SNES project

[rob3d]

Hey everybody, new guy here and just thought I'd show off my SNES PC project

Unfortunately I don't have room for a proper cabinet, someday maybe but definitely not right now.
In the meantime I built a small console arcade project that looks awesome in my entertainment center.



I call it the SCES (Super Console Emulation System). I made a logo too but I don't have it with me at the moment.

It's running TinyWin7 on an Zotac ION A/U Atom 330N Dual core.
4 Gig ram
500GB HD

Works great for games and as a HTPC.  Enough pre-amble, here we go.



Gutted snes case. Purchased broken off ebay. I think I got like 5 of these for 20 bucks.


Zotac Mother board fit perfectly inside with room to spare.


First Assembly.


Fresh coat of paint.

.
Snes usb adaptor rigged to the controller ports.


Final assembly, with momentary switch rigged to the snes power button. And a purple LED for the power light.


Custom aluminum grill plate I modeled in Maya and 3D printed using Shapeways.


I/O ports


Final Product!

It all works pretty well. I set it up to use the snes controllers  and they work great for all the emu's I have on here.   I'd like a faster setup but I'll save that for when I build a full-size cab.

Let me know what you think.  Thanks!

[CoryBee]

This is pretty freakin awesome. Why didn't you just solder directly to the USB\SNES adapter? Looks like you used some kind of pins or just shoved wires in there.

I have an old NES collecting dust I wanted to do something like this with, but now I would rather do it with an SNES. I figure I can make a dedicated SNES game bartop\cabaret with the guts and use the shell for this kind of project.

Anyways, stellar work! 

[shponglefan]

Very slick.  Like the custom vent/grill. 

[Louis Tully]

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[rob3d]

Thanks everyone glad you like it.

This is pretty freakin awesome. Why didn't you just solder directly to the USB\SNES adapter? Looks like you used some kind of pins or just shoved wires in there.

The pins you see were cannibalized from a busted snes controller.  I wanted something I could remove easily and since the pins were from original hardware they fit snuggly and securely. Also, I can't solder worth a damn lol.

Very slick.  Like the custom vent/grill. 

Thanks. After I was done I realized i wasn't getting enough air through the console so I mocked up the vent in maya.  I made 2, one in plastic and one in alumide.  The alumide one looked way cooler so i went with that.

Nice. Great project. I want to do this with a Nintendo one day.
Well done, sir. Bonus points for the vent.

I was thinking about doing an NES version as well after this, but then I found a broken sega sports edition dreamcast for $5.  If I can fit the hardware in there that would be my next project.


Again thanks everyone for the comments.

[edekoning]

I want one! Nice job 

[emphatic]

Very sexy! You could probably sell those vents to people here if this thing catches on. 

[rob3d]

Very sexy! You could probably sell those vents to people here if this thing catches on. 

Thanks,  if people really wanted it I'd put it up on Shapeways public models section.  That way you can get it for cost from them directly.

[Vigo]

Nice job, Amigo! 

I am guessing, from some striking similiarities, that you were able to take a cue from my SNES project that I did a couple years back? 

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,107220.0/all.html

 

Nice vent, it totally fits with the SNES style. For mine, I went with speaker grill mesh and cut it to shape. I also turned the eject button into a vent opening as well. If I remember right, that eject button has a lot of plastic under the machine. How were you able to fit it back in? Did you chop out the underneath material?

I totally enjoy mine still. Been planning since day 1 to paint it, but I could never decide on a color scheme I liked enough to commit to. Do you like how the paint job feels on yours? Planning on painting that custom grill?

Oh, and if you are not doing it already, I recommend getting a couple wireless controllers for it as well. Drop in the receivers inside the shell, and then you now have a 4 player machine instead of two. Also, I went with analog controllers so I could play some n64 as well.

Anyway, I just wanna say again that I like your build. It is good to see these kind of console projects get built!

[Hewskie]

Great Looking Build rob3d!
I too built one of these after seeing Vigo's post a few years ago. Mine isn't nearly as nice looking as yours considering I punched a hole through the top side while dremeling out some of the interior. I use mine mostly as an HTPC however it's still fun to do a run through of some of my favorite SNES games from time to time.

Congrats 

[rob3d]

Thanks vigo looks like great minds think alike.  I actually built this in 2009 after seeing someone build one into a european snes.  I kinda wish I had seen yours earlier looks like you used some 90 degree connectors  which is a great idea.  I ended up just cutting the hole bigger in the back of the system so I could get to all the i/o.  We even used the same snes usb adapter, I had ordered a couple from retrozone but there was an issue with the order so I got this one of ebay.  What I really like on yours is that SD card setup, really nice idea.

As for the paint it was something I knew I wanted to do right off the bat.  I had seen someone do a white paint job on a standard snes so it would match their wii, they also added the purple LED to the mix and i just thought it looked amazing.   I used krylon fusion spraypaint and ran 2 coats and I swear it looks like it came form the factory that way.  All of the cool texture from the original case is there, just a bright new color.  The grill plate I added last year when I was getting some cooling problems on my setup.  I kinda like how the metal looks natural like that so I doubt I'll paint it.  If you want to paint yours I say go for it, Take your time and use fusion paints form krylon and it should look great.

For wireless control I've been using the xbox receiver externally.  I didn't wanna tuck it inside just yet because I use it on one other system.  I then used xpadder and autohotkey to dynamically control the keymapping, so I could hot swap wireless control and the snes wired controllers.  Though now with the recently released Hyperlaunch3 I won't need to do that anymore, it'll will be handled nativly by the launcher.

Great Looking Build rob3d!
I too built one of these after seeing Vigo's post a few years ago. Mine isn't nearly as nice looking as yours considering I punched a hole through the top side while dremeling out some of the interior. I use mine mostly as an HTPC however it's still fun to do a run through of some of my favorite SNES games from time to time.

Congrats 

Thanks, aside form the paint I wanted it to look as stock as possible so people freakout when they see it running an emulator.

[rob3d]

Found the logo



I use this as my boot image over balck.

[Vigo]

That is too funny it is conincidental!  I guess indeed great minds think alike. Yeah, same controller adaptor, similiar motherboard, it is cool to see how we both worked out the same issues with slightly different approaches.   

And thanks for the compliments! I do like the SD card in there for as HD since it is so small. I might upgrade to something a little faster now that I see a few more options out there. I apprecaite the run down on your paint job, I think I might do something similiar then using those fusion paints. I have been batting around using a different color LED as well, ended up with red because I had one wired and ready to plug right in.

[rob3d]

I remember buying one blue and one purple light for the system, and thinking it was probably just a novelty and not worth the trouble.  But once I booted up it just looked so damn cool.  Simple addition for just $1 definitely worth it.

[keilmillerjr]

Sweet! This project came out excellent!

I modded my wii for snes emulator. The "pro" controller feels just like a snes controller. I with the controllers themselves were wireless though, and not piggy backed through the sword/stick/whatever controller.