Filed under: Mods
No charger required for the solar-powered DS 'Light'
by Griffin McElroy 
{ 8 months ago }
Unfortunately, you have to leave your system lying on its easily blemished belly for a bit in order to get an adequate amount of power, but such is the cost of Earth's climatological salvation.
[Via Engadget]
Make a tiny working Wiimote, in seven ridiculously difficult steps
by JC Fletcher { 9 months ago }
If you are one of the millions whose Wii experience is ruined by the comically oversized controllers, we encourage you to seek a solution in DHRECK's "Mini-mote" mod, which uses custom shells to shrink down the controllers to fun size. It's more attractive, more useful, and less likely to attract stray Woody Harrelsons than his previous "Hemp-Mote" mod, at least!
The extremely detailed guide to taking apart and rebuilding the Wiimote and Nunchuk is intended to help people get started with their own projects. The "Mini-mote" and associated Nunchuk are just a tiny proof of concept.
[Via Kotaku]
Wooden labyrinth made cooler and more frustrating with Balance Board controls
by JC Fletcher { 10 months ago }
Some geniuses from Kansas City's "Cowtown Computer Congress", with the help of an Arduino microcontroller and copious amounts of SCIENCE, have added Balance Board controls to a wooden labyrinth toy. Leaning on the board controls the servos attached to the game's two dials, causing the game to tilt in response to the board. It's like The Incredible Maze, but actually incredible! It can also be controlled with an Xbox 360 controller, though that lacks the representative motion element.
The whole thing cost about $60 in parts, not including the Balance Board. Of course, that's if you don't already have a couple of servos and an Arduino lying about, which, if you're electronics-savvy enough to carry this out, you probably do.
[Via Engadget]
Game Boy Pocket mod lets the games continue after dark
by David Hinkle { 10 months ago }
It's not the most impressive mod in the world, but we have to give the man credit where it's due. He set his mind to something, and he did it. Almost makes us want to get back to that stamp collection we've neglected for years.
Gallery: The best (and worst) handheld mods
[Via Engadget]
Nintendo Vaio Lite, for people who want to match
by Alisha Karabinus { 10 months ago }
[Via BenHeck.com forums]
Continue reading “Nintendo Vaio Lite, for people who want to match”
Nintendo Sixtyfree Lite-R might be the perfect handheld
by David Hinkle { 10 months ago }
[Via Engadget]
Realistic Zapper mod is impressive, also sort of scary
by Chris Greenhough { 10 months ago }
Say hello to your new little friend, the "WeeP 5 Advanced Zapper," a mash-up of a toy MP5 gun and Wiimote innards (you can see the painted IR sensor just below the muzzle). The WeeP 5 is the work of Instructables user THeOReos, who was left disappointed by the range of gun shells available for the Wii (WHAAAT?!). It's just the ticket if you want your Zapper-compatible games to feel extra authentic, and we'd rather enjoy using it to drop bad dudes in Ghost Squad (though it may not suit Link's Crossbow Training).
THeOReos is confident this works well, and has posted a full step-by-step of the building process here. We lack the patience or skillz to make our own, but don't let that put you off building one and sending it to us!
[Via Hack A Day]
Star Wars: The Wii Mod Unleashed
by JC Fletcher { 10 months ago }
We just had a thought: with Wii supplies potentially catching up with demand, we may see a Wii modding boom. After all, there's slightly less danger to modding a Wii if it is possible to find another one -- and some people may not have been able to find even one Wii to accidentally gouge or splatter.
This Star Wars mod adds fiber-optic stars, a plexiglass logo and a hand-painted space combat scene to an aftermarket black Wii case -- with, of course, the standard slot light alteration. As a certain Star Wars character might say, "GRRRRAAARRRGGGHHHHH!" (That's the Chewbacca noise, which we've never tried to transcribe before.)
If you somehow still love Star Wars after all it's been through, you can follow modder BeerBellyJoe's Instructable, or just buy the thing on eBay, with 15% of the purchase price going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. It even includes a copy of The Force Unleashed! BeerBellyJoe is also responsible for a totally great Mario mod from earlier this year, as well as the must-see Hulk system.
