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Xbox 360 crammed into laptop form
Master of all things portable and playable, Ben Heckendorn has managed to create an Xbox 360 laptop within the space of three months. The unit weighs approximately 14 pounds, is 2.8 inches thick and, more importantly, can play Dead Rising. Through an intricate process that undoubtedly involved soldering, bending and the use of arcane magic, Ben combined the 17" HD monitor, Wi-Fi adapter, a keyboard and a water-cooling system with the innards of an Xbox 360 to produce what is likely one of the least productive (and possibly best) laptop devices we've seen yet -- this stance will likely change should robotic lap dancers suddenly become the norm.Ben's official site seems to be taking a hammering, but the page dedicated to his latest creation still appears to be functional. If you encounter problems when viewing the images (none of which depict the system placed on an actual lap), wait a few moments and refresh. If you're wondering how exactly he put it all together, you'd best start reading the article right from the beginning.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
360 goes portable, LAN party in a box
360 Fanboy reader, Vince, has sent us word of his newest creation, the Ackibox (short for Acrobatic Box). The Ackibox is an all in one solution for toting your 360 around. With space for controllers and its own flat panel monitor, the 360 gamer on the go will always have a 360 at a moment's notice. Vince describes his inspiration:"Being an avid gamer, I often found myself at a friend's house, enjoying some gaming action. But there were certain annoying things about the experience, and it wasn't bad attitudes, cold pizza, or stinky feet. It was that I often found myself playing on 1/2 or 1/4 of the screen and using someone else's profile on someone else's console. I'm all for sharing, but not having the full, single-console, single-television experience can really reduce the fun (literally). Many times the difficulties of setting up and transporting the right number of consoles and televisions was the obstacle to everyone having the full experience. It often took us over an hour just to get everything setup before we could really begin playing."While it may not be the most attractive solution -- it is a prototype after all -- the Ackibox's practicality cannot be denied. Any enterprising companies out there care to turn Vince's dream into a mass-produced reality?
XBLA Portable: Worst fake product mock-up ever? [update 1]
There's this guy, this guy named Jeff. And well, Jeff sent us this post of what he claims to be a "real" portable Xbox. Jeff goes on and on about the specs, and everything seems well and good, but then the bad stuff hits: actual photos of the "product" he claims he has possession of. Look at what our boy Jeff says will be in this XBLA device (just try not to laugh too hard while doing so): It has a 1" screen, and a D-Pad, Front Button, and 2 Rear Buttons. They have between 512 MB to 2 GB of space, and can play music. Microsoft is also to announce, to combat the Virtual console, may retro systems to be playable on XBLA and this device, notably the Atari 2600. There are 5 different "Shells" this will come in. Some have a few more buttons, some don't. The base model (I have this one) will start at $39.99 - and the top model will go at around $99.99. Wow, OK Jeff. You got us there, good one. Not only are the specs ridiculous -- one inch screen? -- but the pictures of what the actual product looks like are about spot on for a third grade science project. We'd like to think Microsoft doesn't have third graders creating prototypes for them, but you never know. Check out the other brilliant pics after the break.[Update: It really is the worst mock-up ever. Why? Because it's a cereal toy. Way to go Jeff. You tried to pawn off a toy as your very own portable Xbox. You're the man now, dog!]
Xbox-alum all over iPod killer; Xboy next?
It's getting increasingly plain to see that the boys in Redmond have something up their sleeve. We've been hearing rumors about a portable Xbox (lovingly dubbed the Xboy) for a while, and now they've been coupled with rumors of another piece of Microsoft-manufactured hardware: the long-awaited iPod killer. Last time Microsoft decided to skip the software-licensing route (read: Dreamcast) and go straight to making the whole thing themselves, they tapped Robbie Bach to lead the charge and his team gave us the Xbox. Now, according to Reuters, they've tapped Bach again (thanks to a promotion and some shuffling around in Microsoft's Entertainment division) to create a "music and video device" to compete with Apple's iPod. Does this lend any more credence to the Xboy rumors? And does it remove the "need" for the Xboy to be the all-singing, all-dancing jack of all trades of portable entertainment devices?[Via Blogging Stocks; image: Playbomb]
Portable Xbox -- no, really!
So, maybe you weren't quite ready to set you lap on fire with that JoyTech LCD portable Xbox 360 setup -- we understand. Might we recommend a slightly more portable way to get your old school Xbox out and about? Hacker extraordinare "Dave" has managed to squeeze that beast into a custom case, along with a battery, screen, and front mounted controls. We can't say we've discovered our new commuting companion, but for sheer leet-ocity, this really takes the cake. We aren't spying a drive bay anywhere on here, so we're guessing this is one those modded Xboxen all the kids are talking about these days. There's even an Ethernet jack for subway LAN parties and other frivolities. Has Ben Heckendorn met his match?[Thanks, Tom]
Author claims 360 team working on portable Xbox
Here's a juicy morsel for you: in his new book, Xbox 360 Uncloaked, gaming industry author Dean Takahashi claims that half of Microsoft's original Xbox 360 development team began work on a portable console immediately after the home system launched, while the other half was tasked with driving down the 360's production costs. Takahashi goes on to say that the big M plans to follow Sony's lead and release the handheld Xbox halfway through the 360's life span, which would help offset hardware cycle costs and maintain buzz about the brand. The supposed Xbox2Go (that's what we'll call it for now, anyway) would likely be released into a competitive landscape filled with PSP2's and who knows what kind of crazy Nintendo portables, but Microsoft has certainly shown that it's in the videogame, uh, game, for the long haul, so we wouldn't be surprised to see them pump these kinds of resources into the project if it does in fact exist. Oh, and before you start commenting on the device's "design," please note that the above picture is simply an artist's conception created before any word of this got out.
Daydreaming: Xbox Move mockup
Hearing that Microsoft might be planning a portable Xbox got Nick's creative juices flowing (ewwwww), and the Xbox Move is the product of said... flowing. The design is more than just looks though, he's dreamed it out down to the key features: internal storage; WiFi; 360 headset-compatible; video camera; mic; and inertial sensor (tilt and motion); and some key capabilities: stream media via wirelessly; online audio and video chat; downloadable games; wireless Xbox 360 controller.Pretty ambitious stuff, but the skies the limit. He's updated the original mockup with a color version, and an explanation of the unique swiveling screen.[Thanks, Nick]