TechBloggin.com

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

It’s mighty trendy around these parts to say how much you lament the day when Sega caved to the PS2 and pulled the plug on the Dreamcast, but which side were you on when the Saturn was getting tag-teamed by the OG PlayStation and N64? That poor thing never come close to the sales of even its failed successor, yet still sits fondly in the hearts of a dedicated few arcade-minded gamers. Perhaps that’s why Japanese modders at an Akihabara shop decided to bring one back to life, ripping its 32-bit guts out and replacing them with those required to support a dual-core Atom 330, including 2GB of DDR2-800 RAM and a 160GB HDD. Even the peripherals have been overhauled, the memory cartridge turned into an over-sized USB stick and the four-button Shuttle mouse receiving a laser transplant. If it could still play Virtual On: Cyber Troopers we’d be getting out our passports.

[Via lebloggadget]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Tim Stevens

written by

Filed under: Gaming

Console modders out there have been doing crazy things with controllers for a while now, and while this latest piece isn’t as crazy as the one-handed Access Controller, it’s still good for a double-take — check out this wired 360 controller shoehorned into a DualShock3 shell, complete with green LEDs. THe modder, RDC, says it works great, rumble included, but that there’s no headset connector and the L2 and R2 triggers aren’t analog — both things he’s hoping to fix in the next version. We’d suggest keeping the DS3 buttons as well — while the colorful 360 buttons look pretty hot against that black case, we’d rather break this thing out and blow minds stealth-style.

[Thanks, Aguiluz]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Nilay Patel

written by

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Transportation, Wireless

So to be clear right off the bat, this is not the type of hovercraft that you might commute to work or class in, but rather a small RC version more suitable for transporting babies or adorable pets. That being said, Instructables user bradpowers has posted step-by-step guide for the ambitious modder to build his or her very own remotely-controlled or autonomous ‘craft, from constructing the frame to assembling the lift and propulsion systems to setting up the onboard PIC. Definitely not a project for the easily distracted, however, a successful build will surely make you the delight of neighborhood children for blocks in every direction. Check out a video of the little guy in action after the break.Continue reading How-to build your own wireless, autonomous hovercraft

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Evan Blass

written by

Filed under: Gaming

Warranty extension or not, the widespread nature of Xbox 360 failures pretty much guaranteed that it was only a matter of time before a third party stepped forward with a commercial fix. The X-Clamp Fix from Next Generation seems to the be first of these solutions available, although it’s certainly not as simple as we would have expected. Consisting of some replacement screws and washers, the $15 kit helps you tighten down your GPU heatsink, possibly resetting your GPU in the process, a strategy modders have been using to escape the red ring of death for some time now. Probably worth a look if you’re unable to get warranty service and the other wing-and-a-prayer fixes don’t work for you, but the kit looks like it involves pretty significant disassembly — we’d recommend picking up the phone and begging for an RMA first. Check the world’s most boring installation video after the break.

[Via MaxConsole]Continue reading Commercial X-clamp fix for red-ringed 360s: mostly new screws

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Nilay Patel

written by

Filed under: Gaming, Storage

One of the main impediments keeping many people from modding their own consoles is their lack of handiness with a soldering gun — not to mention the whole voided warranty thing — but now a new product is said to be on the horizon that moots both these points in a single blow, the ‘Vast’ advanced custom memory card for PlayStation 2. According to MaxConsole, which claims to have a dialog going with the developers, Vast “essentially exploits a flaw in the PS2 memory card system” to give you the same functionality derived from a hard-wired mod chip sans the need for a single power tool. The only real “proof” we have of this product so far is the above screenshot, which MaxConsole tells us was captured from the card’s proprietary operating system; if this is all on the level, we should know more before the scheduled launch, which is said to be a mere two weeks away.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Evan Blass

written by

Filed under: Gaming

Those of you aching to pull open your PSP and do a little modding but afraid to void your warranty — or worse, brick your baby — will want to check out the Virtual PSP Modder software from AcidMods. The Windows tool allows you to practice taking a PSP apart, look at the inside at up to 5X resolution, poke around with a virtual screwdriver and tweezers, tinker with the LEDs, apply random mods to see what works, and more — all without having to crack open your actual, working PSP. Or course, there’s no PSP emulation, so you can’t play any games, and you’ll have to somehow translate what you do on the screen to real life at some point, but hey — even Ben Heck had to start somewhere. Check out a fairly boring video of the software in action after the break.Continue reading Virtual PSP Modder lets you try before you hack

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Nilay Patel

written by

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming

It would seem that the first-ever iPhone game has been written and is available to download to your Jail-broken device, and true to the natural form of the Microsoft vs. Apple debate, it’s all based around blowing up Zunes. Jason Merchant, a clever (and possibly very bored) iPhone hacker has coded a small game app for the phone wherein you target floating Zunes with your onscreen mini-iPhone, and then blast away with missiles. The Microsoft-fanboy-incensing shooter was written in objective C, and obviously requires that your device has had Jailbreak run on it to allow for the install. The creator says he’s working on an aquarium app which will allow you to drop fish-food to an underwater iPhone, which pretty much makes no sense at all.

[Via Hackint0sh, thanks Boy Genius]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Joshua Topolsky

written by