PlayStation tattoo gun mod gets inmate a stern rebuke, admiration from his cell block
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 24th 2010 6:51PM
posted May 24th 2010 6:51PM
When an inmate at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre near Gatwick, West Sussex, England, needed access to a tattoo gun (presumably banned in UK lockups, just as they are in the US) inspiration struck. According to The Sun, the inmate used the motor of a PlayStation's optical drive to move a sharpened ball-point pen. Sure, there are better ways to get ink -- such as waiting to be released -- but it ain't exactly a prison tattoo if you don't get it in prison. The paper goes on to say that from time to time a similar contraption made from "Nintendo consoles" turns up stateside, although the only such device we've ever seen was in an episode of The Wire, and it was made from an old cassette player. Either way, this is one mod we surely won't see from Ben Heck any time soon.
Damn.
Resourceful inmates are resourceful.
Maybe Sony should hire this guy to add features to the PS3 instead of taking them away.
@SolidSnake I can see it now, inktrack, compiled for the powerpc architecture, run it on your PS3nw... oh wait
@SolidSnake Sounds like a plan. I wonder how many packs of cigarettes it would cost to get this guy hired.
@SolidSnake Seems like a pretty big waste to make one out of a PS3...My buddy and I both made one out of our old portable CD players when we were like 14. That would probably be a little more cost effective, eh? LOL
@SolidSnake I can do the sane with a pen, button, cd/cassette player, and guitar string. It's not really a big deal.
Makes me want to get my first tattoo.
The Lengths they go to is pretty amazing. I'm surprised he was able to have it as I could see a weapon forming from it.
@Jdubcsu
I'm sure it was confiscated for that very reason.
Now if it were a 360.... What if it RROD?
@Teslanaut I
@Teslanaut
It would tattoo a red ring on your arm.
@DougieBear
...which would then result in death.
Hardcore people are hardcore
...That's badass.
There you are, Sony, don't bother playing catch-up to Nintendo with Move; here's an untapped market just waiting to be explored.
How did he get the PS3 in the first place though??
@DoctarPeppar
NVM looks like a ps1 lol.
@DoctarPeppar
He built it from a tattoo machine.
@shishi
lol
@shishi
LOL
@DoctarPeppar commissary services, more than likely, and being in a minimum security area.
@DoctarPeppar
It is pretty normal in the UK for yer average prisoner to have a reasonably well equipped cell with a tv, music system and such like, dependant on behaviour.
@Wolfticket
That's crazy..in the USA in most prisons, you can get TVs and walkmans and such but they are usually clear and made special for the prisons so they can't be disassembled and turned into a weapon or broken into and have things hidden in them
@DoctarPeppar There was a recent documentary about how well British prisoners can live. You get paid in prison, and get a supply of smack if you can prove you're addicted.
@Oli D
Wow...I knew they had heroin maintenance in UK but I didn't know it was applicable to prisoners. That's crazy..Ima move to london and rob a bank.
@HurricaneDC wat
@HikaKao
Post Google Translation, I'll have to agree.
Don't drop the controller.
:D it was worth opening up google translate
Its actually a tattoo "machine" not a gun. Tattoos don't kill people. Geez that's almost as bad as saying iPhone os is more customizable that android. They saying that in a shoo and They will laugh you out the door. " the more you know "
Ooh. Using The Sun as a source? Really? Not sure that's wise...
My dad told me about all the different types of devices they used to make tattoo machines. He said that CD players were the most common, using the motor that moves the laser instead of the one that turns the disc. They would also use radios somehow, though I've never taken one of those apart so I'm not sure how that works. But yeah just throw in a couple ball point pens and an extension cord and you're all set.
Oh mother neccity. How could we innovate without thee???