The NES Project

A few weeks ago I started on a little project using an old NES, a broken portable DVD player and a whole bunch of Legos. The project isn't finished yet but I thought I'd share the progress.

The goal of the project is to pack all of the components of a NES, along with the video screen of the DVD player into a portable game system. When I first started the project I was planning on using an original NES to build this but as it turns out you can get a smaller and inexpensive knock off version.

In my original design the game cartridge was taken apart so to save room (the actual game ROM is quite small). Because this the new system loads games from the top it might be possible to swap out games on the next design without needing to do a lot of work to the system itself.

The case will be built out of Legos and include a built-in, flip-up screen so you'll only need to find a power outlet to start playing.

I discovered a Lego has created an outstanding application for not only building your designs in advance, but also to help you order every single brick you will need to build your creation! Using a handful of Legos from my daughter's room I was able to design the entire thing without having to guess what parts I needed.

Unfortunately, Legos are pretty expensive and to create a to scale NES would cost me around $215! Yikes!

But, as I mentioned earlier, I've ordered a much smaller NES which should cut down on the size of the system quite a bit (and in turn save money on Legos).

I'll make sure to update my blog once I get the entire system built.