Hacking Video Games Consoles

Book Description
Space Invaders and Asteroids are back!

Loved that Atari® when you were a kid? So did Ben Heckendorn — so much, in fact, that he successfully resurrected it as a slim, go-anywhere portable. When Playstation® and Nintendo® aficionados got jealous, he created miniaturized, fully functioning, battery-powered versions of those too. Now it's your turn. Every secret is here — complete instructions, materials lists, tool tips, even advice on finding parts. Just wait 'til they see this at the high school reunion.

Ready? Let's get started

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Got an old videogame console floating around? An original PlayStation, maybe? A ￯﾿ﾽSuper￯﾿ﾽ or not-so-super Nintendo? Or, if you￯﾿ﾽre of a certain age, even an Atari 2600? Don￯﾿ﾽt just resurrect it: Take it on the road. Hey, everyone￯﾿ﾽs got a GameBoy, but you￯﾿ﾽll be the only one on your block with one of these.

Benjamin Heckendorn is the world￯﾿ﾽs No. 1 expert on ￯﾿ﾽportabilizing￯﾿ﾽ old consoles; he￯﾿ﾽs actually built a business selling them. In Hacking Video Game Consoles, he presents the level of step-by-step detail you need to really do this. (Who else is going to tell you that male Molex connector prongs fit inside the Sony Infolithium battery holes splendidly? Or how to pry open a SuperNintendo case, step by step, without a ￯﾿ﾽNintendo screwdriver￯﾿ﾽ? It ain￯﾿ﾽt easy. Or pretty.)

For each platform, Heckendorn offers two projects: a basic one you can build by hand and a super-duper, extra-spiffy unit you can build if you can get access to computerized cutting equipment. Where are you going to get the screen? From a portable LCD TV, of course. Heckendorn walks you through disassembling his favorite, the Casio EV-680.

Along the way, you￯﾿ﾽll learn how to wield everything from soldering irons and glue guns to wire strippers. You￯﾿ﾽll learn the basics of electronics: not just how to keep from electrocuting yourself but how to choose the right wires and switches, how to work with resistors, potentiometers, and LEDs. (Even how to get the best price on professional routing and laser work.) You just never know when this information￯﾿ﾽs going to come in handy, now, do you? Bill Camarda, from the May 2005 Read Only

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Do you love old game systems like the Atari 2600 or the Super Nintendo? Do you wish you could play those game again without all the hassles of trying to connect them to your modern entertainment center? What if you could make them portable?

Well, now you can! Even if you don't know which end of a soldering iron to hold, Ben Heckendorn will tell you - along with all the information, wiring diagrams and how-to's you'll need to free your old games systems of their power cords and take them anywhere!

This book provides all the information necessary to convert 4 popular videogame consoles into portables - the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sony Playstation 1 and the Atari 2600. You will learn to disassemble each system, make it physically smaller by removing excess parts, rewire the controllers, power it with batteries and add a screen - everything you need to take your games with you anywhere you go.

Once you've assembled your portable system's guts, you will learn how to make a custom case using readily available materials. Or you can use the included files to make your cases with computerized cutting machinery.