Project Unity handles 18 console formats in one machine

I’m a big fan of retro gaming. Not only does it let you get a good dose of nostalgia, but it’s a great reminder that a game doesn’t need to be the latest and greatest AAA offering to be great – there are games made over 20 years ago that are still a blast to play. Because of that I’ve been buying up the consoles and games of my youth for years, but one man has taken it far further. A hardware modder, going by the name Bacteria, has managed to electrically link up 15 consoles in one system.

According to Bacteria, he spent over three years, three and a half thousand hours and over £700 to build. It features no emulation, all original console hardware, a unified power supply, one universal controller and a single SCART lead for video output. It also, “uses around 300 metres of cabling and weighs around 20kg.” The boxy shape is down to the intended placement of the Unity in Bacteria’s house.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9AY_xQre9M’]

If you happen to own Unity – and I don’t see why this guy would ever sell, so get your balaclava ready – you’ll have access to the following:

• Amstrad GX4000
• Sega Master System
• Atari 7800
• ColecoVision
• Intellivision
• Sega Megadrive
• Super Nintendo
• Nintendo 64
• Nintendo Entertainment System
• Gameboy Advance
• NeoGeo MVS
• Nintendo GameCube
• Sega Dreamcast
• Sega Saturn
• PlayStation 2

Thanks to the backwards compatibility of the PS2, Atari 7800 and GBA though, you can also play PS1, Game Boy and Atari 2600 games.

KitGuru Says: My only complaint is that it doesn’t use the original controllers, though it’s understandable, since having 18 different controllers lying around would be against the clean aesthetic of the build, but it does strike me that something could be lost because you’re not playing with the peripheral that was initially designed for the gameplay. 

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