Forget that official Xbox handheld that's been trickling in and out of the rumor mill over the past year; a modder has now beaten the company to it.
Over on “This is a real motherboard from a real Xbox.”
Redherring32 goes on to explain that the handheld features a 480p display and USB-C charging and playback support. Wireless functionality for Xbox Live is also planned through the addition of WiFi 6. That would certainly give it some parity with the best portable gaming consoles available today.
I built a portable Xbox. This is not a laptop, this is not an emulation, this is a real motherboard from a real Xbox. It has a 9” 480p display, pure digital video/audio, 100W USB C charging and playback, and I'm currently adding WiFi 6 for Xbox Live wireless functionality. Yes, really. pic.twitter.com/yK7p0vPqUnOctober 18, 2024
In follow-up posts, Redherring32 explains that this original portable version of the Xbox “is the first of its kind.” Attached are screenshots of the cutaway motherboard and many more details of the internal hardware that makes the device work. Said trimming was a process that the modder claims to have had to learn from scratch, and it took them just over four months to complete just that part.
And while this original Xbox handheld won't be put into mass production, which is a shame given how amazing it looks, Redherring32 says that “everything will be open sourced in the coming weeks,” including URLs for the pages of GitHub and BitBuilt for PCBs and an Xbox trim guide so people at home can try making their own Xbox handheld.
The modder concludes by saying that they are working on a presentation video for the handheld that should also include gameplay. Certainly keep an eye out for this if, like me, you're particularly nostalgic for the best retro gaming consoles, like the original Xbox, and want to see what your software would look like running on a custom-built handheld device.
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