Downing's Basement

There’s always a story behind every project ever completed, and although this one started nearly 2 and a half years ago, I don’t feel that the most relevant side of this project was ever told. This was partially my fault with the original video I made to showcase it, as it really didn’t go into detail at all about what this actually was, why it was (self-proclaimed) the first one in the world and why there are likely to be no more ever made.

So revisiting this after a couple years and having brushed up on my video making skills on the whole, I decided it was time to make the story of this project a bit more relevant.

I realize that many might not understand fully what this is if they’re unfamiliar with gaming consoles in general. But originally, this was a TV based system from the early/mid 1990’s. A system that was required to be plugged into a wall and a TV to actually be played. And the concept of making these old TV based consoles into mobile units is a hobby called “Portablizing” which has been around since the mid 2000’s.

I’ve been part of this online community since 2009 and it has single handedly been the biggest technical influence in my life, teaching me skills ranging from soldering to 3D printing as well as taking me places all over the country for meet-ups and project collaboration.

So when the idea came to me to build this portable unit, I went into it slightly wondering why no one (to my knowledge) had done one before. And I don’t mean simply making a Super Nintendo into a portable version, that had been done loads of times, but why no one had done it in the method I planned on. But…it didn’t take very long to see why I was going down a path that really need not be traveled.

A Flash Cart (like the one pictured above) is a relatively new concept to come about in the past 10 years or so. And its original purpose was to let people use their original console hardware to play any game ROM that was loaded on an SD card. Basically a “One Cartridge To Rule Them All” kind of deal where one would no longer have to get up and put in a new game, they could simply exit to a menu and select another game from there and have their whole collection in one place digitally.

I know this sounds a lot like an Emulator, which if you don’t know is the act of playing a game ROM on a different system, usually a PC or SBC (Single Board Computer) like a Raspberry Pi. This kind of Emulation technology has been around for over 20 years now, but it certainly has its issues when it comes to compatibility and performance with systems post SNES.

This is why Flash Carts are so beneficial because they do not Emulate anything. The games are being dumped just as they would on an original cartridge on original hardware. And for a majority of the portablizing community, there is no replacement for the original.

But…it’s not to say that sentiment should be above the call of reason. And while the Flash Cart suits its purpose as originally intended, making it portable had no logical ground to stand on in comparison to the Emulation alternatives available. So this is kind of the “line” if you will, where Emulation would start to fail and the generation of Flash Carts “after” the SNES makes a whole lot more sense.

Since we’re already on the wrong side of the line here, I just want to touch on the points the new video has made about why this system is probably the only one out there.

#3 – Cost Prohibitive and Complex to Build – This was not a cheap project to take on and truth be told, I probably would not have done it either if the SD2SNES had not been given to me as part of a sponsorship. It’s price tag alone would be enough to justify going the emulation route and that was only about a 3rd of the cost.

#2 – Commercial Options of Portable SNES Already Available – Though they many be of cheaper quality and may not have 100% compatibility, systems like the Supaboy did provide affordable options for taking your original carts on the go.

#1 – Emulators Can Handel SNES with No Playability Issues – But the biggest reason is because current Emulators have not problems what-so-ever with handling the 2D sprites of consoles before the 3D systems like Nintendo 64 came around. And for less than $100 you could have a full blown retro Emulation station for several different systems outside Nintendo. So there really is no value to the average consumer in going this route.

So all in all, this was just what one could call a “passion project” that pushed way past the practicality limits that most would not have pushed past. I don’t regret building it in the least and frankly it’s the only portable I’ve ever made that I’ve actually kept for myself and not been dismantled for parts!

Being a gaming fan pretty much all my life, I suppose this kind of disposal of retro tech and software digs at me a bit. And I mean, I get if you need to trash something because it’s been well used or broken, but the gear found here was neither.

So I suppose that’s what gets me from the standpoint of being a “Retro Console Modder” because for years now many of us have been getting criticized for using original “Retro” tech in our projects. The argument being that once these old units went out of production, their supply became “finite”.

And while I don’t disagree with this statement at all, it overlooks an important aspect that dump finds like these prove. That being, that no matter what, aside from the pieces that end up in museums or die-hard collector’s displays, retro gaming tech is going to end up at the dump at some point.

With that said, yes you can still say what we do is taking one more original piece of hardware out of existence from its original form, but chances are, most of the time the consoles we uses were headed for the junk heap to begin with.

We actively search for the broken/as-is listings for our projects. We don’t want the “pristine”, the “fully functional” or “in-box” lots that really should be put on the collectors shelves. And because of this, through our mods, these systems actually get to live on and can be enjoyed on a whole new level.

I suppose though that since retro tech has been on a big uptick in the past few years the comments like “why would you do this to an original” have been being made by many whom have no idea what is actually involved in console modding but still think because their voice can be heard, their two-cents should buy the pot.

But this all got me wondering how much of this “finite” tech is lost to landfills/E-Waste & Recycling every year. Probably more than I wish to know but less than what we’ll probably be blamed for.

Well, this new WordPress editor is pissing me the hell off. I’m not quite sure what it’s trying to accomplish other than irritating the living shit out of me, but I guess I gotta roll with it for now.

Anyway…so once again, it’s been a few months since my last post and of course 2020 is still bringing the shit storm we’ve all become accustomed too (like this goddamn wordpress editor). But, in the time between the release of Project 15 and now, my wife and I had our 10th wedding anniversary!

Though I thought I did pretty well with my gift, she has once again proved she will always kick my ass in the “thoughtfulness” department and reiterating that she knows I’m just a kid who likes expensive toys.

