Hot Wheels released a personal computer in 1999. When last the flame-wrapped blue chunk of plastic and circuitry graced our website, Joe Blevins described it as “a kid’s idea of what a personal computer should look like” that was, ultimately, “a badly, cheaply made hunk of junk.”
Despite this, the Patriot Hot Wheels Computer has maintained a grip on the minds of many computer aficionados who understand that, while the device itself may have been a failure at launch, there is still undeniable appeal to using a computer created out of bright blue and yellow plastic to play video games and file your taxes.
The latest example of this, following up on the 2016 restoration attempt that prompted our last write-up, comes from Shank Mods, a YouTube channel devoted to modifying video game consoles and PCs.
After a friend tipped him off to a liquidation sale from an old computer warehouse, Shank Mods found and bought one of the Hot Wheels computers. Since its original motherboard was corroded, Shank “opted to give [the computer] new life as a sleeper gaming PC.”
Not content just to overhaul its internals, Shank went to great lengths over the last two years to find the rest of its chunky plastic accessories, picked up a companion Barbie PC released at the same time as the Hot Wheels one, and, thanks to an unexpected computer store sponsorship, collected cutting-edge components to stick inside the old kid’s toy.
The finished product is a bizarre beast that looks like a collection of bygone daycare garbage while also being able to play recent games like Control and Halo Infinite. It’s beautiful.
Immersive sound
Make the levels perfect so you can hear every last pitter-patter of an enemy soldier charging you from around a corner. This set has 7.1 surround sound and a retractable microphone so you don’t need that sitting in front of your face if you’re just playing solo.
Check out the video to see how much work went into making this ridiculous idea a reality and then wait around until Shank Mods gets up to his next project, which, if we’re lucky, might involve turning a Furby into a smartphone.
[via Boing Boing]
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