Slashdot Mirror


Engineer Combines Xbox One, PS4 Into Epic 'PlayBox' Laptop

MojoKid writes We can finally stop arguing over which is the superior game console, the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Quite frankly, it's a pointless debate, and it took a self-taught engineer to put the argument to rest, which he did by combining both game systems into a 22-inch laptop. Meet the "PlayBox," a gaming laptop that's equal parts Xbox One and PS4 rolled into one. The PlayBox wins the argument because it allows you to play games on either system, and when it comes down to it, the ability to play games is all that matters. Built for a "specific customer," the owner of this prototype system needn't worry about exclusives since he now has a system that can play them all, and do it while taking up no more space than a single console.

78 comments

  1. holy f&3K by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't know why this story is making the rounds. Christ, someone give this guy a cookie for jamming two consoles in one box and send him on his way.

    1. Re:holy f&3K by meerling · · Score: 1

      I remember a guy on tech tv (or whatever it was called at that time) that put 3 consoles in one case. It's a cool modding thing, but not really new or exciting.

    2. Re:holy f&3K by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He was able to the xbone into a smaller amount of space, with a PS4, without cooling issues than whoever they had at microsoft designing it.

  2. ... Ok? Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    All he did is basically put the guts of both consoles into one box.
    I'd be more impressed if it was actual custom hardware that could run both system.

  3. "Engineer" by carbuck · · Score: 5, Insightful

    An actual engineer would have at least figured out a way to make 1 optical drive read discs from both systems. At least use the electronics from each optical drive with the lasers mounted on opposite sides, so they don't bump into each other. Wait, I don't get paid enough for this sort of thing.

    1. Re:"Engineer" by donaldm · · Score: 1

      This is old news from approx 2 days ago.

      As we can see it is possible to combine the XBone and PS4 into one box but why bother since you could never sell a machine like this without Microsoft and Sony lawyers knocking on your door. :-)

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    2. Re:"Engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " you could never sell a machine like this without Microsoft and Sony lawyers knocking on your door. :-)"

      No, first-sale doctrine applies. :) This guy has already 'sold' one.

    3. Re:"Engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then he has a lawsuit waiting to happen.

      It doesn't matter if you are right. If you are small and they are big, they win.

    4. Re:"Engineer" by FyRE666 · · Score: 1

      Why would Sony or MS sue? They've both sold the consoles, so they don't really care what people do with them after that, as long as they don't mod them to pirate games. Even in that case, the worst that will happen is banning the machines from their networks.

    5. Re:"Engineer" by Theaetetus · · Score: 1

      An actual engineer would have at least figured out a way to make 1 optical drive read discs from both systems.

      They're both SATA Blu-Ray drives. Seems like it should be possible, but would need a SATA data splitter (which doesn't exist), or a switch to flip all of the data pins between each motherboard. In SATA, that's only really 4 pins, since the other three are ground, so a 4-pole 2-way switch should do it... but you'd be killing the shielding, common mode noise rejection between pairs, etc. at the switch. So, while theoretically, it might work, in practice it may just spit out drive errors. At least one advantage is that the SATA spec includes up to a 1m cable length, and you'd only need about 10 centimeters, tops.

    6. Re:"Engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess he's an 'Engineer' in the American sense - Like Sanitation Engineer (garbage man) or Happiness Engineer (prostitute).. ;-]

    7. Re:"Engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Give me a break. It's basic electronics engineering to make a proper SATA switch. A simple custom PCB designed to the SATA spec could do it. It's not like a bluray drive is transferring very much data anyway. SATA switches actually do exist BTW.

      I would also integrate the power button so there is only one. The PS4 button is probably not working because he detuned the circuit when he moved it. Just bypass the capacitive switch altogether, dude.

      And why is the box type switch on the back of the unit? That's pretty cumbersome for something that will presumably be used often.

