In an innovative bit of recycling, a particularly creative Nintendo fan turned his old, broken-down Nintendo 64 system into a mini-PC. This almost sounds too good to be true, and it nearly was, as the creator explains there were several hurdles to overcome when designing the tiny computer.
An enthusiast for all kinds of gaming hardware, creator Shinzou is a frequenter of the Swedish tech forum Sweclockers. Here, he answers questions and chats about various computer systems and gaming hardware, including his many experiments with technology. He doesn’t offer any personal details about himself other than the fact that he is based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
What he does offer details about, though, are his exploits into revamping old hardware, including their most recent project: turning a defunct N64 into a small PC. It seems that the final Frankenstein product is a stripped-out console chassis featuring a large hole in the bottom for the cooling system (which Shinzou admits it hurt to cut out), running off of an mSATA disk wired through an mSATA to SATA adapter for storage and an odd combination of Flirc-IR and Logitech Harmony controls. It also features many custom 3-D printed parts that hold all the necessary pieces together.
This didn’t come without trial and error, though. Apparently, several pieces broke during production, including the entire system at one point when it was attempted to run it without a cooling system (never a good idea), leading to the gut-wrenching cutting of the chassis. There was also the unfortunate incident of Shinzou accidentally throwing away several connectors and adaptors needed to actually wire the whole thing together. Thankfully, eBay came through for the intrepid techie, and the pieces were recovered soon enough.
So, what does the NUC-64, as its dubbed, do? Well, not much. It can stream music and movies if it’s kept relatively cool and stable. But really, it’s just a fun statement piece and conversation starter. Who else can say they built a PC in an old gaming system like that? Despite occasionally wanting to chuck it all in the trash, Shinzou is quite proud of the funny little project and excited to keep making more strange and unnecessarily complicated devices. Frankly, we’re excited to see him do it, too.
Source: PC Gamer