Super Scope Six 4 Port USB #2

I know what you're thinking.  Kaokensho has already done a SNES Cartridge with a 4 port usb hub.  Well this one has a red LED light instead of green one so there!  Truthfully I like to perfect the craft so to speak.  Perhaps find a way to mass produce toys like this one.  I'll also be tweaking other projects from the past in the coming weeks.  Thanks to friends and family I have received new techniques and tools.  I have sworn off Goo Gone in place of using a heat gun to remove and preserve cart art.  Started using a mouse sander to attack and grind down large areas of troublesome plastic.  Speaking of sanding, the saga continues with the NES restoration project (see previous post)....that's for another post.
-kaokensho

NES Restoration/MOD Part 1

Like most thirty-something nerds my first system was an original NES.  That said it's traveled thousands of miles and survived two horrible coats of spray paint.  Now I've dug it out with the intent to make it better than ever.  After running a google image searching and seeing the truly amazing things that some people have done I'm going to keep mine a bit modest.  Two great books worth reading are Game Console Hacking and Hacking Video Game Consoles: Turn your old video game systems into awesome new portables.  From the first book I got the idea to exchange the power light LED.   You can pretty much swap any color for another.  However, each color uses a different voltage so the actual brightness varies depending on the circuit.  Step one is to open the unit by removing six Phillip's head screws at it's base.  Then remove the RF shield revealing the cartridge caddy.  Now behold the glorious inner workings of 1985.  To the left on the front of the unit are the power and reset buttons.  The buttons and our target LED light are secured to a small circuit board held by two screws.  Remove it and begin desoldering the old and swap it with the new.  Take to notice which lead on your new LED is the short one (the negative end - ) and to test that before you reassemble the unit.   Green is so awesome. For Part 2 I'll have to get some power tools out so don't wait up for it!

-kaokensho

NES "Toaster" Mod

So this one takes a bit of background understanding but the buy off is worth it.  All I could find on this here were these images so allow me to explain.  The pictured NES is the one we all know and love.  Nintendo came out with a 2nd generation NES that loaded from the top and was half the size.  The reason for top loading is because the old school NES had one design flaw, the 72 pin cartridge connection that actually read the games.  These 72 pin connectors can be cleaned to a certain extent or bought new via ebay.  Replacing them doesn't take much more than a screwdriver.  What this person did took a great deal of desoldering and time.  However, the final result is an NES that no longer uses the ill fated 72 pin connector and now plugs pretty much straight into the motherboard.  Thus insuring a long life for an already almost indestructible machine.
-kaokensho

Millennium Falcon Takes on the Force of Sega

All I can say is Solo shots first!  The main man Ben Heck has struck again!  Now I have to go and find the a Sega Dreamcast and scope out Craigs list for a Millennium Falcon like this so I can be a hip cat too.  Check out his youtube video here.
-kaokensho

Wii External Usb Drive via Atari

I love the Nintendo Wii not for its game library but instead for it's ability to be soft modded (hacked without a chip).  See my buddies at Wii Brew for more info.   For a while I have been using a 16 gb usb drive with my Wii, that is until I saw this guy take it to another level.  That's a swell idea I thought to myself.  I had fished a few 2600 carts from a bargain bin a few months back.  So this is the first time I have ever tried to take (not tear) an Atari 2600 cart apart.  Although the cart label was purdy it had to go.  Under the label is a Phillips screw thats gotta go.  In addition to that there are two types of Atari carts.  One type is similar to the NES carts in the sense that there is nothing between the "contacts" of the game ROM which are just hangin' out inside the cartridge housing and the older ones have this crazy spring loaded shield that slides back once inserted into the Atari's main unit.  Not a big deal unless you're trying to tear...I mean take one apart or even make a portable Atari System like Ben Heck.  Anywho once the screw is gone you have to push in the trap door to expose the Atari game cart guts and then proceed to rip it in two...gently.  Once apart I needed to only sand down one side of both the top and bottom pieces to make the usb drive fit snugly.  I didn't even have to use a hot glue gun!  <gasp>  If you are a savvy shopper like myself buying small quantity bulk from china is the way to go.  Enter the female to male 2.5ft usb cable that I used here to give the project appearance and functionality.  Using Microsoft Publisher I fashioned my own custom cart art & presto!  An external Wii usb drive that I am proud of.
-kaokensho

The Atari 2600 Lamp

AtariAge member Cebus Capucinis hand-crafted this lamp from an old Atari 2600 console, a stack or game cartridges and scans of vintage box art.

He writes: "A dead Atari 2600 6-switch is used as the base in this model. This model features an in-line "hidden" light switch in the back of the Atari for easy switching on and off and a nice stack of cartridges up the middle with an improved pipe core to keep the stack complete. The wiring for the lamp itself runs out the RF hole from the Atari so it looks just like an actual Atari would.

This took at least three weeks of constant work on my part to get done. This model is Monkey Labs Production Model #1 and its owner is none other than Albert, who was my test marketing group! Al says this lamp will be a part of the AtariAge booth at CGE and I am very, very proud to have it displayed there."

http://www.retrothing.com/video_games/

-kaokensho