A tale of two mods: different PSP joysticks

24 Comments by Kevin Kelly Oct 17th 2006 5:00PM
Filed under: Hacks, Sony PSP

Engadget's newest columnist, hardware hacker extraordinaire Ben Heckendorn (yes, we're jealous) has built a very nifty PSP joystick mod, and provided handy steps so that you can also void your warranty and save your thumb. However, taking BenHeck's mod and improving on it, Joe Stranger has posted his own "ghetto" joystick mod in the DCEmu Forums. Stranger cleans up the design from BenHeck's schematics (giving him the proper amount of props), and makes the mod detachable with a tight little enclosure that houses a USB adapter. Check out the drool-worthy ghetto thumbstick video after the break. We want to send our PSP direct to him for pimping out.

As far as mods go, this has to be one of the most useful we've ever seen. It makes us want to pick up Loco Roco again, since we won't have to wear off the skin on the pads of our thumbs to finish it.

Read - Engadget's analog control stick how-to
Read - DCEmu's version of Engadget's mod

Tags: Ben Heckendorn, BenHeck, ghetto, Joe Stranger, mod, PSP, Sony, thumbstick

(Page 1) Reader Comments

Raynre: Oct 17th 2006; 5:36PM

Im sad that this was needed...

Jerome: Oct 17th 2006; 5:36PM

WOW! Amazing!!

Very slick! Very professional!

It just gave me a idea!

hehe

Jerome

ShermDidIt: Oct 17th 2006; 5:42PM

uh wear out your thumbs playing Loco Roco? how the hell do you play loco roco with your thumbs?! and even if you did in a very simian-like manner, how would an analog stick work with Loco Roco?? oh right, another facetious dig at the psp's poor control scheme and perceived lack of games. clever little monkeys aren't ya?

LK: Oct 17th 2006; 5:48PM

The biggest problem here (already pointed out at Kotaku etc.) is that guy is seemingly shirtless in the video...

lorben: Oct 17th 2006; 5:51PM

I'm very temped to try this, yet believe I will ruin my PSP if I try.

tom: Oct 17th 2006; 5:58PM

Excellent work. Pay attention Sony.

But did he need to film this while topless?
And why is he in such a hurry?

strange.

Silver R. Wolfe: Oct 17th 2006; 6:14PM

Wow. Obviously you guys have never touched LocoRoco since you don't play it with the joystick nub, or the d-pad, or any of the face buttons other than circle.

Tom: Oct 17th 2006; 6:23PM

Maybe it was sarcasm, but I'm pretty sure the control scheme for Loco Roco only uses the L, R and O buttons

hot mod though

V1L3: Oct 17th 2006; 6:26PM

*sigh* I wish you people would actually READ these posts properly.

"It makes us want to pick up Loco Roco again, since we WON'T (emphasis added) have to wear off the skin on the pads of our thumbs to finish it."

And if you thought they were being sarcastic, then may I suggest you invest in a sarcasm detector, which is a REAL useful invention.

As for the PSP's analogue nub being below par, let me ask you this. What portable system has a BETTER analogue stick?

And please don't mention the DS. The touch screen is great for games like Brain Training, but when it comes to platform games and racing games, it's a dog. A Nintendog, if you will.

But you won't.

Kevin: Oct 17th 2006; 7:08PM

Damn, this explains why I suck so bad at Loco Roco and have no left thumb. "TURN DAMN YOU, TURN!"

Andrew: Oct 17th 2006; 7:12PM

That's a really well done mod.

snakeeater: Oct 17th 2006; 7:54PM

Nice LOST reference in the title.

SwimOdin: Oct 17th 2006; 8:18PM

Have you even played Loco Roco?

SwimOdin: Oct 17th 2006; 8:19PM

Oops, meant for that to go up earlier. Sorry!

whoiseric: Oct 17th 2006; 9:05PM

You dont use your thumbs for Loco Roco but that new thunbstick looks fun to try with Lumines

The ZeroCorpse: Oct 17th 2006; 9:39PM

Wow. How portable.

I'd imagine Sony fans will now be adding a steering wheel and stereo speakers to the PSP, and give up on sticking the thing in a pocket altogether.

Lekko: Oct 17th 2006; 10:35PM

The control nub on the PSP does need a lot of work, it just isn't quite right. There also needs to be two sticks, not one.

The ultimate PSP accessory to me would be a clamshell case, where the bottom half is a keyboard, and it has two joysticks on it. It could mount via the screw holes, and be USB. But, much like the 360 HD-DVD drive, it could never be used for games as standard as it is an add-on.

And I still don't know why Sony keeps saying NO on PSP keyboards, honestly..

Darren Tilley: Oct 17th 2006; 11:19PM

If you'd even played Loco Roco just once, you'd realise that it doesn't even use the analog joystick, or D-pad. Stop being a faker and actually play some games.

zero-shift: Oct 17th 2006; 11:40PM

Why bother hacking stereo speakers? There's already several speaker add-ons for the PSP available:
http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=308&products_id=9040&
http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=308&products_id=8479&
http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=308&products_id=7260&
And, yeah...none of them look all that portable.

thom: Oct 18th 2006; 2:31AM

@ snakeeater: you do realize it's more of a Dickens' reference don't you? That Lost didn't come up with that on their own...?
But I do love Lost, so let's give them half credit ;)

As far as the mod in question goes, I don't have a PSP, but this little attachment is VERY nice, and with a price drop of maybe $100 and one of these standard, I might think of picking the system up. Oh and an obligatory DS FTW!

bm: Oct 18th 2006; 3:49AM

"And please don't mention the DS. The touch screen is great for games like Brain Training, but when it comes to platform games and racing games, it's a dog. A Nintendog, if you will."

"Games like brain training" huh? So I guess those include RTS games, FPS games, on-rails shooters like Point Blank, puzzle games, and various other misc game concepts like Kirby: Canvas Curse?

Nice wording there, fanbot.

virtuadept: Oct 18th 2006; 3:04PM

Great, now my PSP can have a big wanger sticking off of it so it won't fit in my pocket.

myiagros: Oct 18th 2006; 3:14PM

you have played loco roco right??
cause from what i remember you never touch the analog nub in that game, only the shoulder buttons and circle.

Aex: Oct 18th 2006; 5:36PM

The mini usb version is HAWT.

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