Sorry we’re late – much of my free time these days has been spent on Possumus Man 2!
This game would PRINT MONEY
In this episode we discuss other “music hero” games Activision could try making, both some ridiculous ones and others that might actually sell. We then move on to the validity of movie critics and if they even matter, which turns into a long discussion about WALL*E. Enjoy…
I thought about doing one of these years ago, right after my first Atari 2600 portable actually, but after taking a look at the motherboard (which is a lot more complex than the Atari 2600’s) I got cold feet.
My feet are much warmer now and thus here is an Atari 7800 portable I’ve done by request. For some reason I am just not that intimidated by “complex looking” electronics anymore, I don’t know why! The 7800 motherboard is a bit larger than the 2600, thus the unit is larger, but I slapped on a bigger 7″ widescreen to make up for it. (Kind of like the iPhone ads that allegedly use giant hands) Quick specs:
For the making-of story and more pics than I usually post, click below. There’s also a video where I describe the functions. Now that this is done I can allot more of my time to “Possumus Man 2: Possumus Woman!” (Working title)
Unfortunately the flashback scene in Possumus Man 2 now takes place in the 60’s, rendering my bumper sticker props useless.
Long ago, before I was an internet celebrity, my hobby was independent filmmaking, with some modding on the side. Then of course the modding hobby took over my life and became my job, while other hobbies faded away… As of 2008 it’s been 6 years since we’ve done a movie – which might not sound like a lot but in the old days the biggest gap between our indy productions was maybe 11 months.
This snake slithered onto our filming location so I put it in the movie. Hopefully it’s not SAG because I didn’t pay it…
Not content with this state of affairs I set out to make a movie this summer, dammit. On a couple occasions we’ve almost made a sequel to our “amazing” 1995 effort Possumus Man and I decided this time we’d actually do it. Also it’s somewhat easy to film, compared to say Port Washington, as it takes place mostly in the woods. We’re shooting in hi-def using the Panasonic P2 camera – no more manual tape capture!
Mike Adsit and Jason Jones standing by a campsite where a horrific battle is about to ensue. Mike co-stars in this movie, while Jones thus far is mostly cameraman. Hi-def requires more emphasis on good focus, and he’s doing a bang-up job.
We started filming this last weekend and expect to continue about every other weekend this summer. Locations are mostly south central Wisconsin, though we may also do some shots up north around the Rice Lake / Birchwood area.
For up-to-date info, or to just check out another Benheck blog, visit The Official Possumus Man 2 blog.
Rendering of Access Controller product box. (Click image for large version)
We’re finally close enough in production to start taking pre-orders for the Access Controller. Please click here to visit the eDimensional site and proceed. You’ll also notice a permanent link on the right side of the site that you can use, as well as one for my headset.
The Access Controller is intended as a solution for those who have difficulty using a standard gaming pad because of a physical limitation or other factors. All of the gamepad controls are on one surface, allowing easy access, and the curved bottom and feet lets the user place the unit on their leg or flat surface, removing the issue of having to hold it. On top of this, each of the modules can be placed in any of the 6 slots in the unit, allowing a myriad of configurations to best suit the user and/or specific game.
Description of the 5 modules, shown in a sample configuration.
It has been a long process (a solid year) but I’m glad we’ve finally reached this point, and I’d like to offer my most sincere thanks to Michael Epstein at eDimensional for supporting this idea and bringing it to fruition.
Hello folks, have a couple new pieces regarding my work you might want to check out. (It gives me an excuse to update the site) Gameplay HD’s interview was shot last month and has some making-of bits for the Guitar Hero controllers.
Also there was a recent bit on Wired.com apparently, which you can see here.
It has come to my attention that my green Xbox 360 laptop is in the new Popular Science – I did an interview with them a while back, but I didn’t know exactly which issue it was for. I guess it’s the new June one!
For those of you wanting to try a project like this, the Engadget articles below can help supplement the Popular Science article:
Also, for the first time ever, I am making available the Adobe Illustrator (AI) files used to design all 3 Xbox laptop thus far! You’ll need AI 10 or newer to open them, so any reasonably recent version should be good.
Original white water-cooled 360 laptop, 2006
Green Halo-inspired 360 laptop, 2008
Also now would be a good time to talk a little more about the new chipset. From what I have seen the old chipset has been pretty much “washed from the shelves” though I did see a 203 watt Arcade unit when I bought my last Xbox for modding 2 weeks ago. The new chipset 360’s have a 65nm process CPU, use a lot less power and (the CPU at least) runs a lot cooler, so use them if you can. All Xbox 360’s now have the supplemental GPU heatsink, though the GPU is now by far the hottest part of the system, so it actually needs more cooling consideration now than the tri-core CPU.
What to look for:
Have fun and happy modding! Also be sure to check out our forums for lots of great help and tips.
Recently I was asked to build some single-handed Guitar Hero controllers to show at the Games for Health conference, and Red Octane was kind enough to donate some guitars for me to experiment with. Here are the results, I built two of them:
Click here for a larger version
These replace the strum and whammy bar from a standard guitar, allowing you to use a single hand for the chords. What you do is use your foot and click your toes up or down to strum or navigate menus. To perform a whammy you lift up your heel – the spring loaded plate is shown in the up (full whammy) position in the photo, but normally your heel compresses it (no whammy). The pedal plugs into a modified Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul wireless controller. You can still strum the modified guitar but the whammy is only on the pedal.
For more photos and info check the rest of the story below. This project also finally gave me an excuse to throw together a “music video” demonstrating its use, check it out here.