Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition went over well with fans of retro gaming, but a bit of disappointment set in for some people after it was revealed that the miniature NES wouldn’t be able to expand its library beyond its 30 built-in games. It still sports an impressive library of classics, but now a fan has taken things a step further and built a mini-NES from scratch, complete with interchangeable cartridges—just like the good old days. (Minus all the blowing in them to make them work.)
The impressive custom console, built by daftmike, is a pretty solid 40% scale replica of an NES, complete with working power and reset buttons. The case was 3D printed and built around a Raspberry Pi computer, which sports an HDMI port like its Nintendo-official relative as well as some extras like an ethernet port and an SD card slot, which is where the games are actually housed.
The neat thing, though—beyond the possibility of playing any NES title—is how it completely replicates the functionality of the original cartridge slot. While games are stored on the SD card, they’re called up using near-field communication tags within tiny plastic cartridges. They even slide in and click down into place just like the good old days/when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and there’s a 40% scale controller to go along with it, though I think Nintendo made the right decision with a full-size one on that front.
Perhaps the best feature of all is that it can play more than just NES games, since it’s just running emulation software. If you get inspired and make your own, just make sure you emulate legally! I trust you will all be sure to do so.
(via Tiny Cartridge)
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