”, features an impressive set of custom made hardware.

We interviewed the team, and got a pretty thorough rundown of their robot with pictures after the jump. Continue reading “Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition 2010 Day One Report” →

Original NES Plays Game Boy Games?

May 11, 2010 by Mike Szczys 26 Comments

[Bunnyboy] pulled off some wizardry with this custom NES cartridge. Inside is the mainboard for a Game Boy as well as his own custom PCB with the comb connector needed to interface with an original Nintendo Entertainment System. In his own words it’s “a Super Game Boy without the Super”. The expansion port to for the handheld is still accessible for some head-to-head Tetris or use with the obscure Game Boy printer.

[Thanks Maxym]