Tim just shared a new project: "Nintendo Wii Portable | Project G-Wii"
Do you love your Wii and its ability to play all GameCube games perfectly but wish you could take it on the go like a Gameboy?
Well, I definitely did and if you’re like me so do you. And here is the right place to learn how. There has never been a better time to get into the Wii Portabilising (S-Tier) or any console portabilising in general. The wealth of well-documented knowledge online, incredible free software, cutting-edge circuit boards, and the most helpful community are just some of the reasons why.
Personally, I love GameCube games and find I only get time to game nowadays when I am traveling from place to place. So to rectify this problem I knew I had to create a device that would let me play my GameCube games perfectly. Emulation, not only being a bad and nefarious action (disclaimer - truthfully emulation is a good thing saving many great games from the sands of time), never reaches the peak of playing on native hardware.
So when you look deep enough into a Wii you will eventually come to the realisation that really it is a supercharged GameCube with a whole bunch of Wii Remote Sensor capability attached on the side. From there I discovered the huge online community revolving around portabilising devices. Wii’s also have not quite reached their nostalgic price gorging stage in their lifespan so you can still get them for dirt cheap. The one I am using here cost me $15 Australian dollars second-hand.
So from there I was hooked and embarked on my G-Wii Journey. Below is an image of Super Mario Sunshine playing on the G-Wii.
So I got my Ben Heck Portabilising Hat on and cracked on in. So let’s rip apart a $15 Wii that we’ve filled with extra software and then take a diamond cutter to the motherboard until we are left with just a tiny fragment. Then we will bring that fragment back to life using the most advanced life-support circuitry I can get my hands on. Provide it a beating heart by soldering directly (and extremely carefully) to 18650s and from them create a battery that will last 4+ hours. Then we will pull apart a Gamecube controller and use the buttons from it to maximise nostalgic and ergonomic happiness.
Overall, this makes for a beautiful trifecta of 3D Printing, Software, and Electronics.
Read more
