The Nintendo 64. This console holds
a special place in my heart. It wasn't my first game console as a kid,
but it was the one that I spent the most time with. Unfortunately, as it's gotten older,
it's become harder and harder to enjoy. At almost 30 years old, it's got an antiquated video connector
that I can't plug into any of my TVs. a Jumbo sized power brick
that's honestly on its last legs. I can hear humming
every time I plug it in and a controller that was controversially shaped
even when it first came out. So today, I would like to create
the ultimate modernized Nintendo 64. And in order to do it, we are going to
utilize some cutting edge technology and we're going to experiment
with a whole bunch of techniques that I have never done before. So without further ado, let's get into it. The inside of the Nintendo 64
is a fascinating place filled with all sorts of odd design choices. I have to imagine
this is how archeologists must feel when they're cracking open
thousand year old tombs. But some things are delightfully
consistent, like the fact that you need a special driver in order to open it
just like a modern Nintendo. The first oddity
is this giant, multi-layered heat spreader. We're definitely going
to be replacing this. Similarly, there's a ton of wasted space
and I feel like a modern system should be designed to occupy
as little space as possible. Once I had it stripped down
to just the main motherboard, it was time to scrub away several decades of dirt, grime
and just general nastiness. Isopropyl alcohol was great for this. Then it was time
for the first major upgrade. But it's not really a modern one. This is one of the original N64
RAM expansion packs. Well, modify this a bit later, but
this is an important piece of the puzzle because you can't play every N64 title
without one. Finally, it was time to strip away
some dead weight. Will be completely replacing
the external power delivery system. So I decided to desolder the power connector
in order to save a little bit of space. And the same thing applies
to the original video output port as well. Both of these would have been a lot easier
to remove if I had a hot air rework station, but I did manage to get it
done with just a basic soldering iron. So the next thing that I want to do
is modernize the video output of the Nintendo 64, because at this point
I don't even think that I have a single TV or monitor anywhere in my house
that has an RCA input or RF input. So we are going to install
a little accessory board on the Nintendo 64 that allows it to output via HDMI. This right here is known as an HDMI mod and they're actually sold
by a bunch of different companies. The problem is they're usually really expensive and they're also really hard
to find in stock anywhere. But I went on Ali express
and I actually found this one that sells for 50 bucks
and is in stock all day long. Does it perform
as well as some of the other ones? Well,
we won't really know until we install it. And here's the crazy thing. Most manufacturers of these boards
won't even let you install them yourself. That's right. Many of them are sold only through authorized installers
because they require microsoldering in order to capture the video signal
and upscale it for output by HDMI. We have to steal the video signal
as it comes off the processor, and that means soldering this ribbon cable
directly to its pins. But don't worry, it's
not as hard as it sounds. I use some capton tape
to hold the ribbon in place, cleaned up the contacts with some flux,
and then got ready to do some drag soldering. This is a technique where you apply
a bit of solder to the tip of your iron and then drag it over the contacts
you want to join together. The nice thing about solder
is that it's attracted to the contacts, so generally it's going to go
where you want it to go. The main thing that you have to watch out for is accidentally applying
too much and bridging adjacent Pins. Take your time. Less is more and you can always remove
excess solder with the solder wick. It should look a little
something like this when you're done. Next I stole power for the HDMI mod
from this nearby voltage regulator and soldered this last leg
to the second pin on the chip. And that's it. We should now be able
to play our N64 games in glorious 720p. Let's move on to upgrading the cooling. The original heatsinks for the N64
are big, ugly and made out of aluminum, so I bought these perfectly sized
copper heatsinks that will fit directly on top of the main
heat generating components. They're much more thermally conductive
and shaped in a way that should make them much more effective
at radiating heat. I also attach them
with some of the highest performance thermal pads on the market,
which should be a big improvement over the almost 30 year old ones
that were there before. Oh, and then later
I also did the RAM expansion pack once I found some copper heatsinks
that were small enough to fit. So would you look at that? We actually managed to get it done and honestly,
it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I mean, it wasn't easy, mind you. However, with a little bit of practice,
I think just about anybody could do this. And that's key there. Practice. I did actually practice before I did this. This is a micro soldering practice board. It's basically just a PCB. It comes with some microchips and you can
practice soldering them in place. It was a really good chance for me
to test it when driving soldering skills and work on things
in a non mission critical scenario. So well worth it. I'll include some links for this as well
as all the other tools and materials I've used throughout this project
down in the video description. Now that we figured out how we're going to get video
out of the Nintendo 64, let's talk about
how we're going to get power. If I want to power this system with the most ubiquitous power connector
