And now, Ben Heck makes an ‘Atari’ Xbox 360 ‘1977 edition’

A while back, I came across Benjamin J. Heckendorn (a.k.a. Ben Heck) and his Commodore 64 laptop. This is a quite a fascinating machine, considering the actual “portable” 64 Executive was a heavy beast that could kill if hurled at you. While Ben took the 64’s odd colour, keyboard and 64C’s motherboard, his is structured more like a modern laptop with a fold-down screen.
   Looks like Ben’s at it again with his Xbox 360 1977 Edition, thanks to Element14:

Ben Heck and his Xbox 360 1977 Edition

   This is on The Ben Heck Show, a bi-weekly online TV series.
   According to Element14: ‘In this episode, Ben works on a custom mod for Atari to create an Xbox 360 portable laptop with the look and feel of a 1970s Atari console to help support the debut of new games based on iconic titles, including Yar’s Revenge and Star Raiders.’
   As those of us observing trends know, the late 1970s are chic again, and have been for a few years.
   I remember this when one of our university interns remarked to me at the close of the last decade that she thought the Ford Taunus II was cool because it was so boxy. Give things long enough, and their omission from everyday æsthetics—because those of us who lived through them tried to rid society of all memory of them—actually sparks interest in a new generation.
   Ben’s 1977 Xbox has wood panelling and metal switches, though, as with the 64 laptop, it combines some modern æsthetics with the “classic” look.
   Atari’s pretty happy, too. ‘Ben clearly had a lot of fun and it’s great to see how the classic, retro Atari design is incorporated,’ says Lee Jacobson, SVP of Licensing and Digital Publishing, Atari. ‘The system completely exceeded our expectations and we’re sure that any Atari enthusiast would be thrilled to use this unique system.’


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2 thoughts on “And now, Ben Heck makes an ‘Atari’ Xbox 360 ‘1977 edition’

  1. Awesome, awesome, awesome!

    I remember his C64 lappy mod and sent the link to my father-in-law, who was suitably impressed. I wonder if he remembers the Atari 2600 VCS enough to appreciate this one?

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