SNES portable

[Life of Brian]

Hello all

I finished this a while back and thought that I'd share. Now if only the OVGE would come back so I could go around testing games!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC00608.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC00600.jpg

Here's a link (http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?t=21814) for the full write-up about it. Also, this (http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?t=18624&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0) is the "making of" link.

Youtube video 1 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=F4T0g5JA750) with most of the technical details

Youtube video 2 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=pUpqvlYanyw) with some sweet StarFox action

I originally created an account here as joedog86 about a year and a half ago but decided to start with a new name. I really like these forums and intend to be a more active member in the near future.

When I first joined, I had the intention of selling portables like this but as usual life got way more busy than expected. I'd post a link to the thread, but I'm not certain how to get the URL with this type of forum.

Here's a picture of the first SNES portable I made over a year ago:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/DSC00144.jpg

And of course here's the full write-up (http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?t=17124) about it.

A bit about me:
I'm a chemistry major but video games and electronics are my passion. I'm an SNES fanatic and really can't seem to get enough of side-scrollers.

It's nice to meet all of you :)

[Jorpho]

Polycase.com, eh? The plastic look distiguishes it from what I've seen of Mr. Heckendorn's aluminum models. I bet it's lighter, too!

[TonyTheTiger]

You've got real talent.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[Hwj_Chim]

I like the nice clean Professional look. Definitely up there with Mr. Heckendorns work.:hail:

[Press_Start]

Awesome! :hail:

Which SNES systems did you take apart to make this gift? Version 2?

Are you going to sell it?

Can it play Super Game Boy? :-D

[DefaultGen]

.....

[Life of Brian]

Awesome! :hail:

Which SNES systems did you take apart to make this gift? Version 2?

Are you going to sell it?

Can it play Super Game Boy? :-D

Yes, I used the version 2 SNES mini. I'm keeping this one, but I'm currently making an identical one for somebody I know through the benheck.com forums.

In my opinion, playing Super GameBoy on this is the height of irony LOL

[Press_Start]

Unh :sob:

You have great talent and skill and it shows. Portable versions I have seen look kinda weird or out of place. But dam, the end product looks fantastic and shame you don't have a business for it.

Oh well, if you start selling portable versions of console systems, I'll be your first customer. :cheers:

[debian4life]

Impressive, great attention to detail!

[Dark_Sol]

Amazing!

[Dreamc@sting]

I agree with the rest of the opinions..thats damn sexy!

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Nice job!

How'd you get the recessed circle area around the D-Pad/pin hole speaker grills/etc.?

Was that all done by hand? (If so, great job!)

[MrRoboto19XX]

So clean and smoothly produced, well done!

[MeTmKnice]

I want one!!

[jb143]

That's pretty cool...looks like a SNES version of the Nomad. What's the battery life on that beauty?

[Jimid2]

A terrific job! A very well designed and executed handheld. I'm quite impressed! :)

[Life of Brian]

Nice job!

How'd you get the recessed circle area around the D-Pad/pin hole speaker grills/etc.?

Was that all done by hand? (If so, great job!)
I cut up an SNES controller and glued it in place. I then used spot filler and lots of sanding to get it all flush. The speaker holes are actually some perf board bought from RadioShack. Aside from using the project enclosure as a starting point, yes this portable was made entirely by hand.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/newSNESandJoe039.jpg

I used the same method of chopping up controllers for my first SNES portable as well:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/IMG_0187.jpg


That's pretty cool...looks like a SNES version of the Nomad. What's the battery life on that beauty?
I manage to get around 5-6 hours of battery life, which is fantastic considering that these things were never meant to run off of batteries. I switched the backlight of the LCD screen with LEDs to drop power consumption.


Thank you very much for the compliments, everyone!


What do you guys think of the trigger/shoulder buttons on the back? They're original shoulder buttons from an SNES controller that I modified with the reset button from two different SNES minis. I'd say it feels about equivalent to pulling an XBox trigger, but you obviously can't press it as far.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/joedog_86/newSNESandJoe072.jpg


Has anyone ever listened to SNES music through headphones before? Yoshi's Island is especially good - full stereo and a lot more complex than it sounds on the TV!

[Richter Belmount]

You gots a cool user name............. Get a better avatar that goes with your username for life of brian rocks : D

[Life of Brian]

You gots a cool user name............. Get a better avatar that goes with your username for life of brian rocks : D
:) Alright

[Icarus Moonsight]

Beautiful job! I especially like your L/R shoulder button set-up on your 2nd model. Dare I say, I think you just pwned Ben... big time. :D

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Again, that's a really nice SNES Portable.

Easily up there with some of Ben Heck's best!

[Jorpho]

What do you guys think of the trigger/shoulder buttons on the back? They're original shoulder buttons from an SNES controller that I modified with the reset button from two different SNES minis. I'd say it feels about equivalent to pulling an XBox trigger, but you obviously can't press it as far.

Painted black, they look just like the shell.

[-_-Nintendo-_-]

Make a PAL version. I'd Buy. These are beyond awesome.

[vgc]

Sweedish! I want one.

Mike : )

[GnawRadar]

That is amazing, I just wish I had the talent to do things like that.

[aaron7]

100% serious, I'm interested in one if you want to make another like this... it would absolutely make my brother's day! Let me know!

[Snapple]

The thing looks super sweet, and I really like the trigger buttons. You have a real talent.

[EricDeLee]

So... where is that case (ZN-40) I can't find it anywhere.

Great portable man!

[Jorpho]

100% serious, I'm interested in one if you want to make another like this... it would absolutely make my brother's day! Let me know!

Y'know, Mr. Heckendorn's book (http://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Video-Game-Consoles-ExtremeTech/dp/0764578065/) offers all the information you might need to do this yourself.

[Slate]

Beautiful work! And I agree, It is well up there with Ben Heckendorn's work. Seriously.

[Jorpho]

So... where is that case (ZN-40) I can't find it anywhere.

http://www.polycase.com/category/zn-series.html

[rikk7111]

That's wonderful work LOB......I'm a side scroller nut as well.........:hail:

[bacteria]

You can read the extract from Ben's book on http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1759797,00.asp in regards to the SNES.

Life of Brian - you linked to this via BenHeck forum, so I had a look, as a result I decided to register too! It is nice to have other sites to look at when the BenHeck site is running slowly!!

[ThoughtBomb]

Dude, friggin badical man. Methinks me wants one.

[Iron Draggon]

DAMN! send that badboy to Nintendo, and tell 'em to get off their asses and release their own version of it! if they can release the GameBoy Micro long after new GB games stopped being available at retail, then surely they could also release something like this long after new SNES games stopped being available at retail... SNES fans would be lining up to buy a portable SNES!

[rbudrick]

Dude. That looks awesome! Great job. Far better than most I've seen. If you start selling them, be sure to give a heads-up!

-Rob

[Life of Brian]

Dude. That looks awesome! Great job. Far better than most I've seen. If you start selling them, be sure to give a heads-up!

-Rob
Aye aye, cap'n!