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Gaming’s newest accessory: headbands

http://hackaday.com/2010/06/21/gamings-newest-accessory-headbands/

These aren’t terrorists, they’re electrical engineering students. For their final project they developed a headband and rifle input system for the NES. The controllers send data to a laptop which then maps out the inputs to NES controller commands and sends them to an original NES console, no emulation here.

The controllers in the headband and rifle are Firefly sensor network nodes. Originally, [Kevin] and [Evan] tried using accelerometers for motion information but found the data do be unreliable. After an upgrade to gyroscope modules the interface is much more responsive, as seen about 3:50 into the video after the break. We like seeing motion controller hacks and we appreciate the choice of a classic system (and lesser known game title). This really makes it a whole different game.
- Tags:
- firefly
- nes
- gyroscope
- nintendo hacks
- rifle
- headband
June 21 2010, 11:31am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Original NES plays Game Boy games?

http://hackaday.com/2010/05/11/original-nes-plays-game-boy-games/

[Bunnyboy] pulled off some wizardry with this custom NES cartridge. Inside is the mainboard for a Game Boy as well as his own custom PCB with the comb connector needed to interface with an original Nintendo Entertainment System. In his own words it’s “a Super Game Boy without the Super”. The expansion port to for the handheld is still accessible for some head-to-head Tetris or use with the obscure Game Boy printer.

[Thanks Maxym]
- Tags:
- gameboy hacks
- game boy
- nes
- nintendo hacks
- cartridge
- classic hacks
May 11 2010, 10:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Making a bluetooth SNES controller

http://hackaday.com/2010/05/10/making-a-bluetooth-snes-controller/

[MODDEDbyBACTERIA] has posted this instructible on how to make a bluetooth SNES controller. The bulk of the parts come from a bluetooth MSI game pad, so this isn’t a scratch build, but the amount of modifications required definitely qualify this as a hack. We were quite surprised that he managed to stuff all of that back into the case as well as he did. Great job.
- Tags:
- peripherals hacks
- snes
- bluetooth
- nes
- nintendo hacks
- classic hacks
May 10 2010, 9:34am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Repair or improve your NES

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/26/repair-or-improve-your-nes/

There’s a warm place in our hearts for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. It’s too bad we don’t have that hardware sitting around anymore. But if you do there’s a chance it needs some TLC and there’s always room for a blue LED mod. [Raph] has a wonderful collection of NES hardware repairs and hacks that you should take a look at. These include replacing the power supply, fixing the cartridge connector, monkeying with the CIC chip, adding a reset button on the controller, converting the audio from mono to stereo, and yes, swapping in a blue LED. Oh, and as a side note, [Raph] gets a bit of extra hacker ‘cred for including “coded manually using VIM” at the bottom of his page. Classic.
- Tags:
- nintendo
- nes
- hack
- repair
- nintendo hacks
- repair hacks
- mod
January 26 2010, 1:27pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

NES console to cartridge security in depth

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/20/nes-console-to-cartridge-security-in-depth/

[Segher] has reverse engineered the hardware and command set for the NES CIC chips. These chips make up the security hardware that validates a cartridge to make sure it has been licensed by Nintendo. Only after authentication will the console’s CIC chip stop reseting the hardware at 1 Hz. The was no hardware information available for these chips (go figure) so [Segher] had to do some sleuthing with the tools at hand which include some rom dumps from the chip pairs. He was nice enough to share his findings with us. We’re betting they’re not of much use to you but we found it an interesting read.

[Thank ppcasm]

[Photo credit: Breaking Eggs and Making Omelets]
- Tags:
- security hacks
- snes
- security
- nintendo
- nes
- nintendo hacks
- rom
- cic
January 20 2010, 2:43pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Cubicle-dwellers rewarded for reflexes

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/13/cubicle-dwellers-rewarded-for-reflexes/

[StudioJooj] is trying to torture or test his colleagues in his office. A lot of folks leave a candy jar on their desks for all to enjoy but he’s making his friends work for their reward. Like cubicle-dwelling lab subjects, they must successfully navigate his maze to be rewarded with chocolate. The game piece is an amazingly orb-like peanut M&M candy. The maze is constructed from plywood and moves on two axis with the help of a couple of servos. The user interface includes a couple of NES console buttons to release the game piece and a PS2 joystick to control the maze. [StudioJooj] was nice enough to include a music video in his project clip.

We wonder the M&Ms will disappear faster or slower than they would from a candy jar.

