25 Insanely Modded Game Consoles and Accessories

So you are tired of looking at your regular Xbox 360, Wii or PS3? Feel that the controller for your new console is a bit bland, and nothing special?

Well, have a look at these 25 insane mods below and be inspired to create something unique that will blow your friends away when they come over for a gaming session or two. Or maybe this is just too much work for most of us.

1. Giant Working NES Controllers
   
   Here we have two different uses for giant versions of the classic NES controller…Firstly there is this coffee table with additional storage, but when you feel like playing some classic NES games, just remove the glass top and you have yourself a fully working NES controller. Just plug it into your console and play! Then there is the giant NES controller that, once you’re tired of using it as your NES controller, lets you use your computer which is housed in the giant controller-like case and voila, you can use your PC.
2. The Xbox 360 Laptop
   
   Ben Heck is a busy guy who loves to mod stuff, in ways that others, probably, wouldn’t. Like converting an Xbox 360 to a laptop, this contraption has a widescreen 17″ LCD, watercooling with a custom built radiator, built-in keyboard and Wireless, 3-port USB hub, ports on the back allows for the laptop 360 to be hooked up to your TV for some external display goodness. The case is all aluminum, with a plastic keyboard and a customized power adapter to power both the display and Xbox 360. The unit measures 16.75 x 10.75 x 2.8 inches and weighs 14 pounds.
3. A Whole NES Console in a Cartridge
   
   This casemod fits an entire NES console in one of it’s cartridges. This cartridge has been gutted of it’s original contents and have been filled with a NES on a chip system clone. It has a cartridge slot, power and reset buttons, two joystick ports, composite video and stereo audio outputs. This is one original and fantastic mod.
4. PS3 Laptop Mod
   
   Ben Heckendorn has become infamous for his awesome mods to consoles amongst other things, with this mod he has converted a PS3 into a laptop, maybe not the slimmest most portable thing but it’s a truly awesome mod, which is based on the 60Gb PS3 version, comes with a 720p 17? LCD screen, stereo speakers and amp, full keyboard and even a slot-loading Blu-Ray drive. The PS3 measures 17 x 13.75 x 3 inches and weighs 16 pounds.
5. Nintento Wii Controlled Smart Home
   
   This Wii was modded to control an entire house. It allows for full control of the lighting, temperature, surveillance cameras, music playback, the DVR and more. The system is powered by a PHP script which handles all of the requests and sends them to a flash GUI. Everything is controlled using a Wii-mote.
   
6. Toaster Edition PS2
   
   This mod has been created by Ryou and her friend, it was something that came about when she was really bored and thought she’d mod the case of her PS2. She decided that why not put it in a toaster? So they went and got an old 4-slice toaster at an antique shop and set about disassembling her PS2, the toaster needed some polishing and manhandling for removing the toaster part of the toaster. Once all this was done, all they had to do was cut a couple of square holes for the buttons and a bracket to ensure that the PS2 was firmly attached in the toaster.
7. Xbox 360 Controller – The Ben Heck Way
   
   Ben Heck has created this custom one-handed Xbox 360 controller by request. The left analog stick is controlled by your thumb, while the right analog stick is controlled by putting the controller against your leg or a table, the main trigger area is constructed on a separate module that is attached to the back so that your main fingers have easy access to each trigger button. The whole controller attaches to your hand with a elastic velcro strap.
8. The Nintendo Wii Laptop
   
   Ben Heck has been at it again, this time converting a Wii to a laptop. The Wii laptop comes with a 7-inch 16:9 widescreen LCD, stereo sound, Gamecube controller port, built-in short range Sensor bar, built-in power supply and compartment to store the power cord. The Wii-laptop also comes with the original Sensor Bar and A/V jacks for connecting to an external display. The dimensions of the Wii-laptop is 8.5 x 7.7 x 2 inches.
9. Clerks Wii created for Kevin Smith
   
   Ramon over at Morpheon Mods has created a special edition Clerks Wii as a Christmas gift for Kevin Smith. The Wii is painted in flat gray scale colors, and the four main characters have been attached to the Wii and are being highlighted with LEDs behind the 3D models, and the title is located above the main characters. It’s not only the console that has received treatment, the nunchuks has also been modded with the names Silent Bob and Kevin Smith. This mod took about 60 hours (!) to complete. And what a stunning result it is.
10. NES Inside a Sneaker
    
    This mod transforms a normal NES console into a sneaker. The game cartridges are loaded in from the side and the controllers are plugged in to the back of the sneaker. It has the Nintendo Entertainment System lettering on the shoe. Notice the picture even shows it on a shoe rack.
11. Rockstar’s Wii
    
    Ramon at Morpheon Mods has also created this awesome Rockstar Wii, using clear coating, custom matched colors and a laser cut Rockstar logo that has been hand polished and is being highlighted by a number of LEDs. Even the controllers haven’t gone unnoticed, receiving the same custom color as the actual Wii. The LEDs have been calibrated to be the perfect brightness, not to bright nor to dim.
12. Guitar Hero Pedals
    
