I HAD to write about this. Someone sent me a link to IGN that reports that Sony just announced a Portable Playstation. All I can say is, IT’S ABOUT TIME!

They did exactly what they should. A 1.8 gig 3″ diameter disc, much like a Gamecube. They can fit an entire PSOne game on a disc, even a 2-disc game. Awesome. They can repackage PS1 games for an instant library of titles, then make new ones. All on familiar technology – I bet the PSp will have the same, or near same, dev kit as the PSOne. A backlit screen! Right off the bat – no waiting a year to make you buy the unit twice (yes I did just type that) Interacts with other things, such as cell phones. USB2 support. The list goes on…

And the end result?

I love Nintendo. I played my NES to death. I was still playing Perfect Dark on the N64 when Timesplitters came out. I wanted the Gamecube to succeed because I thought it was cool. Having said all that, I do believe this is the death toll for the Big N. At least for them being a hardware company.

Slowly they are being beaten on all fronts. The Genesis gave them a run for their money. Then the Playstation outsold them. They had big hits like Goldeneye, then Rare left them. Now they’re squeaking by on units, a mere fraction of what Sony sells. Their big games are lucky to sell a million copies these days.

They are becoming the next Atari.

Resting too much on their laurels, the Gameboy is to Nintendo what the Atari 800/2600 was to Atari. (I consider the Gamecube a non-factor) Atari tweaked the 800 computer to build the 5200 game system. The 7800 had the same processor as the 800 computer, the same sound processor as the 2600 (2 stinking channels!?) and its fabled “Maria” chip is just a slightly upgraded ANTIC chip, also found on the 800. (I may be a little off in my tech but it’s close enough to make a point). Then, in 1987, Atari tweaked the 800 again to build the XE Game System.

Old tech, new box. Older tech, newer box. Is that so much different than the Gameboy? A Gameboy Advance is no more “advanced” than maybe a 1991-era game system. Ok, it’s got as faster processor but where’s the polygon support? By not ‘advancing’ the Gameboy Advance enough because they didn’t need to (since they had, as the Afterburner guys put it, a “portable monopoly”) they have retro-actively shot themselves in the foot.

I’m sure many of you thought I didn’t have the ability to count to 6 (much like how Capcom had trouble counting to 3) but, here it is, VCSp Revision 6 Prototype!

A VCSp Rev 6 looks REMARKABLY like a Special Edition, except the main body of the unit is made from plastic (note the white sides, unpainted on this prototype). The main advantage of this unit is that, because of the material change and others internally, both sides of a unit can be routed in about 5 minutes, as opposed to 1.5 hours with all previous models.

For more juicy details on what makes this unit faster to create, visit the Rev 6 entry in the Models section of my site.

The biggest advantage of this design is that I am planning to build as many as 40 of these style units. If you are interesting in being on my “pre-sale” list, feel free to email me for details. I also plan to contact people from my previous pre-sale list and inform them of this development.

Naturally, this prototype itself is for sale and (obviously) ready to go!  If interested, let me know.

ALSO! If anyone out there is familiar with how to implement a Sony Info lithium battery charger into a device, I’d be very interested in your help. A self-charging VCSp would be, much like Cold Fusion, a great benefit to mankind and a feature I’d love to incorporate into the mass construction.

Lastly, the rip-roaring battle royale fight-to-the-finish GBA SP vs VCSp SE article (see below) will be done shortly, so don’t despair!

Start placing your bets now! In the near future you’ll GET READY TO RUMBLE! Not even two years ago, the VCSp Rev 5 butted heads with a spitfire newcomer, the Gameboy Advance! Now, in the brave year 2003, Nintendo has launched its latest entry in the war for portable gaming dominance, the Gameboy Advance SP! (Spend Profusely)

Nothing like superfluous capitalization of words, I always say! So, welcome any and all newcomers to the site and to the hobby of “Portabilization”, which I inadvertently invented a couple years ago.

To your left, you’ll see a menu system thing. The various models of portable units I have built are displayed under -get this- MODELS! Amongst the other menus you’ll find info on hacking up your own Atari system, video clips of things in action and more!

So feel free to cruise the site and indulge yourself with my ramblings!

Ah, a personal holy grail of mine. I bought a PS One screen a while ago because, well, let’s face it, $130 for a 5-inch TFT screen? You can’t beat that!

BUT (there’s always a butt) the darn thing consumes around 1 amp (not milliamp, AMP) of power at 7.2 volts. You hook this thing onto a PSOne and it uses as much or MORE power than the game system itself.

So, where to turn… Where indeed! White LED’s! Of course, the PSOne screen has this really odd bulb thing going around the backlight plastic. It’s U-shaped and covers 3 sides of the plastic. Well, I ditched that thing and stuck in 3 LED’s, each pointing down a side, much like marching soldiers or that scene in Tron.

If any of you other tinkerers would like to give this a go, just wire (3) 3mm white LED’s in parallel off the PS One’s +7.2v power source and put a 22 ohm resistor in front of them.