See files copied from a PC! See those files loaded onto the Commodore 64 laptop! Be amazed with wonderment!

c64 sd card benheck benheckdotcom

This is the self-crushing (and self-fixing) Hamm's beer can for Bill Paxton Pinball. Having seen many, many Paxton movies (what a shock, right?) it seems he drinks Hamm's in several of them. When the player hits the Hamm's targets (usually a ricochet off the drop target) the can lights up, crushes, and a crushing can sound plays + burp. Also during the game the can can randomly light up to give you a bonus during that time should you hit it. Full reveal of the finished Bill Paxton Pinball will likely be mid March, or slightly before the Midwest Gaming Classic at which it will be playable at the Benheck.com exhibit.

hamm's benheck bill paxton pinball burp benheckdotcom

Sneak peak trailer for the next episode of my show. Check out this new build which only took far too long to machine :)

atari xbox ben heck woodgrain benheckdotcom

Myself playing Bill Paxton Pinball. Trying to get as many modes as I can to start. Darn physics getting in the way at times...

pinball benheck benheckdotcom

Started back in June but delayed while I worked on The Ben Heck Show, this is my latest Xbox 360 portable based off the new Slim hardware. It is smaller on the XY than my past models plus there are no external power bricks. WiFi is built-in and it uses a Gateway 1775W monitor as before. As one would guess, the new Slim is much easier to rework in this fashion and requires less cooling - though I still put in a load of air holes. Be sure to check out my site and element-14.com to find out about how you can enter for a chance to win this very unit!

xbox 360 slim benheck ben heck show element-14 contest benheckdotcom

Here's my latest Xbox 360 portable. Some new features, take a look! I might build more of these in the fall but right now I'm tired. If interested, visit my website www.benheck.com and email me. (I don't read or respond to messages on YouTube)

xbox 360 benheck laptop benheckdotcom

The Xbox 360 has a new style thanks to a dashboard update, and the system / game branding has changed as well. I thought it would be cool to make a white Xbox 360 Slim laptop and accent it to match the games and new Dashboard. So here it is! Looks pretty sharp, eh? Other than that, it's nearly identical to the "Ben Heck Show" branded unit we're giving away on element-14.com, except for I changed Power and Eject back to physical clicky buttons.

xbox 360 new dashboard kinect ben heck show element-14 benheckdotcom

Demonstration of my latest PS3 laptop, using the new Slim hardware. Very monochromatic!

benheck ps3 laptop no color benheckdotcom

Here's what we made on Episode 5 of the Ben Heck Show (airs 11/8/10) It's a transforming laptop meant to be easier to use in the coach (cramped) section of an airplane. To see it being built, visit www.element-14.com/tbhs

coach section laptop ben heck show half can soda benheckdotcom

Phone dying before the big meeting? Hack up a winding flashlight from Harbor Freight to save the day!

android harbor freight arm cramps benheckdotcom

Demonstration of Ben Heckendorn's latest Xbox 360 portable.

benheck xbox 360 bowling alley benheckdotcom

An Xbox 360 built into a Pelican 1490 case by Ben Heckendorn.

xbox 360 pelican case benheck benheckdotcom

Showcase view of my new C64 laptop. Uses a 1541-III Ultimate for the disk interface via the parallel expansion port. Otherwise it is very similar to the original I built.

c64 brown benheckdotcom

This is a demonstration of my latest Controller Monitor for game latency testing. It uses a PIC32-based Arduino-compatible MCU (Digilent's chipKit) to allow more accurate representation of the analog controls and allow the user to fine-tune the sensitivity through programming. Also possible are macro-controlled triggers for external TTL-level camera shutters. One action, such as left analog "aim down sight" could arm the camera, then right analog "fire" could start the camera to capture a high-speed burst of footage to analyze for latency. Package includes the modified Xbox 360 controller, controller monitor display and 8 foot cable. The source code for updating the Arduino environment is available on my website.

developers latency ben heck controller monitor benheckdotcom

This is my latest portable, an Atari 800 laptop that's vastly improved over my previous versions of this computer. The case is even more overdone than the C64, and the keyboard tilts up when open for a proper typing angle. Includes MyIDE interface, 4 gig 2.5" hard drive, speakers, original SIO port, 128K RAM upgrade and a big screen. Full details will be on my site once it's done, probably in a few days. Ballblazer time!

atari 800 laptop benheck benheckdotcom

A video demonstration of how I make portable Atari 2600's. This is the video that appeared on TechTV back in 2004 and got me my book deal. So, ironically, the only thing my video hobby did for me, financially, was get me a gig in a completely different format. It's a strange world...

benheck atari band saw benheckdotcom

We totally geeked out during this episode, here's some extra scenes

benheck hand sanitizer star trek voyager benheckdotcom

New Atari 800 laptop playing Ballblazer.

atari 800 ballblazer benheckdotcom

Testing the 1541-III SD "disk drive" on the C64 laptop for the first time.

commodore 64 1541-III benheck benheckdotcom

Demonstration of the Big Love (multiball) mode in Bill Paxton Pinball. Right now it just locks 2 balls, but the final version will have all 3. Also discusses how different modes can interact with each other and the challenges in programming for that.

