This YouTuber built an Ultrawide Steam Deck Nintendo DS thing and it is very, very cool

At times the internet really shows its good side. Not often, but when it does become a place to showcase learning and potential it provides a portal into a future happier time for humanity Then we get kicked back to reality.

During the most recent visit to Good Internet, we found a YouTuber from a smallish channel called Marcin Plaza and a fantastically entertaining video of Marcin making his own version of the Steam Deck with Nintendo DS-style clamshell lid but with the added flair of choosing a 12” ultrawide monitor for the screen.

All this was born from a broken $40 laptop purchase from eBay with a smashed screen. Marcin’s hatred of game controllers means that some hardcore design work was needed and the next 25 minutes show what is possible with imagination, a 3D printer, and and bit of good fortune.

That good fortune ran out during the process with a torn ribbon cable but we won’t spoil too much more of the trials and tribulations of the build.

The Ultrawide display was exactly the same length as the motherboard from the laptop meaning the form factor virtually built itself, and with so many cool games supporting the Ultrawide resolutions these days Marcin ended up with a super, if all a bit weird-looking “portable” gaming device that resembles a stretched Steam Deck – if the Steam Deck had an odd homemade keyboard and laptop trackpad in it.

While many projects on the internet can be undertaken by many, Marcin had to put a lot of bespoke work into this one so it is unlikely you will be heading downstair to rip the lid off that old laptop you have in the cupboard to replicate it, but hopefully, it may inspire you to think about what is possible with that old tech lying around your house, rather than just sending it off for landfill.