PS3laptop by BenHeck

After 4 months of work Ben Heckendorn debuted his latest console mod, a PlayStation 3 laptop.

Some details from BenHeck:

• Original 60 gig PS3 model with backwards compatibility.
• 17″ HDTV 720p screen, with HDMI connection. (Same as last Xbox 360 laptop)
• Built-in keyboard and stereo audio amplifier.
• Measures 17″ x 13.75″ x 3″ (actually thinner than a stock PS3) and weighs 16 pounds!

While Ben is taking orders for new mod projects but this particular unit is one of a kind and is intended to be auctioned off for charity - more details over at Engadget.

Note to self: Imagine having a fleet of BenHeck mod’d consoles - and how awesome that’d be.

Wii modders have already hit (and overcome) a few snags as a result of changes Nintendo has made to the console, but it doesn’t look like the company is ready to give up the fight just yet, now reportedly introducing (as rumored) another round of revisions to stop folks from messing with the Wii’s innards. According to at least one retailer in Japan, Nintendo has taken the somewhat drastic step of actually snipping some of the pins from the surface-mounted IC on the Wii’s motherboard, making the current crop of modchips virtually useless. Currently, the changes only seem to apply to NTSC-J model Wiis sold in Japan, with no word of any NTSC-U model Wiis suffering the same fate — although we wouldn’t bet on them being immune for long. Of course, all this is of little concern for anyone planning on playing by Nintendo’s rules, but the rest of ya may want to grab a moddable Wii while the going’s still good — or at least wait for the inevitable workaround to this latest impediment.

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The talented Ben Heck just finished his 2nd version of his Xbox 360 hardware modification.  He made some different design choices and created a much more refined version this time around.  Check out the details over at engadet and check out his personal website for details on other projects, how-to’s,  and info on having him begin work on a custom project for you.

Once again, we’re a far cry from PS3-Linux-easy, but those 360 kids seem rather hard to dissuade. The latest development on the XeLL bootloader front is that you no longer need a serial cable hooked up for executing the boot loader, all you need is a 360 set up for running burned DVDs, a modified version of the King Kong disc — you’ll want the original game, Windows and a DVD burner to get that together — and of course a Live CD with XeLL and your Linux distro all prepped to go. By now we’re sure we don’t need to tell you that this is limited to those lucky 4532 and 4548 kernels, but if you’ve got all of the above ingredients, plus a little bit of patience and complete disregard for warranty voidance, it looks like Linux on the 360 is within your reach at last. Peep a video after the break of the previous version of XeLL doing its thing.

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If you have seen these already I appoligize in advance, these are from an OLD TechBlog post. I think some of these mods are pretty amazing… some are just plain strange.

Enjoy this collection of oddities and observe what gallons of caffeine and countless hours of free-time (I’d imagine most of that time spent would have been female-free as well :)

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#10

Colecovision Portable

Yes, this will play all your old school Colecovision games like “Donkey Kong”, “Galaxian”, and “Zaxxon” in all their 16 color glory.

Ben Heckendorn, creator of the NES Micro, made a custom case, tore apart an old Colecovision system, designed his own controller, and put it all together into the sleek package you see above.

It features A/V outputs, an auxiliary power input, and a reflective black vinyl case with brushed aluminum accents.

Unfortunately, this one-of-a-kind system was built by request and has already been sold.

[Source]

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#9

NEStation

The NEStation is one of the most unique custom systems we’ve ever come across.

A French modder painted his NES completely black with blue accents, created a custom vertical stand, installed four blue LEDs, and than carved in a PS2-style logo on its side.

[Source]

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#8

The nPod

The nPod is Ben Heck’s latest gaming console, featuring a 3.5-inch LCD display, custom machined case (only 41mm thick), and a rear-loading cartridge slot.

It’s powered by 4 AA batteries and can play any NES game.

[Source]

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#7

Portable Sega CDX

Most of you may not remember the CDX, it combined the Sega Genesis and Sega CD into one console.

SegaSonicFan’s portable CDX sports a 5″ display, JP/US import switch, second headphone jack, S-Video output, external controller switch, and a built-in automatic scan FM radio.

It even plays 32X games.

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#6

Gamecube-to-Go

Gamelver spent a great deal of time constructing this portable Gamecube — especially the case.

It looks to feature external controller ports for multiplayer action, along with a pair speakers.

Other specifications have not yet been released.

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#5

NESPlusSega

This all-in-one machine can play both Sega Genesis and NES games.

The case was made from custom molded ABS plastic and features controller ports for both systems.

[Source]

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#4

Handheld Atari Jaguar

The Jaguar was the world’s first gaming system with two 32-bit processors.

Unfortunately, the system met its demise in early 1996 due to poor sales.

Well Dave decided to pay tribute with this portable Jaguar.

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#3

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Mini

Kotomi took one of those 6-in-1 Sega TV game devices and turned it into a Genesis/Mega Drive mini, complete with cartridge slot.

One potential drawback, he doesn’t mention if the cartridge slot is functional — it’s an interesting project none the less.

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#2

Dreamcast Portable

Dave took on an ambitous project when he created this portable Dreamcast from scratch.

It features a custom designed case, 5″ LCD display, and a built-in 16MB memory card.

Powered by two rechargeable batteries, its good for up to 1 1/2 hours of playtime.

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#1

PlayStation 2 Portable

Click the above picture to watch the 10 minute demonstration of the PlayStation 2 Portable - our #1 pick for custom system.

Enjoy!

Benheck.com,

“Alright, yes, my new Xbox 360 controller. Well I’ve actually had requests like this before but it wasn’t until the most recent one that I actually did it. (BTW keeping in good email contact with me helps ensure I consider you custom projects) So I thought “This time I’m gonna build the thing!” and not put it off any more, like I have been with putting handles on my custom laptops.” (The next one doesn’t have one either, but the one after that will - I swear!).

Check out his site for yourself… benheck.com

The above video is the trailer for a project that for the past three years, a group of eight modders created Halogen, a Command & Conquer: Generals mod based on Halo. The mod gained popularity, and just recently Microsoft and Bungie decided to shut the mod down — a decision that is very much their right. The quality of Halogen looks good, and unfortunately we will have to wait for Microsoft and Bungie to make an official real time strategy game based on the Halo universe, so please don’t anyone hold their breathe, we really can’t afford to lose any readers or risk a lawsuit :)

This L64 (portable Nintendo 64) was created by Marshall, a 16 year old “In fact I’m not any bigwig of the game industry, I’m just a 16 year old with too much time…”

Dave over at portablesystems.net has posted a bunch of photos from his portable Xbox hack which features a decent sized LCD, battery power and a surprisingly authentic green paint job. You’ve got to marvel at the effort that must have gone into this project, and wonder how Halo 2 plays. Wonder how long we have until the x360 version is out?