It’s finally done – my Playstation 2 Portable!

Yes, that’s right – a self-contained Lithium-Ion battery powered PS2 portable that takes all the original PS2 games and has built-in controls with a 5″ screen and stereo speakers. (And don’t worry – there’s a blue “power on” LED as well)

Last month I started working on this, realizing it would probably be the most complex unit I’ve made yet. And I was right, it took over a month to build! (It’s normally about 2 weeks) This is a one-of-a-kind unit, and due to the difficulty (and other pressing engagements) it’s the only one I’m going to build.

 For the whole story, including never-before-seen photos of the system’s guts (and my excessive use of hot glue) check out the PS2 Story pages!

Hey, guess what? I’ve written an entire BOOK about portables that allows you to assembly your very own! It’s coming out early next year, but in the meantime here’s a link to check out! Stay tuned for all the pulse-pounding details!

Dateline Wisconsin: A smashed-up PS2 case was found today near the home of Ben Heckendorn. Local authorities say it was probably thrown into a nearby recycling bin but fell out.

“The strange thing is that no game system guts were found inside” the local coroner was quoted as saying “Since we ruled the death of the PS2 as ‘questionable’ we of course ordered an autopsy and much to our surprise it was empty. Truly bizarre.”

Police are not willing to speculate on exactly what is going on but fuel was thrown on the proverbial rumor fire when a smashed-up Lithium-Ion battery case was also found near the scene.

“A gutted new-style PS2 case and a gutted battery case? I just don’t get it.” a prominent local detective felt he could admit on the record, “I’ve seen some strange stuff in my career but this takes the cake like a 4-year-old having a sugar rush on their birthday.”

We will try to stay on top of this story as it develops. Stay tuned!

Shocking, eh? Using CNC machinery (specifically, a 60-watt laser engraver) I have constructed this:

Don’t bother rubbing your eyes – that IS a Playstation Dual Shock analog stick. Hey, it’s a joystick isn’t it? Just like the ye olde days of lore! And that wacky-looking gear-ish thing below it is the custom paddle knob. The other buttons are custom as well and painted red. And of course there’s the obligatory woodgrain. I figured, if I’m gonna CNC this thing I should just go for it and make EVERYTHING custom. So I did!

When my book comes out early next year you can learn how to build one of these for yourself! In the meantime, check out portable #8 on the Project 42 page for more specs, pics and details.

In other news, that new slim PS2 is coming out soon. Could it possibly run off 7.5 volts like the PSone did? If so,  I wonder what could be done with it?…

To Be Continued!

It’s been a while since I’ve made a new Atari 2600 portable, so here you go:

It was built by hand and runs off 6 AA rechargeables. It’s yet another Project 42 portable, so for more details on this unit naturally check out the Project 42 page and scroll down to portable #7.

And coming soon… the final Project 42 portable! What will it be? What will it look like? Only time (in this case, about a week and a half) will tell…

Since the month is almost done I thought of a great way to blow my unused bandwidth – by allowing people to download my film “Lizard of Death”!

(Note 5-15-05: This link/download was discontinued in October 2004)

I made it back in 2000 just after I built the first Atari portable but before I starting building them en masse. It’s an emulation (not a parody) of a bad 1950’s horror movie, complete with vintage props, cars, costumes and filmed in black & white. We even used a program to add film grain, scratches and reduced the frame rate to 24fps (since it was shot on DV at 30fps)

If you’ve got a hankering for some good MST3K fodder and have a fast internet connection, head over to the Lizard of Death page and go nuts! The file will be available until the bandwidth reaches the month’s limit, then available next month once more unused bandwidth has accumulated. Or perhaps replaced with a different movie…

After 3 whole years, I have finally made another CNC-built Playstation 1 portable!

 Unlike my first portrait-styled PSone portable I actually managed to get the controls in a normal-looking place this time. Another first is that I used clear acrylic for most of the case so you can actually see INSIDE this one! For more details and pics regarding this portable, guess what? Yup, hit the Project 42 page and scroll down to portable #6.