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Shinobii Console Toolkit review

The kind folk at Shinobii, accessory-makers extraordinaire, have sent me one of their Console Toolkits. Essentially a set of screwdrivers, these badboys can be used to get inside almost any of today's, and some of yesterday's, consoles and handheld gaming devices.

Now I'm not someone who opens up his machines a lot, in fact the only instance I can think of is when I installed an Afterburner Backlight in my original Game Boy Advance (what was Big N thinking). I can imagine though, if you do this kind of thing a lot, or if you want to replace a part (e.g. a defective drive or laser lens), then having the right set of tools is a must. Shinobii's Console Toolkit has 19 pieces, and according to the fact sheet lets you open the following:

  • Wii
  • DSi
  • PS3
  • Xbox 360
  • PSP 3000
  • DS
  • DS Lite
  • PS2
  • PS1
  • Xbox
  • PSP 1000
  • PSP 2000
  • Game Boy
  • GameCube
  • N64
  • SNES
 

Console Toolkit caseThe toolkit's case is made of a hard plastic, which feels sturdy and fit for purpose. The hinge is also a long flexible piece of plastic, which you think could deteriorate after a lot of usage.

Inside the case is well organized. Screwdrivers and sockets are given numbered areas and you can easily identify them using the straight forward guide, which is provided both on a plastic card and on a permanently attached sticker.

In addition to the array of screwdrivers, you also get a pair of tweezers for those fiddly jobs, and a "360 Tool", which is a flat piece of metal with holes in it. I'm not entirely sure what it does, but it's for working on an Xbox 360.



Verdict

This seems like a great piece of kit if you're at all into hardware mods or repairs.

It's set to retail at $24.99. Amazon lists a release date of October 20th 2009 for the US, preorders are open.

Console Toolkit on Amazon.

Wii accessories

Posts

Lokee
I'm not really into hardmoding but I think I might need to get these to fixed my Wii. It's been making a terrible grinding noise.

gkn
You can't open SNES cartridges with this toolset.

duh
HARDWARE kit bro. Cartridges aren't hardware they're software.

To duh
The cartridge IS hardware smart guy, the game on the cartridge is the software. Please have some idea what you're talking about before trying to put someone else down. Gkn's review is helpful since as per their site "The 19-piece Console Toolkit from Shinobii contains everything you need in order to disassemble: Nintendo: Wii, DSI XL, DSI, DS LITE, DS, GAMECUBE, N64, SNES, NES, GAMEBOY, GBA SP and CARTRIDGES".

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