Super Nintendo PC ARTiGO

It's amazing what I find in my attic. In a box collecting dust lies my old Super Nintendo. I spent way to many hours on that little machine, I couldn't just throw it away. But all the cartridges were destroyed and the SNES wouldn't turn on, it was dead. I had to bring it back to life. All I needed were some small PC components and an operating system running a Super Nintendo emulator. VIA is known for tiny PCs parts, and the ARTiGO, an all-in-one system is the perfect solution for jump starting my SNES.

Step 1 Inside the ARTiGO

The ARTiGO is tiny! It fits in the palm of my hand, yet it has all the feature of a regular desktop. Go to VIA.com For the full specs. I quickly threw the ARTiGO together ( there's nothing to it) for a test run. It's no hard core gaming rig but its going to do just fine with emulators and watching some xvid movies. The Artigo is so cool looking and small I almost want to leave it that way, but my SNES need a new engine.

Comments

[Krazir14]

I can't open the Case???

[ahead1]

you will need to buy a 4mm gamebit screwdriver google is your friend for this use the 4mm gamebit to open the snes

[Jcmaster]

Its kind of a dirty job, i mean the idea is really cool and it loks nice, but when you see the images closer you can see the dirty cuts into the plastic case & the yellowish color of it, it would be better if you paint the snes of grey so it looks like new, besides of that its a great project if i can get one of those artigo pc ill make mine too

[twocvbloke]

The US version of the SNES is really ugly compared to the UK one... :S

[zack247]

that different than the ones in Canada too, i had one and it looked nothing like that

[Apollo707]

ok that is a cupload of kool

[joemonkey]

i love the instructable, and the directions were clear. great overall.
the mini-pc idea was a great one!

just saying, but your Snes looks terrible!
if you see how the plastic is two-toned, its because of a fault of nintendo's, where an incorrect ballance of flame retardant in the mix caused oxidization which was sped up by sunlight exposure. there is no way to reverse it.

[BadPrenup]

I'm working on one of these now, good Instructable, though a 'How to Install OS' section would have been nice, as well as info on what kind of CD Drive you used and where you got it. Overall nice job.

[AnthonyV]

its a laptop cd rom drive. you can get one from newegg. and depending on what you get you may need an sata adapter. good luck it was fun!

[BadPrenup]

sorry to double post but you could have also explained how to open the SNES as you need a special tool unless you want to tear it apart and glue it shut =-)

[AnthonyV]

you can buy the "special tool" but i used needle nose pliers, it took some time but i got it. heres a tip, your going to be hacking the heck out of the in side of the snes, if i were to do it again i'd drill out the screws is faster.

[BadPrenup]

Is the default connector SATA or IDE? that will save me a ton of time

[Scammah]

I admire the finished product however I do have a question. Isn't this an expensive build? I looked up the ARTiGO and it shows that it's around 300 bucks. Kinda expensive SNES
ARTiGO

[firestormcomputers]

I would have to say that the Artigo seems pretty cheap, VIA does a good job for budget people.

[AnthonyV]

If it was only a SNES then I'd I agree, but It can do much more, there is a full computer under the hood its not very powerful but its a perfect portable e-machine, divx/xvid player plus the SNES isn't the only emulator around. Almost every old console or arcade system is emulated and this puppy can run em all. In my opinion is not a bad deal when u add it all up.

[Technokitty]

I'm grabbing my Dremel tool and heading for the attic right now to see what I can stuff this little Artigo into!

[psychostick]

+5

[AnthonyV]

hey thanks!

[psychostick]

awesome way to "recycle".

[dsv101]

how big is the built in hardrive

[AnthonyV]

2.5 inch laptop 40GB plenty of space for old games