According to the Mayan calendar and Mel Gibson, every 2 years when the sun reaches its winter solstice I must write an article in which I predict the “Future of Gaming”. (It’s true, you can find cave paintings about it)

Much like this dude, I am going to dish out the future

So here it is – “The Future of Videogaming 2007 Edition”. A lot of it is probably redundant if you’re familiar with our opinions in the podcast, but now you can see them as words. Includes obvious predictions for new 2008 models of the Xbox and Wii. Enjoy and have a safe and fun New Year’s…

Our awesome band “Power Supply”

I really enjoy Rock Band, just yesterday some friends and I actually did that “Endless Setlist” thing (FYI it takes about 5.5 hours, including breaks) but the strummer on the Rock Band guitar does leave something to be desired. At first I appreciated the fact that it didn’t click, then realized it made high-speed accuracy harder.

Being, well, myself, I decided to get in there and see if it could be improved. What follows are the easy instructions to do it yourself and finally shut up your friends who swear by that Les Paul from GHIII (like Jones does).

Continue reading How to improve the Rock Band guitar strummer →

Recently I have been getting a lot of email regarding either the Xbox 360 laptop (as usual) and lately the PS360 controller. I find it funny that people hate the SIXAXIS (and probably soon the Dualshock 3) so much that they keep looking for a Xbox-y alternative. My suggestion would be to just buy an Xbox 😉

While I appreciate the interest and do indeed at least read every email I need to mention that due to a backlog of existing projects it is hard for me to take on new work at this time. Here are some suggestions in the meantime:

PS360 controller – Check out the how-to article I did about it for Engadget. This controller projects takes me a good solid day to do and when I have done it I have to charge way too much. If you’re willing to wait a month and pay as much as a system costs for a controller then maybe I can help.

Nintendo and other classic system portables – Put a request to buy one on my forums, either in Forum 42 or Trading Post. The folks on there have made great stuff, and often times things I have yet to conquer (Gamecube, Dreamcast) Plus many of them are college-age and could probably use some extra modding money.

Xbox 360 laptops – Due to the challenges I can maybe squirt out two a year. Considering I haven’t quite finished the 3rd one, it’ll be a while before I’d consider another. Of course you can always read my How-To article on that for Engadget.

Hopefully this clears up any burning questions of why I haven’t answered every email. Again, thanks for continuning to visit Benheck.com, and maybe someday if I grow some more arms, or get some help, I can crank out more of the stuff people love.

1. The Chevy Chase Show
2. Cheese curds left on dashboard of car on hot summer day
3. Ford Edsel
4. Crystal Pepsi
5. German invasion of France, 1940
6. Cop Rock
7. Julia Ormond’s career
8. Tiger’s Game.com
9. Flavor in average piece of chewing gum
10. New Coke

Difficulty settings aside (I went through on Normal) I can’t recall the last time I played a game so fricking short. The rumors are true – you can blow through this in about 6 hours. I find it strange this isn’t taken more into account in all the sky-high ratings it’s been getting – this is the first time in quite a while where I’ve felt like I didn’t get my 50 bucks worth (PC).

I don’t care how good the multiplayer is, or how good the [albeit short] action is – whatever happened to a good 15-20 hour FPS? You know, like Medal of Honor Allied Assault, or the first Call of Duty? It’s kind of sad that either of the Half-Life 2 episodes takes as long or longer than this full retail game.

Let’s hope this isn’t a trend – short single player that is “excused” by having really good online. I wouldn’t even count that – anyone that doesn’t play with every free minute of their time will get “outclassed” by those who do and subsequently get their asses kicked = no fun. Discuss below!

Just to remind people that I still make them, here’s an Atari 2600 portable I just finished. Went back to basics with my color scheme, kind of reminds me of the old days. Ah yes, I remember when people cried a river of tears because the first 4 versions of my Atari portables didn’t have paddle controllers. Those were good times.

Click to super-size me

I call it the “New Technology” Atari since I’ve kind of run out of names for anything new. Here’s my “Atari 2600” folder, look at all the crap in it!

The story of my life, at least since 2001.

The rear of the unit. It uses the tried-and-true 6 batteries like the Pheonix did. I get email requesting a lot of things (mostly Xbox laptops and PS360 controllers) but your best bet for something I’ll actually have time to do (and is reasonably priced) is still an Atari 2600 portable. Remember I’m still making those Rev 5.1’s when requested.

I racked up a pretty good score on Asteroids last night, testing this thing whilst waiting for a Halo 3 round to start. Atari – still crazy after all these years.

Resigned to the fact that people know me as Benheck I put it in this article’s title, to save other web sites a little time rewriting their links. How considerate of me.

For a larger version with no captions click here.

Anyway, today I’m going to show you all the prototype for the new single handed controller I have designed and built, which I’ve been calling the “Access Controller”. This is actually the second prototype, a more refined version of the first. Alongside the new Elite-based Xbox 360 laptop (yes, it is coming) this has consumed most of time in recent months, hopefully explaining the drought of new projects.

Here’s the basic principle: You lay this controller on your leg, table or arm of a chair and all the buttons are available on the top surface. The gag is that each of the five sections is removable and you can plug them anywhere you want. This not only makes the controller work for both left and right handed use (simply mirror the layout) but it also allows the user to optimize the button placement on a game-by-game basis. Even if the user has partial use of both hands it should still be easier to work with than a standard controller.

In this configuration example the thumb controls the left analog (player movement) where the forefinger is on the right analog. The middle or ring finger can press the analog shoulder buttons.

More details and photos follow below. This unit is currently in pre-production for manufacturing thanks to the folks at eDimensional.com and will first appear as a wireless model for the PS2/PS3, with an Xbox 360 version pending. If you’re interested in obtaining one of these or simply wish to express interest please email them directly at access@eDimensional.com. All other normal inquiries (photo permissions, interview requests, offers to send me free beer) can go to my usual address using the link over on the right.

Continue reading Benheck’s new single handed “Access” controller revealed →