Benheck.com Podcast #29

Rock and Roll Edition. We discuss the iPod and portable music, MP3 player programs on computers and “Is the Music Industry Dead?” Also we talk about Halo 3 for a bit, which we both ended up buying the first day. Consumerism strikes again!

The new must-have item this Christmas

Much rambling is included, free of charge, bloating this episode to nearly an hour and a half. Most people couldn’t segway from an MP3 player discussion to King Solomon and the theory of Atlantis, but we can – we’re just that talented.

Listen to Benheck.com Podcast Episode 29

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I still want to make a game, you know

Just thought I’d take this moment to soapbox about my continued desire to make my own videogame. Yes, I’ve made some cool gaming system projects, and there’s new ones yet to come, but of course a system is nothing without a game to play on it. In this regard it feels like there’s more I could do.

8k of heaven

The idea I’d really like to pursue is non-violent, somewhat Myst-like and would actually, as much as I hate to admit it, fit very well on the Wii. Target demo would be adult and about 50/50 male/female.

Xbox 360 “Duke” Controller

For some reason I have put the guts of a wireless Xbox 360 controller inside of an original, huge, 2001-model Xbox 1 controller – commonly referred to as “the Duke”, though what it has in common with John Wayne is beyond me.


Batteries. Much more useful up there than the memory slots or whatever the heck it was for.

Believe it or not this mod is suggested to me every once in a while so I figured I might as well take a crack at it and see what happens. It’s not often you get to work on a controller so large it’s classified by NASA as a low-level Earth-orbit object. For this reason, during the modding, I was careful not to drop it as this would have created an impact crater sufficient to snuff out all life on Earth and the dinosaurs, whichever comes first. Aerosmith and Bruce Willis were standing by to save the day in case of mishaps.

All ripping aside, it ended up being about as difficult as the PS360 controller, nothing I couldn’t handle. Since I did this on my own accord it is unclaimed and up for grabs. Best price gets it, so make an offer! Could ship just in time for Halo 3. (Note: Some interested parties, but UP FOR GRABS as yet)

Based off the difficulty of this mod (harder than I would have liked) and the number of other projects I have going on I probably won’t duplicate this anytime soon, so first come, only served. More pics and a video below.

Continue reading Xbox 360 “Duke” Controller

Article in latest OXM

Was buying some groceries tonight when I passed by the magazine aisle… Recalled that I did an article/interview with the Official Xbox Magazine a while back regarding the Red Ring of Death problem. It appears that my comments are in the latest issue, so if you have a subscription or if a friend does, why not check it out?

Build me a next gen console only $30 more than the Wii....
This is how I came to my answers…

It’s just my opinion on the problem, but I noticed it was mentioned on the cover (“What Causes the Problem!” or some such blurb) so I was kind of proud of that. This did not get me a discount on beef stew in the checkout lane, however. In other news, the podcast will be a few days late since Jones was off “playing” on a vacation or something, but we should have it cranked out by Friday.

For sale: amazingly modded Atari 2600

Now you're playing with power!

Well sort of. I was cleaning my basement and realized I had a few extra Atari 2600’s laying around. Imagine that. So I slapped a composite video and stereo audio mod onto one of them, using a Playstation-style cord. Now both channels of the Atari’s audio go to separate speakers – it’s just like a 5.1 surround system, circa 1979. There’s also a potentiometer on the base of the unit to adjust the video, if need be.

This unit has been sold, but if you’d like to find out how to do the stereo audio mod yourself, please visit this site. Fairly simple diagram. For the video mod please see the book section of my site, specifically the bottom of this page.