But all that out of the way, the video above showcases what 7 weeks (but realistically about 60hrs) of video editing yields. This is by no means a typical video for me as it has a lot of elements that I’ve never tried before. Some worked well, others fell flat but that was kind of the point of making a video like this.

There have been tons of unboxing/assembly videos of the new(ish) Prusa Mini 3D printers in the past year, but I really wanted my take on it to be unique. I certainly do think I’ve accomplished that, but whether the end result is a positive remains to be seen. 🙂

But the idea was just to have fun with it, which I can whole heartedly say I very much enjoyed making this video!

I hope you enjoy it, and though I know it’s a bit longer than my average video, it does get better as it goes along!

As always, thank you guys so much for your support with this hobby over the the years!

I wish I could say that it hasn’t been two years since this project was commissioned…I also wish I could say this wasn’t the second time the job was completed…but if I didn’t have too, this beauty would have never existed. Kinda funny how that works.

But that said, after two years since the original agreement and a total remake of the original failure, Project 15 has come to light in the most beautiful portable console I’ve ever made. But not only has this been a technical achievement for me in many respects, but I’m very proud of the video I’ve made to accompany it.

You don’t have to scroll down very far in past posts to see what prompted this rebuild but at this point I can honestly say I’m glad it happened!

But being able to use the Form 3 in a way to really bring custom ideas through has been a huge asset to the basement and fine details like this even 5 years ago was not possible. I mean the D-Pad is even 3D printed and just looking at it you’d really think that it came out of a stock controller. But since it doesn’t, it means that it all just fits perfect to the design which has lead to the huge reliability improvements of modern portables.

And on the subject of reliability, low volume FFC PCB’s have become available through services like OSH Park which have allowed some very time and space saving options that do wonders for the assembly.

All in all this is without a doubt my best portable console I’ve made to date as far as N64’s go, though I’d say that it’s probably pretty close to the best I’ve done ever overall.

I’ve still got one more commission to finish off that was started about the same time this one was, but after that is complete, I’ll be done with taking commissions for awhile. These two have been in the works for nearly 2 years and that’s just not fair to my clients regardless of how patient they are. I’ll still be building and making but it’ll only be as a hobby. Now that the “Stay-at-home” orders are lifting, I’ll be going back to a regular work schedule soon which is really the only reason I’ve been able to put the kind of time into this project and the video.

But that said, I hope you enjoy the video as it’s been the biggest effort I’ve ever put into one and I very much wish everyone to stay safe and sane through this cluster F we call reality right now. Maybe this will take your mind off it for a few minutes anyway!

Take care!

It certainly has been a year already and it looks like 2020 is gonna have a lot more to throw at us! It’s been a very very long time since my last blog post and there really is so much to tell that there is no way in hell I can sum it up in even 10 posts.

But that really doesn’t seem to matter anyway as pretty much life for the world has come to a standstill. A few months ago, we had no idea how much life was going to change for pretty much every single human being on this planet, regardless if it had any real affect on them. But life has forever changed and we can only make the best of it as these times keep kicking us in the teeth.

It’s going to be very interesting to see where things go in the next few weeks but it truly is a scary time all around.

That said however, with all this time in home confinement, I’ve been able to get quite a bit done including setting up a small 3D print farm and even getting my CNC Machine that I bought over 5 years ago up and running correctly! (See that fiasco here And The Hits Just Keep Hurting) 

This has helped in a lot of ways as I’ve been able to start producing face shields in small quantities for my friends and relatives on the front lines of of this health crisis we’re all experiencing. 

As far as modding goes, it’s been slow as I’m still trying to finish up a commission and my Bitbuilt Summer Building contest entry  from 2019. The commission I’m referring to is the complete redo of the GoldeN64 that failed in spectacular fashion. But it gave me the chance to give it some pretty big improvements as far as internal quality goes and some good aesthetic updates as well. 

Also, I parted ways with me beloved Form 2 3D printer, sending it to live with friend and fellow Modder Gman and bought the updated and very much loved Form 3! It’s been an amazing piece of tech and a big upgrade to the shop!

I’ve also been working with RDC a lot over the past couple months working on a new and updated N64 portable design that makes use of all the newer features that have come to light in the hobby. There will be more on this before too long hopefully! 

But below are a couple highlights of the Basement! 

Please all stay safe and healthy. This certainly sucks at the moment, but make the best of the home time as you can. 

An amazing piece of equipment, the Form 3 is!

One of the many new improvements to the N64 portable design, a single flex cable instead of 48 individual wires!

Again, be safe everyone and more to come soon! 

It was a pretty painful day last month when the once promising Portable N64 commission I was building decided to implode on me. Never had I seen this kind of paint failure before, nor would have ever thought that after 3 weeks of being sealed that this could have even happened. But, regardless of belief, here we are and the paint is still cracking everyday, but is still as smooth as the day the last coat of clear was applied.

One may argue though that this is actually a pretty cool effect, giving it an aged and more rustic tone, but most of the time technology and rustic don’t blend well and in this case it prompted a total redo of the project and “The GoldeN64” became the “iSore 64”.

With this demotion, certain components like the Power Management system and custom controller board were downgraded, making this a battery power only and single player system. But the hits didn’t stop there. The expansion pak was also reverted back the original jumper pak and biggest kicker was I had to downgrade to a V2 of the Mini64 controller board which did not have a built in memory chip, but 32 test points to hard wire a memory card, which however is not done in this system. So the features are pretty bare. But I had to do this because I still need to complete the commission I originally started and those features and components are pretty expensive and low supply.

The video and pics below demonstrate just how nasty this failure was. It was very sad to see it fall so far, but it’s for sale now and perhaps will get picked up by a buyer that can add in the missing features and bring her back to her former glory?

Ebay Link Here