It’s time for Movie Prediction Madness, a new column in which I fill up my under-utilized blog with predictions on the coming weekend’s top new movies! Let’s go!

#1 Maraduke

Who cares if they reviews say this is going to be crap on a stick? People love dogs, and people love Owen Wilson when associated with dogs (”Marley & Me”) plus moviegoers don’t read reviews anyway (sorry reviewers but it’s the only way to explain Transformer 2’s $400 mil haul). “Maraduke” also has the “mental real estate” of being an unfunny comic (yes I know that’s redundant) in every Sunday paper since the Nixon administration, so people know of it.

Thus “Maraduke” will win the weekend, barely beating out “Shrek 4: DVD Babysitter” for the top spot. Normally I wouldn’t expect a movie like this to make money, but those damn “Chipmunks” movies have been raking in the bucks so why not?

#2 Killers

Keep in mind, #2 of the new releases. “Killers” won’t top “Shrek” for the weekend but will probably squeeze out $20 million or so before limping off to Red Box oblivion. While the premise of “girl meets guy meets guns” won’t work here, I could see Tom Cruise pulling it off later this month with “Knight and Day” because - say what you will about him - he picks good scripts and will give it the right amount of crazy (versus Ashton Kutcher smug) to make it work.

#3 Splice

This movie actually looks kind of interesting but since it’s not a “reboot” of a tired old franchise might only make $15-$20 mil despite the heavy advertising. If it actually connects with audiences I could see it picking up a little steam and sticking around, “Date Night” style (the movie that just won’t die!)

Old Releases

“Iron Man 2: The Actionless Sequel” will continue its trajectory to make less than the original, which is appropriate since it’s less good. “Shoe Shopping Adventure 2″ will continue its slide into underperformace, but probably still eek out “Prince of Persia’s” second weekend since I highly doubt undersexed 40-somethings will have any interest in Killers.

I feel I don’t blog enough these days so I’ve decided to do a new weekly feature called “Movie Prediction Madness”. At least for the summer months.

Every Thursday I will predict - with amazing accuracy - what new movie will open to #1 and which will bomb. You can then be amazed the subsequent Monday as to how accurate I was!

In other news, we’ll get back to the podcasts soon, trust me!

Just a quick note, if you’re in the Boston area next week you should consider joining the Games for Health Conference 2010.

It’s an amazing event where industry professionals, health advocates and researchers get together to discuss how gaming can help with the health and rehabilitation of people. Accessibility is also discussed and I’ll be taking part in a workshop to come up with new ideas in that field.

Check out their website here, and we’ll see you there!

Making a PS3 laptop really wasn’t an “uncharted” course for me.

Here it is, a new PS3 Slim laptop and this time it’s black! With blue accents. Specs:

• 17″ widescreen 720p HDMI display.
• Built-in stereo speakers & headphone jack.
• Compartment to store power cord. (left side bottom of unit)
• Stylish pin striping to make games run at blast processing!
• More air holes than a stock Slim, not that it really needs them (cough cough Xbox 360)

You can check out more pictures and video below. Remember, if you have a crazy idea and the money, I can make the time!

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In this thrilling new episode we’re joined again by Dale Nauertz for fun and profit. Topics include:

1) The iPad, iLiver, Apple Store and new pinball machine ideas.

2) TV shows that need to die and the zeitgeist of Mad Men.

3) Do celebrity spokespeople actually cause products to sell? Which do we find effective?

Listen to Benheck.com Podcast Episode 72

www.benheckpodcast.com

Photo credit: Kim Keyes Photo.

Hard to believe it’s been 10 years since I completed my first portable the VCSp but it’s true. Many things have happened since then, including the Xbox 360 laptop, Commodore 64 portable and of course, Possumus Woman.

In honor of this momentous occasion I’ve prepared some fun stuff for our visitors to enjoy:

The Atari 2600 Portables Site - Explore the site as it appeared back in the olden days. Most of the navigation works, so have fun!

VCSp Making Of - The very first story about portables I ever published to the web

SNESp Making Of - A classic, completely overdone ‘making of’ from 2001.

Plus you can check out a bunch of classic Benheck videos after the break. Enjoy…

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Recorded live from the Midwest Gaming Classic , it’s the Benheck.com podcast with special guest Dale Nauertz!

Listen and be amazed as we discuss:

1) The “Best Actress Curse” and the hotness of Sandra Bullock.

2) L-shaped bedsheets and the plot of the never-going-to-happen Port Washington 2, plus what we’re planning for the going-to-happen Possumus Man 3 in 2021.

3) The 3D “movie tax” and the death of documentaries in IMAX.

And much, much more…

Listen to Benheck.com Podcast Episode 71

www.benheckpodcast.com

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Where else can you walk by a car and see this in the passenger seat?

Now while I know a lot of you are going to PAX East, I would like to extend a warm welcome to anyone in the Midwest to come to the 2010 Midwest Gaming Classic.

It is being held at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel which is on the west-ish side of Milwaukee, right off the interstate. And within range of the MKE airport shuttle. Sweet.

There is all sorts of cool stuff to do including my favorite - loads of free pinball. And arcades too. You can buy all sorts of videogame stuff, hang out with other enthusiasts oh and course… play Bill Paxton Pinball. We’re going to log scores (if you wish) and have a “Best of 4″ playoff at the end of each day (via the 4 player mode). Winners will appear on this website and… I dunno… get a signed copy of Possumus Woman or something.

Benheck.com has an entire room this year so be sure to come on down and check us out. Saturday we’re doing a live podcast, then on Sunday I’ve got a panel to discuss the creation of my pinball.

See you all there!

Click here for large version

Since 2005 I have been working on building my own custom pinball machine and now it is finally finished. It is based off the endlessly quotable films of Bill Paxton and thus is called… get this… Bill Paxton Pinball. (Very creative, I know)

Aside from “stock” items such as flippers and solenoids it has been completely manufactured from scratch. Most of the artwork is from his movies and has been assembled in stylized montage form as is typical for a pinball machine. It is controlled by a single Parallax Propeller CPU which runs PCM audio music & voice clips as well as handling game logic, I/O and driving the custom LED display. I did the mechanical design, layout, construction & programming all myself, except for the sound player libraries that I got off the Parallax Object exchange website.

I’ve prepared all sorts of stuff for people to check out, so please check out the links below. Also, I did consider creating a “Virtual Pinball” version of this machine but ultimately didn’t have the time. If anyone is well versed in that tool and wants to take a crack at it, let me know, I can supply with you specifications.

“Making Of” Story
A four part article that describes the making of the machine in great detail. Includes photos of the guts, making of video links and source code.

Bill Paxton Pinball Photo Gallery
Contains lots of photos of the machine and its various parts (finished condition).

Demonstration Videos
See the machine in action, and check out descriptions / demos of the specific modes and toys.

Bill Paxton Pinball Evolution
A downloadable video demonstrating the process from start to finish.

Notice: Bill Paxton Pinball is a personal project and therefore is not for sale or duplication. All music / images / audio used on it are owned by their respective copyright holders.