Ben Heck your the best! I thoroughly enjoy your videos and am always waiting for the next video. You have deepened my passion for computer science and electrical engineering and now more than ever to I want to major in the subject in college. One day I hope I can make portable systems just like you!
Ben I love your channel. I just got an Atari "Flashback-1" for $3 at Goodwill; all there but the manual and all works...21 games for $3. My 1st gaming system.
Watching this 7.5 years after the fact and I find it so very amusing that AA batteries were considered a viable option for power. My how things have changed.
You should try making one form one of those 2600 tv games. From what I have hear they use most of the same hardware to the original 2600 and you can even add a cartage slot but they are much smaller.
The cartiridge also acts as a shade for the screen, so you don't have to walk backwards with it because the reflections are blinding you, I guess it wasn't intentional, but still pretty good for a walk afternoon.
Oh, I also remember that at that point, Ben had two VCSp's, and you could play two player head-to-head. I was amazed, until he pointed out that the 2nd player just acted as a joystick and a 2nd screen. The 2600 hardware wasn't being used. (That also explained how he could do two player Combat with only one cartridge. :) )
+Damian Wezzterman It's not too hard to make a portable nes. Instructables has a instruction for it. and it's not expensive either: a nes and a controller(good deals=about 20$) a screen(price changes with size) and some tools. If you are still a kid you could ask your parents(or other adults like your uncle, adult cousin if you have one or friends of your family) for help with soldering
+Gra130503 I'm still a kid at heart lol, but I'm 35. If I make one I'll just use a top-load NES board. Even have a design with a sliding/locking double sided cartridge slot that would allow it to be able to play both NES and Famicom cartridges. You'd have to see my disigns to understand the workings better.
I saw that original at CG Expo :) I think Ben came to show it off to me when he saw me sitting there with two Lynxes, and no one playing with me. ;) Ben came with my wife and I when we went to the Star Trek thing in Las Vegas. Still have the tribble we bought. It's battery sadly exhausted... Good times...
Gaming History Source Actually, if you think about it, with it sticking out like that, not only can you read the title of the game you’re playing, but the cartridge acts like a sort of shade so playing in brighter light is easier.
Okay ben, with the NES and Atari VCS, one could remove all the IC chips and re-create the PCB to the custom size that you need. I have done this with other projects with WAY more ICs and other parts then an Atari or NES. This is something I need to try with a console and see how small I can actually make the portable.
Great video! I figured this would be a good spot to ask for a tool I'm looking for but for the life of me can't remember the name. It looks like a flat head screwdriver but the tip has a "v" cut in the tip and it's curved a little. The hand tool is good for guiding screws into tough to reach place. lol thanks
"serve drinks to the thirsty patrons and catch the empties" maybe that could be a new project, a machine or robot that will serve you a fresh drink and take away the old glass, ooo, kinda gets you excited, don't it!
People have done this already, look in my favorites, there is a really good one there I like and will be making. Nice and thin and can accept a full sized cart.
Great episode... I was wondering since old game console. I was wondering if you can add hd/converter to hdmi build into a Super Nintendo with out changing the out side look of it???
@lvvipervvi The way he designed it the cartridge casts a shadow on the screen so you can see it in bright light (I believe that was his original intent).
I was really hoping you would have but the game slot in the top of the system going up, I mean its cool that it has the original feel but it isn't conducive to be sticking out the front, even with the limited room I'm sure you could have made it fit.
You ought to make a version that incorporates one of the multi-cart designs available that allows you to have pretty much every game ever made on one cart, then you don't have to worry about having to plug big cartridges in it.
Absolutely cool, if only the cartride input can be turned 45 dagrees sothat it just just goes into the systdm just like on a gameboy, it will not hinder your vision on screen,
I'm wondering on a Nintendo 64 Mini and i seen how you cut the ground around the board and was wondering do you even need that big of ground? and do you need the RF Shield?
You should make the versión 3.0 in 5 years. With even more vintage Atari look. This one has a feeling more close to a Gameboy. For example, it definitely has to have an Atari control button.
I'm putting all of the 2600 on a breadboard, and then trying to skrink it down as much as possible. I will then make a plexi-glass enclosure for it. I like to SEE the circuitry in my electronics, and generally like to do this kind of stuff. This will be my first major electronics project. It's going to be like the Rasberry Pi of an Atari 2600. Respond and tell me what you think. Thanks, Nick
4:15 lol Ben, you should retry the N64 and stuff with the info available on your site and its children (ModRetro, Made by Bacteria). Lots of stuff has been discovered since your endeavors.
What type of soldering iron do you use to de-solder a mother board power jack on a Net book, because I'm currently using a 60 watt and it's not doing the job fast enough.
I can't wait to get my Raspberry Pi. My order went through in June, and it said it would ship in 11 weeks... so.. uh... soon? I think the MaKey MaKey and Raspberry Pi were meant for each other.
I wonder if it would b possible to use one of the Jakks Atari 10 in 1 joystick to make a nice, compact portable unit and maybe, add either a cartridge slot, or an sdcard or similar to have all the games on the unit.
would be neat to just see you make one come to think of it a much bigger screen would be cool on a game gear cut out a larger area and put in a bigger screen
If Ben Heck worked for the new company Atari sold, he can help the company create portable Atari 2600 and 7800 systems. This is something he should do.
my question may have been asked and answered.... however is a console like this able to play games like Ghostbusters? where more then select and reset buttons are required????
Was is an aesthetic choice to have the cartridge slot on the front, making it look more like a actual VCS, rather than a more streamlined version with the slot on the top like a Gameboy? Or is the process of rewiring too complex? Don't get me wrong I think it's fantastic looking but I think if I had to remake it, I'd choose to have it resemble an actual handheld. Everyone seems to follow this design principle with the slot in the top, it just feels more... user friendly?
I'm gonna make a dual console Atari 2600 connected to an xbox360 or original. This is something I've wanted to do for a while. Thinner I'll make a handheld Xbox!
hello i was wandering can you do a video on the basics like what do you mean when you talk about ground and what are all those schematics how can you read them also i was wandering do you know of any other ways to make the cases without one of those machines i could never afford one of those just asking because i have no idea about this stuff and one last thing do you think that you would ever make a custom xbox controller like with your name engraved into it or maybe a new layout of the buttons
Wasn't there a released portable version of the Atari 2600? I remember it having a screen on one side and a joystick on the other. I don't know it it took the real 2600 carts or modified ones, but I do remember seeing an ad for it and wanting it as much as I wanted the Sega Nomad.
I prefer the banana and orange Pi boards better for making a games console (handheld) at least from what I've seen on RU-vid. I'm not quite ready to be building one myself yet.
If I were you, I would've replaced the cartridge port with a ROM chip with every game for the system or an SD card slot. I would also replace the six AA batteries with a thin rechargeable battery. These changes would make the unit thinner.
