(upbeat music)
- Are you waiting on me?
- [Andy] Yeah.
Okay. Well, you might think
that this is some kind of
knockoff, emulator handheld,
like an Arcade 2020,
or one of the Raspberry Pi
powered ones like the GPi
or the Pi Boy but no.
This is a real honest
to goodness Nintendo Wii
that can play Wii games,
GameCube games and more.
I built it and you can too.
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to this sponsor spot
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(upbeat music)
G-Boy is the brain child
of longtime console portablizer Gman.
And it was originally called the WiiBoy
on its development blog.
The case is 3D printed by
Shapeways using nylon powder
and is roughly the size and shape
of an Oji Nintendo Game Boy.
Having finalized the project
roughly halfway through 2019,
it's now available for purchase as a kit
on hobbyist site, BitBuilt.
To put it all together
you'll need obvious things
like an original Wii console
and a micro SD card to hold your files.
But you'll also need a
D-pad and face buttons
from a Nintendo DS Lite.
Two 18650 lithium-ion batteries.
Just make sure you get these
from a reputable source
to avoid counterfeits and some tools.
A temperature controlled soldering iron
and a rotary cutting tool
are two absolute must
haves to make it work.
I mean, I guess you could use a saw
instead of a Dremel, but come on.
To make life easier, here's a list of
some other stuff you'll need.
With the most important being
the wire and the screwdriver.
An iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit
can get your Wii apart,
but isn't going to reach far
enough to assemble the G-Boy,
as I discovered early on.
You also need some time about
a day for a first time build.
And a lot of patience.
My day started with some prep work,
which included softmodding,
a stock Wii console using LetterBomb,
which allows it to run a Homebrew software
and setting up BitBuilt's BBLoader,
which allows us to boot
into a new home screen
rather than the Nintendo default one.
Then taking it all apart for some
(laughs heuristically)
physical modding.
As you might imagine, fitting one of these
into this involves more than just
removing the motherboard from the Wii.
It actually needs to be cut in a pattern
that's lovingly referred
to as the OMGWTF trim.
Yes, by friends, this
is literally all of the
original motherboard I am going to keep.
There are components mounted
to the rest of the board,
like the real time clock if you
want to play Animal Crossing
and the Bluetooth chip set,
if you want to connect a Wii mode
that will need to be
harvested and reattached,
if you wanted to do that,
but that's a small price to pay.
Time to get out the Dremel.
(Dremel grinds)
Before assembly, the edges had
to be smoothed out in order
to prevent anything from shorting.
How do I do this, you ask? Sandpaper.
It's recommended to
finish it with no lower
than 600 grit and focus
on removing any copper
on the edges by going in at an angle.
Once that's done a little de-soldering
and relocating components
later and it's assembly time.
lttstore.com.
This is almost entirely just
a matter of dropping things
into place and screwing
them into the chassis.
There's a lot of wires that need soldering
and power needs to be
attached to the correct pads
and only those pads.
Or else you're looking at
chopping up another Wii.
BitBuilt recommends using
some extra lengths of wires,
impromptu cable ties to keep
this mess under control.
The final step is to
install a safety thermistor
that automatically cuts power
once the Wii reaches 70 degrees.
That's far short of dangerous thermals.
And the only time this should happen
is if it powers on in an enclosed space,
like a backpack or something like that.
And there you go, one portable Wii.
Let's take it for a spin, shall we?
(Anthony taps)
And just like that,
here we are in an open space with Linus
who is currently fascinated.
- I can't believe that this
is all you actually need
from the original Wii for it to function.
- That's all the logic.
Yep, the RAM, the SOC, GPU.
- I mean, cognitively, I know that.
- Yup.
- Yup. Okay, there's the
RAM, there's the CPU,
blah, blah, blah.
Just the idea of chopping up a PCB
of a device, this complex,
and then just kind of trying to find
the right daughter points and turn it into
something like this it's
just unreal to me, I love it.
- Well, I mean the Wii is one of the more
researched consoles out there
as far as more modern machines go.
So it's not really that
surprising that people are like,
"Hey, we only need this voltage from here
and this voltage from
there and away you go."
(motherboard bangs)
- Oops.
So this is the kit that you use then?
- Yes, this is the G-Boy Rev III.
- I wanna try it.
- Yeah, I'll go over here.
- Okay.
- This is kind of where I'm gonna live
for the rest of the video.
- Okay, cool.
Let's crack open my copy
of Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess and
(compact disc taps)
- Yeah. Now would be
a good time to mention
that you should probably
rip your games from the Wii
before you do the mod.
This thing's got no optical.
- Okay, this is so cool.
I mean the battery life
can't be very good though.
- I haven't really
tested the battery life.
I think it's a couple of hours.
