The Nintendo Wii was a bona-fide cultural juggernaut, with over 100 million consoles sold during its lifespan. It was never the biggest console in the world, with a size approximating a paperback book. Modders, however, have managed to shrink the Wii’s footprint way down. They made a functional console that’s no bigger than a keychain, as reported by Time Extension. As a matter of fact, it actually doubles as a keychain.
The appropriately-named Nintendo Kawaii is a teensy-weensy Wii that lacks some of the bells and whistles of the original, but it works and can run games from that generation. It’s also quite fetching, with a CNC’d aluminum metal unibody. There are magnetic pogo pin connectors for power, AV support and controllers. There’s also a custom dock that offers support for four Gamecube controllers, which is a must for certain fighting games that rhyme with Shmooper Smash Bros.
The makers of this minuscule wonder say the project began as a challenge to make “the smallest functional Wii ever made.” It looks like they got the job done. As for excess heat, the whole thing is passively cooled and doesn’t include an internal fan.
It’s way too small to actually accept Wii discs, so this is a digital-only affair. Also, there’s the specter of Wiimotes. It doesn’t look like this offers Bluetooth connectivity of any kind, so you won’t be able to use traditional Wiimotes. You can, however, plug in any USB-C controller and the aforementioned Gamecube gamepads. Being as how it doesn’t work with Wii remotes, there’s no sensor bar or anything like that. This is for playing the console’s many controller-based games, with no waggle allowed. Wii Sports and Skyward Sword fans will have to look elsewhere. The OS looks to be open-source, so it may be able to emulate other stuff. We’ll update this post when we find out more.
The makers of this machine put an initial run of 30 units up for sale at $55. It sold out almost immediately, but that was just to test the waters. It’s highly possible orders will open back up again in the near future.
This isn’t the first time modders have hit the Wii with a shrink ray. Earlier this year, a hardware modder made a Wii that was the size of a deck of cards. That now seems gargantuan compared to the Kawaii.
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