Give your broken NES a second life

by Scott Jon Siegel { Jul 31st 2007 at 4:25PM }

No, not that kind of second life. Weblogs Inc newcomer DIY Life has compiled an extensive list of mods, hacks, and repurposings of the classic NES hardware, cartridges, and controllers. The NES as a lunchbox? Alarm clock? Guitar? We're hot for the golden Legend of Zelda cartridge external hard drive mod. Now that is playing with power.

Tags: diy, diylife, mods, nes, nintendo, obselete

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DUG E. FRESH @ Jul 31st 2007 4:30PM

Mine Still works, But I do need new buttons for the controler!

Mr Khan @ Jul 31st 2007 4:33PM

Everything old is new again

Captain Planet would be pleased

Mr Khan @ Jul 31st 2007 4:34PM

yay, my new avatar loaded

Nushio @ Jul 31st 2007 5:59PM

How can I change my avatar? :D

Captain Jody Anthony XVIII @ Jul 31st 2007 4:35PM

I use my nes to play bubble bobble.

NES Bubble Bobble is the greatest game ever made.

Matt B @ Jul 31st 2007 4:39PM

I always loved Blades of Steel. My brother and I would would get into some heated fights in that game. He would get so mad if he lost.

Brent @ Jul 31st 2007 4:37PM

My NES still works after 20+ years. My Xbox 360 died after less than 1. It's a maaad wooorld...

AirIntake @ Jul 31st 2007 4:44PM

My NES had trouble reading cartridges in 1989, when it was only a couple of years old. Blow, click, click, blow, click click............

Crazylink @ Jul 31st 2007 4:38PM

Or you could, you know, get it fixed.

Konny @ Jul 31st 2007 5:41PM

If you duct tape 5 of them together, you use can it as a Wii :/

Shagittarius @ Jul 31st 2007 4:51PM

Duct-tape it to something.

marcandrer @ Jul 31st 2007 4:53PM

you can also make money out of you old controllers at NESBuckles.com. Or DIY and get a nice belt buckle :)

Captain Jody Anthony XVIII @ Jul 31st 2007 4:55PM

you can also use it to listen to Alex Mauers Vegavox

http://music.headlessbarbie.com/

jason @ Jul 31st 2007 5:01PM

This is sad. Taking a classic machine and cutting it up to crap. You call it "art" or a "mod", i call it murder. Tasteless.

Retrofied @ Jul 31st 2007 5:14PM

Hey, I still have mine around. Thanks.

Scott Jon Siegel @ Jul 31st 2007 5:21PM

Hooray for Bubble Bobble and Blades of Steel! Easily two of the best NES games out there. I'm still waiting for VC releases of both, but at least I got Yoshi (better than you think).

32_Footsteps @ Jul 31st 2007 5:59PM

On one hand, part of me agrees with jason. The NES is a classic, and I couldn't just butcher my old friend like that.

On the other hand, I have to say that the true crafty geek in me is intrigued on two accounts.

First off, It would be pretty neat to take that old chassis and turn it into something new, like a PC. I know I'm not the only one who has been tempted to get a small PC in that body.

But on top of that, a true hardcore gamer would then take then NES guts, repair them to as good as you can make it, and put those into something else. I've got the body of an old antique radio in my living room - I'd love to turn that into a finished wood NES.

Or heck, just build a brand new body for it. I'd love to actually build a 1:2 scale replica of ROB and put my NES in that - I'd be the epitome of hardcore gaming geek if I could pull it off.

Charron @ Jul 31st 2007 9:19PM

I'd love to turn mine into a media PC. Something you can hook to the TV and play your music and videos. Shouldn't be too hard; use some Linux-based software on a simple mobo and processor.... throw in a big harddrive, maybe a DVD slot...

Gah. Now I'm plotting.