Parts 1 and 2 are now live on Engadget.com. Check them out!
There will be at least one more part, possibly up to 4. Also I should have an update on the VCSp Rev 5.1’s soon.
Category Archives: Video Games
Ancient cave artifact found!
I was going through some files on the computer when I came across an old crappy scan of a photo. I then realized I probably still had the original Polaroid, dug through the filing cabinet, sure enough found it and rescanned using my ultra modern 2001 model Scanjet so it’d look slightly less crappy.
This is the original prototype Atari VCSp Revision 1, dating from March of 2000. As you can sort of see it was routed from clear acrylic, I painted it black later. The deal was the rear half was correct but the front was not quite right. Still I slapped it together just to see what it would be like, and this is the result. Note the very professional electric tape holding it together – my hot glue gun musta been in the shop that day.
At the time I was writing the script for “The Lizard of Death” so it wasn’t until a month later that I rerouted the front piece and finished the unit as we all know it today. Still, ah… those were good times! You can check out the story of the original portable project I ever did by clicking here.
Xbox 360 Laptop The Second
Behold my second and (unless someone gives me Miller Brewing company) last Xbox 360 Laptop!
Similar to the first model but redesigned in many ways. “Uses 60% Less Aluminum!”
For a full photo gallery and more info please see the article over on Engadget.com. The bonus with this project is that I’ve documented the construction in a fair amount of detail and will be doing a 3 part “How To” also on Engadget, as unsurprising as that may seem. It’ll include art files and diagrams, so you can take a crack at modding a 360 on your own!
Xbox 360 Laptop 2 – Article on Engadget.com
Enjoy the photos and imagine yourself playing 360 by the pool surrounded by supermodels, but don’t rush to send me emails offered to trade in 5 Game Gears for this thing as I do not plan to build any more of these on consignment. (I am selling Atari 2600 Rev 5.1’s though!) It just takes to darn long, and I don’t have enough limbs to build enough for the demand. Sometimes I wish I could fall prey to an experiment gone wrong and wake up with 4 extra, hopefully metallic, robotic arms, but that probably won’t happen anytime soon so I’m sorry… However if you are carrying out any dangerous experiments that might result in appendage appending let me know.
But fear not – I’ve got loads of other projects on my backburners so they’ll be plenty of new stuff to check out on benheck.com in the near future. As always, stay tuned!
Fun Xbox 360 Laptop 2 Videos:
Xbox Laptop 2 Video (iPod)
Xbox Laptop 2 Video (Large MP4)
Xbox Laptop 2 Video (Crummy vintage MPG)
PS360 Controller
UPDATE: Yippee, once again my site has been crashed! And that’s even before the new mod I have coming soon… As for the price of this mod, well, it’s a lot. When I do the second one it’ll be easier and I’ll have a better idea, but definately still hundreds of dollars at least. Plus I am kind of busy and won’t likely have time to do many more anyway. Sigh. Maybe I can do a How-To for Engadget on it?
Done on consignment, it’s quite obviously PS3 Sixaxis controller guts in the [much better shaped] Xbox 360 controller shell. Check out a video of this thing in action, and see below for more photos and details of how it was constructed.
Want a Rev 5.1? Come and get them!
Well, sort of. I am now taking orders for a run of 20-30 units. Probably no more than 30. Emails have been sent to everyone who inquired about the unit, but the basic idea is by taking pre-orders I can get an idea of the demand and buy a bunch of circuit boards / make cases accordingly.
So if you’re interested please let me know, thanks!
Microsoft shows mercy to the competition with their Elite Xbox 360
(AKA an article to prove I’m not a total Xbox fanboy)
Last week Microsoft officially announced the upgraded Xbox 360 “Elite”. This is basically a souped up 360 with the following stuff added:
- HDMI video output
- 20 gig hard drive
- The color black
All for the bargain price of $479. It does include an HDMI cable which is pretty nice – I am sick of people saying “you can buy one online for $15!” True, but for all the schmucks who get one in the store it’s at least $75. I could buy screws for 1/10th the price off McMaster Carr, but 9 times out of 10 I just go down to Ace. That said, it doesn’t include:
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- 65 nm process chips
One less bullet point, but a big deal. In this article that I’m writing to sluff out of doing other things on a Saturday morning, I’ll postulate on why I feel Microsoft is making a mistake with the Elite / pricing and what it could mean to the PS3 and Wii.
Continue reading Microsoft shows mercy to the competition with their Elite Xbox 360
VCSp Rev 5.1 Prototyped At 7 Year Mark
It was 7 years ago (ish) that I completed my first video game portable – the original VCSp. How do I know this? Well I had it sitting in the car, newly done, as I went in to get my taxes done (always at the last minute) and I was worried someone might steal it. And I recall sitting there looking at it and thinking “Damn that thing looks good!” To this date it remains the only portable I’ve ever kept for myself.
Super Bonus Download – Get the original “technical” drawing files I used to create the VCSp Rev 1, and, um, look at them I guess. So primitive, you’ll swear a monkey laid it out! (Hint: view in wireframe mode)
Enough of that sentimental crap – take a look at my latest portable creation – the Atari VCSp Rev 5.1:
The new hotness
On the X-Y this unit is almost as small as the Rev 7 I made a few months back, but it has the added bonus of being just over an inch thick. (1.08″ to be precise) It’s by far the skinniest Atari portable I’ve done yet, and it’s funny to think back to when I was making then 2 inches thick. Ah, the memories…
The first 2 prototypes are already spoken for, but please email me if you’d be interested in getting one of these in the near future. I’m thinking about having some PCB’s made and running 20-30 of these. Price target is $300 with trade-in of an Atari 2600 4-switch. I think this is one of the better portables I’ve made thus far, it’s simple, small and stylish.
More pics and specs follow…