Being lovers of style, comfort and technology, you've doubtless already decked your living room out with a multimedia sofa and a recliner with a built-in sound system. Perhaps you've even gone to the trouble of hiding your plasma TV behind a nice art print or surrounding it in a home-theater-like frame. If you're now a tad underwhelmed by that functional, but otherwise rather dull, coffee table, then we may have something to bring a smile to your face. Furniture maker Charles Lushear has supersized the brick-like controller from Nintendo's iconic 8-bit gaming system launched in the mid-1980s, swapped the cold plastic for the elegance of wood and positioned some mid 20th century legs underneath to make a fully operational Nintendo Controller Coffee Table.

While it's certainly true that there have been a number of both functional and aesthetic NES controller coffee tables built over the last few years, Lushear's creation is a little different from the rest. Rather than reproduce the black, gray and red coloring of the 4.92 x 2.17 x 0.67-inch (12.49 x 5.5 x 1.7 cm) plastic original, the instrument and furniture maker has instead opted for the natural tones of maple, mahogany and walnut woods used in the construction of his guaranteed conversation piece. The retractable cord and dovetail joinery are also nice touches.

Charles Lushear controlling the action of an 8-bit classic using his coffee table

When not being used to control the onscreen action of favored NES classics like Super Mario, the table's huge wooden four-way directional pad and action buttons sit underneath a removable glass top.

Four versions of the 42 x 18.25 x 18-inch (106.68 x 46.35 x 45.72 cm) Nintendo Controller Coffee Table have been designed to suit various tastes and budgets, including a non-functional version. USB compatibility can also be added and Lushear says that he's currently looking into making the controller compatible with the Wii console, for those who don't happen to own an NES gaming system.

The table is priced at US$3,500, although the first creation has been bought by DudeIWantThat.com and is currently being raffled off to readers of the curiosity site. There's an estimated build time of between 4-6 weeks on the construction of new built-to-order coffee tables.

Source: The Bohemian Workbench