[via SparkFun]
- Tags:
- Toy Hacks
- servo
- nes
- Joystick
- playstation 2
- candy
- maze
- chocolate
- M&M;
January 13 2010, 8:15am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

NES RAM Replacement

http://hackaday.com/2010/01/04/nes-ram-replacement/

[Spatula Tzar] Turned on her NES one day to find it no longer working. Off went the case and out came the oscilloscope. After probing around for a bit, she found that one of the RAM chips was very hot. She hot aired off the bad chip implementing an “Impenetrable Aluminum Heat Shield of Science” to protect the rest of the components. In the chip’s place she soldered a wide DIP socket for which the NES engineers had thoughtfully left a place. Then, using a 128Mbit SRAM SOIC, she soldered it to 0.100″ headers to fit in the socket. As the original chip was only 16Mbit, unused address lines are tied high or low. The console is now fully functional again. Also checkout the comments on Oldschool NES ‘repair’ how-to.
- Tags:
- nintendo
- nes
- nintendo hacks
- classic hacks
January 4 2010, 1:50pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Xbox 360 controller on NES

http://hackaday.com/2009/11/30/xbox-360-controller-on-nes/

Some may think that linking an Xbox 360 controller to an original NES console is overkill. [Francois] would not count him self among that group. When the robotics team at his school was done using the controller with one of their projects, [Francois] used a Cortex M3 processor to get it to run with one of Nintendo’s 8-bit consoles. Part of the code for using the controller with the robot and the NES is available. Now all that is left is being able to play Duck Hunt with a Sixaxis controller.
- Tags:
- xbox hacks
- nintendo
- controller
- xbox
- 360
- nes
- nintendo hacks
November 30 2009, 6:43am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Uzebox in an NES controller

http://hackaday.com/2009/11/19/uzebox-in-an-nes-controller/

[David Cranor] has managed to fit a fully working Uzebox system into an old NES controller. Uzebox, an open source gaming platform based on the ATmega 644 and an AD725 NTSC encoder, is one of a couple systems that are becoming more and more widespread and accessible. There are a number of ready-to-go Uzebox kits available, but for the more hands-on types, [David] has been very generous with his schematics and step by step instructions. These schematics can all be readily reshaped, and would easily fit into controllers with less fun applications and sentimental value.
- Tags:
- Gaming
- nintendo
- game
- fuzebox
- nes
- uzebox
- nintendo hacks
- classic hacks
November 19 2009, 9:00am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

NES processor cloned on a FPGA

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/17/nes-processor-cloned-on-a-fpga/

[Bradley] decided to tackle the challenge to recreate the original Nintendo Entertainment System’s processor in a Field Programmable Gate Array. Say what? The original NES is a Legacy System, still used but no longer manufactured. If a system breaks, it becomes more and more difficult to repair or find replacements parts as time passes. By using a programmable integrated circuit such as a CPLD or a FPGA to clone the functionality of the original hardware, legacy systems can live on long after the original hardware has given up the ghost.

It took [Bradley] about a year to fully implement the NES processor as part of his Master’s project at Bradley University. He used what was known about the processor combined with some detective work with logic probes along the way. The programming was done in VHDL and those files are available for download (click on Documentation).

With the ubiquity of NES emulators on every device known to man you probably won’t be replicating this unless you want a reason to play with a FPGA. What interests us is the hardware solution this type of work provides for obsolete hardware that still serves a useful purpose. If you’ve used a FPGA or similar device to keep an old system running, let us know about it in the comments.
- Tags:
- nintendo
- fpga
- nes
- cpld
- nintendo hacks
- processor
October 17 2009, 6:09pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

NES guitar

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/15/nes-guitar/

[Dave] set out to build the ultimate NES guitar. He’s apparently done a pretty good job, this thing is pretty remarkable. Every detail is covered in NES goodness. The body is a console, the head is a cartridge, his knobs are even replaced by goofy little heads of Mario and friends. We think he should do some custom pixel art inlays in the fretboard next. Skip to about 2:00 to hear him play a Nintendo medley on it.
- Tags:
- digital audio hacks
- nes
- guitar
- nintendo hacks
October 15 2009, 9:27am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Emulator in NES cartridge – so clean it looks factory made

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/12/emulator-in-nes-cartridge-so-clean-it-looks-factory-made/

We extend our congratulations to [airz] over at the ben heck forums. He put together a mod that fits an emulator into an original NES cartridge and utilizes a butchered original NES controller; and he did an amazing job!

He is using a cheap but full featured emulator board. It comes with 4 gigs of memory but also has an SD card slot. NES, Game Boy, and Game Boy color ROMs can all be played on the 2.8″ color LCD but the system also features a TV out connector for use with a larger screen as well.

