Nothing brings us more pleasure than when a single product can unite both the disabled and the lazy, and that's exactly what your friend and ours Ben Heck has cooked up with his new, commercially available one-handed peripheral: the Access Controller, compatible with PCs, PS2 and PS3. You can now pre-order the unit here.

Though the footprint is a bit larger than previous one-handed attempts we have to give him credit, if only for figuring out how to make all the buttons accessible (the layout's even customizable). Now, when can we get our hands hand on a 360 version?

Forget that "PlayStation Portable" nonsense you've got sticking out of your pocket. If you're going to be carrying around a PlayStation, why not make it a proper one that can play Warhawk and Uncharted? Consumer electronics crammer, Ben Heck, has finally completed the PlayStation 3 Laptop, a beautiful black contraption packed with all the blue rays, cells and ex em bees you can shake a Sixaxis at. Seriously, you can shake your Sixaxis at it and it'll work.

Other fancy things in it:

• Original backwards-compatible 60GB model
• 17-inch LCD HDTV screen: 720p
• HDMI-DVI connection
• Built-in keyboard, USB ports, stereo speakers, headphone jack
• Size: 17 x 13.75 x 3-inches
• Weight: 16 pounds!

Since it's clearly too heavy for us to lift, we're hoping a reader manages to walk off with this laptop as soon as Engadget begins auctioning it for charity. In the meantime, be sure to have a look at Ben Heck's Wii Laptop and his assorted Xbox 360 offerings.

Modding wunderkind Benjamin Heckendorn has unveiled his latest invention: The Xbox 360 Elite laptop. If this seems vaguely familiar it's probably because you're remembering Heck's Xbox 360 laptop how-to design guides from last spring. The difference here is that this one is a modded Elite with built-in camera and other upgrades (video after the break).

If you're just hearing Heckendorn's name for the first time here, please feel free to take a trip down memory lane. Other mods of interest created last year include the Wii laptop and the freaky PS360 gamepad.

[Via Engadget]

Curt Vendel, designer of the all-in-one Atari Flashback -- also known as the perfect holiday gift for that difficult person on your list -- let the readers of the AtariAge forums in on the design of the upcoming (and no longer rumored) Atari Flashback Portable.

Sure, it's not quite as ... large as BenHeck's portable Jaguar or as expandable as his VCSp Rev. 7, but what the AFP is lacking in street cred it makes up for in sheer functionality. Like the Atari Flashback units that came before it, this petite package (which isn't much larger than a 2600 cartridge) will undoubtedly house dozens of classic Atari games, with nary a cartridge in sight. And for those two-player games? The handheld has two controller ports so you can plug in some joysticks for that authentic Atari experience.

Update: more details gleaned from the AtariAge forums: the unit will run off 3 AAA batteries with a 15-hour runtime; the USB port will be a mini-port on the final release and games will be loaded via USB (from where? Will it play ROMs? Will we need to buy games individually?); screen resolution is 320X240 and the NTSC units will support AV out. Lastly, for those upset by the look of the unit, peep an even earlier spyshot of the Atari Flashback Portable after the break and bask in the glow of faux woodgrain.

[Thanks, Chad]

No, there's nothing particularly mysterious about them now, but those retro cans are the first consumer product by mod genius (and Engadget contributor) Ben Heck, hinted at through a veil of secrecy in late April. The Audio FX Pro 5+1 Headset sports a USB connection, an integrated 5.1 surround sound decoder and force feedback tech that allows you to feel frequencies that are too low for humans to hear. So ... superpowers.

It's coming in July, but you can pre-order it right here for $80. The audio works with PS3 (just not the mic) but the 360 looks to be a no go. Now, Ben, just finish up your Wii Laptop that makes iced tea and hoverboards, and we'll see what we can do about that Nobel Prize.

The inimitable Ben Heck is taking his considerable console building talents and going pro. Well, maybe "pro" isn't the exact right word, but he's lent his design skills, as well as his portable handheld naming skills, to the Gameport handheld system. The device is just a prototype, so we have no information on availability or price, but we do know it should pack a 5-hour battery life, a 480 by 234 pixel screen, a video-out for playing on your television, SD card support (for storing your games, et al), and a USB 1.1 port for loading the thing up. Their goal is to create a system that reproduces the original experience of the 8-bit classics as closely as possible and, with open source software, encourage a development community to grow around the platform. Check out Ben on GameTrailer's GameOne and jump ahead to the last segment for some video of the Gameport.

[Via Engadget]

Mod guru Ben Heckendorn, having taken a break to write a how-to for his PS360 pad, has returned like a trained Jedi (oh, wrong day, sorry) to complete the Xbox 360 laptop trilogy.

In the final act, Heck puts all the pieces neatly together and fills in all the plot holes with with pretty pictures and Digi-key part numbers. Our enjoyment is hindered only by our jealousy and inability to follow in his footsteps. For those with engineering skills, give it a shot. For those without said skills, enjoy the show and wait until Heck reveals his next crazy contraption.

See Also: part one, part two

Ben Heckendorn's back to serve as educator for all those would-be modders who wish to emulate his Xbox 360 laptop (mark II). Steps covered in the second part include designing the case, modifying the heatsink, hacking (dare we say Hecking?) apart an LCD monitor and combining the console's and monitor's power supplies. Despite the many descriptive images, explanations and downloadable resources, this project is not for the faint of heart.

