If you’re bored of using the same old USB hub day in and day out – one that doesn’t reveal your exciting personality and gamer status – it may be time to upgrade to an N64 Cartridge USB hub.
Now, the choice of using an N64 cartridge as a USB hub is quite unexpected. After all, it’s a random idea when you get down to it, and the cartridges may be aesthetically pleasing but they don’t exactly lend themselves to USB hubbing. However, it’s still a great way to fly the geek flag in an otherwise stuffy office, or even for your home workspace, which (if it’s anything like mine) is already littered with tons of game peripherals. This hub would fit perfectly in an environment like that.
While the designer of the USB hub didn’t mention whether the games are still playable, I sure hope they are. N64 cartridges have some free space at the very top, so there’s a chance that the drilling left the board undamaged and that the games remain playable.
While the destruction of the South Park game cartridge isn’t a big loss to the gaming world, Paper Mario and Donkey Kong 64 were pretty great, and for just $34.99 you could replay those great classics. Having a USB hub inside a game cartridge is cool enough, but it’s even cooler if you can actually play the game while charging your Blackberry and iPod.
One really interesting use for this hub would be pairing it up with the N64 Console Mac Case – that way, you’d be able to use your cartridge USB hub on an actual console that houses a computer. At least, you would be able to use it this way, if this particular case hadn’t been modded in such a way that the cartridge slot was replaced by a cooling grille.
Despite that, having a connecting theme between your peripherals is important; it shows restraint and sophistication, even when the subject is as nerdy as N64 mods. In fact, while you’re N64-ing your office, you might consider this N64 controller iPod dock, made by the same designer who created the N64 cartridge USB hub. If you’re looking for more unique usb hubs, check out this unique skull usb hub.