in my house, Usb-C. And thanks to the new Usb-C power
delivery standard, a little wall adapter and cable like this should supply more
than enough power for the Nintendo 64. But just because it's simple and clean
looking doesn't mean it's going to be easy because the Nintendo 64 needs a couple
of different voltages in order to run. So let's talk about
how we're going to deal with that. This first board is a USB power
delivery breakout module and it communicates with a power brick
and tells it how much voltage to supply. By setting these dip switches,
we can configure it to request one of the operating voltages for the N64
12 volts. I then ordered a bunch of leads
to the output terminals. Most of these will go directly
to the motherboard, but one pair will go to the second Auxiliary board
by soldering this terminal right here. We can configure this module
to step down 12 volts to just 3.3, which is the other voltage that we need. From there, all I had to do was solder
on a few wires that will connect back to the original power delivery terminals
on the main motherboard. And can we just take a second
to appreciate how much small these new boards
are than the original power brick? It's crazy
how far our technology has come. As a final step,
of course, I had to plug in the power and test
to see if everything's still worked. Would you look at that. It actually works. Or, I mean, at least I think it works. We'll really know until we get it hooked up to a video display
and see if we can get anything out of it. So now that we've got the electronics
sorted, the next thing that I want to do
is build a case for the Nintendo 64. And in order to do that, we are going to
be exploring some really cool technology. This is the ultra craft reflex
3D printing system from HeyGears,
and it's a resin based 3D printing system. Now there are a whole host of reasons
why resin based 3D printing is superior to FDM style 3D printing
that most people are familiar with. But the one that I am the most excited
about is the fact that you can print transparent plastic so we can embrace that old retro style of a clear plastic case. Like I said at the start of this video,
this is a technology that I have never worked with before, and I'm excited
to learn all the ins and outs of it. But I figured if it's something new,
might as well start small. So down here you can see a little preview
of what we're about to print. And it's actually a new cartridge
for the Nintendo 64. The first thing that you have to know
about resin 3D printing is that it's a lot more involved
than FDM style printing. But HeyGears has created a completely
integrated system that makes the process streamlined and as user friendly
as you possibly could. For example, there printers will automatically detect
which resin has been loaded into it, how much resin is in the build tank,
and it'll even automatically add more during the print if necessary. You see, resin 3D printers work
by using an LCD screen to expose UV sensitive resin one layer at a time, and your model slowly
grows up and out of the build tank. It's a really cool process. This particular printer
has a 6k LCD screen, so it's capable
of creating incredibly detailed prints and their BluePrint Slicer
software was great for a newbie like me. Not only did it identify potential problem areas in my models
and tell me how I can fix them, but it also controls all three machines
wirelessly after a printer is finished. You're going to have to wash it
in the aptly named Wash station. This is just a big tub
filled with isopropyl alcohol that dissolves Uncured resin
through agitation. But HeyGears design this ingenious
two chamber system where you never have to reach
into a tank full of alcohol to get parts. You can just drain the alcohol
into a second tank and then pick up
your parts once they're dry. Next comes removing the supports. And this was actually pretty tricky at times
because of the way I designed my models at the end of the video during the post mortem
analysis, we'll talk about how I could have made this
a whole lot easier for myself when the supports do
finally let go, though it's incredibly satisfying to peel them away
and reveal your finished parts. The quality and detail of these resin
prints blew me away and it's like nothing that I have ever seen
before from any other printer. The last step was just putting the parts
into the cure station. Here they're exposed to both heat
and more UV light in order to fully cure the resin. Again, this is all controlled
by the blueprint slicer. Depending on the size and shape of your
parts, HeyGears' will automatically dial in the perfect settings
so you get fantastic results every time. With the first couple of parts done, I loaded up my next set of models,
hit prints, and then went to check out a seriously cool piece of hardware
that just arrived in the mail. This right here is an ever drive 64
and basically this is every single Nintendo
64 game ever. Or at least it can be. So if you look right here,
there's a little SD card slot. And what you can do is load up a bunch
of your favorite roms onto an SD card. Put it in here. This is from the Nintendo 64
and it'll play it just like the original cartridges. So my plan is to take
all the Nintendo 64 games that I owned and then just do exactly that. That way
and never have to change cartridges. How modern is that? And then also
another cool feature about this is that it has a built in NES Emulator
so you can play old school games too. Unfortunately,
the best part of the ever drive 64 is hidden away
where no one will ever see it. Except for us, that is. Oh, look at that black and gold PCB that is going to look so cool
in our clear shell. Stuff like this is why I was so excited
to make it clear. Nintendo 64. There are just so many cool details