      Overall, meh. Any kid could hack something like that together. It's just a bunch of off the shelf crap thrown in a custom box. He didn't do anything that requires real skill.

    8. Re:"Engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The super paranid copy protection has put absolutly 100% effort into preventing you using an alternative optical drive. Breaking this would be huge news compared to combineing two consoles.

    9. Re:"Engineer" by karnal · · Score: 1

      Isn't one of the "anti-piracy" measures for a console to load up specialized firmware in each system's drive? Using one system's drive might trigger the other system to see it as a non-native console drive and puke as well.

      --
      Karnal
    10. Re:"Engineer" by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      Historically, the Xbox binds the optical drive to the motherboard in the software. Its not as simple as you make it seem. On the Xbox One this relationship has been hardened as it was a vector for running unsigned code in the 360s lifecycle. Would be better to omit the drives entirely and go all-digital only.

      --
      Good-bye
    11. Re:"Engineer" by log0n · · Score: 1

      This. The decryption keys are tied between console and drive at the factory (started w/ the 360 iirc, there's a lengthy process involving firmware dump you have to go through if you want to swap out a failing 360 dvd drive and have it still read game discs).

      Not sure which but one of the console manufacturers used to spin their discs backwards.

    12. Re:"Engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A serious EE here...

      It is not "simple" to make an SATA switch, said switch has to pass data @ 6Gbps which is non-trivial even when you don't have a switch. There might be something off the shelve to do this (i.e. SATA port expander, etc) but to call it trivial is naive.

    13. Re:"Engineer" by karnal · · Score: 1

      If I'm not mistaken, I think that was the Gamecube.

      After reading, there's some back and forth about it. People speak of the same rotational direction, but potential reading outside in rather than inside out as in normal discs. The bigger deal is a "barcode" or region of keys that are used to decrypt the image potentially...

      --
      Karnal
    14. Re:"Engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (Note; I'm not the grandparent AC)

      Then he has a lawsuit waiting to happen.

      No he doesn't, because neither MS nor Sony are likely to give a flying f*** about a one-off or very low volume hand-customised console like this (at least not unless it would set a legal precedent not to do so, such as happens when one fails to defend a trademark).

      If he started producing large numbers of them, it might be different, but that's not likely to happen and that assumes that what he's doing is illegal in the first place.

      But let's be honest, while I'm not a legal expert, you almost certainly aren't either, so us arguing about this would be stupid unless we can actually back up what we're saying with concrete reference to the law, and not a vague understanding of the associated concepts. :-)

    15. Re:"Engineer" by carbuck · · Score: 1

      Sounds like a job for an engineer.

    16. Re:"Engineer" by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      first sale doctrine applies: you OWN the console hardware, you're not renting it, you can do what the fuck you want to it. Even resell it.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    17. Re:"Engineer" by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      The reading from outside to inside was maybe a legend, I read an explanation that the drive is read as normal but the data is stored near the edge, with garbage data filling in the otherwise unused inner portion (assuming the disc is not full). Such a simple arbitrary arrangement allows faster bandwith. Older consoles (Playstation, Sega Saturn, 3DO etc.) had a drive with Constant Linear Velocity : the data was constantly slow. In that situation you'll use the (inner) beginning of the disc first like your typical CD Audio or CD-R.

    18. Re:"Engineer" by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      there is a cable from SFF8087 (SAS) to 4x SATA/eSATA data, whether it'd work "backwards (ie from a SAS controller deck to the consoles) is another question.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  4. Noise? by Torp · · Score: 3, Funny

    I suppose the "laptop" is usable only with high end noise canceling headphones? And if someone else is in the same building with you, they'll come and smash it with a hammer to get rid of the whirrrrr.

    --
    I apologize for the lack of a signature.
    1. Re:Noise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Engineer" "Combines" Xbox One, PS4 into "Epic" ''PlayBox" "Laptop"

    2. Re:Noise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its just 2 consoles superglued together. That way, after the sledgehammer adjustment, all you need is more superglue.

