Swedish designer and craftsman Love Hultén transforms existing gaming hardware into dreamlike pieces of functional retrofuturist art. His latest work, the FC-PVM, combines a Japanese Famicom console with a Sony Trinitron monitor to create a self-contained retro gaming system with an old school terminal vibe.
The FC-PVM is a Japanese NES in a box, with its own monitor and a pair of original controllers modded to have wireless functionality. It’s also much more than that. It’s what the Famicom might have looked like if the modern age that technology futurists imagined in the 1950s and 1960s had come to fruition.
Love’s designs are always as utilitarian as they are striking. The wireless controllers store inside the unit behind a removable panel when not in use. The power and reset buttons are a pair of keyboard-style switches topped with red keycaps. In this photo of the set, the teal color of the Japanese Rockman 5 cartridge complements the retro design. The top of the unit has several cartridge storage slots, integrating the quirky Japanese cartridge colors into the design.
The FC-PVM is a piece of custom hardware that my fingers ache to touch. I want to place it in a room with corn-colored wallpaper and brown shag carpet and play with it while sitting on the floor, my grandmother’s cigarette smoke hanging in the air. As it’s not for sale and my grandmother passed away when I was 17, the best I can do is watch Love fiddle with it on video.
Check out Love’s Instagram and website for more of his glorious retro tech creations.