Portable Nintendo, Anyone?

[l_c_r_ant]

:o Did I just say what you think I said? YES!
That's right I'm building portable NESs.
":hmm: So what so special about that?" you may ask. "Others have already done it before." This is true. I'm not the first, but I'm one of the first having built the an all inclosed one back in the summer 1999. The other major difference is I hope to build and sell these. I absolutely love the old NES and would love to be able to make these on a regular basis. However, unless I start getting requests for them, I'm afraid that I can't afford to do more than make one every now and then when I get the chance. The first one of the second gen of these boxes has been finished and sold, and I'm starting on the second as we speak, but as I said, unless I start getting requests for these I can't justify taking time out of my college carrear to make these on a regular basis, and I'd be stuck making one or two here and there whenever I get free time.
http://www.buyneonlights.com/jim/NESBOX/Root-Composite.jpg
http://www.buyneonlights.com/jim/NESBOX/index.htm

[jaybird]

I like the idea of a portable NES, but this is what deters me:

http://www.buyneonlights.com/jim/NESBOX/Newbox/buyme.htm

Too rich for my blood.

[Arrrhalomynn]

I think someone who pays 500 bucks for a portable nes is crazy.
Buy a game axe and get yourself an adapter with it to play nes games. That would be much easier.

[l_c_r_ant]

well unfortunatly more than half of that is the cost of parts. I don't get much out of it, and what I do doesn't even really cover my time doing it. I want to do it because I love the system. The only reason I charge anything for the time it takes to make it is because it would be rather stupid of me to give my time away for free with the amount of effort that goes into making one of these.

As far as the Game axe is concerned, my idea behide this was the fact that the Game Axe isn't in production any more, my unit is a lot more versitile than it is, and some day, there may not BE any more Game Axes available because all the collectors own them and no one wants to sell. Besides the NES isn't where I plan to stop. I plan to try my hand at a few other systems before I quit.

I would hope that there are people interested enough in things like this that they would support ideas like this. Believe me I'm not doing this for the money I mean, almost 75% of that price is just the parts. And even with the amount of build time I'd like to get it down to I'd be getting little more than minimum wage for my time. I'm doing it because I think it's something that people would be interested in having, but most don't have the drive, skill, and or time to do it themselves. The idea is that I do it because I love the older games and systems. Believe me If I were in it for the money, I'd be trying to get pattens, submitting the idea to industries, doing everything possible to make the most money i could not advertising on my little back alley web site. And, I'd certainly be charging a lot more than I am.

[Mr-E_MaN]

I was going to build a portable nes myself but I did not want to spend 100 dollars on something I probably wouldn't take out of the house. Right now I am thinking of making one that will fit into my 5 1/4" slot in my computer. I want it to run off of my computer PSU and attach to my all in wonder video card. This will cost about 1.25 to do. i have everything but one part. I have plastic for the cover, resistors, a speaker, switches, and an nes with a broken connector... I am thinking of using my game genie connector... I got it at a garage sale for 10 cents last summer (and 2 bucks for the nes) so I don't care if I break it...


I do think that 500 is crazy... what kind of parts do you put in there?

[Bratwurst]

The issue of a portable NES has been addressed already in the form of the GBA and a flash cart. Can't get any better than that imo. With the imminence of the front lit GBA SP, especially so.

Apologies if I'm breaking any emulation/rom taboos on this particular forum.

[CrazyImpmon]

Why $5 for the SMB cart? It's hardly worth 5 cents :/ If you're short on them I could drop by my local Funco and clean a bunch of SMB and SMB/DH combo cheap. I think they are like 50 cents each now.

I would love to have a portable NES myself. Around here, blinky NES decks are dime a dozen. I think I still have a dozen working decks left and it's not that hard to make one yourself. Just a lot of time and the right tools.