hidden inside these machines that often get covered up
by boring, bland plastic. But I'm sure many of you at home
are probably noticing that our clear resin looks significantly less clear than it did
fresh out of the printer. And don't worry, we will be fixing that. But first, over the course of the next few days, I still had to print
all of the other parts out. And I've got to say, after working
with the ultra craft reflex system, I get why people love resin
3D printing so much. Not only do these parts feel way
more substantial in your hand, do the fact that they're printed at 100%
infill, but the surface finish on them is something that has to be seen in order
to be believed. It's bordering on the same quality
as injection molded plastic. And when you can get that level of quality
and precision at home all wrapped in a user friendly package,
it becomes pretty easy to imagine how the ultra craft reflex system could become the production
cornerstone of your business, whether it's selling prints on Etsy or just making your own custom closely
the way that I do. But obviously
we still have a big question to answer. So let's talk about post processing
and how we're going to restore that crystal clear look to this resin. The first step is wet sanding. Over the shop, I laid out a series
of sandpaper sheets that range from 200 to 2000 grit,
and I meticulously polished each part. This is really a case of you get out of it
what you're willing to put into it. The more time you spend sanding and polishing your parts,
the clearer they're going to be. So where you stop is kind of up to you. After that,
I thoroughly cleaned all the parts with more isopropyl alcohol and already
I could see that my plastic was looking a lot more clear,
but I knew we could still do better. So I dried off the parts,
improvised a way to hang them outside and then sprayed on several thin coats
of acrylic automotive clear cut. Not only will this finish, fill
in all the little micro scratches on the surface of the plastic, but it will also provide
long term UV protection for the parts and help them to maintain their clear
look over time. Once the acrylic dried,
I inspected the results and they were pretty fantastic. Oh man, look it out. Cool. Some of these parts look. I mean, my spray
paint job isn't perfect in all the places, but it's not bad. And it's definitely a lot clearer than it was
when it came out of the printer. Finally, it was time to assemble
the case that I had worked so hard to create,
and thankfully this part was pretty easy. Thanks to my design. The front panel magnetically attaches,
so I glued six pairs of magnets into both the top
and the bottom half of the console. Installing them as pairs like this ensures that I won't accidentally mix up
the polarity. The glue needed a second to set. So I busy myself
by installing a bed of double sided tape over here
where the PCB for the HDMI mod will go. And then I installed six brass standoffs
to support the main motherboard. I undersized all these holes ever so
slightly, so as I'm screwing them in here, they're actually cutting their own
threads. These standoffs create just enough clearance under the main
motherboard that both the HDMI mod and the power delivery boards
can sit comfortably below everything else. And this seems like a good time to mention
that if anybody wants to tackle this project at home, I'm going to make all these 3D print files
available for purchase over on my store. I'll put a link down in the video
description. And of course,
the standoffs were positioned so that I could just screw down
through these original mounting holes and secure the motherboard. The top and the bottom. Simply pressure fit and click together
and the final step was adding a bit of glue to these magnet hole and
pressing the front panel into position. Not bad looking, but I wasn't done yet. You see, I hear that Nintendo doesn't
really like it when you use their name. So I decided to create my own custom
branding for this project and I was looking at the Nintendo 64 logo
and I noticed something about it. If you just kind of turn it 90 degrees,
that N becomes a Z. So I think we can exploit that. A simple rotation wasn't quite enough
to achieve the effect I wanted here, so I also applied a subtle perspective
shift in order to sell the whole effect a bit better. Then obviously I had to replace the word
Nintendo with my own name in a font that is similar. But Nintendo's lawyer should note
is distinctly different than the original. And then, of course, there's
also the infamous 64, which in this case referred to the number of vertices
and faces on my 3D Z. There we go. We now have our custom Zack build 64 logo, and the next thing we need to do
is put that out onto a vinyl sticker. However,
I don't have a vinyl sticker printer, but I do have a friend who has one, so think
it's time I cashed in a little favor. Turns out it's way easier to make vinyl
stickers than I ever thought. All you need is printable vinyl,
a color printer and a Cricut. And if you've never seen a Cricut before,
they're pretty neat. It's basically like someone replaced
a printer's ink dispenser with a small knife. It can quickly and easily cut out custom shapes
from a whole range of different materials. Once it was done,
I peeled off the backing paper and carefully attached it
to the front of the cartridge. Now that we're done with that, I have one last little cherry
that I want to add on top of this project. In my mind,
there is one key feature that separates modern consoles from their old retro
cousins of yesteryear. And if I didn't include it
in this project, well then I don't think I could
really call this a modern Nintendo 64. That's right. I'm talking about wireless controllers. This is a brawler 64,
and it allows you to enjoy your games without being tethered in place