      On a more dour note, somethig changed on Slasdot about 2 days ago. Printing vanishes and you get many blank pages. Something to do with a left margin that migrates with every paragraph until all the content falls off the far edge. Beta was torrid for reading, but now this.

    3. Re:Noise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      To be fair, you need noise canceling headphones even without this "laptop" form-factor.

      PS4's sound like they're going to take off when playing games (and, arguably worse, are audible even when playing a bluray!!!)

      You know there's something horribly wrong when your 300W GPU in your PC w/ 3 fans is quieter than your under powered console...

  5. Re:PC MUSTARD RICE by Z80a · · Score: 2

    PC is not the "master race" because it is not a single race, but a variety of different kinds of machines with different kinds of purposes.
    If you want a PC that can outlast a 3DS or PSVita by a factor of 3 in battery time you can.
    If you want a really powerful PC that runs all games in 4k, you can.
    If you want the cheapest box on the block that can run older (and arguably better) games, you can.
    If you want a serious machine for actually doing serious work, PC is there for that too.
    And you can run any software you want for it, can write new software for it, can actually write software for several consoles with it..
    Its about freedom, not power.

  6. Re:PC MUSTARD RICE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but omg sexism!

  7. Re:PC MUSTARD RICE by Z80a · · Score: 1

    There are several mods and romhacks that allow you to play as a powerful girl on the PC.

  8. Think I'll Name My Laptop XStation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It will contain only porn. And only play games from the 90's. But mainly it'll be porn.

    1. Re: Think I'll Name My Laptop XStation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Screw the games...

  9. Engineer? by freeze128 · · Score: 1

    Is this engineer Ben Heckendorn? This certainly sounds like something he would do.

    1. Re:Engineer? by loosescrews · · Score: 2

      It doesn't look like it. The article's source is a blog written in the first person. The blog is hosted on edsjunk.net which is registered to one Eddie Zarick.

    2. Re:Engineer? by donaldm · · Score: 1

      Here is the first article that I could find that was written on the PlayBox

      The "self taught" engineer (note the lower case) who did this is a person by the name of "Ed Zarick".

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    3. Re:Engineer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope, not Benheck this time. He just recently got done doing an Xbone tablet.
      It is surprising he hasn't tried it though.

      Imagine all 3 consoles in one unit, kinect, PS Eye and Wii U sensor bar combined in to one hell of a bastard child, and capable of killing a reasonably large child.

      I'm sure I read this guy will take your own consoles for you and mod them to cut down on the price of his mod requests even more since he won't need to buy new consoles. Makes sense.
      The major issue with the design from what I read a couple days back is that you cannot have both on at same time because it can overheat.
      Better / more heat-sinks and more fans might help, but it could probably bulk it up. (in size and price)

    4. Re:Engineer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any decent electronics technician can achieve this.

      But we are living in the days when everybody is an engineer. Apparently, there are no more technicians or technologists.

    5. Re:Engineer? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Any decent electronics technician can achieve this.

      If all he's doing is sticking bits inside a case a carpenter could.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  10. "self-taught engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So a tinkerer is now an engineer. How sad. Maybe someone who learns how to treat the common cold with chicken soup is also a doctor.

    1. Re:"self-taught engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sadly true. We are living in times when any one who knows how to make a Raspberry Pi work thinks to be an engineer.

    2. Re:"self-taught engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's a transengineer. He lacks the requisites to be an engineer but he believes to be one so he is.

    3. Re:"self-taught engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well ask for his P.Eng Number, if he doesnt have one, have him charged with impersonation.

      Im going through the processs of becoming an engineer, and there is a way to be a "self taught engineer" but it just means that you still have to pass the qualifying exams to make sure that you have enough subject knowledge as any other engineer would have.

      I would rather this guy label him self as an imagineer but thats jsut a personal preferance.

