72pins sells decorative NES cartridges with cart-art featuring pixelated images of popular game characters. No, the cartridges don’t contain 8-bit demakes; instead, they’re fully functional random NES games. That’s right, your Dead Space NES cart may actually be a copy of Athena. The world is odd in that way.
Retro gaming fans recently celebrated (lamented?) 9/9, which was the launch date of the groundbreaking and much beloved Dreamcast in 1999 . The system may have died prematurely, but Germany-based Redspotgames is adding to its legacy with a new game release: Sturmwind. The region-free shmup, on paper, looks nicely stacked. Check the features:
Street Fighter X Tekken is a whiles away, but I already know that my first team is going to be Bob and Sagat. While crossover games are fun, why not take it back to a happy time with a game that delivers some family togetherness and hard hitting issues–as well as some hard hitting brawls? Full: House Tournament Fighter lets you do just that. Heavily inspired by Street Fighter II, this 2D fighter lets digital pugilists duke it out in San Francisco with Uncle Jesse, Joey, and the rest of the cast. Including America’s Funniest Home Dad, Bob Saget (Get it now?).
Hard drive space is valuable in the digital download age; even the 320GB HDD that’s available in the highest-priced PS3 can rapidly fill as you purchase games, add-ons, and video. But there’s good news! Your PS3 isn’t bound to its out-of-box capacity. I’ll show you how to increase storage by upgrading my PS3′s 60GB HDD to Western Digital’s WD Scorpio Blue–a massive 1TB drive which you can purchase from Western Digital for $120. Here’s what you’ll need.
Eric Ruth, the man famous for his creative “demakes” of Halo and Left 4 Dead is back. During the last day of the renowned free arts festival, Artscape, he unveiled his latest free to play game: Team Fortress 2 Arcade. Yes, the game’s a remake of the popular Valve title, but with a retro side-scrolling beat ‘em up 8-bit twist that actually does the series justice.
The Marvel vs. Capcom series is one of the most beloved fight franchises in all of gaming thanks to its diverse, hefty roster and over-the-top gameplay. But if DC Comics is your nerd-company of choice, fighting games have been slim pickings outside of a suspect Justice League game and a neutered Mortal Kombat crossover. In other words, you’ve been shafted.
The Nintendo 3DS and Sony NGP/PSP2 may dominate the portable gaming headlines, but there’s a third player that offers a radically different take on the space: The GP2X Caanoo, which you can purchase from ThinkGeek for $150. The product of South Korea’s Game Park Holdings, the GP2X Caanoo is a Linux-based emulation monster capable of playing games designed for the C64, NES, Neo Geo, Genesis, and numerous other platforms too numerous to mention–including homebrews and arcade uprights. In other words, the $149.99 GP2X Caanoo can house entire libraries of gaming history, making it a must-have for diehards and retro gamers.
A lot of games are out this week. Hard Corps Uprising, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Dragon Quest VI, Tactics Ogre…and now an 8-bit version of The Great Gatsby. That’s right. After all these years, we can finally attend those ducky — and dangerous! — Long Island shindigs in hotsy-totsy 8-bit graphics and sound here.
Video game-related mods usually rear their heads in the consumer electronics domain–we’ve seen everything from a Wi-Fi-enabled NES cartridge to a Dreamcast VMU that acts as an iPod cozy. Now, a Swedish inventor has hacked an electronic organ to let it sing out bleeps and bloops during live chiptunes sessions.
How does the chipophone 8-bit electric organ work? The organ’s innards have been rewired to a microcontroller that spits them out as MIDIs that sound remarkably awesome. Check out the video for our Swedish genius’ sweet renditions of classic gaming compositions from the likes of Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and Mega Man 2.
Game designer Eric Ruth is back again with another 8-bit adaptation of a present day title. His latest project, Pixel Force: DJ Hero, serves as the anticipated follow up to his top-down rendition of Left 4 Dead which was released in the beginning of this year. Yet again, Ruth scores in capturing the essence of a modern title while incorporating all the warm-fuzzy characteristics of a cartridge counterpart. The track listing, though obviously not as vast, includes a little bit for everyone. “Layla” and “Thriller” on the same bill? Say no more.
