The Console

[Öhr]

Remember all those nice "old" Consoles? Like NES, SNES, N64, GameCube/Wii, PlayStation 2 or Dreamcast? If you pile them up, you get a huge tower out of consoles. But what will happen if you only take the heart(hardware) of the console and pile those up? I want to put all that in one small box. How small can it be? This is the project I'm currently working on.

Since this one expensive project, donations of any kind would be nice. All PayPal donations will only be used for this project. If there are leftovers, I will transfer that money back to the donors.

Donate: [email protected] (paypal or contact)
Donations: -

Checklist:
[Missing] Roomy Case (probably custom build)
[Dismantled] Nintendo Entertainment System / NES
[Dismantled] Super Nintendo (Entertainment System) / SNES
[Dismantled] Nintendo 64 / N64
[Can't afford] 400+W modular power supply
[Can't afford] GameCube (Wii preferred)
[Can't afford] PlayStation 2
[Can't afford] Dreamcast

For now I'm focusing on NES, SNES and N64 and see how much room is left once I got my computer case. If you got any tips and hints for this to work, just post!


Important aspects of the consoles & current status: (All consoles are (german) PAL)
Nintendo Entertainment System / NES:
Power Supply: AC(50Hz) or DC 9V with 1.3A rating
Power connection: Standard coaxial power connector 5.5mm(outer), 2.5mm (inner)

(SNES connection, NES has the same)
Audio/Video connection: Red and yellow audio(Mono)/video cinch connection or antenna(?)
Status: Dismantled

Super Nintendo (Entertainment System) / SNES:
Power Supply: AC or DC 9V with 1.3A rating
Power connection: Standard coaxial power connector 5.5mm(outer), 2.5mm (inner)

Audio/Video connection: Standard SNES/N64/NGC audio/video connection or antenna(?)
Status: Dismantled

Nintendo 64 / N64:
Power Supply: , 2x DC 3.3V with 2.6A and 1x DC 12V with 0.8A rating
Power connection: Nintendo 64 6pin connection

Based on the official power supply schematics, mirrored to reflect the consoles input

Audio/Video connection: Standard SNES/N64/NGC audio/video connection
Status: Dismantled

PlayStation 2:
Power Supply: DC 8.5V with 5.65A rating
Power connection: EIAJ connector 5mm(outer) (inner unknown)
Audio/Video connection: Standard PS2/PS3 video/audio connection
Status: Out of money

Dreamcast: Missing
GameCube/Wii: Soon
All based on what it says on the back of the console or its official power supply!

Power Source:
As the powersource, I decided to go with a computer power supply unit.
Most PSU support 15A for both 12V and 5V+3.3V. A 350W-400W PSU should be enough to power all systems at the same time. In order to turn the PSU on, you have to bridge a connection. More on computer PSU connectiors here.


Pictures:

Nintendo Entertainment System / NES:


Super Nintendo (Entertainment System) / SNES:


Nintendo 64 / N64:

 

[gameboy13]

This is SWEET!!! How much would you sell it for? I'm not going to buy it, I'm just curious.

 

[Öhr]

I'm not going to sell it either, and I have no idea how much I have to spend, but I'm going to be as detailed as possible if anyone wants to do the same!

Also I will only use original hardware except for the power supplies!

 

[gameboy13]

I can't wait until it's finished! Make sure and keep us updated, or I'll stalk you.

 

[Leamonde.Halcyon]

Wow...that's kind of a cool project. Are you planning it to be a working console then?

 

[Am0s]

not to be pessimistic but I dont see the point of this, why would anyone want to merge alot of obsolete hardware together, end result you get a wii or some piece of junk not worth a penny, dont get me wrong I am not flaming you, I am just pointing out that you might be wasting your time and money on obsolete hardware, a more productive idea and maybe you could earn money from it would be, to try and make a low spec pc with all the consoles you have made but with a low or mid range pc, use some custom OS add wifi and browsing, and these games would work natively on this machine, at the end of it you might get something worth selling, with more functionality than a pile of 8 and 16 bit consoles each to their own I guess.

anyway good luck with your project

 

[Öhr]

Am0s: emulation is boring. i want original hardware! And wheres the fun in simply building a computer?! BORING!

 

[Am0s]

dont think of it as emulation as such, make something which the pc can run these games as it would be running on the consoles itself, make a new OS or use linux to customize and make it feel like a console if you need to but its actually a pc, you could for instance make your OS look like a wii GUI an have an option to go into pc mode or something, I dunno pal making something like that would be much more interesting and innovative, than ramming obsolete hardware together to get a lesser result, its your money and time good luck whatever you do

 

[Öhr]

dont think of it as emulation as such, make something which the pc can run these games as it would be running on the consoles itself, make a new OS or use linux to customize and make it feel like a console if you need to but its actually a pc, you could for instance make your OS look like a wii GUI an have an option to go into pc mode or something, I dunno pal making something like that would be much more interesting and innovative, than ramming obsolete hardware together to get a lesser result, its your money and time good luck whatever you do

how should i connect official cartridges with a mobo. that requires major programming. No can do. I stick with my plan.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

If you want the thing to be able to play all games, you'll need a hell of a lot of room for all the cartridge slots!

Good luck though

 

[Jamstruth]

If you want the thing to be able to play all games, you'll need a hell of a lot of room for all the cartridge slots!

Good luck though

If you wire the slots to the motherboard at a distance you could easy fit one in each CD/3.5" slot.

 

[Leamonde.Halcyon]

It's still a cool project

 

[Juanmatron]

Ben Heck, HELP THIS!

 

[Öhr]

i just bought a snes on ebay, though i can't afford a ps2 or dreamcast... darn... not to mention a wii

Also I'm about to solve the power supply problem, more on this once its solved^^

 

[Öhr]

just got my snes off ebay and took it apart. added pictures on my first post

 

[Öhr]

My N64 finally arrived and I took it apart as usual. This system will be a soldering mayhem. i dont like that

Added pictures as well!

Neat info: its the smallest mobo of all 3 consoles so far

 

[imshortandrad]

That actually does sound pretty awesome. Good luck

 

[Urza]

This seems like an awful idea; destroying a bunch of great hardware to create something completely unwieldy with cartridge and controller ports all over the place.

Problem solving hardware projects are fun, but why not create something that isn't terrible?

 

[Potticus]

Ignore Urza, do this for the sake of saying you've done it.

I have a dreamcast with a busted cd reader, could you do something with it?
I might find a way to ship it to you

 

[Öhr]

My N64 finally arrived and I took it apart as usual. This system will be a soldering mayhem. i dont like that

Added pictures as well!

Neat info: its the smallest mobo of all 3 consoles so far

i just noticed that you can simply take the cartridge slot thingy off the board as its not welded in place(only the expansion slot is)