Nintendo Kawaii Is The World's Smallest Wii Console And It Fits On A Keychain

It can be hard to fathom the scale of Nintendo Wii hysteria if you didn't try and fail to buy one. Nintendo's 2006 console release was so successful you couldn't reliably find a Wii in stock for more than a year after release. Many gamers still have fond memories of the device, and some like to mod the console to make it more portable. A team of dedicated Wii enthusiasts have spent the past year making a Wii that can go anywhere. The Kawaii is small enough to fit on a keyring, but it contains all the core Wii hardware inside.

The team used a process known as Omega Trim, a modding technique that involves removing unneeded circuit board mass to make a device as compact as possible. It's no simple feat, but the modders have managed to cram an entire Nintendo Wii into an enclosure just 60mm square and 16mm thick (about the size of a Game Boy Advance cartridge). There is a 5mm heatsink inside but no fan. The hardware is undervolted to ensure it can be passively cooled without overheating. 

The Kawaii has a CNC aluminum case with laser-etched artwork on the exterior. There's no slot for loading discs, obviously. Instead, the Kawaii plays digital Wii games loaded via a microSD card. There are other drawbacks, too. Perhaps most notably, the Kawaii lacks Bluetooth connectivity, so the iconic Wiimote controllers won't work. To play games, you have to plug in a USB-C or Gamecube controller. And that leads us to another compromise: the dock.

@YveltalGriffin and I have been cooking up something special over the past year or so and we are now happy to show it off.

A Wii console the size of a keychain!

CNC'd, anodized, laser marked, and passively cooled

Follow the link for more details: https://t.co/MgZT0ZBV6V pic.twitter.com/3trRBqoNiU

— Wesk Mods (@WeskMods) July 21, 2024

To play games on the Kawaii, you have to connect it to a small magnetic dock, which mates with the console via a set of pogo pins. The dock adds a USB-C port for power and data, a headphone jack, micro HDMI video out, and four Gamecube controller ports. Most Wii games supported Gamecube controls, so the Kawaii should be able to run your favorites.

The creators have documented the development process on the Bit Build forums, where you can learn more about the wiring and internal design of the Kawaii console. The device does not exist yet, but the team has everything in place to produce the first batch of units. Although, it's going to be hard to get your hands on one. The designers were throwing around an initial order of around 30 units, priced at $55 each. Given the amount of attention the Kawaii has gotten, they might want to think about upping that order. You can keep an eye on Bit Build for updates.