1. The Chevy Chase Show
2. Cheese curds left on dashboard of car on hot summer day
3. Ford Edsel
4. Crystal Pepsi
5. German invasion of France, 1940
6. Cop Rock
7. Julia Ormond’s career
8. Tiger’s Game.com
9. Flavor in average piece of chewing gum
10. New Coke

Difficulty settings aside (I went through on Normal) I can’t recall the last time I played a game so fricking short. The rumors are true – you can blow through this in about 6 hours. I find it strange this isn’t taken more into account in all the sky-high ratings it’s been getting – this is the first time in quite a while where I’ve felt like I didn’t get my 50 bucks worth (PC).

I don’t care how good the multiplayer is, or how good the [albeit short] action is – whatever happened to a good 15-20 hour FPS? You know, like Medal of Honor Allied Assault, or the first Call of Duty? It’s kind of sad that either of the Half-Life 2 episodes takes as long or longer than this full retail game.

Let’s hope this isn’t a trend – short single player that is “excused” by having really good online. I wouldn’t even count that – anyone that doesn’t play with every free minute of their time will get “outclassed” by those who do and subsequently get their asses kicked = no fun. Discuss below!

Just to remind people that I still make them, here’s an Atari 2600 portable I just finished. Went back to basics with my color scheme, kind of reminds me of the old days. Ah yes, I remember when people cried a river of tears because the first 4 versions of my Atari portables didn’t have paddle controllers. Those were good times.

Click to super-size me

I call it the “New Technology” Atari since I’ve kind of run out of names for anything new. Here’s my “Atari 2600” folder, look at all the crap in it!

The story of my life, at least since 2001.

The rear of the unit. It uses the tried-and-true 6 batteries like the Pheonix did. I get email requesting a lot of things (mostly Xbox laptops and PS360 controllers) but your best bet for something I’ll actually have time to do (and is reasonably priced) is still an Atari 2600 portable. Remember I’m still making those Rev 5.1’s when requested.

I racked up a pretty good score on Asteroids last night, testing this thing whilst waiting for a Halo 3 round to start. Atari – still crazy after all these years.

Resigned to the fact that people know me as Benheck I put it in this article’s title, to save other web sites a little time rewriting their links. How considerate of me.

For a larger version with no captions click here.

Anyway, today I’m going to show you all the prototype for the new single handed controller I have designed and built, which I’ve been calling the “Access Controller”. This is actually the second prototype, a more refined version of the first. Alongside the new Elite-based Xbox 360 laptop (yes, it is coming) this has consumed most of time in recent months, hopefully explaining the drought of new projects.

Here’s the basic principle: You lay this controller on your leg, table or arm of a chair and all the buttons are available on the top surface. The gag is that each of the five sections is removable and you can plug them anywhere you want. This not only makes the controller work for both left and right handed use (simply mirror the layout) but it also allows the user to optimize the button placement on a game-by-game basis. Even if the user has partial use of both hands it should still be easier to work with than a standard controller.

In this configuration example the thumb controls the left analog (player movement) where the forefinger is on the right analog. The middle or ring finger can press the analog shoulder buttons.

More details and photos follow below. This unit is currently in pre-production for manufacturing thanks to the folks at eDimensional.com and will first appear as a wireless model for the PS2/PS3, with an Xbox 360 version pending. If you’re interested in obtaining one of these or simply wish to express interest please email them directly at access@eDimensional.com. All other normal inquiries (photo permissions, interview requests, offers to send me free beer) can go to my usual address using the link over on the right.

Continue reading Benheck’s new single handed “Access” controller revealed →

Had this forwarded to me yesterday – a video review of the Audio FX Pro 5+1 Headset.

I believe we’re going to be in CompUSA stores soon, so if you’ve been thinking about getting one, or lining up your holiday presents list, why not give it a whirl? You can visit edimensional.com for more details, and we’ll keep you up to date on future announcements, reviews and appearences.

Some of you have pondered on my forums what projects I might be working on. It shouldn’t be any secret that a 3rd Xbox 360 laptop is coming – quite soon actually, I fired it up last night – and is Halo 3 inspired in theme.  We’re also working on a production model of the single-handed controller, which I will talk more about soon. It’s quite different from the earlier models and has been one of my larger projects this year.

So stay tuned, we’re still all about more than just podcasts!

Just thought I’d take this moment to soapbox about my continued desire to make my own videogame. Yes, I’ve made some cool gaming system projects, and there’s new ones yet to come, but of course a system is nothing without a game to play on it. In this regard it feels like there’s more I could do.

The idea I’d really like to pursue is non-violent, somewhat Myst-like and would actually, as much as I hate to admit it, fit very well on the Wii. Target demo would be adult and about 50/50 male/female.

For some reason I have put the guts of a wireless Xbox 360 controller inside of an original, huge, 2001-model Xbox 1 controller – commonly referred to as “the Duke”, though what it has in common with John Wayne is beyond me.

Batteries. Much more useful up there than the memory slots or whatever the heck it was for.

Believe it or not this mod is suggested to me every once in a while so I figured I might as well take a crack at it and see what happens. It’s not often you get to work on a controller so large it’s classified by NASA as a low-level Earth-orbit object. For this reason, during the modding, I was careful not to drop it as this would have created an impact crater sufficient to snuff out all life on Earth and the dinosaurs, whichever comes first. Aerosmith and Bruce Willis were standing by to save the day in case of mishaps.

All ripping aside, it ended up being about as difficult as the PS360 controller, nothing I couldn’t handle. Since I did this on my own accord it is unclaimed and up for grabs. Best price gets it, so make an offer! Could ship just in time for Halo 3. (Note: Some interested parties, but UP FOR GRABS as yet)

Based off the difficulty of this mod (harder than I would have liked) and the number of other projects I have going on I probably won’t duplicate this anytime soon, so first come, only served. More pics and a video below.

Continue reading Xbox 360 “Duke” Controller →