    4. Re:"self-taught engineer" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are training to become an engineer but you misspell "preference"? I call bullshit.

  11. How long does the battery last? by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 1

    What's that? It doesn't have a battery? Then it's not a laptop.

    1. Re:How long does the battery last? by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      At one point in university I considered getting this "laptop". It had no internal battery, but had the ability to connect an external battery where you would usually connect the adapter. At the time I wanted a laptop for portability, but couldn't afford a proper one. At the time, they were about $700, whereas a real laptop would be around $1200. I never did end up getting it. At the time I really only needed it for university, and they had plenty of open power recepticles.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    2. Re:How long does the battery last? by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      had one similar, it used a VIA C3 processor (800MHz) and desktop SDRAM, gap where a battery would be and a 14" LCD. Only cost me £140 new, I was pretty impressed with it considering a new laptop with laptop-specced components back then to a similar specification would have set me back over a grand.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  12. Praising Himself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All he did was open the box and move the guts into a larger box. It's certainly not a laptop box, either. I mean, why have two consoles when you could have them in one box that's the size of two consoles?, well, aside from the fact they share the same heat, so it's easier to overheat...

  13. LAPTOP?? by Dahamma · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sorry, but this dude looks like he works out 2 hours a day, and I think I heard him grunt when he picked it up. If the 5" thick body didn't already discredit that term (note: the original IBM Portable was NOT A LAPTOP).

    You'd probably get bruises on your thighs if you put this on your lap, if you didn't get 2nd degree burns before that...

    1. Re:LAPTOP?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, but this dude looks like he works out 2 hours a day, and I think I heard him grunt when he picked it up. If the 5" thick body didn't already discredit that term

      How dare you! The elegance of this design reminds me of a beautifully slim Apple laptop.

  14. OR JUST BUY A LAPTOP by Quick+Reply · · Score: 1

    This is dumb engineering.

  15. Consoletards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One thing they all share in common are the vile little brats who f*cked your mom and killed your dog. That gaming community in particular has been the worst since inception and I'm glad the majority of PC gamers are more mature overall.

    1. Re: Consoletards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      League of Legends playerbase says differently.

  16. noise heat sketchup by Osgeld · · Score: 1

    ok so the feat is impressive

    how does it preform over time, thats one thing no one ever considers

    how many GD pcb's can you glue in here

    why does every "laptop" design end up looking like the last 20 laptop designs downloaded for sketchup, you got with a company with a fucking CNC LASER do something more creative than a cigar box

    -professional engineer that makes millions of units a year with no news story, not a me too hot glue hack that gets 15 min on slashdot

  17. Just because it can be done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Back I go to reddit

  18. Clickbait by mistr · · Score: 1

    * Self-taught engineer hires self-taught camera man *
    - Project ends with ridicule over crap footage.

  19. PlayBoxTop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's PlayBoxTop: Half Playstation, half Xbox and half laptop.

  20. Bollocks by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    The PlayBox wins the argument because it allows you to play games on either system, and when it comes down to it, the ability to play games is all that matters.

    No. Not being able to play games because they haven't been blessed is a great reason not to give your money to the dicks who made the hardware used inside this box. There are things more important in this world than the ability to play a few manufacturer-approved games right now, you selfish ass.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  21. Did this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I already did this.
    It was easy. I took an Xbone and a PS4 and joined them together with some duct tape. I used a LCD TV for a monitor.

    Pretty much the same results as this guy except with mine I can turn on both consoles at once.

  22. Re:PC MUSTARD RICE by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Its about freedom, not power.

    All of those examples are about power.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  23. for sane people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you could just buy both, and place them near each other. But nice slashvertisement....

  24. Proprietary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is good for people who love proprietary user-subjugating software. I hope you have fun being abused.