The cuts that [airz] made in the case are amazing, easily eclipsing the last cartridge emulator mod we saw. The holes for the controls look as if the plastic was molded that way. For realism he also cut off the PCB interface on the business end of the cartridge and glued it in place. Apparently it took three cartridges, two controllers, and two of the emulators to make it this nice, but if you want to make an omelet…

[via Gizmodo]
- Tags:
- gameboy hacks
- game boy
- nes
- ben heck
- nintendo hacks
- cartridge
- emulator
- mod
- game boy color
October 12 2009, 12:19pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Nes controller storage with security

http://hackaday.com/2009/10/11/nes-controller-storage-with-security/

[Joven] wrote in to show us his unique NES controller mod. He initially thought of just putting some flash storage in his controller like so many others. Then he got the idea to a security feature. You must first enter a code to access the memory. What code? Yes, that one. He chose the Konami code. As he notes, this may not be the wisest choice for security purposes, but it sure is cool. At least it isn’t controlling something that really would require security, like his door. You can see a video describing the project after the break.
- Tags:
- nintendo
- nes
- nintendo hacks
- konami
October 11 2009, 8:43am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

NES on ZipIt

http://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/nes-on-zipit/

Going even further back in time than 4th gen, [Kevin] tipped us off to this project by [Hunter Davis]. It is a collection of software mods for Zipit’s Z2 instant messenging device. Some of them include allowing it to run (ports of) the Fluxbox window manager, FCE Ultra NES emulator, and (most impresively) the Java framework. The next leap in development, a SNES emulator optimized for the Zipit, is in the works. The Z2 runs Linux out of the box. This means you no longer have to reflash the device to add software, such as DOSbox (also introduced to the Zipit by [Hunter Davis]). Be sure to check out the video demo of FCE Ultra on the Z2 above.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- nintendo
- nes
- nintendo hacks
- emulator
- zipit
- port
- z2
September 3 2009, 7:57pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

NES workbench

http://hackaday.com/2009/07/24/nes-workbench/

[Miltron] dropped us a tip about his NES workbench. Knowing that when you get frustrated with whatever project you are beating your head against, you need an outlet, [Miltron] decided to build some relaxing NES fun into his workbench. He’s using a NES on a chip though any multi game-in-a-controller setup should work. He has gutted a PSone LCD and mounted it all together nicely so he can game at any moment. You might recall one of [Miltron]’s earlier projects, Das Uber Airsoft Turret. How long will it be before we see integrated LCDs into our toolbox lids or workbenches from the factory?
- Tags:
- nintendo
- game
- nes
- video game
- nintendo hacks
July 24 2009, 12:57pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Punchy Punchout, improved

http://hackaday.com/2009/05/18/punchy-punchout-improved/

[Sam] submitted this fun project, a Punchout interface that you actually punch. If you recall, we’ve done a Punchout interface that you punch, but this one takes it a step further. Instead of being a blob on a desk that you’re mashing around, the new one is a Slam Man boxing dummy. They’ve mounted the buttons on different areas of the dummy so you can punch him to completely control the game. As you can see in the video, it seems to work ok, though we doubt the buttons will hold up very long under those conditions. They do say that this is just to hold them over till the Wii version, so maybe those buttons will last just long enough.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- wii
- nintendo
- nes
- punch
- haptic
- nintendo hacks
- boxing
- punchout
May 18 2009, 1:03pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

SNES toaster

http://hackaday.com/2009/03/22/snes-toaster/

From the same person who brought you the NES toaster comes the Super Nintoaster. It looks like the most difficult part of the construction was extending the cartridge connector. The slider button works as the power button. The toast control now changes the brightness of the glowing red LEDs. Video introduction embedded below.

Related: 2005’s NetBSD Toaster
- Tags:
- youtube
- led
- snes
- nintendo
- super nintendo
- nes
- video hacks
- nintendo hacks
- netbsd
- nintoaster
- super nintoaster
- toaster
March 22 2009, 4:25pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

NES controller on a DS

http://hackaday.com/2009/02/22/nes-controller-on-a-ds/

You can get most of the old NES games for the DS, but they just don’t feel the same. Sure your hands still cramp up, but its just not the same cramp we remember. What is the solution? Put an old Nintendo Entertainment System controller on your DS. [Parker] did exactly that. The method he used is fairly strait forward. He opened the DS, wired extensions onto the buttons he wanted to use to a controller. Instead of making it permanent though, he chose to wire it through the GBA slot. This allows him to plug the controller in whenever he wants to use it. This reminds us of the PSP with a SNES controller we covered back in October.

You can see a video of it in action after the break. You’ll notice in the video, he has also modded his buttons to have LEDs behind them.

