Forget that official Xbox handheld that has been gradually disappearing in and out of the rumor mill over the past year; a mud has now been ahead of the company.
Over on X / Twitter, woodworker and hardware engineer Red herring32 has built a portable version of the original Xbox console – the one first released in 2001. The maker says it’s “not a PC handheld, it’s not an emulation, this is a real motherboard from a real Xbox.”
Redherring32 further explains that the handheld has a 480p display and USB-C support for playback and charging. Wireless Xbox Live functionality is also planned via the addition of WiFi 6. That would certainly give it some resemblance to the best portable gaming consoles currently available.
I built a portable Xbox. This isn’t a PC handheld, it’s not an emulation, this is a real motherboard from a real Xbox. It has a 9-inch 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 Xbox handheld build is “a first of its kind.” They include screenshots of the cut-down motherboard and much more of the internal hardware workings that make the device work. Said trimming was a process that the modder said he had to learn from scratch, taking them just over four months to complete just that one part of it.
And while this original Xbox handheld won’t go into mass production — which is a huge shame considering how great it looks — Redherring32 says “everything will be open source in the coming weeks,” including URLs to GitHub and BitBuilt pages for the PCBs and an Xbox trim guide so people can try their hand at making their own Xbox handheld.
The Mod concludes by saying that they are working on a showcase video for the handheld that should also include gameplay. Be sure to keep an eye out for that if you – like me – are particularly nostalgic about the best retro gaming consoles like the original Xbox and would like to see what its software would look like on a custom handheld device.