Why do we love game cartridges so? It’s something about the tactility, I’d wager, combined with the nostalgia of holding your individual games in your hand. Holiday gift vibes, that sort of thing. Anyway, Joel of YouTube channel Joel Creates has taken that nostalgia trip to its absolute extreme, creating a CRT-equipped Nintendo Switch 2 dock that allows you to use the entire console like a cartridge, slotting it into a mahoosive opening on the front.
The donor screen came from a portable Sony TV of what looks like early 90s stock, which at the time would have been a cutting edge device. However, while the internals of the TV are relatively compact for the era, fitting them into a console-friendly frame and interfacing them with modern hardware turned out to be quite the task.
After reaching out to a number of experts as to the tech behind CRT monitors, Joel turned to AI image generation to create multiple potential chassis designs, before selecting one with the screen at a 45 degree angle to the base—which would allow the cathode ray tube to fit in a small design while also facilitating side-mounted controls. A 3D-printed prototype was created, leading to an eventual design that allows the Switch 2 to be inserted into the front amid all the sandwiched old school tech inside.
After experimenting with an N64 controller, which proved unsuitable due to the need to split the circuit board in half between the two sides, a cheap third-party controller which could already split in half (complete with Nintendo-layout buttons) was integrated into the design. A Switch 2 dock was then torn apart to fit within the frame, complete with a cable extension to prevent having to mount the existing internals awkwardly.
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After much more hardware wrangling, including the addition of a 100 W power bank for battery-based play, the project was complete. The end result looks to be far from the most portable console I’ve ever seen, but it certainly achieves the original goal of evoking childhood memories of gaming on a CRT screen.
It sure took a whole lot of effort, though, and what seems like a fair amount of expense, too. Still, Joel seems very happy with the end result, and the beige plastic surround has a certain familiarity to it that means it wouldn’t look out of place in an 80s/90s gaming setup. Plus, with the Switch 2 on board, emulated retro games like Super Mario 64, F-Zero, and Sonic the Hedgehog look buttery smooth on the integrated CRT display.
It’s a triumph of willpower over sense if you ask me, but the console itself still looks downright excellent. If you were looking for something easy and cheap to build that you could shove in your backpack, however, a regular Switch 2 still has quite the advantage. That being said, nostalgia does strange things to the mind, so I could absolutely see other creators using this as a leaping off point to create their own rose-tinted, Switch-based creations.
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