Question GameCube Portable: Add Battery Voltage?

[Jonut521]

Hello! So, I have this old pencil sharpener from when I was in high school that I'm trying to make into a portable GameCube. Believe me I know it's not a good idea in the slightest. I'm going for "lets see if we CAN do it," not "let's actually make this a practical game system." That's all fine and dandy, however I'm very new to the modding scene, and I'm having issues with voltage. I know the GCN required at least 6v of battery life to run, however based on the dimensions of the box, (3.0cmL x 2.4cmW x 1.5cmH), I'm having trouble finding any batteries small enough with the voltage to run the darn thing. I have found this 3.7v battery that seems to fit inside the sharpener, linked here: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1904. My question is, can I just get two of them and connect them both to the same jack by soldering the wires of one on top of the other, making a 7.4v battery? Or should I just give up on this project entirely?

Like I said, I'm new to this. My only experience with this kinda tech other than videos and google searches is a lab we did in physics last year, so not much. I know I should have started with an easier project, but I tend to start hard and work easier. I always get the 150cc cups in Mario Kart first, then work my way to 50cc lol. I've wanted to carry out this project for a good 5 or 6 years now, so I'm trying to be patient and work through road bumps rather than just giving up. That said, it'd be really helpful if someone could, y'know, help! Please!

 

[Stitches]

April fools was 10 days ago

 

[GingerOfOz]

Playing Mario Kart at speeds meant for toddlers, rather than speeds meant for infants isn't comparable to putting a portable into a space smaller than a closed fist. Go look at other projects and reevaluate what you want to do, you won't be going through "road bumps" on this, you'll be running into brick walls because this project is 100% impossible.

 

[Jonut521]

Playing Mario Kart at speeds meant for toddlers, rather than speeds meant for infants isn't comparable to putting a portable into a space smaller than a closed fist. Go look at other projects and reevaluate what you want to do, you won't be going through "road bumps" on this, you'll be running into brick walls because this project is 100% impossible.

Hm, ok, but I also don't see how it's 100% impossible. The technology at least SEEMS to exist so I guess my only question is how? Like, what makes it impossible?

 

[cheese]

Hm, ok, but I also don't see how it's 100% impossible. The technology at least SEEMS to exist so I guess my only question is how? Like, what makes it impossible?

Perhaps the fact that the main required chips are all too large to fit? You won't even be able to get away with that size with a Wii, and that is much smaller.

 

[Stitches]

Hm, ok, but I also don't see how it's 100% impossible. The technology at least SEEMS to exist so I guess my only question is how? Like, what makes it impossible?

The absolute smallest Wii ever built was the KillMii which used an Altoids tin as a case. Every possible shortcut was taken to fit the damn thing in that little shitbox, you will not fit a Wii in anything smaller.

 

[TheCorruptedBit]

I'd hate to necro, but the KillMii was barely portable! But it still had a battery, screen, controls, and fan, so if you want to off-load some of these (like using a monitor out) maybe you could potentially go smaller.

 

[Aaron Miller]

You might be able to go slightly smaller, but you wouldn’t really be able to get any smaller than @Shank did. Even then, with the dimensions that @Jonut521 gave, you could not fit a Wii, portable or no, into that sharpener.

You’d need to fit an OMEGA trim inside of it. You’d also need power management, even with an external charger, and U-AMP if you want sound. You‘d also need to put in a GC port or IR sensor, for controlling stuff, and if you used IR, you’d also need to relocate Bluetooth. Even without a screen, you’d still need a video port of some kind, though granted, that is smaller than a screen.

All in all, you can make the Wii smaller than anybody ever thought possible when they made it, but you unfortunately won’t be able to fit it inside that sharpener. It‘d certainly be cool if you could, though.

 

[Shank]

If you wanted to make it "smaller" than the Kill Mii, you are gonna be hard pressed to do so. What you save in removal of the buttons, screen and battery, you will have to give back up for:
1: The ports to connect things
2: The cooling to make it last more than 10 minutes.

@Nold, one of the most talented modders in the scene, put an Omega trim in the tiniest possible functional shell, and it was still (BARELY) larger by volume than the Kill Mii. The Kill Mii took every shortcut and cut corners to make it fit, and it was awful as a result. I wouldn't have even been able to do it without @Gman stepping in to help me finish it either. The Kill Mii is not an example of what to do; it's an example of what NOT to do.