All posts by benheck

Midwest Gaming Classic – The week after


Myself, an Xbox 360 laptop, and a bunch of free donut holes.

It was a fun show! Stan Miller did a piece for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and our booth was mentioned, you can check it out using this link.

I’d like to thank all our forum members for coming along, manning the booth and helping visitors with their questions. We even fixed some stuff for people, which I should have advertised ahead of time.

In other news, I have a new model Xbox 360 Controller Monitor finished and will be showing that on the site soon, stay tuned!

Midwest Gaming Classic – Day Two

Well I got a TON of sleep last night, more than makes up for the lack of sleep on Saturday morning.

Booth should be less crowded today so I hope to spend more time talking with the show visitors, and work on the controller monitor some more.

Completely neglected to take any pictures, but plenty of other people did so I’m sure they’ll be passed along.

Midwest Gaming Classic – Day One

Well I’ve arrived at the hotel and it does indeed have free Wi-Fi, rare these days.

Oh and the TV gets the SciFi channel, maybe I’ll be able to catch Battlestar Galactica’s series finale tonight! (instead of having to buy it off the Xbox 360)

Missed Battlestar but who cares – the hotel bar has karaoke! Stayed out a bit too late (ok, bar time) but it was a lot of fun. Parker Dillman, Atari Video Mods guy joined me along with some other people. Did my usual sure-fire Achy Breaky Heart.

SATURDAY MORNING:

Well I am only slightly hungover so I should be good to go! Will be heading to the convention floor soon…

Day 1 is over… wow I am tired. Should eat some food at some point too. Forum members showed off a lot of their mods, pretty impressive stuff.

Tomorrow should be quieter, I’ll probably work on the controller monitor more.

Apparently there is some sort of after-party, guess I’ll check it out after I rest a bit.

Benheck.com Experience at the Midwest Gaming Classic

As you probably know the Midwest Gaming Classic is coming up next week. As you may not necessarily know we’ve got a booth there this year called “The Benheck.com Experience”. Look for this banner!

Here is the current tentative schedule of what we’re doing: (“events” in bold)

REVISED 3-17-09.

SATURDAY MARCH 21st

10:00-11:00 AM: Setup/meeting/assembly of projects
11:00-12:00 PM: Lunch/various modders
12:00-1:00 PM: Demonstration of Benheck working on a new Controller Monitor.
1:00 – 2:00 PM: Atari Video Mods demo – see Parker Dillman’s amazing new video circuit in action!
2:00 – 3:00 PM: Various modders/modding/Q&A
3:00 – 4:00 PM: Live Podcast Q&A – Benheck & Jason Jones do a podcast, take visitor questions.
4:00- 5:00 PM: Various modders/modding/Q&A
5:00 – 5:30 PM: SNES and NES portables demonstration
5:30 – 6:00 PM: Soldering Contest!
6:00 – 7:00 PM: Closing down for the day/dinner.

SUNDAY MARCH 22nd

10:00-10:30 AM: Setup/meeting/assembly of projects
10:30-11:30 PM: Custom Built Neo Geo MVS Supergun Demo – Nick Kohler
11:30-12:00 PM: Lunch/various modders
12:00 – 1:00 PM: Show & Tell of all the projects our forums members worked on at the show.
1:00 – 2:00 PM: Demonstration of Benheck’s Darksiders Xbox 360 laptop
2:00 – 3:00 PM: Various modders/modding/Q&A.
3:00 – 4:00 PM: Closing down for the day.

If you have any questions or “event ideas” for us to add, discuss below! Also if you’d like to show something you’ve built at our booth, please email me.

See me on Milwaukee TV

Whenever you can make a title rhyme DO IT, I always say!

Anyway, a few weeks ago I helped some MATC (the M being Milwaukee not Madison in this case) students by being a guest on a TV show they were doing for class. It’s called “Level Runner” and will run on March 15th at 1:30 AM on Milwaukee channels 36/36.1. Why not check it out? (or Tivo it)

I always like doing things in/for my home state of Wisconsin, so if you have a publication in the state and want an interview do not be shy about asking!

Darksiders Xbox 360 laptop for THQ

Gray is the new black

Here is the Xbox 360 laptop prize for THQ’s “Darksiders” game. The casing / shell design was done by myself and then Colorware (over in Minnesota – go midwest!) printed graphics on it using Joe Madureira artwork as a basis.

The volume knob part is bad design, I know, I know...

It’s pretty slick looking, I’d heard of Colorware before but this is first time I’ve seen what they can do in person. Very glossy! The game itself comes out later this year I believe.

For the making of story and more pictures and video, click below.

Continue reading Darksiders Xbox 360 laptop for THQ

Air Pressure Kick Pedal for GH4

(Note: Wow, amazing how much press a mod I did in like 2 hours can generate!)

It’s Guitar Hero 4, I don’t care what anyone says.

Anyway, I had a request to build an alternative to the GH4 drum kit’s kick pedal for a person who uses a wheelchair. Tour apart the kick pedal and a few hours later came up with this:


Yes that’s right, it’s wrapped in electric tape.

Basically this turns the kick pedal into an air pressure diaphragm. You can now “kick” the bass drums by blowing into a tube.

Want to do this mod for a friend in need? Check out the easy how-to instructions after the break. Please note: this is for the Guitar Hero 4 (ahem WORLD TOUR) drum kit, not Rock Band. A Rock Band suggestion is at the end.

For yet another video of me acting like a moron while demonstrating my projects, click here.

Continue reading Air Pressure Kick Pedal for GH4