Posted Aug 28th 2008 5:30PM by Eliot Phillips
Filed under: handhelds hacks
This is another fine project to come out of the benheck forums. [sam_thornley] built this
portable game system last Fall. It uses the guts of a
JAKKS Namco TV arcade stick. The composite signal from the board is connected to a 2.5" Intec screen with a CCFL backlight. Four rechargable AA batteries are in the case for 2.5 hours of play. It doesn't have sound, but he says the TV games' sound pales to the original anyway. It's certainly a nice compact build in a regular project box.
[via
Engadget]
Posted Aug 28th 2008 4:00PM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: handhelds hacks, news
You should be able to get your
hands on your Wiz as soon as October. The Wiz, also known as the GP3X is the highly anticipated follow up to the GP2X, a handheld game system that runs linux. Sporting a 533 MHz ARM processor, 64 MB of RAM, a 2.8 inch OLED display, 5 hour battery life, and 16 GB of storage, its a heck of a deal. Where else can you get a portable with those specs, bundled with Flash player 7, DivX, Xvid, and MPEG playback for $179?
These units are supposed to be as hackable as the previous version. We've seen
GPS and
USB ports added as well as
qtopia and
Windows 95 run on them.
[via
Engadget]
Posted Aug 20th 2008 9:17AM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: handhelds hacks, playstation hacks, daily
[Eric Ruckman] sent us this awesome
Guitar Hero hack. He wanted to get a more "true to the series" game play out of his DS when playing Guitar Hero: On Tour. If you've seen the adapter that
comes with it, you'll understand his desires. He found a wireless PS2 Guitar Hero controller on EBay to hack.
He's cut a hole in the controller and removed all the guts.
In the picture above the DS fits in the hole to allow strumming in the correct position. The controller buttons are connected to the DS by wiring into the adapter. He's added an FM transmitter to the controller so he can play the sound through his home sound system.
Continue reading Hack Guitar Hero DS into a guitar controller
Posted Jul 21st 2008 2:30PM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: handhelds hacks, home entertainment hacks
[GonzoMPM-1] Has gutted an NES knock off called
Super Joy III and
crammed it inside of a light gun. Inspired by a daughter that loves duck hunt, he wanted to consolidate the package and make it more portable. He's managed to pull off some nice finish, it look almost professional in the picture above. The unit is powered by 3 AAA batteries in the handle. The game system works just fine, and he claims that the controls are actually more responsive now. The light gun works as well if you have a CRT television around.
You many notice that there is no cartridge slot. There really isn't a need for one in this mod. The Super Joy III comes equipped with 76 games on the board. He notes that he can make an external cart at some point, but may leave it off in favor of the compact design.
While he acknowledges that this is not a completely self contained gaming device, we feel it earns honorable mention for being cool.
[via
technabob]
Posted Jul 18th 2008 7:36AM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: handhelds hacks, home entertainment hacks, portable video hacks, daily
Today, [sprite_tm] let us in on one of his
pet projects. This is an inexpensive portable game platform runs about $50 and happens to use an ARM CPU and a 320x240 color LCD. Because it's so cheap, he's been working on reverse engineering the thing and there's already a proof of concept
homebrew version of Pong out for it.
Update: Yeah, yeah - title's fixed.
Posted Jul 17th 2008 4:20PM by Caleb Kraft
Filed under: handhelds hacks, playstation hacks
[Codejunkie] has written up a great explanation as to why we mod. He's specifically talking about the Sony PSP, but many of the points he makes carry over to any modding. Though the "why" question may seem like a no brainer to most of us, we do hear it a lot. We strongly suggest you take a few moments to
read his article.
Who hasn't been asked this question? We all have different reasons to mod things. Some people do it to make improvements, some people do it just for the fun. He lists some of the more practical reasons and makes some insightful comparisons.
For example, he likens some modding to making personalizations to your car. Has anybody asked why you put a custom shifter knob on? No, because we are used to this, just as they are used to being locked out of their electronics. He also talks about products that are crippled from the factory. We've
covered this situation on Hack a Day before. Is it wrong for you to want your product to function to its built in potential?
He covers a few thoughts on homebrewing software for the PSP as well. There's no reasonable explanation for why you shouldn't have full control over something you own.
Posted Jul 15th 2008 10:50PM by Jimmie Rodgers
Filed under: handhelds hacks, playstation hacks, portable audio hacks
DSPmusic.org has just released the latest version of its homebrew PSP music sequencer
PSPSeq 3.0. With PSPSeq you can create songs with up to 16 independent audio tracks, use WAV audio clips of your own and then modify them with a number of settings, or even use some of the built in synthesizers to generate sounds. There are strong looping and recording features as well. If you are into homebrew music apps on the PSP, then this will give you a strong offering of features. We had a chance to catch up with the author, [Ethan Bordeaux], and ask a few questions. You can check out the short interview after the break.
Continue reading PSPSeq 3.0, PSP sequencer release and interview
Posted Jul 3rd 2008 4:15PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: gameboy hacks, handhelds hacks
Fresh off the tips line, [Jake] sent in his
portable NES project. We've seen quite a few portables, but we love that the entire thing is built into an old NES cartridge. It's got 99 games and some clever control placement. Three N cells nestled in the former connector slot power the system. You can see more pic over at
[Ben Heck]'s forum.
Posted Jun 18th 2008 10:15PM by Eliot Phillips
Filed under: handhelds hacks
Ben Heck has just wrapped up his latest project, a
portable Atari 7800. He had meant to do this a long time ago, but lacking experience, the complex looking circuit board scared him off. It features a seven inch display, rechargeable batteries, combination driving and paddle controllers, plus AV out. The console was built by request and just like his other pojects: he's not shy about showing you how it's put together. Look for a making-of coming soon.
Posted May 13th 2008 10:00AM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: handhelds hacks, daily
[PKM] decided to
breathe new life into a Psion 5mx handheld. He slapped linux on it, added a wikipedia dump to a CD card, and voila: pocket wikipedia. It's the closest thing to an actual hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy I've ever seen. So long and thanks for all the fish!
Posted Apr 8th 2008 10:36PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: handhelds hacks, misc hacks
[bunnie] is one of the main people behind the Chumby, and even he can't resist modding the things. He decided to outfit one with a
larger LCD - using a stereo microscope to do the really fine pitch work - and a laser cutter to create a custom bezel for the finished piece. The new LCD is still a touchscreen and allows the Chumby to display 640x480 resolution over the stock 320x240. The mod requires a few parts, but the ultimate difficulty is caused by the surface mount connectors. If you'd rather have some software fun, you might want to check out [bunnie]'s Chumby
wifi sniffer.
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