[Via GoNintendo]
Homemade Balance Board -- with more board
by JC Fletcher { 11 months ago }
Sure, the Wii Balance Board is great, but you can't stomp on it. Also, it doesn't look nearly enough like a big piece of plywood. That's where the "Swiitboard" comes in. This "homebrewed" Balance Board alternative couldn't be simpler: it's a board, on some foam, with a Wiimote cable-tied to it.
But the real draw of this project, besides the availability of its parts in stores, is that you can actually run on the thing. Creator "frits" developed this for higher-impact exercise than the Wiimote allows, along with some custom software that tracks the motions of the tied-on Wiimote.
See also: Wii Fanboy Interview: Johnny Lee, Revolutionary: Balance Boarder
[Via Engadget]
Mod turns GameCube controller into a Classic Controller
by David Hinkle { 11 months ago }
This may not be the most groundbreaking mod around, but it's one that would allow you to play things like Mega Man 9 with your GameCube controller. Created by Marcan42, the above mod uses a special adapter which plugs into the Wiimote just like a Classic Controller, allowing him to trick the system into thinking the GameCube controller is a Classic Controller. Check out the video above to watch the mod being used with Mario Kart Wii.
[Via Go Nintendo]
Punish your wallet with this NES mod
by David Hinkle { 11 months ago }
While we're not the biggest Punisher fans in the world, we'll give credit where credit is due; this NES mod is very nice. With the LED lights and the slick, glossy paint job, we're finding ourselves a bit jealous of the individual who's soon to have this beaut. Of course, when we think about how much the inevitable winner of the eBay auction is going to have to shell out to win this bad boy, it helps.
Hit up the video above then check out the gallery below for screens of the NES from almost every angle.
[Thanks, Val!]
Some guy put a Nintendo 64 in his Wii
by Chris Greenhough { 11 months ago }
Why? NOBODY KNOWS. Maybe he desperately misses the days of blowing in slots. Whatever reasons he had, this is now up on eBay, with bidding starting at $49.99. The auction notes that the mod is "100% working!" (uh ... good?) and that the Wii's blue lights still illuminate when it's switched on, which we have to admit is kind of neat. Also, the seller calls it a "Wii64." Hmm. See more of this peculiar beast past the break, and more illustrious Wii mods here.
Portable SNES vs. portable SNES
by Alisha Karabinus { 12 months ago }
But unless you're some sort of ambidextrous, giant-handed mutant freak, you probably can't play two of these at once, and that means you have to choose. Which one do you prefer: kotomi's, or, uh, the other guy's? Unfortunately, we don't know his/her name, though we wish we did!
Revolutionary: Gun Sights
by Mike Sylvester { 1 year ago }
It's amusing to take them apart piece by piece, but as they shamble ever closer, you'll ultimately have to spread a little gray matter and put them to bed for a final dirt nap. At times like that, you'll need to know that you can rely on your sidearm to do the job. Zombie killin' is no turkey shoot, so a blunderbuss ain't gonna cut it. In this week's Revolutionary, we'll be testing out how straight a shooter the Wii Remote can be.
Rapid fire mod creates a Wiimote of mass destruction [update]
by JC Fletcher { 1 year ago }
AcidMods posted this amazing video demonstrating a hack that allows rapid fire of either the Wiimote's A or B button. They're selling the required parts in their shop for $10, and promise a tutorial soon. According to the forum post announcing the mod, "out of all our kits this is [by far the] simplest.."
Following the installation, turning on the turbo function is as simple as hitting a switch next to the sync button. They've even thought to put an LED under the A button as an indicator -- a touch of class.
Yes, rapid fire is cheating, but doesn't it look like fun to mow down zombies like that in The House of the Dead 3? Now that we can mod our controllers, we won't have to mod our fingers.
[Update: the video has been removed from Vimeo, but split into two and uploaded to YouTube. Hit the break for the hardware introduction!]
Continue reading “Rapid fire mod creates a Wiimote of mass destruction [update]”
