Sure, you've seen the portable wooden SNES, but if you've been looking for something with more of that fresh-off-the-showroom-floor sheen, maybe you should check into this Ben Heck-forum user's design. Using a modified Polycase, dual lithium-ion batteries, a 5-inch Zenith LCD, and a whole bunch of Super Nintendo, the modder created what could easily be mistaken for a bona-fide production model. Sure, the back looks a tad bit messy, but "Life of Brian" (the SNES fan in question) has managed to squeeze in a second controller port and A/V outs -- no small feat. Check the video after the break to see the handheld in action... a lot of action... like, the guy plays StarFox for a long time.

[Via Switched]

Seven years after the inimitable Ben Heckendorn's original VCSp, we're presented with the latest iteration in his portable console's lineage. The new VCSp is apparently Ben's most finely crafted portable Atari system to date, even featuring the skillful placement of cartridge-as-screen-shade and the fine white plastic frame roughly the size of a chunky Game Boy Advance. The best part: if you ask nicely (can hack up some cash) Ben might even consider making one for you. Just tell 'im Engadget sent ya.

What does Ben Heckendorn do when he's not modding up consoles for Engadget? Why, mod up consoles on his own dang time, of course. His latest is another Atari 2600 portable, this time aping the DS lite almost too well -- Nintendo just looks bad now. Sure, the processor requirements of the 2600 aren't substantial, but that cartridge sure is. Unfortunately, after inital tests, it seems touch screen input is a no go. Read on for some more pics, including a straight up DS comparison shot.

Will the myriad of modded consoles from Ben Heckendorn never cease? (We sure hope not.) The man who brought us the NES Micro, N64p, PPS2, Phoenix 2600, (not to mention an ongoing series of how-tos for Engadget) has finally updated his November 2005 hack of the Atari 800. That laptop, which combined a screen and the guts of the 1980s gaming system, has now been brought into the modern age (read: 2006) with a new case, a cleaner keyboard (with round keys!), and a breakout cartridge case. We particularly admire the Atari logo on the top, and Ben's usual attention to detail and a clean, efficient, design. Still, we can't wait for the day that Ben's talents get noticed by Apple, Dell, or another big-name laptop maker, so that more of the masses can be showered with his talent -- but then again, perhaps it's better that we keep him to ourselves. Check out a few more snaps on the next page, and then head over to benheck.com for his always thorough and entertaining build diary...

[Thanks, technick29]

Just when we think our man Ben Heckendorn has floored us for the last time with his insane(ly amazing) console hacking projects, he pulls another stunning hat trick on us. Built by request for a serviceman injured in Iraq, Ben's single handed Xbox 360 controller places the four right-thumb buttons and right bumper at the middle and ring fingers, the right trigger at the pinky, and the left at the index -- but the most inspired bit is the left stick placed beneath on an extension, to be used as a fulcrum while the whole thing rests on a leg or other surface. And despite it all, it still has rumble. Just brilliant. Something tells us these one-handed controller hacks could be big sellers if mass produced. Ben, you laying down the patents yet?

Benjamin Heckerdorn -- that oh-so-crafy modding guru we love to love -- is at it again with his console-morphing antics, and this time the victim is the ill-fated "64-bit" Atari Jaguar. The mission? To create a portable, all-in-one, battery-powered version of Atari's flailing attempt to make it in the ever-competitive console market. Putting his blue-ribbon mod skills to the test, Ben rearranged the console innards into a 1-inch thick game board, connecting circuitry at will via his trusty soldering iron. He noticed a few oddities while dissecting the machine (aside from the controller's keypad overlay circa 1985), including a 32-bit main bus and a striking similarity between the cartridge input and your average PCI slot. Nevertheless, he was able to cram the entire system, a svelte LCD panel, and a set of stereo speakers into a homegrown enclosure that pays its dutiful respects to the Jaguar motif. Keep reading to peep another angle, and those itching for a bit of post-modern gaming nirvana should hit the read link for the full skinny...

Every so often a mod comes along that's so intricate, so amazing, so over the top, that words simply don't do it justice (but we'll try anyway). Ben Heckendorn's Xbox 360 laptop is one such mod. Having garnered no small amount of fame from previous portable projects like the nPod, PPS2, and N64p, Ben was commissioned by a generous benefactor to somehow make a 360 "good to go" a la the Crunchwrap Supreme -- and since this is the great Mr. Heckendorn we're talking about, slapping a hinged LCD onto an out-of-the-box console simply wouldn't do. Instead, Ben spent three months designing and building the so-called Xbox 360p, machining a custom aluminum laptop enclosure by hand into which he stuffed a keyboard, 1,280 x 720 Westinghouse LCD, and get this -- even a custom-built water cooling system to replace the 360's stock, bulky heat sinks. The end result is a polished, professional looking (albeit heavy -- this machine weighs in at about 14 pounds) laptop complete with WiFi, USB ports, obligatory glowing green ring, and converged power supply so that the monitor and gaming system only require a single cable snaking out the back. Well done, Ben, well done; but as you yourself note, there's no such thing as resting on one's laurels, so we can't wait to see what you have in store for the PS3 and, most especially, the swing-your-arms-like-a-maniac Nintendo Wii. Hit the jump to check out the 360p's guts, and then head over the Ben's site for a ton of photos and one of the more thorough build walkthroughs that we've come across...

[Thanks, Jeffler and kade]

Never one to rest on his laurels,the great Ben Heckendorn has taken his already-stylin' nPod portable 8-bit Nintendo console and reworked it around a smaller "NES on a chip" to come up with a unit  that's even more polished and compact than the original. Like the nPod 1.0, this new version is only slightly bigger than those bulky plastic cartridges it plays, yet still manages to include a headphone jack and convenient sliding battery pack powered by four regular AAs. As usual, the talented Mr. Heckendorn is happy to part with the prototype (for the right price), but this time around he's also seeking feedback to gauge the market for a potential limited production run of these devices. If the NES emulator on your smartphone just isn't doing it for you anymore, then head over to Ben's site and let him know how much you'd be willing to throw down for one of these -- he may even equip them with such niceties as a system link and TV out if that's what his adoring public demands. Keep reading if you want to catch a tantalizing glimpse of the nPod 2.0 from behind...

[Via Make]

So, no disrespect intended towards the great Ben Heckendorn, but this reworked Nintendo 64 painstakingly assembled by a modder named "Marshall" is one of the best looking DIY portable consoles we've ever seen. Known as the L64 (which stands, rather geekily, for L337-N64), this device takes Heckendorn's N64p and styles it in a completely faithful Nintendo-inspired package, with support for external controllers and all of the N64's titles including those that require an expansion pack. Seriously, this thing looks so good, we're thinking that instead of paying professionals thousands of bucks to develop crappy hardware like the N-Gage, Nokia and friends might be better off crowdsourcing their product design to guys like Marshall, Ben, and their legions of fellow fanboys who seem to have a real flair for this kind of work.

[Via digg]

This guy is just out of control. After taking a brief break to work on his own independent film, Ben Heckendorn is back to his old hardware hacking ways, this time cramming a portable NES system into form factor barely larger than the cartridges it plays. Titled the "nPod," his new creation has a 3.5-inch screen, runs on four AA batteries, and is based on one of those "NES on a chip" joysticks. It's obviously about as small as a unit can be and still manage those beastly plastic game carts, but we're sure Ben will find another way to display his leet hacking skills before too long.

[Thanks, ThinkRandom]