Like it's not amazing but --
- So it's like the Game Boy experience
in more ways than one.
kind of wish the screen was
a little better than this, but
- That's the screen that comes with it.
I think if you really had a mind to it,
there were probably some IPS displays
that have independent brightness controls
and all that kind of stuff.
The menu where you were
on is called BBLoader.
And that was created especially
for this kind of device,
like a portable device that
doesn't necessarily have,
shall we say, motion controls built in.
- Right. they were cut off.
- Yeah. I don't remember if I put
the Bluetooth module back in that.
So pairing a remote is
gonna be hit or miss.
(horse neighs)
- [Linus] The sound is surprisingly good
even if the screen ain't great.
- Yeah, if you wanted
to turn the volume up,
you should just be able
to hold the Y button
and the Z button and
press up on the D-pad.
It's about --
- Y and Z?
- Yeah.
Sorry, is the Z rear?
- Z is rear right but
it's above the trigger.
(upbeat music)
Okay. It distorts a
little, but that's fine.
It was already very loud before that.
- Yeah. The amplifier circuit,
I think kind of goes a little bit
too hot for those speakers.
- [Linus] Yeah.
- If you put it too high,
but that's how you know it's good.
- [Linus] Link, nope.
(game beeps)
this is crazy.
- [Anthony] Yeah. It's not an emulator.
It's straight up playing the game.
- Like what?
- Fun fact, Twilight Princess is reversed
on the Wii versus GameCube.
- [Linus] I did know that
because Link is lefthanded.
- Yep. Whereas the
majority of the population
is right-handed.
- [Linus] I don't know where the horse is.
- One thing that you do lose
with a control setup like
this is analog triggers.
So those are just straight
up digital buttons.
- But of course, if
you just wanted to play
Wii games on the go, there
are maybe less legal.
Well, I don't know.
I mean, the fact that I'm running ...
Okay, so I'm running ripped software,
but on Nintendo's own hardware.
What is Nintendo's take on this?
- I think Nintendo's take
is you need to buy it again.
- You got to buy it again,
but this is my hardware.
- [Anthony] Right. That's your hardware,
but you only have a license
to run that game on that disc.
- On that disc.
- Whereas, there are laws
that say that format shifting
is a thing that you can do.
Nintendo doesn't
necessarily agree with that.
- Nintendo doesn't agree.
Okay, so then since we're doing something
Nintendo doesn't approve of anyway here,
there's definitely ways
that you can more easily
and more cheaply play Wii games on the go.
So this is gonna have
to justify its existence
in some other ways.
Fortunately it is Homebrew bow AF.
So why don't we go back to that launcher
and have a look at what
else we've got on here.
- [Anthony] Just power
it off and back on again.
- [Linus] Oh, is that the only way?
- I don't know if it's the only way,
but there's not a whole
lot of documentation
on the button shortcuts.
- Does it have an AC plugin so
that you can just run it not on batteries?
Oh, I guess type-C.
- [Anthony] Its got type-C, yeah.
- That is so cool.
- And when the unit is off
type-C actually automatically
switches it over
to the internal storage.
So you can just connect it up to your PC
and browse the files.
- It just blows my mind.
Okay, so right now I
only see GameCube games.
- [Anthony] Okay, If
you use the right stick.
- [Linus] Yeah.
- That'll bring up a radio
menu so you can choose.
Wii games, the HBC logo is
for Homebrew channel games,
which would be things like SNES emulator
and a few other things.
I think this early version of the software
doesn't currently support
running WiiWare titles
and virtual console,
but that is something
that's going to be coming.
- [Linus] Okay, so virtual console.
(upbeat music)
Okay, so that's GameCube
games for some reason.
- [Anthony] Yeah. The virtual
console menu doesn't work.
So it'll just keep you where you are.
- [Linus] I see. What about Wii games?
Wii games don't work.
Oh, Hey, there we go.
- [Anthony] Wii games do work.
- [Linus] Wow, sick.
So, yeah, Mario Kart Wii suckers.
- This uses a compatibility
layer slash hack called Hydra,
which allows it to actually
emulate the Wii mode.
So you don't have to worry about having
to hook up an external Wii
mode you can use the sticks.
- It's actually not crazy warm.
- [Anthony] No, it shouldn't get that hot.
(upbeat music)
- Well, I don't know.
I mean, it's a living room console.
I've never given much thought
to how much heat it outputs.
- Well, the full unit only really has a
tiny little heat sink and fan on it.
- [Linus] Yeah. I guess.
- That's all we got on there now.
- [Linus] Nah, I missed that.
Okay, no, come on.
So lame,
(bubbles bust)
Hoop blue shells, you right
before the finish line,
bad people that's who.
(Mario hops)
Mario you piece of human garbage.
