You can avoid the console wars by buying the latest gaming systems, including the PS5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch 2. This gives you access to all the exclusive titles for each platform, though you still have to decide which game and console to use. Thanks to the ingenuity of one YouTuber, you can now make switching from one console to the next even easier than before, as long as you’re willing to tear your PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Switch 2 apart and unite them into a single 3-in-1 “Ningtendo PXBOX 5” gaming console that can switch from one system to the next with a press of a button.
The all-in-one gaming system fixes a common problem for gamers who own all three platforms. Even if all three devices are connected to your TV, you have to switch from one to the next. The “Ningtendo PXBOX 5” makes the entire experience more seamless. The unified gaming system features a button (on an Arduino-based controller) that lets you cycle the three consoles. It takes about five seconds to switch from one platform to the next. The system also uses a single power source and a single cooling system that serves all three consoles. Only one console will run at a time, however.
Also, the 3-in-1 gaming console maintains the portability of the Switch 2, as it features a docking system for Nintendo’s console. The “Ningtendo PXBOX 5” doesn’t look bad either. There’s no mess. The components are not visible, including the cables running between the motherboards and power supplies. The DIY console’s body is 3D printed to fit perfectly with the all-in-one gaming system. Also, the case lights up in a different color depending on which console is in use.
How the all-in-one console is made
The YouTuber’s video details all the steps involved in making this 3-in-1 console at home, and, spoiler-alert, the process is more complicated than 3D-printing a housing and dismantling the PS5, Xbox, and Switch 2 dock. The YouTuber took inspiration from Apple’s cylindrical Mac Pro desktop to create the cooling system that serves the three consoles. Inside the 3-in-1 console, there’s a custom-made triangular aluminum block that acts as the cooler system’s core. Each side features one of the three motherboards with air circulating inside the aluminum block and cooling them.
The real challenge is manufacturing that metal block at home. One idea is ordering the part from a CNC machine expert. In China, that would have cost 5,000 yuan ($718), so the intrepid YouTuber decided to do it themselves. For that, they 3D printed the core and then employed a metal manufacturing technology used in ancient times to create a mold. The gamer then melted aluminum into the resulting mold. The process wasn’t successful on the first try, so it had to be repeated. The resulting structure turned out to be very efficient. In tests, the cooling system kept the temperature stable (60°C or 140°F) during an “Elden Ring” gameplay session.
The second problem — powering the Ningtendo PXBOX 5 — is simpler. The YouTuber figured out the energy needs for each console, including standby power draw, and realized they could connect the PS5 and Xbox in parallel to a single 250W PC power source. Finally, the Switch 2 also stands out for its ingenuity. The YouTuber 3D-printed a dock that features a toaster-like mechanism. A button lets you eject the handheld console when you need to remove it from the dock.
