I have very much been slacking in the project department, and nothing says that better than my Famiclone Mini. Pieces of this project have been sitting on my desk for months just constantly reminding me that I have unfinished business. I finally reached a reasonable stopping point in my other goings-on (mostly playing video games) and completed this project.
The Famiclone Mini is, as I suspect, fairly obvious in its nature based on its name: it is a miniature console based on Famicom (Japanese NES) clone hardware. The hardware in question started off as a Super Joy/Power Player, which is a plug-and-play console designed to mimic a Nintendo 64 controller that plays 8-bit (NES) games and were often sold out of shady-looking mall kiosks. I found mine at Goodwill.
I started this project because I wanted to make something out of the electronics that looked a bit cleaner and nicer than the cheap knock-off N64 controller. Also, the hardware had a 60-pin Famicom cartridge connector, so I thought this would make a great device for playing Japanese cartridges. For the record, NES and Famicom hardware was functionally the same, but the NES has a 72-pin connector, so that restricts region compatibility.
For the controls, I hardwired NES controller ports to the motherboard, which was a simple task of finding the correct pinouts. After that, it was a matter of designing and 3D printing a shell that vaguely resembles a Famicom.
The final product works great, runs off of 5v (I opted for a USB-B type connector since that’s what I had lying around in my spare parts bin), and the hardware even has several games built in, allowing me to play a handful of titles even when I have no cartridge inserted. On top of that, I finally have a console to play my copy of Final Fantasy III on, although I would more likely just break out my copy for DS.
Fibbef Creations 