Kotomi's Ninty case mods are the cat's pajamas
by Christopher Grant 
{ Jun 29th 2006 at 3:25PM }
Kotomi is a French case modder, and the above are three of his more recent creations. First, a pair of DS Phats so beautiful, you'll forget all about their new, slimmer sibling. The Zelda DS features a custom paint job, and a Triforce etched in relief on the cover. The next is a Sega Mega Drive-themed DS painted in black featuring the defining "16-BIT" text on the front, strange, ugly font intact.
Most impressive is his NES casemod. Now, before you all start screaming about how he used an Imperial Japanese flag and how insensitive it was of him, hear the guy out. Clumsy machine translated text follows:
"Inspired by Japan and the famous flags of the kamikazes, it takes again the graphic style of it...
"Entirely smoothed, it is seen cut out of a circle covered with a red plate above, a small vent to replace the original and thus to air the system. The circle, which represents the sun, is illuminated when the machine is on by a circle of light manufactured for the occasion."
Sacrebleu! This guy's console canvases are beautiful! What's next, Kotomi?
[Via Aeropause and TechEblog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Guess Who @ Jun 29th 2006 3:41PM
This man is my new God. I shall go write his Bible now.
dubz @ Jun 29th 2006 3:45PM
Are there no asians at Joystiq? Stop posting pics of the old Japanese flag!!!!!!
JC30 @ Jun 29th 2006 3:55PM
@Dubz, I am Chinese and I don't care if Joystiq or anyone else use the Japanese imperial flag. Maybe we should ban the American flag as well (seeing how many wars has been started by them).
Brazil La Zamba @ Jun 29th 2006 4:05PM
I have a shirt of a japanese flag, and I took it outside and asian people were looking at me! I was scared lol!
"Brazil Vs. France!"
MosquitoControl @ Jun 29th 2006 4:11PM
Ha, first thing I thought when I saw this was making a post about the imperial flag.
The person that started that topic was a dimwit.
Jody Anthony @ Jun 29th 2006 4:16PM
I do casemods too!
http://jodyanthony.com/junk/dc01.jpg
http://jodyanthony.com/junk/dc02.jpg
http://jodyanthony.com/junk/dc03.jpg
32_Footsteps @ Jun 29th 2006 4:18PM
Okay, I would have gone with black instead of hunter green for that Zelda DS. But beyond that? Sleek. Great idea on the relief for the Triforce - that's style to spare.
Jody Anthony @ Jun 29th 2006 4:18PM
comment 2 - electric boogaloo:
I want to know how he does that relief. it's awesome.
ram @ Jun 29th 2006 4:25PM
The Japanese flag with the rays was a popular nationalist symbol in Japan between about 1890 to 1945. Technically it was never the Japanese flag, but rather the navy's flag, and remains so today. It was occasionally used in the army. It is used by some right wing nationalist groups in Japan.
A bit of a problematic choice for an entertainment system, using a military symbol that is politically charged. Likely the result of historical cluelessness.
Zoë K. @ Jun 29th 2006 4:31PM
Christ on a cocaine binge! The pics make me so happy, yet so sad (because I'll never have one) at the same time.
Does he do commision?
epobirs @ Jun 29th 2006 4:52PM
The Mega Drive style DS needs a Dave Chapelle audio sample when it starts. "I'm 16-Bit, bitch!"
#10 ram, I wouldn't take it too seriously. It has more style than just a big red dot. Besides, there is an ongoing genre of military sim in Japan that lets you refight WWII battles with certain details tweeked to give Japan the upper hand. Some of them can be pretty shocking in their attitudes. They aren't just Japan's answer to Avalon Hill but serious revisionism.
Chris Jeffery @ Jun 29th 2006 5:49PM
I've gotta say those are the coolest looking DS mods I've ever seen.
Pheonix Gamma @ Jun 29th 2006 6:55PM
That Zelda case mod is SICK. If they didn't has have the two Links on the inside, it'd be perfect.
KirbyMeister @ Jun 29th 2006 9:23PM
HOLY CRAP THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE PERFECT FCOM/NES DESIGN... except for the fact that in Japan the Military Flag and Swatstika are reversed: The swatstika does not have negative connotations, but the military flag is considered highly insensitive. Still it looks way cooler than NES Grey
mko @ Jun 30th 2006 1:35AM
Maybe it's just the background for E-Honda's stage, did anybody ever read that Electronic Gaming article that said there was a version of SFII for NES being worked on in Japan... I remember being soo damn exicted that it would possibly make it to the US.
lordroba @ Jun 30th 2006 9:32AM
"a small vent to replace the original and thus to air the system"
haha, cause we all know how much the NES overheated with it's massive internal power supply and crazy fast CPU. /end sarcasm
anyways, nice mod:P