Kotaku Australia » ben heck

Infinite Bits: Miami’s First Video Game Convention

Mike Fahey — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:20:00 +0000

Next weekend in Miami you can enjoy live music, tournaments, world record competitions, special guests, a costume contest and a video game museum at Infinite Bits, South Florida’s “first major video game convention”.

Infinite Bits is definitely a consumer-oriented video game event. It’s about the community and the gamers, rather than big-name publishers showing off their wares. It’s about breaking records and friendly competition, with guests like Pac-Man champ Billy Mitchell and Twin Galaxies’ Walter Day. Our favourite extreme console modder Benjamin Heckendorn will be there. They’ve even got concerts from chiptune artists Starscream and goatslacker, as well as video game cover band Random Encounter. It’s basically a bunch of gamers getting together to have fun, play games, and buy stuff for an entire weekend, which sounds just fine to me.

Infinite Bits runs from October 23rd to the 25th at the Miami Mart Hotel and Convention centre, with tickets running you $US30 for a weekend pass, or $US35 at the door. I’d highly recommend ordering tickets beforehand, as wandering about Miami with cash in your hand is an invitation to get shot. Well, more shot than you’d normally be just wandering about Miami without it.

Infinit Bits [Official Website]

Make Your Own Modded Console Handhelds

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Console modder Ben Heckendorn has made quite a name for himself chopping machines apart and making them smaller, sleeker, more portable. Now you can do as he does.

To help him sell his book “Hacking Videogame Consoles”, Heckendorn has posted on his website a series of design documents and shopping lists for some of his more popular creations, which should be enough to get the more industrious amongst you cutting, soldering and gaming-on-the-go in no time.

You can find the drawings and component lists for eight portable consoles, including the SNES, Atari 2600 and PS1, at the link below.

Hacking Video Game Consoles [BenHeck]

If Only There Were More Of These Commodore 64 Laptops

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Heeeeyyyy. It’s Ben Heckendorn, console modder extraordinaire. What ya got for us this week, Ben? A Commodore 64 laptop? Oh yes.

Not only is this amazing because it’s a Commodore 64 laptop, it’s amazing because it’s just the perfect mix between keeping it retro and keeping it classy. Example: It’s got a C64 keyboard and power switch, but folds into a thin, good-lookin’ clamshell case.

Being a Ben Heck custom job, it’s a one-of-a-kind. Which is a shame. Because I’d buy one. Maybe even two.

Commodore 64 Original Hardware Laptop [benheck]

Ben Heck’s New Mod: The ‘Atari 3600′ Stick

Owen Good — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Everyone’s first big complaint with this — a 360 controller stuffed into a 2600’s casing — is the lack of a second analogue joystick. So it’s not your new Halo stick. But Braid? Sure.

Heck also admits he cheated a little on this, gutting a Guitar Hero III guitar for the stick’s circuitry. Other fun facts: Ben measures a project’s time in length of “Law & Order” episodes, which he watches while modding (in the daytime, he watches “Charmed.”)

You can check out this video of Heck playing Braid with it, set to ~~“If I Had a Firm Backside”~~ “If I Could Turn Back Time” by Cher.

3600 Controller [Benheck.com]

Ben Heck’s Xbox 360 Laptop v2.0

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:30:00 +0000

Oh Ben Heck. What can’t you do? I ask because there are so many things you can do. Like making desirable console laptops.

You may remember the guy made a 360 laptop in 2007. Then made that into a Halo 3 laptop. Well, time flies, and Heck’s just released shots of his all-new, all-improved Xbox 360 laptop.

In typical Heckendorn style, it’s a little rough in terms of design. It’s no MacBook Air. Hell, it’s no Xbox. But it is an Xbox 360, rockin’ the NXE, crammed within a laptop case and a host of neat features.

Features like: an internal, swappable HDD, internal wi-fi, no keyboard, dual memory card slots and enough brushed aluminium to sink a small wooden vessel.

Bravo.

New Xbox 360 Portable [Benheck]

Inside The 60GB 360: Old CPU, New Memory Chips

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:20:00 +0000

The new Xbox 360 has a 60GB HDD, which is new, but what about the rest of the console? Anything new inside the unit? Hacker extraordinaire Ben Heck got hold of one and busted it open like a naughty coconut to find out. What he found was that the new console has the same GPU, same 65nm CPU and same heatsink as we’ve been seeing for a while now, so don’t expect any heat/noise improvements on that front (at least for the next few months), though he did notice that some of the console’s memory chips have been moved from the bottom of the board, which should ease up on heating in that part of the 360. Other than that…yeah, it’s a 360, with 40 extra GB.

Inside a 60 gig Xbox 360 [Ben Heck]

Ben Heck’s One-Handed Controller Now On Sale

Mike Fahey — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:20:00 +0000

First announced back in October of last year, the Access Game Controller designed by technical wizard Ben Heckendorn for disabled gamers is finally ready for sale via eDimensional’s website. The device, listed for use with the PlayStation 2, PS3, and PC, allows one-handed gamers modify the controller as they see fit via a series of circular modules containing face buttons, shoulder buttons, analogue sticks and a d-pad.

The controller can be preordered right now for $US 129.95, with a shipping target of 8-10 weeks. A portion of all proceeds goes towards Children’s Hospital and Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.

New Access Controller Designed by Ben Heck [eDimensional's Product Page]

Ben Heck’s Guitar Hero Pedal

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:30:00 +0000

What, Ben Heck, coming up with excellent, crafty, gaming-related things? You don’t say. This is his latest contraption, a heavy-duty pedal designed to work with Guitar Hero to give it that extra dash of authenticity. After Heck did some one-handed GH controllers for the Games for Health conference, Activision decided to send him some guitars for further experimentation, and these are what he came up with. Although primarily designed to allow someone with the use of only one hand to play Guitar Hero (as the pedal allows them to strum with their feet), they can also be used to activate the whammy bar, giving them a much more general application. While they look nice and rugged, the highlight’s got to be the fact he wired them using the controller cables from an old Jaguar controller.

Guitar Hero pedal controllers [Ben Heck]

Ben Heck’s PlayStation 3 Laptop

Mike Fahey — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:00:00 +0000

My consoles absolutely hate Ben Heck. Every time he releases a new mod, such as this gorgeous PlayStation 3 laptop, similar to his Xbox 360 Elite laptop from awhile back, I tend to spend many hours sitting in my living room, eyes moving curious from consoles to the cabinet where I keep my (barely used) tools. With my degree of electronics knowledge, this is the game console equivalent of having someone quietly staring first at you, and then at a loaded gun in front of them, over and over again. Luckily for them I’ve yet to work up the nerve, though I do have an extra PSone sitting around gathering dust. I think I just heard it whimper.

Ben Heck’s Latest Wonder Project: PS3 Laptop [Gizmodo AU]

Ben Heck, Not A Huge Gamer

Mark Wilson — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:40:00 +0000

Reuters just ran an interesting profile on internet-famous console modder Benjamin Heckendorn. It’s definitely worth a quick read if you’re interested in the man behind the DS Atari 2600 or Xbox 360 laptop, but we particularly enjoyed his response to his own gaming habits.

I didn’t used to play, but last year I went out of my way to play more video games. I would probably maybe buy one game a year. Last year I said you know what, this is ridiculous.

Uh oh, all those games will probably rot his brain.

“Modder” turns hobby into career [Reuters via BoingBoingGadgets][Image by Maxamegalon2000]