Remember earlier this year when we showcased a system builder that created a working portable Wii system out of an Altoids can? Well, he’s back- and with something way more comfortable for you handheld fans.

A YouTuber by the name of Shank has introduced his latest invention on his Shank Mods channel, and it looks to be more of a conventional handheld than the Kill Mii was. Say hello to the PiiWii!

In the video, Shank goes into detail on how he managed to put the system together, utilizing a beautiful control system built with GameCube games in mind (though Wii games work on it too). It also has a 3.5” screen, making games far easier to see than on the Kill Mii.

It was made using a real Wii system, which was cut down and then rebuilt to run properly in the portable build. It has an active cooling system, voltage regulators and a battery as well, so it’ll last longer than Shank’s previous system, which only ran for a few minutes at a time.

The PiiWii can run GameCube games, along with WiiWare, Virtual Console and “any other games that Wii can do,” according to Shank. It can also run emulators and homebrew games too, if set up properly with the system.

He actually began designing the system three years ago, utilizing a special project box build that comfortably fits the controls and screen, so everything is nicely centered. However, it’s lacking motion controls. But you can still sync up a Wii remote and Nunchuk to it.

Now, as far as how games run, Shank loads them from a 128GB flash drive, instead of Wii discs. While this may seem like a bit of a cheat, keep in mind that the system probably would’ve had to be a much larger build to run Wii discs directly. So this is the next best thing. Also, you have to watch how Shank plays Wii Sports on it. It’s ridiculous, but sharp.

Shank did an amazing job with this system, as we’d definitely take one of these for the office. Alas, he doesn’t really have any plans to sell these, since this was built as a fan project. But you never know- ingenuity like this can definitely go a long way.



Posted: Jan 01, 2019 10:19 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/12/31/youtuber-portable-nintendo-wii-gamecube-system/