Big Love pinball benheckdotcom

Bill Paxton Pinball has a new, wooden playfield, as well as solenoid control. This video also demonstrates how the music will change based off the mode of play.

bill paxton pinball celine dion benheckdotcom

My new super secret show has just now been announced and is being sponsored by element14! Let me know what you think about the show intro. Stay tuned for my upcoming community site at element14.com, launching on 9/13, for your chance to suggest a new build and to win one of my new mods.

benheck show element14 dust explosions modding benheckdotcom

New Atari 800 laptop playing Buck Rogers.

buck rogers atari 800 benheckdotcom

The custom intro to one of our rare video podcasts. Enjoy!

benheck wii god of war N64 benheckdotcom

Demonstration of my second PS3 Slim based laptop. If you are interested in these units, please visit www.benheck.com and use the email link there to contact me, thanks.

ps3 benheck laptop benheckdotcom

Shows how I lay out the table in 2D and use the layers in Adobe Illustrator to break down the design file into something that can be routed.

adobe illustrator pinball benheckdotcom

Printing a 3D object for use on Bill Paxton Pinball, with a cautionary tale attached.

3D printer cnc arnold benheckdotcom

Includes "Fisher Price Pretend Time Point of Sale", "Pinball Leg Installation Union" and "Junk Closet".

point of sale pinball union label junk closet ben heck show benheckdotcom

A lot of people took videos of it, here's one I took. You can hear people asking the common question "why Bill Paxton?" Of course we all know - why NOT?

bill paxton pinball benheckdotcom

We have the new breadboard up and flipping, this is a demo of it working on the Lost cabinet. Uses the chipKit PIC32 based Arduino-compatible MAX board, so it has 512k of program space and uses C / Processing. Parallax Propellers run the sound and video.

PIC32 chipkit digilent propeller parallax benheck benheckdotcom

There is ricochet shot in Bill Paxton Pinball that lets you "drink Hamm's" to accumulate a "Hamm's Bonus" at the end of each ball. The goal is each time you hit this shot, a fake can of Hamm's on the corner of the board will crush itself as if its been drank. This is a very simple test of a solenoid and lever that translates the short throw of the solenoid into a longer motion sufficient to crush the can (with its fake cloth sides)

hamm's pinball blue crush benheckdotcom

I discuss pin stripes, detailing and more as I cut holes out on the PS3. Amazing stuff.

Cutting holes PS3 benheckdotcom

Real-time button monitor system built by Benjamin J Heckendorn.

xbox 360 buttons benheck.com benheckdotcom

The light wiring of Bill Paxton Pinball on the back of the final board.

pinball wiring benheckdotcom

Prepare yourself for pinball, commentary on the length on James Cameron directors cuts and the very worst (and probably first) Julie Delpy impression you will ever hear!

julie delpy the abyss pinball benheck benheckdotcom

Video that shows the current state of my machine and most of the toys (playfield objects) that will be on it.

bill paxton pinball fish heads benheckdotcom

Helped my friend build this from some old pallets, so we decided to shoot an "infomercial" for it.

shooter bench cup holders benheck benheckdotcom

Demonstration of the fairly simply Apollo 13 mode of Bill Paxton Pinball. Also now includes ball save if you drain it too quickly.

apollo 13 tang bill paxton pinball benheckdotcom

The classic movie, had it been directed by Michael Bay. This is a leftover intro for an all-video podcast we thought about doing a few years back.

michael bay 2001 space odyssey benheckdotcom

Testing out the on and off ramps for Bill Paxton Pinball. Once I have these "finalized" so to speak I can finalize the board and hopefully perhaps cut "the final board" and begin the tedious light wiring + put graphics on it.

bill paxton ramps pinball benheckdotcom

Demonstration of a 2 player game on the machine. It can do up to 4 players! Ball locks, modes and progress accumulate across all players, so it's a race to complete missions before your friends do!

pinball multiplayer benheck benheckdotcom

Demonstration of how it works. I custom make these by request, so if interested, visit my site at www.benheck.com and email me from there.

xbox 360 controller disability benheckdotcom

Behold the miracle of modern science, a device beyond all expectation... the I-Table!

I-Table no Flash benheck wood benheckdotcom

Demo play of Bill Paxton Pinball in its current state. Contains completely unbiased estimates regarding its completion time.

bill paxton pinball benheck benheckdotcom

Here's an Xbox 360 controller for right-handed use I put together in a couple of hours. It doesn't look as slick as others I've done, but it was a lot simpler and provides the same functionality. Actually having wires hanging out looks kind of cool if you ask me!

benheck xbox 360 single handed controller benheckdotcom

Video describing how the music & sound was edited into loops for use on Bill Paxton Pinball.

BPP Music Editing benheckdotcom

Example of how an IR emitter detector pair can be used to run an Xbox 360 controller. This could allow someone with limited hand strength to "push" buttons simply by moving a finger up or down.

xbox 360 infrared benheck benheckdotcom

Brief description of how I'm making the backlit playfield inserts for Bill Paxton Pinball. I'm actually going to measure what size the laser actually cut them (the beam has some width to it) and enter that new number into the design so the wood board will have as tight a fit as possible.

pinball inserts benheckdotcom