Forget The ROG Xbox Ally, Modder Turns An OG Xbox Into A Hilarious Gaming Handheld
Ah, the joyous cackling of a successful console modder—few things are more beautiful, and today we got to see it in the form of YouTuber James Channel creating perhaps the most deranged portable console mod we've ever seen, this time for the original Xbox.
Likely thanks to their more frequent forays into actually-portable consoles, Nintendo and PlayStation see more frequent projects like this, some of which have reached some ridiculously compact sizes. As impractical as the James Channel handheld Xbox console would be for daily use, it does function around a similar principle— how much of a console's original motherboard is actually needed to make it run? The answer always seems to be "way less than you think," resulting in handhelds much smaller than the original console once the modding scene has progressed far enough.
Ahead of the ASUS Xbox ROG Ally handheld PCs becoming available for sale around the world, James Channel has taken it upon himself to create the first portable Xbox console that can still take the original Xbox discs, as God and/or the publisher intended. Well, "intended" is a strong word for this homebrewed project, but it's still an impressive feat of engineering, and marks yet another major Xbox portable release ahead of Microsoft actually joining the party.
Side note: Does the Asus ROG Xbox Ally even count if it's still a PC? Apparently tariff exemptions on PCs but not consoles don't think so, since consoles are notoriously not exempt from tariff pricing surges, but consoles have been edging closer and closer to PC territory since the original Xbox, so there's an interesting symmetry at play here.
Anyway, check it out...
The full video showcasing the project is entertaining, especially for those who want an in-depth look at the processes of motherboard/PCB trimming and resoldering required for handheld home console mods like this one. However, we would be remiss not to mention a precursor project that looks a lot more practical for daily use, though it admittedly does not support original game discs. We are of course referring to the portable Xbox project from @Redherring32 on Twitter, which dropped in October of last year. But that one basically just looks like a clunkier Steam Deck— the James Channel Xbox handheld has more of a rustic presentation.
I built a portable Xbox.
— Redherring32 (@redherring32) October 18, 2024
This isn't a PC handheld, it isn't emulation, this is a real motherboard from a real Xbox. It has a 9” 480p display, pure digital video/audio, 100W USB C charge and play, and I'm currently adding WiFi 6 for wireless Xbox Live functionality.
Yes, really. pic.twitter.com/yK7p0vPqUn
Image Credit: James Channel on YouTube