    Ben Heck not only mods his consoles into laptops, he also likes to play his games one-handed. This one is for Guitar Hero, instead of using your hand for the strum and whammy bar, he has built a special pedal that you control with your foot. To hit the strum you just click your toes up and down and when you want to perform a whammy you just lift the heel of your foot and the spring loaded plate lifts up and you have performed your whammy.
13. PS3 Rainbox-Six Mod
    
    This PS3 was modded to resemble the Vegas strip in Rainbow Six Vegas. The PS3 lights up with LEDs, and their are also other buildings including the Luxor Hotel. There is also a SWAT vehicle right in front of the PS3 to give it that Tom Clancy feel. Check out the link above to see it all lit up in the dark.
14. Xbox 360 Gator Edition
    
    dfwmonkie decided that his Xbox 360 was a bit bland so he decided to give it a little bit more bite, the “skin” is made from hand-sculpted bondo which was then painted and given a layer of clear-coat to give it a shiny wet look. Under the gator skin is a stock Xbox 360, bar an Alligator eyeball instead of the stock power button.
15. Wii with clear side and color LEDs
    
    A modder by the name of Kypes has created this little masterpiece, he painted the face and stand of his Wii black, added clear sides and he has also painted the Disk Drive. To complete the setting he has added some purple LEDs that highlight the Disk Drive and some green lights that highlight the rear fan. To finish things off he also gave the Wii a new light for the load slot, an additional SD slot at the back and also a built-in Game Cube memory card.
16. Guitar Hero Auto-Whammy
    
    Some may call this cheating, but that is up to the user to decide on. This little device allow the whammy bar to be set to an automatic mode where it constantly performs a whammy, and so maximizing your score. This implementation has to settings, on and off, so that you can turn the feature off when you feel that you want to do the whammy yourself.
17. Wiimote goes Retro – Wireless NES / SNES Controllers for the Wii
    
    Here we have a method for converting your old NES / SNES controllers to wireless controllers that you can use with your GameCube / Wii. The process involves removing the original cord and then installing the wireless transmitter and also a recharger so that when the battery goes flat you can recharge your retro Wiimote. The battery used is an iPod mini battery and it fits nicely within the remote control without having to make any internal modifications to the controller. The receiver consists of a microcontroller, some capacitors and a bi-color LED that shows Red when it is not receiving a signal and turns Green when it is receiving a signal.
18. Jumbotron DS: A Supersized DS
    
    So you feel that your DS’s screens are too small? Then this mod is for you, someone has hooked up two tablet PCs to a Nintendo DS via a pass-through device that allows the DS to pass data back and forth. If the game you are playing requires use of the buttons you still need to use them but if the game can be controlled via the screen then all you need are the two tablet PCs.
19. Zelda Edition NES – The ZNES
    
    This console mod is devoted to Zelda, they’ve carved in the Tri-Force just above the cartridge slot so that you can see the inner workings of the NES, they painted the console and controllers gold and when the console is on, there is an LED inside that lights up in Orange. Only a true fan would be able to create a console mod like this one.
20. Wii-like Xbox 360 Controller tilt mod
    
    This mod allows your Xbox 360 wireless / wired controller to tilt back, forward, left and right just like the Wiimote. It only requires 7 wires and you can easily turn the tilt mode on / off without an ugly switch. The controller is configured by connecting it to your computer via a USB cable, and then run through the setup in the accompanying software. The software comes in 2 versions, Lite and Advanced, the difference being that with the Advanced version you get full configuration of Tilt angle to Controller axis direction.
21. Portable SEGA Dreamcast
    
    Modder ‘hyphrend’ has converted his Dreamcast into a portable console, the build took 3 months to complete and it features a 5 inch LCD display, CNC machined case, speakers, headphone jack, memory card slots and a flip-open back cover for loading of the games. The console runs of a 12V battery and is fully functional.
22. Rock Band drums pencil style
    
    David Yoon decided to save his neighbors a headache and went about modding his Rock Band Drums with larger piezo transducers covered with felt and sitting on foam. This allows him to play his drums with a pair of pens, playing his drums hard. This in turn means that he can safely play the drums in the middle of the night without worrying that he will wake someone up.
23. Lego Wii-Zapper
    
    This mod might not be something that you would think of as a mod for your console, BUT, if you can’t afford, or just don’t want to spend the money on a commercial zapper, this is for you. Built totally out of LEGO, it houses the nunchuck and has a piece of moving technic lego that pulls against the B button acting as a trigger. Now that’s what I call money wise.
24. Wii Edition SNES
    
    French modder Kotomi has come up with a cool mod that allows you to play all your old SNES games on the Wii, kind of. What he has done is take an old Super Nintendo console, taken it apart and then built it into a replica Wii case, the contraption uses the classis Wiimote so that you don’t have to plug in the ugly SNES controller. Adding to the stylishness of the whole mod is the illuminated cartridge slot.
25. Colt .45 Edition Fully Functional Wii mote
    
    Do you want to transform your plain vanilla Wiimote into something more unique? Then this is the mod for you, here you can see how to turn your Wiimote into a Colt .45. All you need is some aluminum, the right tools and a steady hand or two. This might get you into trouble if the wrong people see you waiving a Colt 45 around your house.

• Published in Gaming, General, Laptops on 05/20/08
• By Henrik A.