Back in the '80s and '90s, demand for "see-through" technology arguably hit its peak. While the '70s had been about attaching bits of wood to consumer electronics to make them fit more convincingly in the living room, there was soon a burning desire to actually see the inner workings of the systems we used, and that resulted in some pretty awesome consoles – including more than one transparent Game Boy and a cool "skeleton" Saturn (the latter sadly being exclusive to Japan). Even the N64 got in on the action with several transparent colour variants, all of which are highly desirable in today's market.
While the trend for gaming systems with see-through cases has waned over the past few decades, access to cheap means of mass-production in the Far East has recently triggered fresh demand, and retro enthusiasts are now looking at ways of redressing their beloved systems in flashy new transparent clothing:
Of course, we've also seen similar cases for the Switch, and Nintendo hasn't totally abandoned the notion of "skeleton" consoles, either. While this isn't quite the norm yet, we'd welcome a law that prevents companies like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft from releasing any of their products in black or white. What about you?
Comments (37)
There were already Clear PS2 Fat, Clear OG XBOX, Clear 3DS XL, Clear N64, etc.
You know, I don't think they are. Especially not if they're aiming for 500 units.
That doesn't look appealing to me at all.....
I used to have a clear GameBoyColor back in the day. It's something you don't really see these days though.
Love the clear concept, but shame they have done it to a disgusting US SNES.
Still have my purple Gameboy Colour and my purple N64 controller.
I will personally never buy a device for which the innards are visible. It's like posting your X-Rays for a dating site.
After seeing the excibition ‘body worlds’ I am of the opinion that it’s good that a lot comes with a nice concealing cover around it.
News like this reminds me that’s Monday again...
Seglass Mega Drive
Super Famicolourless
I've modded my Switch Lite with a transparent shell, looks great! And I've matching transparent joycons for my normal Switch. I'm all for transparent shells.
I want transparent innards too!
I used to like transparent consoles/controllers when I was younger. I just think they're a bit tacky now. I like custom designs/vinyls on my consoles, not so much transparency.
The witty title made me think this was written by Kate Gray!
In all seriousness these blend new and old like never before.
Not for me. I find it very ugly.
These things won't age well.
"Forget the Switch" is the most atrocious imperative I've heard since launching Don't Starve on the console and being unceremoniously told to...
I had three proper GC controllers and accidentally bought a transparent fourth one (easier mistake to make than you might think, it was an official version where the top looked normal but the bottom was see-through, so not obvious at a glance from the packaging). By the time I'd opened it and realised my mistake my uni flatmates were already set up for Double Dash and it would have taken the best part of 2 hours to go back to town, swap it and get back, so I decided to live it. Otherwise I agree with the above, not appealling at all and I very much doubt this will be 2021's must-have game hardware.
this make me remember of my clear Game Boy Color.
No thanks, it looks too messy.
Blimey, they managed to make the US SNES look sorta pretty 😂
Could do with one for my US SNES seeing as it's a bit yellow and has a ruddy great hole in one side 🙄
I want a clear toilet
I'm waiting for consoles that can play gamecube disc's
Sorry its ugly and not like clear consoles are anything new, maybe most unwanted item
I would totally get this for one of my snes, if it wasnt over 100 dollars American haha
the pro controller is see through!
That Super Nintendo looks hideous
My joycons are translucent atomic purple with a d-pad and they are awesome.
the only transparent console that appealed to me is the This is cool Sega Saturn. although that is more translucent rather than transparent. not really a fan of transparent consoles in general
Needs some RGB!
Look forward to scratch and scuff city👍😀
I had an atomic purple GameBoy Color (translucent purple) and a glacier GameBoy Advance (translucent blue) back in the day. So a few months ago, when my joy-con started drifting, I decided to replace the joysticks. I figured, while I have the joycons apart, I may as well swap out the shells. Of course, my only real option was to make my Switch atomic purple, just like my old GameBoy Color.
@TheJGG although I do love a transparent console, you can tell when things are definitely not written by me if they show any amount of knowledge on hardware or old consoles 😅
I don't really like the American SNES, but I think that transparent system above is a thing of beauty.
Transparent hardware is hideous. Was it Apple that started the trend? I know they made it commonplace, but I always detested it. It looks cheap and nasty. My current PC has a big transparent window, it looks so tacky, but it was free and I didn't have the cash to work from home when lockdown hit otherwise. There would have to be no alternative before I'd actually buy a transparent system.
This isn't atomic purple.
Get it away from me!
I really don't get all the hate for the US SNES. It's boxy and I have always loved it over the JP/EU SNES. Even the purple was cool even now. Plus 60Hz, snap the tabs inside out and you had a console that'd play US AND JP carts. What's not to love? I'm in the UK and have only ever owned US SNES's. And still have one hooked up to my CRT.
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