We love when game consoles are recreated into new and exciting pieces of tech. The latest 'Frankenstein' creation is by Twitter user @redherring32 and it's called the 'TinyTendo', a handheld console made from NES hardware with the form factor of a Game Boy.
The project utilises custom made miniature game cartridges, but since the handheld itself uses real NES hardware, the original cartridges can also be used with an adapter.
It looks gorgeous, right? The creator states that he used real NES chips that have been cut and sanded down to size, making them less than 7% the size of the originals.
It's certainly a novel way of experiencing NES games, though we'd be a bit nervous about taking such a cool invention out and about with us! Thankfully, we've got plenty of NES games available via the Nintendo Switch Online service.
- Read More: Every Nintendo Switch Online NES Game Ranked
What do you make of @redherring32's invention? Would you welcome a NES handheld from Nintendo itself? Let us know!
Comments 21
This is damn awesome!!! I really want one!
This. Is. Perfect
GG to whoever made this
A simple run down is that I sand away the bottom of the chip till I hit the die and leads, then I cut the chip smaller with a Dremel.
I know relatively little about circuits, PCBs and electrical engineering generally, but this sounds somewhat doubtful to me. Does anyone reading this know if that will actually be viable longer-term?
@CANOEberry It's possible but I figure error prone and time consuming. The little black chips you see on computer boards, etc, are just the carriers for a much smaller chip inside (what he refers to as the die). Look at a picture of an old ROM chip with a transparent window; that little piece inside the window is the actual die, the part that makes it work. The rest is just the carrier for connection to the outside world. That picture is 40 years old, too. Newer tech is even smaller.
https://64.media.tumblr.com/fca88ec1b238555068a1589e3eb7ea71/tumblr_inline_o1w8iryuMH1r5lxrv_540.jpg
@agrazioli Thanks! I always wondered if the part surrounding the die was there for protection or thermal considerations, too. If the above mod really does work, though, I'm very impressed.
A handheld NES? Yeah, fun for the Retro fans. But I'd stick with my Switch and Steam Deck.
I don't like it when they butcher original hardware to make this stuff.
WOW that's insane. Very impressive work
I want a GBA Classic
Now do that with a SNES, N64 and Wii U and all the Nintendo home consoles now have fan made portable versions… I think.
If the NES game inserted in the back is normal size, it's not that "tiny"...
@twztid13 It says in the tweet that it’s the same size as the OG Game Boy. I assume it just uses roms but uses original hardware to run them. Edit: I looked at his replies and he says he uses custom mini carts he made, probably miniaturized the same was as the console. He also says he could use normal carts through an adapter.
The creator is obviously very talented, but I can't support this sort of modding. It hurts to think a perfectly functional NES was destroyed to make this, and it can't even play original NES Game Paks.
Again, totally impressed by the engineering, but there are a finite and very slowly-dwindling number of NES consoles left in the world. (Yes, tens of millions, but they are never going to be made again.) There are countless ways of playing NES games in a handheld form factor, without what amounts to a unnecessary waste of original hardware.
Just my opinion.
@Miyamotosan How do you feel about all the ones in landfill?
If only it took tiny cartridges that look like NES carts.
I always hoped that the Switch carts would be made to look like NES carts.
@JJtheTexan
1) Was this a functioning system when they started the mod? I dont think the article specifies but wouldnt that make a difference to you?
2) "...the original cartridges can also be used with an adapter."
I agree that functioning OG hardware is a special thing and should be cherished and preserved, and im just pointing out 1) a straw man and 2) an incorrect statement in your argument.
@sanderev
This is, like, the most obvious thing in the world.
"Grape juice? Sure, great for all the fruit juice fans. I'll stick to chicken broth, thanks."
That is awesome... it makes me want to get off my bum and start my idea of a NES in a ITX form factor case. Original chips salvaged of a power issue dead NES, on a new build ITX motherboard, powered by USB-C!
@JJtheTexan
It was a damaged non working motherboard that I used, so in a way I actually fixed it haha.
I don't gut good consoles.
@HolyGeez03 it does! I designed the mini cartridges to look like the originals.
@Redherring32 thank you for the clarification! I appreciate that, and I know you don't need my approval, but I do think that makes a big difference.
I applaud your technical prowess and appreciation for vintage hardware! (I am older than the NES. lol)
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