The final chapter of the how-to trilogy will show how to compile everything into a working beauty and is coming soon.

See also: part one

Following Ben Heckendorn's unveiling of the Xbox 360 Laptop mk2, you've had a couple of days to prepare your mind and body for the inevitable how-to series you knew would follow, so braid up your hair and gather 'round as Master Heckendorn teaches you how to control your anger jealousy and build your very own Xbox 360 Laptop. Be warned: the process is fraught with peril and this guide (part one of three!) is comprised of nearly three dozen pictures and over 3000 "words." So grab your soldering iron and your power converters (available at Tosche Power Supply if you're plum out) and get reading. Us, we're content to just admire the pretty pictures, thanks.

The Heck 360, in both its first and second terms. With mk1 being released in September, it's amazing what difference 7 months (and various other hardware mods) can do. While you congratulate Ben Heck on having a great job, check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Readers pick best webcomic: brain fart
Today's most umbrella-worthy video: Pokéballs!

News
Casual gaming girl power; overall boys rule console market
Midnight launches for Lord of the Rings Online
Halo 2 'Blastacular' maps now available for $4
Vince Young tapped for Madden '08 cover
Former EA devs start Jet Black, new Nintendo-focused studio
Trash talk with the Aqua Teens over XBLA Uno next Tuesday
Super Paper Mario breaks 3rd dimension, fourth wall
Game publishers threatened by user-generated content
LOST video game confirmed for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC
Final Fantasy I & II remakes hit PSP late June & late July
Games shoehorned onto a digital camera
Halo: Uprising #1 spotted in Marvel solicitation
Pricey Daily Show, Colbert Report now on XBLM
Stringer: Euro PlayStation 3 approaching 800,000 sold
BBFC publishes research on gamer demographics, perception
Mizuguchi working on Al Gore environmentalism project
RedOctane promises new Guitar Hero every year
Dyack breaks Too Human silence, talks four player co-op

Rumors & Speculation
SCEE may lay off 10 percent of staff

Culture & Community
Mega64 parodies GRAW 2, border security
Engadget unveils Ben Heck's Xbox 360 Laptop mk2
Times Online offers 'Wii warm-ups' before gaming
Produce a TV show for Xbox Live, get $100K distribution deal
Are game system web surfers an untapped market?

Ben Heck has been busy, indeed. When he isn't busy gutting Xbox 360 controllers and cramming the guts of a Sixaxis into the hollow carcass, he's apparently gutting Xbox 360 consoles and cramming them into custom enclosures with integrated HD screens and keyboards (TID be damned). Engadget has pics of his latest revision, the Xbox 360 Laptop mk2 (sucks to be you, mk1) but all they're showing now is the finished product. Not to worry though, Ben promises an exhaustive three-part how-to (à la Wii laptop) soon.

Is there anything Ben Heckendorn can't do? It wouldn't shock us to read tomorrow that he's managed to build a combination Xbox 720 / PlayStation Quattro / Nintendo Hologlobe into one case, using only the interior components of a Casio watch and a Texas Instruments graphing calculator.

For now, he's content to put a PS3 Sixaxis controller into an Xbox 360 controller shell, and make it look good. While it might be blasphemy to some and a slap in the face to others, there's no denying that the guy does great work. Check out the amazing pictures here, and find out how the surgery was performed.

For just a few other Heck miracles, check these out:
Amazing Wii laptop
Stupendous Xbox 360 laptop
Retro-tastic portable Atari Jaguar

[Via Engadget]

• Part 1 ripped up the console. (O, the humanity!)
  
• Part 2 rearranges the parts and designs the case.
  
• Part 3 creates the casing and puts it all together.

Hack, mod and enjoy, but be wary: if you screw up, a replacement will be extremely hard to find.

Thought we'd show off Ben Heck's crazy portable Wii again. Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Happy cute-people-playing-bad-video-game-music day
Japanese hardware sales, 8 Jan - 14 Jan: post-holiday blues edition
Joystiq hands-on: SSX Blur (Wii)
Today's hottest game video: WoW Level 70
We destroy a Blu-ray Disc

News
Bungie profiles Halo 3's MA5C Assault Rifle
Jane Jensen's Gray Matter bumped to 2008
XBLA file size limit raised to 250MB
Get out or split: WoW free transfers on overloaded realms
MotorStorm won't be riding dirty in US 'til March
Engadget builds a Wii Laptop, world stares
December NPD: PC gaming on the rise, influenced by WoW factor
Free games! 101 and then some
Crackdown gold, you know what that means...
Gamestop: $200 Wii with Gamecube trade-in
Gears of War a failure, sells a meager 3 million copies
PS3's Europe launch all FUD up
Stan Lee: games trump movies
Why American and Japanese games are different
What's inside the Big Box Project?

Rumors & Speculation
Mercenaries 2 on Xbox 360? IGN thought so, but changed mind
EA offering FIFA for free?

Culture
Preserving the culture of games
A Flickr gallery of Perler beaded pixel art
Make Bill happy, run Windows on your PlayStation 3
Brain tumor victim makes-a-wish for PS3
Ze Frank plays with his Wii
Toying with God of War figures