Hasta La Gadget!

Link isn’t known for being flashy or even stylish, but fans still associate him and his series with bling, thanks to Nintendo’s tradition of releasing gold cartridges and systems for The Legend of Zelda games. The talented console modder Zoki64 and his customer steal that trick from Nintendo and then some by making a sparkly Ocarina of Time-themed Nintendo 64.

Zoki64 gave the console a metal flake finish, causing it to twinkle in direct light like an angsty vampire.

Put your shades on and skip to about 0:30 in the video below:

Zoki64 also made a more subdued gold Zelda casemod but with a Famicom console. Check that out and the rest of his eye-popping work on his deviantART page.

[via it8bit]

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Unless the book’s cover has the logo of the Nintendo 64 on it, along with a power switch and a cartridge slot. Also when the book wasn’t actually a book to begin with. I therefore judge the Nintendomicon to be guilty of third degree awesomeness.

The Nintendomicon was made by Redditor JHood_. He carved holes out of a wood and leather box that looks like a book. He intends to give it to his brother as a classy yet geeky send off gift. The Nintendomicon is JHood_’s first mod, so understandably it’s far from perfect. For one, it has no air vent, although it does have a fan. He also bungled its name, calling it “Nintendomnicrom” when he actually meant to spell “Nintendonomicon.” In the end he accepted the renaming suggestion of a fellow Redditor.

The missing reset button though? That was intentional. JHood_ said he hates the button.

[via Imgur & Reddit via Obvious Winner]

Artist/Nintendo fan/Sleep gamer Donna Marie Evans made her own Nintendo 64 controller pillow. It’s made of polar fleece and cotton and has embroidered letters and buttons. Now Donna can do a barrel roll in her sleep.

Donna said she might be able to sell copies of the pillow if she gets hold of more materials. Send her a note on her deviantART page if you want one. And while you’re there, ask her to make an N64 console bed!

[via Niko is Cartoons]

Corded controllers led to one of the iconic images in many homes in the 80s and 90s: kids sitting on the floor, controller in hand and looking up at their TV. But if you’re TV is too big to view up close and your ass is too lazy to get off the couch, keep an eye on Retro-Bit’s Wireless Hypermode retro controllers. First up is the wireless controller for the N64.

Richard Mitchell of Joystiq was able to try a test unit of the controller at E3. Although he admits that he only tested it for less than 5 minutes, Mitchell says that the controller’s didn’t seem too bad, although it’s not quite as good as the official controller. As you can see in the images the controller also has Auto and Turbo modes, while the receiver has a slot for memory cards and Rumble Paks.

The Retro-Bit Wireless Hypermode N64 controller should go on sale this summer for $30 (USD), while wireless versions of the SEGA Genesis, NES and SNES controllers will follow this fall.

[via Joystiq via GoNintendo]

Maybe it was because of Super Mario 64, but I always thought the Nintendo 64 was one of the best consoles Nintendo ever made. But it was always sort of big and clunky. And while these days, you can emulate the console on a tiny handheld, there’s still nothing quite like playing with the original cartridges and the original controller. Now, one modder decided to shrink down his old N64 into a more compact form factor.

Modder Slipstream (aka Smackedsam), the guy behind some epic N64 portables and other mods, managed to mimic the style of the original Nintendo 64, but managed to reduce its size substantially.

It’s quite an amazing build job, since it looks like something that could have come right off the assembly line at Nintendo. Check out the N64 Mini in all its glory in the video clip below:

Heck, that thing is about the same size as the controller. I just love that sexy metallic orange automotive paintjob too. I wonder how many coats it took to make it look that great. Slipstream says the mod is for sale, and if you’re interested in it, send him a private message over on his YouTube channel.

(Thanks for the tip, JN!)