    1. Re:Proprietary by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Thank you, RMS

  25. Looks like an AMD opportunity by unixisc · · Score: 1

    With AMD APUs in both the systems, looks like he could have had a single unit based on an AMD APU and had it running

    1. Re:Looks like an AMD opportunity by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      NO. The APU in the PS4 is by far the most powerful APU ever made, AMD said so themsleves. Not even the 7850k comes close to the PS4s power, not to mention the PS4 is running GDDR5 for OS and GPU with hUMA. The Xbox APU has special SRAM installed. They are NOT identical designs. Close, but not interchangeable.

      --
      Good-bye
  26. Great by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

    Now all he needs his worthwhile games that aren't available on PC to justify not having bought a gaming laptop instead. A few games isn't sufficient.

    --
    Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
  27. I was expecting.... by David_Hart · · Score: 1

    a VM style solution that would allow you to run both OS's not a "take the guts out of a Xbox and a PS4 and shoehorn them into a single metal box". For the size of the box, he may as well have added the Wii as well. When it comes down to it, this isn't much different than my setup which involves an external HDMI switch from each of my gaming consoles going to my AMP.

    I get that this was a bit of a hardware packing problem challenge, something that hardware device engineers have to deal with. But, challenges such as cooling when both systems are on, combining components, etc. were never tackled/solved. As such, it's somewhat interesting but doesn't really belong on Slashdot....

  28. Re:PC MUSTARD RICE by tepples · · Score: 1

    If you want a serious machine for actually doing serious work, PC is there for that too.

    And you can run any software you want for it, can write new software for it, can actually write software for several consoles with it..

    Its about freedom, not power.

    All of those examples are about power.

    We've seen what sort of "serious work" consoles can do if they're not locked down, back when PS3 used to have Other OS. So either it is about freedom, or you're using a definition of "power" with which I'm not familiar. If the latter, could you explain further?

  29. GameCube discs by tepples · · Score: 1

    Half of it is akin to the difference between CD-ROM Mode 1 and Mode 2 Form 1. They hold the same amount of data but have slightly different physical sector layouts, with certain fields moved before or after the data.

    In addition, data on a DVD is XOR'd with a linear feedback shift register whose seed changes every sector. This isn't encryption but instead a way to "whiten" the spectrum. That's where the Burst Cutting Area (the "barcode") on a GameCube disc comes in. It encodes not only constants used to compute the LFSR seed but also the logical position of six more holes in the lead-in.

    Wii discs are exactly the same, except the entire disc content is encrypted, hashed, and combined with hashes of nearby sectors, and then the hash at the top of the tree is digitally signed with RSA.

    Sources: GameCube, Wii

  30. Re:PC MUSTARD RICE by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Congratulations, you left out all the examples. That was a d-bag move, so I'm not going to give you a meaningful reply. You could try again, though.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  31. Re:PC MUSTARD RICE by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1

    I heard they might open up the PS4 again so people can start doing some crunching that way as well.

  32. "All" is a strong word by tepples · · Score: 1

    Congratulations, you left out all the examples.

    I left out four and included two. I don't see how that amounts to having "left out all the examples". The assertion was that all of the six examples were about power. Even if the four that I left out are about power, the two I included are about freedom for the reasons I mentioned.

  33. Exclusives by tepples · · Score: 1

    A laptop plays PC games. It doesn't play PlayStation 4 exclusives, Xbox One exclusives, or games released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One but not for the PC.

  34. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Almost right. You can alter the item and sell it, but you might not be able to describe it with the words "Xbox One" or "PS 4". They can deny use of their trademarks on altered goods if they feel your work tarnishes their mark.

  35. Re: by ihtoit · · Score: 1

    he isn't, because he's probably aware that "X-Box" and "Playstation" are trademarks. "Playbox" probably isn't. In fact, it'd be laughed out of court if either Microsoft or Sony claimed "Playbox" infringed on either trademark.

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  36. But still by JThundley · · Score: 1

    2 consoles in one box, but still not as powerful or versatile as the PC it emulates poorly.