Update January 31st 2007:
Wow, more unexpected popularity after a few months..
Just to let you all know that this is for sale if anyone is interested, or if you want me to build a custom console (any console), you can contact me at enterthehatrix (AT) console-central (DOT) com
But please, if you're not serious about this, don't bother me. I'm based in the UK, but will ship overseas.
Prices vary depending on work required and materials.
Update October 8th 2006:
After completing this 3 weeks a go, I thought it was my obligation to update, since I had already announced I was working on a smaller version of it (I don't want to upset my fans afterall... If there are any that is).
The new version is smaller,with a new colour, and a kick ass new window on the back so I can see what game I've currently got loaded.
My only regret is fucking up the lid eject mechanism (and by fucking up I mean lost parts of).
As a result, I have had to come up with a makeshift latch and handle to open it...
The system is a lot lighter than previously, and way more comfortable to hold.
The front with Zelda's menu on it.. No gamesave because no memory card is in it.
I couldn't get the desired finish by the controllers, because I couldn't be bothered to keep sanding and smoothing and sanding and so on.. It actually looks worse in the picture than it actually is.
From an angle... In case you was wondering what that bright pink thing is in the corner of the picture, it's my girlfriends Teddy bear that she fished out of the loft about 2 days prior to taking that photo.. Thank fuck it's now stuffed into a storage box somewhere else now...
As I previously said, I fucked up the lid mechanism... First I lost the spring and other major parts of the eject system, then I clogged the bastard hole up with spray paint (why oh why didn't I mask it off!?) So as a result, I needed to add a latch and a handle to open and close the assembly.. It looks ugly, but it's one of those things you get used to after a while. I also threw in some LEDs to light the disc bay up... Pretty good in my opinion.
So not an all round success, but at least it's small enough to fit inside a bag with an external power pack (which I've now finished... Only lasts for about 40 minutes mind, but that's better than nothing).
If you want to buy this, email me about it...
But since the Gamecube is at the end of it's life, you might want want to wait and see what I have in mind for the Wii.
Original Post July 26th 2006:
First I brought you the NES DS, then the NES Gamecube, now I bring you my Handheld Gamecube. After a month of on off work, I've finished my Handheld Gamecube.. Calling it a Portable Gamecube is an overstatement because I'm still tethered to the wall and it is still bulky and heavy... Still At least I don't have to carry craploads of stuff around with me wherever I go. (By the way, my name is Ben Hartland, not Ben Harklin)
  
The laser just needs to be replaced / adjusted and then it's perfect. A few cracks started showing at the edges when I screwed this together, but it's nothing unfixable and it doesn't damage the overall structure. This has cost me approximately ?200 to build over the past Month. I could have cut off an inch in height, half an inch in width and 2 inches in depth.. But I'm a lazy bastard so I threw on a Hushtrap case and glued it together. I spent hours desoldering the ports on the bottom of the Gamecube motherboard, eventually, I just dremeled them off, pulled the plastic casing off and plucked the pins one by one.. desoldering sucks because I had no real way of telling which pins were still soldered down from the other side or the inside.
What have I learnt? Plastic smells when it's being melted and cut; Spraypaint makes you high; ISOPON p40 is your friend (it makes you high too); Don't trust anything you buy from Poundland; Make in-depth sketches, measurements and drawings of what you are going to do and stick to it; Buy more spray paint than you need to avoid unwanted trips to buy more (7 freakin' cans of primer... one by one.. That's 7 trips for spray paint);
Glue named "Hard As Nails" is shit at holding paper together, let alone plastic; Invest in proper tools for the job; You can never have enough dremel pieces. I ended up omitting a battery pack (weight and size issues), but I will make one external. By omitting the battery pack I've saved 600grams of weight I could be holding. The portable cube weighs 2kg, so it is a strain to hold. I advise playing it on a table or on my lap. Do I plan on making anymore? Fuck no! One project I have my eye on though is a portable Wii. Issues surrounding it would be that I couldn't use the Wiimotes, but it would make a smaller portable gamecube / Virtual Console.
You can view my work in progress at:
Link removed.. Old forum system.
Any questions? Feel free to leave them here and I'll get back to you. Oh and if you're a webmaster who happens to fancy posting this, make sure you source this site because the pictures are hotlink protected. If you're an asshole posting this on your site or reading this, Lets see you do better. Just as an update though, the laser is working fine now, it was just mildly dusty inside the lid from the paint particles. No side effects or anything whilst swinging it around (considering this isn't meant for use on the move (unless you're inside a car)) such as disc crashing or power loss or anything.
This is a sturdy piece of shit and I can guarentee it can do some damage if I hit you with it.
Update 27/07/06
I've taken some measurements and I can actually fit a cluster of rechargable batteries in the left cavity below the controller, but the main reasons I'm not including batteries still stands as; 1. Adds an extra 600 grams approx to the weight. So if I have a power point handy, at least I can use that and save myself 600grams of strain. 2. It can always be added to the 12v power port and sit on a table or even clip to the cube itself. 3. Batteries blow up (as some of you know). A bad circuit and I can kiss my work goodbye. But even out in the open, I could have a sack containing the battery pack and games (since I'll be needing a sack anyway to transport the cube from A to B). Portability is completely possible.
Update: 16/08/06.
I've started to cut down on all the excess plastic.. Here's a video of it in action for people who don't believe it works.
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