Ben Heck Crams Three Consoles Into One Chassis

By Kevin Parrish
published

It's an All-In-One "Ultimate Combo System" from Ben Heckendorn.

Master Modder Ben Heckendorn has performed some amazing feats transforming your typical gaming consoles into incredible new form factors like the Xbox 360 Laptop, the Nintendo Wii laptop, the portable Xbox 360 and more. Now he spends three episodes of The Ben Heck Show cramming three consoles into an all-in-one gaming machine. Fun times.

Rather than wait for the new consoles to arrive this holiday season, Heckendorn is combining the current-gen Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Slim (Uncharted 3 bundle at that!), and Nintendo's Wii U console. His plan of attack consists of three stages: (1) take apart and analyze the three consoles, (2) modify for the new configuration, and (3) build a cool new enclosure.

"I haven't taken apart the PS3 or the new Wii U yet, so it's all Greek to me," he admits. He goes on to spend the entire first episode taking each console apart, moving from the top-loading PlayStation 3 to the Wii U to the Xbox 360.

Details regarding the following two episodes are unknown, but the resulting form factor looks to be encased in a wooden box and called the "Ultimate Combo System". Due to the new PlayStation 3's top-loading tray, it resides at the top, sitting above the Wii U which is mounted in the middle and the Xbox 360 residing at the bottom.

It will be interesting to see how he combines the three into one enclosure while keeping everything cool. A setup like this undoubtedly frees up shelf space for gamers with more than one console (cough) not to mention cut down on all the cables.

The first episode of Ben Heck's epic all-in-one console journey can be seen right here.

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Kevin Parrish
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • JJ1217
    The current xbox 360 overheated enough by itself to melt itself, when combined with two other consoles... damn hes gotta have a good air flow.
    Reply
  • echondo
    Well the Wii doesn't have all that much heat to it, the Xbox 360 launch to 2010ish had heating problems, but the Slim Xbox 360s are great for heat dissipation.

    Don't know about the new PS3 however with the top loading tray. I only have the slot loader, but to my knowledge it doesn't really produce a lot of heat compared to the Xbox.
    Reply
  • krazyjamus
    The original PS3 makes about the same amount of heat as the original 360. The difference was in design. In the PS3 it has a 120mm fan blowing directectly onto the gpu/cpu. It then bounces off to the sides and out of the case.
    With the orginial XBox 360 it had two 60mm fans at the back that blew out of the case. So instead of PUSHING air onto the gpu/cpu it would PULL air which vastly less effective for heat dissipation. I have no idea why the launched the xbox 360 with such an obvious design flaw.

    echondoWell the Wii doesn't have all that much heat to it, the Xbox 360 launch to 2010ish had heating problems, but the Slim Xbox 360s are great for heat dissipation.Don't know about the new PS3 however with the top loading tray. I only have the slot loader, but to my knowledge it doesn't really produce a lot of heat compared to the Xbox.
    Reply
  • lionheart2243
    krazyjamusI have no idea why the launched the xbox 360 with such an obvious design flaw.Likely the same reasons any retailer puts products out too early: to beat out the competition. The 360/PS3 generation was such a massive improvement graphically that people were dying to get their hands on one, and I expect Microsoft knew the first to be released would gain a massive market share. I don't know if they were aware of the PS3's hardware destined to edge them out (graphics, blu-ray) but they knew how important it was to get that first console out there. You can argue that they should have spotted the flawed heat dissipation earlier, but I suppose by the time it was realized (IF it was realized) it was too late to delay if their market strategy was to beat out Sony.

    But I'm just speaking hypothetically with lots of words =P I'm new to Tom's
    Reply
  • captaincharisma
    xbox 360 on bottom. i wonder how many wii U and PS3's he went through because the 360 hardware melted the other 2
    Reply
  • dalethepcman
    I think the space could have been used more efficiently if the PS3/360 were stacked and Wii was placed next to them on its side. The configuration as pictured requires about 12" of clearance, which most entertainment centers will not accommodate.
    Reply
  • ikyung
    Love watching this guy's video on youtube.
    Reply
  • iam2thecrowe
    i have 3 consoles in one chassis too, its called a cupboard.
    Reply
  • demonhorde665
    "Ultimate Combo System"

    I'd call it near ultimate , as it doesn't incldue ALL platforms , it';s missing a PC in it.


    Now don't get me wrong not trying to say PC is better gaming platform , just saying can't call this the ultimate combo system with out including a pc in it too. Still neat thing though
    Reply
  • DsrtFx
    what the heck!
    Reply