Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Micro Saturday at Engadget! In the absence of hard hitting stories and shocking exposés, we thought we’d turn to the lighter — and thinner — side of the news. Enter the Xbox Micro, a 1-inch thick celebration of all that is good and holy about the world of DIY mods. It took six months to make, with a few clever design decisions along the way, but it looks good enough to make even the ninja-black Wii suck its gut in. Comparison pics with the original behemoth are after the break, and hit the read link to see the exposed guts of this little beauty.

[Thanks, Matt and Jesse]

Continue reading Xbox Micro makes the Wii look overweight

Filed under: Gaming

Xbox Micro makes the Wii look overweight originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The hardcore modders in attendance need not apply unless they’re looking for a quick jaunt down easy street, but those terrified of solder guns, glue and screwdrivers best listen up. A newly formed company, BGRMODS, has just introduced its very product, and it’s pretty much a must-have for Xbox 360 owners. IntensaFIRE is an easy-to-install chip (we’re talking five minutes, tops) that modifies the Xbox 360 wireless controller in order to enable 5-mode sleeper settings (including a customizable user programmable mode) as well as a rapid-fire mode that should finally compensate for your lack of skill in Call of Duty 4. Hit the read link for the specifics on installation (trust us, there ain’t much to do), and get ready to upgrade your game on September 7th for $29.99.

[Via TestFreaks, thanks Vincent]

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

IntensaFIRE chip adds programmable / rapid fire modes to Xbox 360 controllers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The DSi seems to be getting all the cool mods and appendages these days, so we’re pleased to see the other portable Nintendo gaming system getting some love. We’ve tracked down video of an Arduino-powered touchscreen hack for the Game Boy Advance SP that brings to life one of Nintendo’s own concepts and — while not quite on par with the GamePack — comes with all the exposed hardware and blinking lights you’d expect from a quality mod. Though there’s no interface or game compatibility to speak of, the coolness factor alone should be enough for you to check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Video: GBA SP gets touchscreen hack, turns Nintendo concept into reality

Filed under: Handhelds

Video: GBA SP gets touchscreen hack, turns Nintendo concept into reality originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Most fighting games are pretty badass, but fighting games that feature giant robots? Overwhelmingly badass. Such was Virtual On, one of Sega’s most beloved (and seemingly most quickly forgotten) franchises, where two anime-themed (and frequently Saturn-wearing) virtualroids duked it out in full 3-D and blew our minds with great graphics and a humbling dual-stick control scheme (push both forward to run ahead, apart to jump, together to crouch, etc.). With the game making its triumphant return to action on the Xbox 360, a Japanese gamer has created the above monstrosity by wedging a couple of candy packages onto the controller’s analog sticks, then wiring up weapons buttons. With a little paint they’d almost pass for the arcade’s controller, but we’re not entirely sure that thin plastic would hold up to repeated deploys of Grys-vok’s ICBM attack.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Modder brings Virtual On’s dual sticks to the Xbox 360 on the cheap originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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