We recently discovered an amazing new portable Nintendo Wii called the GloWii, created by modder ShankMods.
While playing this device in bed with a partner trying to sleep might be annoying, it would certainly attract a lot of attention if used in public. In fact, most people probably wouldn’t even know what they were looking at.
To better understand this innovative product, let’s take an in-depth look at the GloWii and see what’s inside this portable light show.
Table of Contents
GloWii by ShankMods
The GloWii contains a real minimized Nintendo Wii motherboard, which is a source of pride for modders like ShankMods. This level of modding involves not just adding an emulator to a shell, but actually reworking the original hardware.
We’ve seen other impressive home consoles transformed into portable versions in the past, such as the beautiful handheld Wii by GingerOfMods and the unique PS2 portable handheld. However, what sets the GloWii apart is the addition of reactive ambient LED lighting integrated into the console’s shell.
Reactive Ambient Lighting
If you’re unfamiliar with reactive ambient lighting, it involves analyzing a video signal and extending the lighting effect to the background of the display. This concept has many exciting applications for home entertainment setups, as the lighting should reflect the content on the screen.
ShankMods took this concept further and incorporated it into a handheld gaming console, which was a unique idea that hadn’t been seen before. The custom reactive LED system uses a Raspberry Pi Zero W to control 74 individual LED lights, creating a stunning effect.
According to ShankMods, they had been thinking about this concept for over four years. It’s a clever way to combine the trend of smartphones with displays that extend to the edges and retro consoles with physical buttons in that area.
Portable Wii
In addition to the reactive ambient lighting, the GloWii is everything you’d expect from a portable Nintendo Wii. It’s based on the open-source G-Wii design, which allows for the creation of a compact and portable version of the console.
Modifying and combining the necessary components to bring this portable Wii to life is a high-level of work. The GloWii also includes RVLoader, which enables the use of ROM files to play Wii games without relying on original game discs.
While the GloWii has a relatively short battery life of around two hours due to its power consumption, it’s still enough time to enjoy the light show and play a quick game. Disabling the reactive lights using the included switch can extend the battery life to approximately 3.5 hours.
Conclusions
In conclusion, we believe that sharing amazing projects with the community and making them open source is a fantastic idea, as mentioned by ShankMods in their YouTube video.
By sharing projects like the GloWii, other members of the community can build upon them and take them to new and exciting heights. It encourages innovation and the exploration of possibilities that were previously unconsidered.
ShankMods’ unique concept of reactive ambient lighting in a portable gaming console is just the beginning. We hope to see this idea evolve and possibly be incorporated into future handheld consoles available for purchase.
We applaud ShankMods for sharing their incredible project and for their contribution to the gaming and modding community.
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Anthony has been a video game lover ever since he can remember. He became a fulltime nomad in 2018, living throughout most of Asia. He focused his passion on retro gaming and began creating a game for the Game Boy Color while living in Nara, Japan during the 2020 pandemic. He is now in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he spends most of his time gaming, going on long walks, and meeting as many stray dogs as possible.
