Printing NES – A 3D-Printed NES Portable

Out of a 3D printer and into your hands, check out how a talented modder created his own mobile NES.

NESPo by Dave Nunez image 1

3D printing offers a range of possibilities in many of fields like industrial design, aerospace, and biotech. It might even usher in a new age where end users can create their own products rather than relying on large manufacturers to provide them.

Just imagine a future where instead of going out to purchase a NES, you make one yourself like modder Dave Nunez. Yes, with spare parts and his own 3D printer on hand, Dave was able to make a portable version of Nintendo’s 8-bit console called the NESPo.

NESPo by Dave Nunez image 3

From its casing right down to its buttons, Dave’s NESPo were all designed in OpenSCAD. Later, putting those designs through the Makerbot Replicator 2, which then printed out the parts piece-by-piece in a span of over 14 hours. Yikes. Hopefully, Dave had a 3DS to bide the time.

Those parts created house the Nintendo-on-a-chip, a circuit board gutted from a Retro-BIT RES instead of a traditional NES console. Dave didn’t feel like ripping apart a poor vintage NES for his Frankenstein-ish plans, and decided on buying a cheap facsimile instead.

NESPo by Dave Nunez image 2

Other key components, like a 4.3 inch TFT camera screen used for its display, a transparent rear-panel to show off the NESPo innards, a light-up logo, and a NiMH rechargeable battery that holds about a three-hour charge where all included in the final product you see here.

And while it might have taken a whole week for Dave to assemble it, his hard work paid off tremendously. Perhaps, a little fat around the middle, sure, but still a quality build that presents just how creative one can be with a 3D printer. Kudos, Dave!

Don’t go off running yet guys, we here on Walyou.com still have a butt load of geeky stuff in store for you, such as the rumored flashy gold and sapphire versions of Apple’s iPhone 5S and the release date for PlayStation 4, coming out in November.