OK, trying to address the backlog of comments/questions/feedback.
Crazy designs kinda go against what your original plan was. I think here your system for making covers should shine: Minimalistic. Small, simple buttons, a uniform look, and small aesthetics to give it some pop, but that's it.
It totally does, BUT, considering that I've moved this from a personal project to a business venture, I really feel that getting the opinions from those that are my potential customers seemed/seems like a good idea
There's a snotty mentality in design (and fine art) that insists "The customer doesn't know what they want, it's YOUR job as the artist to TELL them". While there is a good deal of truth in that statement, I don't think treating the consumer as if he/she is a retarded infant with no ability to provide useful feedback with regards to product ideas, aesthetic, ergonomics, etc is wise.
Apple is a great example of a company who designs with almost zero influence from the customer. Apple
tells everyone what they feel a great product is and we are forced to accept it or not. It works well for them, obviously, but that's only because there's another dozen or so ingredients in that stew which very craft-fully mask the stench of their almost complete disregard of consumer feedback. Most of the time this sort of business model results in becoming almost instantly obsolete.
On the other hand we have the admittedly complete non-existent "Homer" automobile from the Simpsons. A product created exclusively from consumer feedback which only served to prove that the average consumer has zero idea what it takes to make a successful product.
I feel that there should be a balance. I am fortunate enough to be a one-man business in this instance as it affords me freedom from a sea of bean counters, engineers, design directors and whatnot influencing my designs and ideas. Of course this means that I'm responsible for every step of the process, but it makes for a much more rewarding experience when I can successfully bring something like this to fruition.
NES, SNES, and the original Playstation, though I have very specific ideas on how I'd want them designed.
Original PS, eh? I'm curious about what your ideas are. Shoot me a pm with what you're thinking. I'd love to chat with ya about it.
I hate systems that light up, for the most part. I have controllers with LEDs that light up when it rumbles, and boy did that novelty wear off fast. It becomes an eyesore. Custom paint is fine (Golden Console, heh), and personal logos are a great idea. Put the two together, and you can have themed consoles, like a Golden Legend of Zelda NES or a White and Blue Mega Man X SNES. I wouldn't mind seeing an NES case that looked like a bulky Wii (as a nice parody to all those Wii stickers they had when the console came out that made it look like an NES), though I wouldn't get it for myself.
I think that "special/limited" editions will quickly become part of the catalog. Lets face it, we, as gamers, are total suckers for that sort of thing. I know I am, and based on the collections I've seen here, on CAG, NA, DP, etc it would seem that specials are a no-brainer. I think I'd be a fool to not try and take advantage of such a successful marketing tool, plus it means I'll have cool variants available! Who's gonna bitch about that?
If you were making the NES-Wii lookalike, then the internals can stay the same. Otherwise, I'd say some tweaking is in order. I'd really love to see an SNES where the game plugs in and is flushed with the system (like the GBASP). I'd also like to see a PS1 with a tray instead of opening up the way it does now (I know, I could just get a PS2. I'm just saying it'd be nice).
Those are things that I'd really love to include at some point too. Of course they will take more work, but nothing about what you're asking for is impossible or out of the realm of "realistic".
style, keep them looking like the originals, just in a range of colours
How do you mean "like the originals"? Like replicas, or just keeping in line with the original design, sort of like I did with the SNES mini concept? I.e. things like a similar color palette, similar shapes and proportions, etc.
I'd give my first born son for one of those SoNintendo PlayStations. It would probably work better with PS2 hardware? Not sure. I envision the SFC/Satellavision type look to it, with a front loading cd drive for the PS1/2 part, and then having the cart slot on the top. If that's too technically difficult, maybe having it look like that Jaguar CD mockup with the top loading cd tray in the front, and the cart slot in the back. As far as the controllers go, have SNES on top of/below PS1/2 ports? Again I'm not aware of the technical limitations, but picturing it in my mind, it looks quite awesome 
The SNEStation would
probably be easiest with PS2 gutty-wuts (because of the slide-out tray, obviously). But, the PS2 phat guts aren't terribly compact, so the overall package may end up rather bulky and unlike the concept, which defeats the purpose IMO. Of all the wacky concept ideas, THIS one is my personal favorite. If/When I do get around to offering more complex cases like that, this will be the 1st that I tackle, for sure. Who knows, if I have enough success with this project, then I may very well be able to spend some money on a little R&D to get a PSone hooked up to a slide-out tray drive. I can't imagine that retrofitting a slide-out CD reader to a PSone board would be all that complex for someone with the computer/electronics know-how.
That would be pretty bitchin'!
What i would love is sanded white cases to do case paint jobs on.
And also something like 1 base for 2 or 3 super famicoms,
so I could have a Super Famicom unmodded, A US cart slot modded SFC, and a PAL snes all in "one" .
But the tops could stay the same or have a custom case
I will sell raw shells all day if that's what folks want. No problem there
I'm sort of confused about the 2nd part
Do you mean a single case design that will work with any of the guts from any of the different regions? If so, that's pretty much what I'm doing, unless PAL SNES's have some incredibly varied layout inside that I don't know about.
I'm digging the black!
Thanks!
Im digging the unnamed color
Smartass!
So, what colors do you guys want to see me mock up?
I'll try and get a few more renders cranked out later with larger library of colors for all you guys and gals. I'm having a hard time getting Photoview 360 to work properly on my machine since I "upgraded" to Windows 7, so I've been rendering in Solidworks, which produces rather lackluster results IMO. I''ll pull out my old XP machine and see if I can't get it running on it instead. More to come...
He means the cart shouldn't be designed to go flush with the system, or plug in any deeper into the system than it currently does, as certain devices were designed to go into the cartridge slot at a very specific depth, and by making cartridges go in deeper, the other devices may not fit properly. This shouldn't be a problem for you though, as you seem to want to cut out air space, not increase it.
Many people (particularly Japanese) who go about making console mods or controller mods or whatnot, and have no intention of making more than the one they made for themselves, also make mock-up packaging for it, despite the fact that they're not distributing or selling anything. It gives a sense of completeness and official-ness to the item. So yes, definately design a package for what you make. Even if it ends up not being cost effective and you decide not to produce them for every device you ship, make one for yourself at least.
Oh, I figured that the concept illustrated that, so I was sort of confused. So, yeah, there shouldn't be any worry about fitting 3rd party peripherals. The only issue that I foresee are controller port peripherals since I've added a set of flip open doors similar to the cart port on top just for the sake of cleaning up the appearance. Those wireless controllers won't work with the current design, but the 4-player adapters shouldn't be an issue.
Is this a serious concern for any of you? I know console revisions, even when OEM, not 3rd party like mine, often eliminate less-used features. I mean, the SNES mini has no expansion port, so it can't be used with the Satellaview, not that it matters
I really hope I can make retail packaging part of the initial offering on these units. I strongly feel that it would add a LOT of value. I would hate to send these out in plain cardboard boxes full of packing peanuts
You
KNOW I'll make at least one full retail box for myself!
Even if I can't find a way to make full color retail packaging available initially, I am fairly confident that I can
at least come up with something on my own, made by hand with a template that would be leaps and bounds beyond simply placing the shells into a ploy bag and shipping them out. You guys know me and my work well enough at this point. I'm not going to skimp out on something like that, even if it ends up taking more work/time/money for mei t make it happen.
Lemme go model up a soda can really quick to better illustrate the scale of my redesign. That should help everyone better understand what they're looking at. Hell, it'll help me a lot too. This is one seriously compact little unit
