Benjamin Heckendorn
| Benjamin J. Heckendorn | |
|---|---|
 Benjamin Heckendorn at Midwest Gaming Classic 2007 | |
| Born |
October 19, 1975 Richland Center, Wisconsin |
| Residence | Verona, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Website | BenHeck.com |
Benjamin J. Heckendorn (born October 19, 1975) is an American console modder and Internet celebrity. He is better known as "Ben Heck" on the Internet. Heckendorn is also an independent filmmaker and star of element14's The Ben Heck Show, a popular online TV program.
He has two podcasts, one which he runs with the help of a friend, Jason Jones,[1] and the other on Warpath.TV with George Force, Mike Zucker, and Anthony Carboni.[2]
Most of Heckendorn's mods are done by taking apart old video game consoles such as the Atari 2600 and Nintendo Entertainment System. He then reconfigures internal printed circuit board (PCB) into a smaller form factor. The newly configured circuit board is enclosed within a custom case (done by a CNC machine) and any peripherals are assembled by Heckendorn.
His creations have been featured in such publications as Wired, Popular Science, and Maxim, and on television shows such as The Screen Savers, Attack of the Show!, and X-Play. His mods are also commonly presented on popular blogs such as Engadget.[3]
History
He had an interest in electronic and video games as a child, as a young man in film-making and in later life while working as a graphic artist he made a GeoCities site covering his project to make a portable Atari 2600, this led to an appearance in 2004 on The Screen Savers (following the temporary injury of the normal maker Yoshi) and then to a book deal and requests for custom electronics creations to YouTube videos in 2010.[4]
Systems
Atari
Heckendorn has created a line of portable Atari systems, almost always using some form of Atari 2600 board cut up into a smaller PCB. The only exception is the Atari Jaguar "64-Bit" Portable and the Atari 800 laptop. He has also turned two Atari 800 computers into laptops.
Xbox 360
- An Xbox 360 was modded so as to have a form factor similar to that of a portable laptop computer. Ben had been very used to modest popularity on the internet until the Xbox 360 laptop was revealed, skyrocketing his publicity for an extended period of time.
- A one-handed Xbox 360 controller was built for a serviceman injured in Iraq. T
- He has revised the Xbox Laptop five times, his fifth revision being a modified Xbox Slim.
- He made an Xbox 360 controller out of a Standard Xbox Controller.
- He has made another one-handed Access Controller with modular ministicks and buttons. Originally designed for PC, PS2 and PS3, it will now work with Xbox 360 through an adapter. .[4]
Xbox One
- Heckendorn has modified an Xbox One console into a portable.
Nintendo
Heckendorn has created five (3 NESp's) Nintendo portables:
PC
Sega
- Heckendorn has made a Sega Genesis portable called the Sega Exodus. It started life as a Radica Genesis collection DTV unit. When a cartridge slot was added, it gained the ability to play most Sega Genesis games
SNK
Sony
Heckendorn has made three Sony portables, a "laptop" version of the PS3 based on the Slim version, and a "PS360" controller, which is a PlayStation 3 controller built into an Xbox 360 controller's shell.
Apple
- Apple IIGS Laptop: It is a laptop made from an original Apple IIGS motherboard, with added RAM and a CompactFlash interface.
- Apple One Replica Laptop is A Custom Made Replica Of The Apple One
Commodore
- A Commodore 64 (C model for its smaller motherboard) modded into a portable laptop compute [5]
Combo systems
Heckendorn has made three combo system to date.
- Atari 2600 / PS2 Combo Unit: It
- NEStari: His first portable combo system. The system was an NES and an Atari 2600 combo.
- Ultimate Combo System: It was an Xbox 360, a PlayStation 3, and a Wii U in a custom case.
Hacking video game consoles
In February 2005, Heckendorn released his book Hacking Video Game Consoles, published by Wiley Publishing Inc. and printed under their ExtremeTech line. It contains step by step instructions for creating two Atari 2600 portables, two NES portables, two SNES portables, and two PlayStation portables, each in hand-built and CNC-cut designs.
Podcast website
On December 13, 2006, Heckendorn started benheckpodcast.com, a website for storing all of his podcasts. In addition, posts are made detailing all the projects he is currently working and the projects he has worked on in the past.
Heckendorn's other podcast is entitled Sonic Boom, and is available on the Warpath.TV digital network. This podcast is no longer in production.
Movies
Heckendorn is also an amateur film maker. He has completed 6 Films since 1995, including his comedic love story, Port Washington, released in 2006. His most recent movie, released on October 31, 2008 was entitled Possumus Woman, and is the sequel to his 1995 film, Possumus Man. All of his films have been released independently.
| Films | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | ||
| 1995 | Possumus Man | ||
| 1996 | Adventure! | ||
| 1999 | The Adventurous | ||
| 2000 | The Lizard of Death | ||
| 2006 | Port Washington | ||
| 2008 | Possumus Woman | ||
The Ben Heck Show
Ben Heck is the main attraction in a weekly online TV program called element14's The Ben Heck Show, hosted on YouTube and the element14 Community. As of June 2016, the show had recorded more than 33 million views worldwide.[6] A typical episode has Ben creating a new product or hacking existing devices, such as an Xbox, for different uses, sometimes based on viewers' suggestions.[7][8][9]
As the host of element14's The Ben Heck Show, Heckendorn has made celebrity appearances as an attendee or judge at numerous industry events and competitions, including Maker Faire Detroit and Engadget Expand.[10][11]
References
- ↑ http://www.benheckpodcast.com
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-07-18. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
- ↑ http://www.engadget.com/tag/BenHeck/
- 1 2 Ben Heck interviewed on the TV show Triangulation on the TWiT.tv network
- ↑ http://benheck.com/04-05-2009/commodore-64-original-hardware-laptop
- ↑ ""The Ben Heck Show" on element14 Marks 10 Million Episode Views With Coin-Operated Tabletop Arcade Build". Premier Farnell. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ↑ Alexis Santos (30 July 2013). "Bicycle turn signals get the Ben Heck mod treatment (video)". Engadget. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ↑ Nicole Lee (12 March 2013). "Ben Heck combines PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U into one console to rule them all (video)". Engadget. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
- ↑ Dougal Shaw (12 September 2014). "Ben Heck: How I miniaturised the ZX Spectrum". BBC TV. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ↑ "Updates in store for Maker Faire Detroit in Dearborn". Dearborn Press & Guide. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ↑ Michael Gorman (26 September 2013). "Meet the judges for Expand NY's Insert Coin competition: Ryan Block, Ben Heck, Hilary Mason and Peter Rojas". Engadget. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
External links
- Official website
- The Ben Heck Show
- Ben Heck interviewed on the TV show Triangulation on the TWiT.tv network