Accelerometer Controlled Pong

September 23, 2008 by Ian 8 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYVgXYtxk4E]

[Perry’s] awesome AcceLED Pong project gives new life to a classic game by adding acceleration-based control. The pong paddles are moved by tilting the circuit left or right. Motion is measured by an ADXL203 dual axis accelerometer, and an ATMEGA32 microcontroller converts acceleration into ball and paddle movement. The game display is a three-color SparkFun 8×8 LED matrix with serial interface.

[Perry] also used a similar setup to make a USB LED spectrum analyzer fed by the Linux XMMS media player.

No More Updates To Wii Backup Loader

September 19, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 20 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yBTsNwOO1I]

You can now play backups on your Wii without a mod chip. A beta version of the bootloader made by [Waninkoko] has been leaked onto the net. Keep in mind that it is unfinished, so your results may vary. All you need is the bootloader and a legal copy of Zelda. After a few patches and some installing, you’re ready to play backups, no mod chip necessary. We covered this before, but there is a twist this time. Unfortunately, [Waninkoko] states that this project has been officially abandoned, probably due to the leak. Apparently crackers get hurt by leaks too.

[via Gizmodo]

Arcade Cabinet That Plays Every Game In The Universe

September 16, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 9 Comments

Ok, maybe we’re exaggerating a little bit. It may not play every game in the universe, but the CMACC gets pretty close. CMACC stands for “Complete – Multi Arcade Console Computer System” and is comprised of a giant pile of gaming goodness. [Mayhem] packed a PC, Xbox, Xbox360, Dreamcast, Wii, PSP, and a DS into the cabinet. He seems to have overlooked the Virtual Boy though.

He’s using GamEx as a front end for a multitude of emulators, including MESS which emulates tons of old desktops like Commodores and Apples. The cabinet, while not as elegant as the Retro Space, wins major geek points for the cup holder.

[via Engadget]

Wii Backup ISO Loader

September 15, 2008 by Eliot 15 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtu0kQHaIhI]

The video above shows a new Wii backup loader that’s in development. It works via the easy to use Homebrew Channel we covered previously. From the news post it seems you have to rip the original game disc and then patch it before burning the copy. No release date has been set. As Nintendo Wii Fanboy put it, there’s much more interesting things to do with homebrew than wait for this to be released.

Wiimote Head Tracking In Processing

August 25, 2008 by Eliot 3 Comments

[Manuel] has been playing around with [Johnny Lee]’s Wiimote head tracking code. He’s posted a preliminary port outlining the code in the Processing environment. It relies on darwiinremoteOSC so you won’t see this outside of OSX, but it should help you out if you’re trying to do this is in Processing on another platform.

[via Create Digital Motion]

[photo: nicolasnova]

Watching DVDs On Your Wii

August 14, 2008 by Benjamin Eckel 9 Comments

Nintendo Wii Fanboy explains how to watch DVDs on your Wii using the new MPlayer application. Although the reviews are mixed, some claim it works and others claim it doesn’t, most are excited about this new feature which has been missing since the Wii’s launch. To get this working, you need to run the Twilight Hack and get the Homebrew Channel. Then you download the MPlayer software onto your SD card and install that using the Homebrew Channel. From there, you can launch the application and play your DVDs with ease using the minimalistic DVD player interface.

Although this seems like a lot of work just to watch a DVD, especially considering this might not work for you, it is interesting to see people trying to push for media center software on the Wii. Now they only need to find ways to get past the Nintendo’s attempts to stop this Homebrew movement.

Wiitendo: A Wii In An NES Case

August 11, 2008 by Caleb Kraft 17 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTs8c4r8m94&hl=it&fs=1]
[Matt] has managed to cram a Wii into an old NES. The write up is fairly short, but does mention a few details. He installed some Game Cube controller ports and a Game Cube memory card. He’s added some external LEDs connected to the Wii’s power button. He put a lot of effort into this, as he said almost every area of the internal case needed some serious dremel action to make the Wii fit inside. He’s even promised a more detailed write up, so keep an eye out for that.

You might also remember the Wii Laptop previously on Hackaday.
[via Hack a Wii]