Figure 1 - Progress, but weeks from portable nostalgia. (Click to enlarge)

I’ve decided to update the site with a couple of things that have been occupying my time, leading to less frequent posts. I became interested awhile back in homemade portable video game systems thanks to the very talented Ben Heckendorn. For my birthday back in August, I received quite possibly one of the greatest gifts ever: a Dremel.

So I broke out the soldering iron and began working on a portable, handheld, Nintendo Entertainment System that would accept NES cartridges. For the portable community, yes, this is a NOAC (NES-On-A-Chip) build. I haven’t yet named my portable, but work is coming along nicely. When completed, I will post a full build log with pictures and descriptions, and most likely a demo video. For now, here is a picture of the front of the portable (paint finished) with the controls and screen loosely set in for mock-up purposes. Pay no attention to the fact that the controls aren’t seated properly as there’s nothing holding them in.  They’re just set in there for the picture.  Enjoy!

The case is a frankencase combination of Polycase’s AG-85 enclosure, the plastic from an NES controller, and the screen bezel from a PSOne screen.  It took about 7,283 coats of Bondo and sanding, plus some precision painting to get what you see here, but this is indeed handmade.  Check back for more updates as I provide them!