- [Anthony] Well, we all
know and have known forever
that the AI cheats in Mario occurred.
- Yeah.
Just like,
(Linus chuckles)
Alright. Yes, I reigned supreme.
- [Anthony] So how's the
experience with Wii games.
- Great. Perfect.
- Yeah. The fact that it's
actually a good experience
is the result of quite a
lot of community effort.
It's not just Gman.
I believe some of the PCBs
that were custom built
were made by Aurelio
on the BitBuilt forums
and there are several others
who contributed all kinds
of research and time
and effort into all of this.
So it's really a very
team effort kind of thing.
It was just all kind of
put together by Gman.
SNES9x GX is the Super Nintendo emulator
that you can use in
lieu of virtual console,
which currently doesn't work.
- [Linus] Sick. Most of these
menus don't do anything.
- [Anthony] Yeah. This
is really early software.
- [Linus] Got it.
- [Anthony] They just
released it back in June.
- [Linus] Okay. Got it.
- [Anthony] Yeah.
- So, SNES9x GX.
(upbeat music)
Holy smokes. This is it.
This is everything.
(upbeat music)
Okay, what I need to know though
is Super Mario World,
does it actually run well?
I have my doubts, do you?
Love this four by three display.
Well, yeah, I have my doubts,
cause like getting the latency good
is something I've seen a
lot of people screw up.
- There would be more
latency with a remote though.
- Okay, we're gonna try it.
We're gonna try playing Super Mario World
with an analog stick.
I've never actually done this before.
And it feels a little
bit, a little spongy.
- I guess the Nintendo DS Lite
had kind of spongy
buttons anyway, didn't it?
- [Linus] It's hard to
play Super Mario World
on anything other than a SNES controller,
especially if you're used
to that sort of thing.
To be clear, it's not like I'm missing
my jumps and stuff here.
(game beeps)
Yeah, these buttons are really not.
They're really not great.
- That may be a side effect
of the 3D printed shell.
Maybe some sanding would help with that.
- What other consoles can you run,
emulate the games for?
- Well, on anything that
has a Wii emulator for it.
So DOSBox is available, ScummVM.
So like old Lucasfilm
or LucasArts schemes.
Take a Genesis, bringing them Nintendo.
There's an N64 emulator that's sorta okay.
(game sound plays)
What else?
GBA, regular Game Boy,
Game Gear, Master System.
- Okay. So good.
- [Anthony] Yeah, the Wii
is actually a really good
retro console emulating system.
- Why this over someone like one
of those super portable PCs?
- Well, I mean, there's the simplicity
of the interface for one.
And two, I mean, did you
build that super portable PC?
- Okay. That's fair.
(game music plays)
Oh, wow that was some
hardcore slowdown right there.
Yeah. This D-pad leaves
a lot to be desired.
(game music plays)
It's starting to heat up a little bit too.
I can feel it.
- The good thing about
the D-pad and the buttons
and everything like that,
that's all stuff that you
can swap out yourself.
So you can get different rubber membranes.
You can get different D-pad, face buttons,
that kind of stuff.
If you really didn't like it.
- [Linus] No, not the big crunchy things.
I thought these were
swamps for the longest time
because I was a little kid
and I couldn't actually
get very far in the game.
And I read the manual obsessively.
Remember when reading the game manual
was as much fun as playing the game.
- [Anthony] I used to do
it in the car all the time.
- Oh, yeah.
It's not that heavy.
- [Anthony] No.
- Oh, well there's your cooling problem.
We have tape over the vent.
Come on boys, let's give
it some breathing room.
(Linus chuckles)
There we go.
And look, if I get
straight onto the camera
that actually gives
you guys a better look,
at what it looks like.
If you're straight onto
it, it's not that bad.
(Linus exclaims)
Very cool.
I don't know that I would
personally put the time and effort
into building one of these
versus using a a GPD type device
or something like that instead.
But there is absolutely
nothing else like it.
And look at that.
It's got a headphone jack.
(game music plays)
- At $325 plus the cost of
batteries, SD card, face buttons
and a Wii, this project is
not for the faint of heart.
It's really less of a practical thing
and more of a passion project.
Sort of like building a ship in a bottle
except you actually get to
play with it in the end.
(game music plays)
Are there more capable,
portable consoles out
there for a lot less?
Absolutely.
But you didn't build it, did you?
- Thanks LG for sponsoring today's video.
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So check out LG's new
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And enter the giveaway
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It's gonna be good.
So get down there.
- Thanks for watching guys.
If you're looking for something
less DIY and more DIY,
why not check out our recent
cardboard case challenge?
I swear it's a lot more
fun than it sounds.
And also let us know if you
wanna see more videos like this
that are a little bit more,
I don't know, DIY project D.
It's kind of a different
video for the channel.
