We already know the Steam Deck can handle GameCube and Wii games through emulation quite nicely. But notice that keyword: emulation.

Well, someone by the name of GingerOfOz took the liberty of taking apart a Wii to get access to the motherboard, trimmed out a tiny section of it, 3D-printed some case parts, a few circuit boards, and tiny GameCube-style buttons, then crammed all the parts together with batteries inside a tiny chassis that resembles closely to the Game Boy Advance SP. Now you’ve got a portable that actually runs the genuine hardware, without the means of emulation. (Note that the Wii is backwards-compatible with GC titles, and apparently it’s a lot easier to use a Wii PCB rather than the GC’s.) He managed to still incorporate the GC’s disc drive, as well as a volume slider.

GingerOfOz documented the whole process on his YouTube channel. He’s also built other handheld consoles in the past, including a PS2 portable. I recommend giving it a watch if you’re into gaming handhelds. Battery life is about an hour-and-a-half, which obviously isn’t great, but due to how small the chassis is, there was only so many batteries he could put into it.

The design is based off of a mockup picture from some 15 years ago (from an Instagram user named “gcpguy22”). Now, that mockup has finally become a reality. He’s noted that the ergonomics aren’t great, but it looks adorable.

I have a Wii, so I’m actually tempted to try and make a Wii/GC portable myself. Seems very complicated though. But I just thought I’d mention this project, it looks very cool.

Cover image courtesy of Nintendo Life.