Category: DIY + Hacks

The Gakken SX-150 is a little analog synthesizer kit that came packaged in a recent issue of a Japanese DIY science magazine. Now, these funky mini synths have started to show up around the globe, leaving all sorts of interesting beeps, blips and squeals in their wake.

Remember the awesome Fami-Card – the casemod which managed to cram a fully-functional 8-bit Nintendo console into an old NES cartridge? Well the Fami-Card is back, and this time the circuit has made its way into a classic Zelda cartridge.

While the October 2008 issue of Esquire magazine got lots of buzz in the marketplace with its E-Ink cover, I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by the less than exciting visual produced by the blinking display.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane… back to, oh, say, 1998. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but regardless, we all played laser tag with gusto. Now you can play it in your very own home!

Finally, there’s a Weighted Companion Cube mod that actually has enough heft to earn its name. This custom-built subwoofer bears a striking resemblance to that little cube that you had to euthanize the last time you played Portal.

A couple of young Czech whippersnappers have figured out how to use the iPhone’s accelerometer to control remote controlled cars. They say, “Controlling is very easy with the iPhone 3G. It has five buttons, four of them you can use for traditional driving and when you press the last one, it unlocks the accelerometer control in the same way as in many driving games available on AppStore.”

I have a dream. And that dream is that one day a single portable gaming console can play all of my favorite arcade classics (on a decent sized screen). Thanks to a modder going by the name “Bacteria”, that day is today.

This is what appears to be a vinyl record player in an unholy marriage with a handbag, rendering it ready and available to meet all your portable scratching needs. What’s interesting to me is that based on the photo I think there’s a good chance this thing actually works.

While most people like their Nintendo Wii just the way it is, this casemodder just couldn’t leave well enough alone, and insisted on gutting his Wii and replacing its innards with a PC. I’m not really sure if this should be considered an upgrade or a downgrade, but Japanese modder “Mr.

Check out this pocket game system which plays arcade games including Pac-Man and several other classic Namco games. Created by modder Sam Thornley, the portable Pac-Man Mini console gets its brains from one of those Jakks Pacific Namco Arcade Classic systems, seamlessly melded with a tiny 2.5-inch LCD display and powered by a set of 4 rechargeable AA batteries for easy travel.

As much as I love the minimal design of the Nintendo Wii, sometimes I find the whole white plastic thing a little boring. That’s why I love this concept for a Wii woodgrain paneling update. Currently just a concept design by Joe D!,

Japanese modder Hideo Takano must really, really love his Mac Minis. He’s gone over the top by producing not 1 or 2, but 7 different Mac Mini casemods, each with a unique look. Let’s start out with this classic Macintosh Quadra inspired Mini.

You could do all your computing on a lightweight MacBook Air, but a real manly man would use this computer that’s so beefy that it could smash your lightweight girly-man system into a fine pulp. Hand-forged from steel by an honest to goodness blacksmith, Vulcanus is one bad mofo of a PC.

When it comes to retro game consoles, it seems like Nintendo and Atari get all of the attention. How about some love for the classic ColecoVision, the first console to bring arcade-quality graphics into your living room?

Got an evil streak? The makers of the infamous TV-B-Gone remote control have come up with an extra-strength version of their gizmo which can turn off almost any television set from hundreds of feet away. Packaged in a case that’s designed to look like a super-chunky mock iPhone, the TV-B-Gone SHP (Super High Power) can shut down more than 90% of all televisions worldwide with a simple push of a button.

Check out this excellent casemod which is so neat and tidy that you wouldn’t think that it’s anything but an old 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. But hidden beneath the hood of this inconspicuous looking NES is a fully-functional Windows PC, loaded up with emulators for playing games from other consoles.