I love video games. Sadly, I've had very little luck making my own games. I've actually bounced from one video game project to another with very little results. Still, I'm a programmer, so one day I should make a game that could be distributed among nerds.
I like to program, but I know very little about engineering. I barely know how to put stuff together, and I barely know how cars work. So the oddest side project I've been working on is building my own portable NES. I got the idea after finding the website of Ben Heckendorn, a well known hacker who has built several portable game systems. He released a book that shows you how to make a portable NES, Atari VCS, SNES, or PlayStation. After looking through the book, I decided to make my own portable NES.
I have an old NES that we got during the Christmas of 88. It stopped working, but the book shows you how to fix it. I also got an old controller and a PSOne LCD screen, the last two major ingredients that I need. I also bought a soldering and desoldering iron from Radio Shack.
I started this project last year during March or May. Around that time, I was moving from my own house to a temporary home. So I didn't start anything at the time. I did open the NES a few times to look at the circuit board. (Those screws are murder!) If I knew how to desolder, I would have already removed a few things from the main board. I also spent most of May finding that elusive PSOne LCD 5' Screen, which I could only find on eBay. That's when I learned about the concept of a "sniper", but sometime in June when I was in the temporary house I finally lucked out and was able to buy one for fifty dollars without having to bid. In June I had all the main ingredients and a few minor parts from Radio Shack, but I was expecting to move, so I put the project on hold.
Finally, we moved into the house I now live in. We have a table in the basement that would be a great place to work, but I had a problem. The book said that I needed "engraving plastic" used in trophy stores, and I never understood what this referred to. I kept putting this off, partly because I wasn't sure what to get, partly because I wasn't sure how many trophy stores were around, and partly because I was starting to get money from my job and I could spend it on any distracting thing I wanted. Engraving plastic stood in the back of my mind for half a year or so, until I finally went to a shop to get some. I think. I actually think I spent 15 dollars for the wrong material, but I still don't know.
I meant to start working on this project sometime before Christmas, since the summer was long gone. Now it's February, and I still haven't sat down and figured out the rest of the parts I need. Also, I still have no experience soldering stuff, and I should do that before I crack open a fifty dollar PSOne LCD screen.
I will start this project one day. And if successful, I plan to make a portable Atari VCS. Sadly, I no longer have access to all the VCS games my dad and Uncle Buddy shared: They were given away after we closed up the trailer we had in Delaware. But it's on my list!
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