LEGO NesPi case

Some weeks ago, a mysterious package arrived at New Pi Towers, from Spain. It made its way to my desk. I opened it.

Lego bricks and instructions for the NesPi Raspberry Pi case tipped out onto Helen's desk

It began to attract a lot of visitors.

RaspiPC.es is a Raspberry Pi and accessories retailer in Spain, with a bricks-and-mortar shop as well as an online store. They’re the creators of the wonderful NesPi, a LEGO case that is a tender homage to the 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System. NesPi’s 108 pieces come with a 30-page instruction booklet, and once you’ve spent a happy quarter of an hour or so re-living contented moments from your childhood, you get this:

Completed LEGO NesPi case, with Pi inside

RaspiPC have been careful to stick as closely as they possibly can to the original NES design, while maintaining access to the Pi’s ports and to the SD card. It’s a thoroughly pleasing object. If you’d like one too, you can buy one from RaspiPC.es.

32 comments

Bob LeSuer avatar

“… re-living contented moments from your childhood” ?!?! How about re-living contented moments from *last week*? Many of those Lego kits say for ages 14 AND UP. Long live adult Lego builders!

Alan Villa avatar

I tried to purchase one but I couldn’t get past the registration page. My phone number would not take.

Carlos avatar

Pitty Alan, just leave the phone blank (0) or contact us via email and we will somehow solve this issue!

Regards!

ak42 avatar

don’t put a phone number if you want to buy one. Otherwise registration will fail.

NicoC avatar

“Buy one”? I’d rather have a free guide and go to my local Lego store…

It kills the DIY spirit.

Darren Townsend avatar

Using the 2 photos above and Lego Digital Designer, it would be a pretty trivial matter to construct your own.

BK avatar

I agree. While I appreciate the ability to buy the kit, I’d like to use the instructions/parts list to purchase parts needed in different colors for different projects.

G S avatar

Maybe you could update the link to automatically have Google Translate?

Otherwise, a Nintendo Entertainment System case is quite interesting.

Maybe, someone in a future post could show off the Raspberry Pi Logos that never were (the logos that nearly won the competition many years ago). I am still waiting for that post!

Tanatix avatar

Leave field “Phone Number” blank

Jessie avatar

Pretty sexy. Would be nice to have a selection of different consoles. Maybe alternate colors with transparent blocks to see the pi. I know I could just replace the blocks. Any U.S. Retailers of this kit?

Bry avatar

Can they ship to the USA? I created an account. I tried to place an order, but I noticed they are charging me a VAT. Typically I don’t get charged a VAT when shipping from Europe to the US.

Carlos avatar

Hello Bry,

This is an issue. Please contact us via email (info@raspipc.es) and we will arrange the order excluding VAT.

loonatic avatar

You should be able to recreate the case following the images from this site : http://arananet-net.kinja.com/nespi-la-caja-para-la-raspberry-pi-2-con-forma-de-nin-1729932861. I’ll be giving it a go this evening.

John Jeffers P.Eng. avatar

“Brick and Mortar”

You need to be “Pun”ished for that one!

Mark Broring avatar

It’s also listed at
http://moc.bricklink.com/pages/moc/mocitem.page?idmocitem=3075
and there’s a piece inventory buried there.

J Alway avatar

There’s just a preview of the instructions. It doesn’t list all of the instructions for building it.

wallyware avatar

That’s pretty cute.

Ray Allen avatar

Do you ship to Canada ?

Carlos avatar

Yes Ray,

We can ship to canada!

Regards!

CowboySkippy926 avatar

My son and I built one this evening with spare Legos around the home!
We added a few nice touches: (1) clear window view of the activitity LEDs [not a 1×2 plate], (2) internal 2×2 plate to hold the RPi board in place [cord strain can give the board lift] and (3) the top is easy to remove and reattach because only three Lego studs hold the top in place [the rest of the area has flat plates]. The result: Nice lines, color matching and ready for awesomeness.

Joop avatar

Just bought the Pi 3 and waiting for the LEGO-pieces from Spane. Great MOC!

DAVID GLAUDE avatar

Anybody could suggest controller that would work with this?
Either USB or official connected one way or another to GPIO?

J Alway avatar

There are a number of DIY Projects that used an original NES Controller with the Raspberry Pi. Though, a Knock-Off USB version might work just as well. http://www.amazon.com/Classic-USB-NES-Controller-PC/dp/B002YVD3KM

SteveR avatar

The best unoffical USB controller is the iBuffalo SNES controller.

Nothing beats the original SNES controllerwith a Mayflash SNES USB dual adaptor however.

I am not sure if there are USB NES controllers.

Tom avatar

Thanks for this. Two on the way now!

James Carroll avatar

I’ve seen a lot of them on Amazon but I’ve noticed that since the Raspberry Pi 3 came out there has been a lot of stock selling. One controller I tried to buy suddenly became unavailable. It sold out before I could get my transaction completed.

Blugoo avatar

Greetings,
8bitdo and Retrolink also make good nostalgic USB/wireless controllers :)
The Pi’s GPIO also allows you to connect any wired controller as long as there is a Raspbian script (like gamecon) for it. I successfully used the N64 gamepad (just cut and connect an extension cord to the Pi if you want to swap your controller between the console/PC and the Pi) :D
(Wireless XBox and PS3 pads also work.)
Best regards.

Annika Rinas avatar

Really, really nice, will build one on my own ;)

SteveR avatar

Just ordered one for spain for my Pi3 retropie :)

SteveR avatar

Received from Spain to UK yesterday. 108 pieces. Pictorial instructions.

Something to do over easter after from gorge on chocolate etc..

Ar avatar

Hi folks, I’ve created one in Lego Digital Designer from the screenshots. It’s not exactly the same, but it looks like it and it has 2 bricks less :P Hope you are happy with this!

http://andreknieriem.de/nespi-lego-nes-case-anleitungconstruction/

Tomas avatar

Hi All
Just wanted to give heads up for another rpi case that we just launched at KS.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1809539127/picasereopened

Comments are welcome!

Comments are closed