Personally I'd rather grab a Super 8 and use NES-on-a-chip (See Keven H page on this) and build a Gameboy sized NESp. Heck, I could probably shoehorn that chip, a controller port, and 72 pin connector in any standard pocket TV and not have to deal with making custom case.

[stonecutter]

I love the idea of Portable NES. I however have a Game Axe, and I would not part with 500 clams. Converted to Canadian I am getting near 800 bucks. Too much for me, thats some serious additions to my collection.

[l_c_r_ant]

Geez! >:( I had hope for something a little more postive than this. I would have though that you being a group interested in preserving the classics would be open and supportive for this kind of thing, but if this is the kind of reaction I should expect for future projects the forget you guys!
As far as prices goes, if your asking you've abviously never really attempted something this complicated. Here is just a partial part list.
1 Plastic Case -- $52.41
1 12V 2.3Ah Sealed Rechargeable Lead-Acid Battery -- $25.00
1 Drawer Slides - 8" extension - comes as pair -- $17.67
4 Blank Surface Mount Hinges - 1" -- $4.12
2 Round Handle-300 Series-Dull -- $6.52
1 Rectangular Handle-Extruded Aluminum-Dull -- $3.32
3 Ball Style Tension Catch-Three Way-Dull Chrome -- $3.51
1 GC Mobile Monitor -- $106.49
1 NES Advantage -- $5.00
1 NES Controll deck -- $39.95
2 NES Controller -- $10.00
1 NES 72 Pin Cartridge Connector -- $5.99
1 1/4 sheet of aluminum -- $40.00
And that's not even including taxes and shipping costs!
and as far as some of those prices go, ya I know there are places I could get some similar materials for a lower cost like the deck it's self, however, garage sales and classified adds are not a reliable source for doing something that you want to do on a regular basis. My whole point in doing this model was to make sure that I could reproduce it at any point. Even five to ten years from now. Everything there with the exception of the GC Monitor and the original Nintendo parts can be counted on to be there in five to ten years and be at relatively the same price. Any of the stuff for this kind of project that you'd find really cheap i.e. the stuff even in Jameco, is all SURPLUS. So the quantity available is absolutely limited with no guarantee of it being there five years from now when you need more. As far as the $5 for SMB, that's to cover my cost in actually getting the carts. The nearest Funcoland is over an hour away from me and the only game shop nearer to me that still carries NES stuff charges $8 for it. And even if I order it from Funcoland, the shipping charge is more than enough to make up for the $5.

[Tritoch]

I can understand where you're coming from, and honestly i think everyone does. The fact remains that $500 is way too much for most of us to pay for a portable NES, myself included. It's an issue of the overall cost, not whether it's actually worth it or not.

[Mr-E_MaN]

WOW... 1 Plastic Case -- $52.41... WOW

I bet that weighs a ton... in its entirety of cource...


if your asking you've abviously never really attempted something this complicated
Mine wasn't that complicated... but it would have been "portable"... yours seems to be too big to carry around...

[jonjandran]

Yea It's really just a matter of price. A nes portable or any portable for that matter is neat to have and look at once in a while. But it's not something you would be playing all the time. So for $75.00 - $100.00 you'd get a lot of takers. For $500.00 you get a person who has a lot of money to blow, and that's not most of us LOL

[Charlie]

You can an arcade game for $500. You can get 100 NES games priced at $5 each. You can get 10 new games for any new system. Besides, Game Axe is way cheaper.

What you should do is build a portable Dreamcast.

[IceCold]

1 NES Controll deck -- $39.95


I have 2 NES control decks if you want them, and I live in Ohio also(was at Cinciclassic too!), so shipping won't be too high. You can check out my refernences here (http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16844) , I'm mentioned there many times.

Thank you!


BTW - I think a portable NES is very cool, I wouldn't buy it, but I think you should keep making them! I think pretty much all home projects are cool, even if there isn't a large demand for such things. If you enjoy making them, and think it's a good use of your time, then keep making them! You can probably sell at least a few.