In the comments, [tri-edge] points out that you can follow his build in the acidmods forum. There seem to be some other variations as well, including an SNES controller.
- Tags:
- daily
- gameboy hacks
- nintendo
- ds
- nes
- dsl
- dslight
February 22 2009, 10:12am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Punchy punchout controller

http://hackaday.com/2009/02/03/punchy-punchout-controller/

We love alternative inputs. They can revitalize an old classic or add a twist to most any mundane task. Here, we see a perfect example where the game Punch Out for the NES is being controlled by a punching bag type thing. The impact sensors were made by hand, and wired to a PC game pad. They were mounted on some foam, allowing for a nice mushy punching surface. There’s some feedback too, when your character is hit, a custom script detects the change in the sprites color and sends a signal to an Arduino. Right now, it just lights an LED, but the goal is to signal a strobe to make you flinch. This looks like it would be fun to play with, especially if you were to make it a little more high impact. You can see a video of them lightly assaulting it after the break.
- Tags:
- daily
- peripherals hacks
- pcs hacks
- nes
- punch
- tactile
February 3 2009, 10:44am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

iPod Touch 2G jailbreak demoed

http://hackaday.com/2009/01/17/ipod-touch-2g-jailbreak-demoed/

Now that the iphone-dev team has unlocked the iPhone 3G they’re moving onto jailbreaking the iPod Touch 2G. While they have a fully working jailbreak, it’s not yet in a user friendly format. [MuscleNerd] did a live video demo this afternoon to show what progress they had made. It starts with him showing the iPod on but not booting. He’s already patched the kernel, but it’s failing the signature check in iboot. He then uses the team’s recoverytool to exploit a hole in iboot and patch out the signature check. The iPod then boots normally and he shows non-App Store software like Mobile Terminal, Cydia, and an NES Emulator (which makes use of the iPod’s internal speaker).

The redsn0w jailbreak works, but it has to be applied via tether every time the iPod boots. The team won’t release anything until they’ve found a way around this problem. For more insight into the boot process, check out our coverage of their Hacking the iPhone talk at 25C3.
- Tags:
- news
- apple
- digital audio hacks
- macs hacks
- iPod
- iphone dev team
- nes
- ipod touch
- kernel
- cydia
- jailbreak
- yellowsn0w
- musclenerd
- exploit
- appstore
- iboot
- ipod touch 2g
- patch
- redsn0w
January 17 2009, 8:35pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

SNES cartridge wallet

http://hackaday.com/2008/12/31/snes-cartridge-wallet/

[gamemaster87] put together this SNES wallet. It isn’t just a wallet, it also has internal lighting and theme music. He harvested LEDs from Christmas lights, switches and battery compartments from an old all in one joystick, and the sounds from a holiday card. There’s a Plexiglas window to show off his ID and a belt clip, because you wouldn’t want this thing in your back pocket. Match this up with the SNES clock, NES bike tail light, and the NES security system and you’ll be the king of the nintendorks.
- Tags:
- news
- snes
- nintendo
- nes
- wallet
December 31 2008, 12:59pm | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Nintendo keyless entry

http://hackaday.com/2008/12/08/nintendo-keyless-entry/

The Nintendo keyless entry system will vigilantly guard your door from intruders. Enter the right code and you get access, enter the wrong code and it will deny you and take your picture. [action_owl] did a fantastic job on this lock, using mainly recycled parts like an old CDRom and an Arduino. It works both with or without the computer. If you choose not to use the computer, you don’t get pictures of the people who entered the code wrong.

We like this project, but we feel it needs to be pointed out that this lock is pretty useless. Everyone already knows the code to get in is UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A.
- Tags:
- home hacks
- security hacks
- arduino
- lock
- nintendo
- nes
- door
December 8 2008, 9:55am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Nintendo 64 crammed into a NES

http://hackaday.com/2008/12/01/nintendo-64-crammed-into-a-nes/

[Matthew] sent us this Nintendo 64 stuffed into an NES. He did a great job really, everything looks nice and tidy. the presentation is decent with only the game ports visible on the front to tell you its not stock. The accent lighting on the side vents is not overpowering. Overall this was a really well done mod. Just like the Nintendo 64 in a Wii mod, this only plays Nintendo 64 games. OK guys, lets get some mods going that don’t involve cramming one Nintendo product into another Nintendo product.
- Tags:
- news
- home entertainment hacks
- misc hacks
- nintendo
- nes
- n64
December 1 2008, 10:28am | More »
I posted to hackaday.com

Fuzebox, open source gaming

http://hackaday.com/2008/11/25/fuzebox-open-source-gaming/

Adafruit has just put their Uzebox based console into production. The Fuzebox is an 8bit game console based around the ATmega644-20PU microcontroller. Full 256 color 240×224 resolution video output is provide by either a composite connection or svideo. There is an SD card slot on board for future expansion. The chip takes care of all the I/O, so you just need to write your game code in C on top of it.

The kit looks easy to assemble. Almost all of the components are through-hole. The video chip is SMD and comes presoldered to the board. The kit has two SNES controller ports included, but you can use NES ports too. There are three ways you can load your program onto the board: 6pin FTDI, ICSP10, and ICSP6.
- Tags:
- home entertainment hacks
- atmega
- AVR
- smd
- microcontroller
- snes
- sd
- isp
- fuzebox
- icsp
- nes
- uzebox
November 25 2008, 3:30pm | More »

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