by a plastic umbilical cord. And it also redesigns the controller,
which, like I said before, hasn't aged
particularly well. So it's a box it feels Okay... So that's interesting. I’ll show you what that is in second
and that's the controller itself. Okay. Well, that actually feels quite a bit
better than I would have expected at first glance. Right off the bat you have two Z buttons
instead of just one. In terms of layout, it's actually really
similar to an Xbox series controller. The buttons feel very clicky
and not mushy at all. Well, The shoulder buttons are a tiny bit mushy,
but not bad. The analogue stick feels really good. I like that. Not bad for a third party
peripheral controller. You probably wouldn't
give this to your little brother. So this module just plugs right in here. If you look here, you'll see that
it has a port for a memory card. We won't actually need that. I don't think I covered this earlier,
but the ever drive 64 actually has save functionality
built right into it. So I wont ever have the need
for a memory card. But obviously they've made this for normal Nintendo 64s,
so I can understand why they would include that. Now that we got all of those little things
done, we can finally do something that I've been wanting to do for a long
time now. Test this thing. Opps, almost forgot this... You guys see how easy that was? It's just two cables in this nearly 20 year old system
is connected and running to a modern TV. So when you first boot up
and this is the ever drive 64 main screen. This page here has a bunch of settings
that you can also do emulation. Here you have Gameboy, Gameboy
Color, NES, and then if you come back to this page, you have all of your games here,
or at least I have all of my games here. Like I said earlier, theoretically you could have
every single Nintendo 64 game here. However, I've just stuck to
the ones that I actually own because I'm trying to keep things legit from this YouTube video
and look at how crisp all of this is. So the Nintendo 64
is outputting a 720P signal, and then my TV is upscaling that to 4K
and it's a four by three aspect ratio. That's why
you have these black bars on either side. Okay, so let's boot up a game
and see how it looks. Obviously. Mario, 64. Oh, and you can also do cheats
you can do ROM configuration, like changing
where it saves and stuff like that. But yeah, let's start the game. Oh, I forgot about
these long, unskippable, intros. So right away you notice that the image is just way crisper
right now. And another nice thing here is
you have really vivid colors. I played Nintendo 64s with HDMI converters and they often end up
with really washed out colors. But that is not the case here. Everything is looking really good
when you compare this aliexpress HDMI
mod to the more expensive ones out there. You are missing out on a few features
like the ability to change your output resolution. This one is locked at 720p, but practically speaking, that's the resolution
that I would have picked anyways. The more expensive boards
only offer a 1088 interlaced signal, and this board also gives you the ability
to change your aspect ratio and your colors. Though I don't think I would ever do that
because these all look pretty gross
and I also got to say this controller, the input latency
is basically nonexistent. I think it's running a custom
2.4 gigahertz signal. So that makes sense. I mean, just trying to do the classic
triple jump, no problem. When I was running it on the emulator
before I left and had a hard time with that
because it's pretty sensitive to timing. But this feels just like it used to. And the really precise
inputs of the analog stick are there too. You can really control Mario's speed. Really precisely. This is a good replica controller and I'm sure some people at home
are probably wondering about thermals and ya I can feel
a little bit of heat coming out of here. So what do you say we bust out the thermal camera
and see how the chips in here are doing? Now look at that. So it's been on for about an hour now. We're getting into the 60 degree mark
right on the top of the chip there. But if you look closely,
the actual heatsinks are significantly cooler than that. Yeah,
I would say that that is well within spec. It's like purely warm to the touch. So this is really everything that I ever
could have wanted out of a modernized Nintendo 64, which I'm realizing
now is a bit of an oxymoron. But just because it's everything I wanted doesn't mean that I couldn't
do it better if I had to do it again. So let's talk postmortem analysis. One thing I definitely could have improved
on this project are the 3D printed parts I've never worked
with 3D printed resin before, and I didn't really base my models
around the limitations of the medium. In the future, I would avoid
having all of these large flat sections and also I probably would have oriented my models so that the supports
were on the outside of the case and then they would have been easier
to remove during the post-processing. I also think it would have been cool
to add a little bit of active
cooling to this project. It's not really necessary,
but keeping these parts even cooler might add some additional longevity
to this geriatric system. And then finally,
I thought about this one at the end, but since I don't really need
this memory card slot here, I could have just disassembled this
and then wired it to the back side and the controller ports. I mean, how cool would this thing
have been with four wireless controllers
and then no ports along the front? I think that would have looked
really cool. So that's it for this video.
Thank you so much for watching. And you might want to get subscribe
so that you don't miss my next video where I make my own DIY air quality meter. Or maybe it'll be my DIY
Dolby atmos speaker. Either way, get subscribe
and I'll see you in the next one peace
