Ben Heck does it again with Atari 7800 portable

There's no stopping this guy, and now he's built himself an Atari 7800 portable just to make sure the kiddie hackers know who's the Heckendornest. Ben Heck built the 7800 portable with a 7-inch widescreen to accommodate that larger motherboard on the 7800 (compared to the 2600). Apparently large, complex motherboards just don't phase him anymore. The unit boasts rechargeable batteries, a combination driving / paddle controller, and an A/V output jack. Ben, you're a legend.

[Yayaja @ Jun 19th 2008 9:36AM]

Why the hell is it so god damn big?

[My Name is Mudd @ Jun 19th 2008 9:50AM]

@Yayaja
How about reading the GD post...
"accomodate that larger motherboard on the 7800"

[BuddyBoy @ Jun 19th 2008 9:50AM]

He didn't design it from scratch but rather took an original mother board and put it in a new case design. He is limited to the size of the original mother board.

[CT A @ Jun 19th 2008 9:52AM]

You've never seen an Atari 7800 huh?

[Ender Wiggin @ Jun 19th 2008 9:56AM]

It's big because the original motherboard is big.

The magic of Ben Heck is not that he creates handhelds from scratch that can play old games (that would be a lot easier.) The magic is that he takes the actual, physical hardware of the original gamesystem and fits it into a handheld.

[Mario @ Jun 19th 2008 10:13AM]

Shouldn't it be "Why the heck is it so god damn big?"

[PCIV @ Jun 19th 2008 10:21AM]

That's what SHE said!

[AMFS @ Jun 19th 2008 10:32AM]

woooooooooooooooo

[Brian @ Jun 19th 2008 11:59AM]

RTFP!

[McBUNT @ Jun 19th 2008 9:38AM]

If they can get a camera, projector, phone, HD movie player, 3D game player in one into a device 1/10th the size of that, you can't help but marvel at the engineering that went into this thing!

[maty @ Jun 19th 2008 9:57AM]

Alright, lets see you do it, chump.

[Frun @ Jun 19th 2008 10:07AM]

Go back to writing your essay there blanco nino

[Unknown @ Jun 19th 2008 11:39AM]

i think you mean "nino blanco"

[kjb434 @ Jun 19th 2008 9:46AM]

Considering the base technology is 20 years old, there is only some much you can shrink from the original console.

[Jack @ Jun 19th 2008 9:52AM]

not nescisarily, you can now make a ZX spectrum out of about 7 ICs, its just the way ben does his stuff, always uses the original hardware

[Rohit Kapur @ Jun 19th 2008 9:51AM]

I think you meant "faze", not "phase", Paul.

Grammar aside, Ben Heck is seriously a legend. He had me at the Xbox 360 Laptop.

[SoloSalsa @ Jun 28th 2008 9:23AM]

I cannot wait to see the PS3 slim laptop.

[Manu Ullas @ Jun 19th 2008 9:59AM]

This is amazing.

Take something, and just make it so much better and appealing.

And Ben is an honourable man.

[Danakin @ Jun 19th 2008 10:03AM]

I wish I had the time, drive, and software tools to do this sort of stuff...freaking sweet!

[Frankenstein Black @ Jun 19th 2008 10:05AM]

Sensei Ben, **falls to knees** please take me as your student!

[crushinator @ Jun 19th 2008 12:22PM]

As a person who dabbles in modding and fabrication, Ben Heck seems like a minor god to me. I've followed his work over the years and some of the things he's pulled off with vintage hardware are nigh unbelievable.

[Necrotix @ Jun 19th 2008 10:21AM]

Ben Heck is the Chuck Norris of Modding! UBER!

[cem @ Jun 19th 2008 10:27AM]

ummm yea.....but...can it play doom?

[gabe @ Jun 19th 2008 10:32AM]

nice work. If he had a gf he'd still be on the first project :P

[silverblackvoid @ Jun 19th 2008 10:42AM]

i love you Ben!

[AMFS @ Jun 19th 2008 10:45AM]

May I request a hand held Intellivision next? I'll willingly donate mine, working condition too (scary, right?)

[94 taurus owner @ Jun 19th 2008 10:46AM]

LOL,It's the T.A.P

The Atari portable.

[Gingerbread Man @ Jun 19th 2008 10:52AM]

Does it play Crysis?

[Jake @ Jun 19th 2008 11:50AM]

god damn you fuckin' jackass, 40 IQ, loser assholes to hell

-jp

[Brian @ Jun 19th 2008 12:00PM]

Si...

[ShadowKain @ Jun 19th 2008 1:00PM]

Beck Heck Fan Club --> NOW :D

[teej @ Jun 19th 2008 1:42PM]

i'm glad they didn't link his website for once...or that ish would be down faster than Roseanne on a treadmill.

[Reader @ Jun 19th 2008 2:22PM]

Funny joke, but I think Heck's site gets so much traffic now he probably has the bandwidth to take it.

[BratPAQ @ Jun 19th 2008 1:46PM]

while we have a genius here like Ben Heck, we also have some people who are on the other side of the spectrum, who wants to play doom on an atari system. why dont you try wake boarding on a bath tub? it will make darwin happy

[m-p{3} @ Jun 19th 2008 2:33PM]

This guy is awesome.

[Jean @ Jun 20th 2008 2:09AM]

great... now we have a way to play really crappy games on the go... oh wait... I already have a PSP. lol