Nintendo Entertainment System Oddities

25 years ago, the blockbuster console hit the US for the first time. And the country's been a little stranger ever since.

Posted by  | Monday, October 18, 2010


NES DVD Player

Have you ever wanted to fit a DVD player into a NES? No? Well, I have to admit that I did in 2006 — back when putting strange things into NES console cases was all the rage. After about 12 hours of work, I ended up with the not-so-humbly named “Ultimate NES DVD Player Hack.” It included automatically opening and closing NES cartridge door (controlled via the Reset button), a functional Power button, and audio/video out camouflaged in NES’s native connector locations. And best of all, it actually played DVDs.

Ultimately, I sold the player on eBay, but many talented NES modders since then have created their own. To read more about how I made it, check out this slideshow from 2006.

Photo: Benj Edwards



Slides: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

10 Comments For This Post

  1. Angry Reader Says:

    How about a ONE PAGE article (instead of 14 pages) ?

  2. Jesse Says:

    cause his advertisers pay less.

    this is the state of "tech media"

    there are worse ones though, like when engadget theme's there entire page like a zune or android, because whatever company there skinning has literally bought there souls.

  3. bob nelson Says:

    you forgot the rock 'n roller, my favorite skate or die accessory 🙂

  4. jezra Says:

    the only thing worse than this being a multipage article, is the deletion of comments about how this should not be a multipage article.

  5. Zach Baker Says:

    Just wanted to post my work at a nintendo PC. I don't think I was the first to attempt this, but …
    http://zachrybaker.comt/projects/Nintendo/Nintend

  6. Max Says:

    Thanks for another great retrospective Harry.

    As for the multiple pages, at least he provides direct links to all pages from the first one (unlike some sites). That allows you to middle click all the links, then just close a tab as you read each page.

    Not as nice as all on one page, but its really not so bad.

  7. joemama Says:

    This is a good post. 1 page would suffice. I remember when I got a nintendo back when I was 9 and it just came out. Amazing how far these systems have come, but I still love the nintendo games!!! Zelda was my favorite. I might play it again when my kids grow and I have time. But fun times!!!!!!!!

  8. kimi53 Says:

    good story. I still have my NES and 12 or so games and still play them (favs are duck hunt, FBI academy, and caveman games), most work well and the box works fine. never once had a problem! thanks for the trip down memory lane!

  9. diek Says:

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  10. Arnum Says:

    Oh My, what kinda sick parents went out and bought a 'Homework First'. Well, mine would have if they knew it existed. We spent/invested/wasted so many of our early teens playing games like RC Racer.