The sneaker and video game worlds have often collided, but it isn’t every day that a working console can be found inside actual footwear. Singapore-based designer Gustavo Bonzanini brought the idea to life to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Super Nintendo‘s launch in Japan, where it’s known as the Super Famicom.
Dubbed the AIR SNES, the fan project sees the Nike Air Max 90 doubling as a functional retro console, created using a Raspberry Pi Zero W running a customised RetroPie emulator. The shrunken microcomputer, fitted inside the shoe’s tongue, includes an integrated HDMI port and a battery offering up to 30 minutes of gameplay, as well as a small analogue converter for RCA connectors (feel old yet?).
Speaking to Endgaget, Bonzanini shared how the vision came to be: “The idea came after looking at collaborations between sneaker brands and video games. I always asked myself: Wouldn’t it be cool if these shoes that look like a video game actually double as a console?”
The sneaker is designed to work with an original SNES gamepad, but the designer hooked his own to an 8BitDo Mod Kit for wireless connectivity over Bluetooth. As the AIR SNES is just a one-off creation, there are no plans to put them up for sale; that’s not stopping us from admiring the ingenuity and fun of it all, though.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
