Every so often in the retro gaming space we get something very cool to report on. Something that has clear passion behind it and also celebrates our love of these old games. Well, that is exactly what we thought when we saw this custom portable N64.
The design was created by Handheld Gameplayer, who runs Twitter (X) and YouTube accounts. They showed me what they had created and it only felt right to share this project. The device has everything needed to play original N64 carts including the 4MB memory expansion.
The Handheld Gameplayer explains that the idea to create a handheld N64 came to him once he started his YouTube channel that shows real handheld hardware. “When I created my channel in October 2023, I knew I wanted to focus on handheld systems only, and that I wanted to show the real hardware. I soon realized that I also wanted to show more things that I have a nostalgic place in my heart for, but aren’t necessarily handheld such as PS1 or N64. Sure, I could’ve gotten away with just taking one of my newer retro handhelds which are perfectly able to emulate N64 games and call it a day, but I wanted to play those games from their actual cartridges. To have at least one thing as it originally was.”
Well, we think it’s brilliant.
