Forget the glitz and glamor of Kickstarter. If you’re after a truly geeky gadget that lets you play classic NES games on open-source hardware no bigger than the palm of your hand, head over to Crowd Supply. Tall Dog Electronics, the brains behind this open-source, retro video game console—aptly named TinyNES—has brought their creation to Crowd Supply to peddle the ware. Now, the NES here isn’t the Nintendo Entertainment System (no one wants Nintendo’s legal team knocking). Instead, TinyNES stands for Tiny Nostalgia Evocation Square, likely because it’s, well, a square and tiny because it’s super tiny as far as the console goes. It’s no larger than an NES cartridge and most certainly smaller than the official palm-size console.
Now, TinyNES may sound like it’s just another tiny gadget in the world of bite-sized tech, but think of it as a pocket-sized time machine. No, it doesn’t let you save your games, remap controls, or even spit out some souped-up HDMI output. That’s right. We’re talking real NES nostalgia here—straight from the 1980s, complete with that classic RCA jack you probably haven’t seen since your VCR stopped working. Just plug it in and bask in that warm analog glory like it’s 1985 all over again. It’s so authentic that it even refuses to talk to your internet (ha!). A rebel in the world of always-online gaming.
This thing is powered by a USB Type-C cable. Yes, the same one you lost under your couch last week. And don’t worry about running into the terrifying “blink of death” from the old NES days because TinyNES kicks that flawed lockout chip straight to the curb. The original used a ZIF connector that collected more dust than your collection of forgotten cables, but TinyNES went all out with a reliable board-edge socket that won’t betray you at the first sneeze.
TinyNES is powered by the same Ricoh chips that fueled the original NES, but since those are harder to find than a clean retro controller on eBay, they’ve got a backup plan: the UMC clone chips. The purists may clutch their controllers in horror, but hey, this is 2024, and sometimes, you just have to roll with the clones. They’re a little cheaper, and honestly, if you squint hard enough, you’ll probably never know the difference.
Speaking of controllers, TinyNES doesn’t come with one. But wait, they do offer some 8BitDo N30 2.4g wireless gamepads. It’s not Bluetooth, but at least it doesn’t involve untying a knot of tangled wires like you’re defusing a bomb—though it does support wired controllers if you prefer the full-on retro experience. The aftermarket controller market is full of cheap knockoffs, but this one? Surprisingly decent. Just don’t expect it to fix your game when you lose to that one boss for the hundredth time.
Let’s not forget that this little nostalgia nugget is open-source. That’s right, all the files, designs, and schematics are up for grabs. You want to build your own TinyNES from scratch? Sure, but if you’re doing that just to avoid the US$209 price tag, maybe rethink your weekend plans.
The specs are old-school, too. NTSC composite video, mono analog audio, and an enclosure made from FR-4 circuit board material, which somehow makes it sound way cooler than just “black plastic.” It’s small enough to make your hands feel gigantic at 138.5 mm x 130.0 mm x 32.5 mm. And, at 0.36 kg, it’s heavier than you’d expect for something that takes you back to your childhood.
Of course, this wouldn’t be the world of retro gaming without some weird quirks. For example, there’s 32kB of SRAM here, even though the NES needed only 2kB. What’s that extra memory for? Nobody knows. Maybe you’ll figure it out while trying to beat “Battletoads” again for the millionth time. And while most games work like a charm, there’s that one oddball cartridge—the RetroUSB PowerPak—that’s giving TinyNES some trouble. No worries, though, because you’ve got 100+ other carts that work just fine. Probably.
In conclusion, the TinyNES doesn’t do much, but what it does, it does very well. It lets you relive those moments of blowing on cartridges (but you won’t need to), screaming at your TV, and smashing the reset button—just with a lot less space taken up. At US$209-229 for the full experience, it’s a tiny price to pay for a big slice of nostalgia.
Images: Tall Dog Electronics.