Have you ever fancied the universe-shattering idea of what contemporary games such as Dead Space, God of War, or Halo would be like if they were given the 8-bit treatment? If you said yes, well, god bless you good, sir or madam.

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.

Each game has a plastic hook on the back so that you can wall mount and impress those within your geek circle. Each cart is $20 a pop–not too shabby .

[Hat tip: Kotaku]

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:

• 16 Levels
• 3 selectable difficulty levels
• configurable controls
• adjustable screen position
• different weapons selectable
• More than 20 large boss enemies
• Hundreds of different enemies
• FMV intro sequence
• Hybrid 2d/3d game engine
• Resolution 640×480
• PAL50, PAL60, NTSC and VGA (with Adapter) compatible
• Region Free
• Works with any MIL-CD compatible Dreamcast
• CDDA Sound
• Supports: Joypad, Arcade Stick (Analog/Digital), VMU, Rumble Pack
• (configurable)
• Internet WEBcode Hiscore Tables
• Award Trophy System with unlockable content

In addition, Redspotgames is in the hunt for a few pew-pew experts to serve as beta testers. In exchange for their time, the selected beta testers will not only get a free copy of the game, but also their names in the game’s credits. Not many folks can boast that they were part of the Dreamcast’s library. Check out the company’s news piece for how to sign up.

The game is set for a 11-11-11 release. Respect.

[How To is a recurring feature in which we demonstrate techniques designed to improve your game, and make your skill set more than a little bit awesome. This time out, we’ll help you upgrade your PS3 hard drive.]

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:

• A Playstation 3
• A 4-inch, Number 1 Phillips head screwdriver
• A 2.5-inch internal hard drive
• A PS3 Hard Drive Caddy Cage (optional)
• Time

Ready? Let’s get started:

1. Turn the PS3 on. Back-up your saved data in XMB’s system settings options (Settings>System Settings>Backup Utility).

2. After the backup process is complete, shut down your PS3 and remove all cables.

3. Locate the HDD latch on the bottom of your PS3 and carefully remove it. Note: If your PS3 is laying vertically the latch will be on the bottom of the Playstation, if it is laying horizontally the latch will be found on the left side of the Playstation.

HDD latch located on bottom of PS3

4. Remove the blue top screw with a Phillips head screwdriver. Note: Be extremely careful when removing this screw as it is prone to being easily stripped.

Blue top screw and HDD inside of PS3

5. Flip up the latch (next to blue screw in picture 2) of the hard drive cage and slide it to the right. Pull it out of the PS3.

6. Locate the four silver screws on the side of the hard drive cage (there are two on each side) and using a 4-inch long, number 1 Phillips head screwdriver. Carefully remove these screws as they are also prone to being stripped. Note: This step is optional if the new hard drive is already in a PS3 hard drive cage.

Carefully remove these silver screws

7. Place the new hard drive into the cage correctly and replace the silver screws you originally removed in step 6 (if you did step 6).

New hard drive in cage

8. Put the new hard drive back into the bottom of the Playstation 3 and once again, carefully, screw back in the blue top screw. Now place the HDD latch back on the ps3 and reconnect the system.

Inserting new HDD into the PS3

9. The Playstation will state the hard drive needs to be formatted. Select “Yes” and continue.

10. When the format is complete restore the data back onto the Playstation. Settings> System Settings> Backup Utility> Restore. Note: You be missing some game saved data due to the fact that some games are copy protected (such as DJ Hero 2).

That’s it! Now download to your heart’s content.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.

Where legit venues have failed, once again the fan community picks up the slack. The Unlimited’s Batman: Gotham Knights is a MUGEN project focused on the gritty, urban universe that surrounds one Mr. Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego (or if you’re into Bat-psychology, Batman and his alter-ego). A Youtube clip featuring the character roster (but no gameplay) has been making the rounds, and, to quote Fernando, looks marvelous.

Lots of love and care obviously went into designing the 2D sprites, which are based on the old Capcom chunky-style CPS 2 fighters. And the roster looks quite impressive with two different versions of Two-Face/Harvey Dent, multiple Batmen (one accompanied by Robin), Superman, Bane, Poison Ivy, and many, many more.

It isn’t very often that a MUGEN project catches my attention, but this is one to follow closely. But where’s Azrael?

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.

The GP2X Caanoo is a nearly all-black, surprisingly well-built handheld. One would think that a system designed strictly for emulation purposes would be built by a fly-by-night looking to make big profits with cheaply-designed machines–this is not the case. The system is solid and feels quite good in hand, which surprised many attendees at a recent 2D-X Bits and Bytes Gaming Meetup. The GP2X Caanoo has four front-facing buttons, two shoulder buttons, “I” and “II” buttons that act as select and start, and a power switch on the right side. A volume slider lives on top of the device between the shoulder buttons, as does a SD slot that accepts 32GB cards. The bottom of the handheld has an oddly placed headphone jack, USB port, and pin connector port. Stereo speakers are built into the back, and a Neo Geo Pocket Color-like thumbstick replaces a traditional D-pad. Here are the specs, but be forewarned that I’m going to focus mainly on the gaming aspects and not on the multimedia.

• 3.5-inch, 320 x 240 OLED resistive touchscreen
• 4.8 x 2.7 x 0.7 inches
• 4.8 ounces
• ARM9 533MHz (overclockable to 800-MHz), H/W 3D Accelerator
• 128MB RAM
• Linux OS
• MPEG4, Xvid, Divx AVI video support
• OGG, WAV, MP3 audio support
• JPG, PNG, GIF, Bitmap photo support
• Flash Light 8.0 support
• USB/SD/SDHC/24-pin connection ports
• Subtitles support
• Compatible with USB Wi-Fi adapters (not included)

After opening the box, I was happy to discover that a GP2X Caanoo-branded 4GB SD was included; a SD card filled a variety of  Japanese games . I’m not going to pretend that I had any interest in these at all, so lets talk about the main purpose of this device.

Chances are if you’re picking up this lil’ guy, you’re looking to relive some classics. I’m no Perry Mason, but I know that emulation itself is very, very legal. Playing “teh romz,” the copyrighted ones, well, that’s another story entirely. As such, it’s probably not wise to encourage ROM use, but c’mon, any real gamer has something somewhat shady in his or her collection. It’s the nature of our passion.

So, after some brief hunting, downloading, and file transferring, I had transformed the GP2X Caanoo into a portable NES and NEO GEO that was filled to the brim with the likes of King of Fighters ’98, Contra, Garou: Mark of the Wolves,  and other classic titles. After playing for approximately five minutes I smiled because the experience was far better than anything I had anticipated. Blasting aliens and lumping up combatants was effortless thanks to the responsive thumbstick and buttons. In fact, while playing Garou, I was able to bust out moves I had extreme difficulty performing with a traditional joystick or controller such as Rock Howard’s Shinkunage which requires a 360 degree joystick spin. In short, the controls are tight. My one gripe is that I was unable to remap the buttons, which became a bit frustrating as I’m accustomed to particular set ups.

The games looked incredible, too; the display’s size and brightness made it simple to see even small details, which is sometimes quite difficult to do on small screens. Playing in direct sunshine washed out the visuals, so I would recommend shying away from gaming in such a scenario. The speakers pack a surprising amount of sound as well, but the fact that they project audio away from you means that the sound is a bit distant. There’s also a second delay between actually moving the slider and the sound adjustment.

The GP2X Caanoo has some unexpected features. It packs an accelerometer that lets you play some games, like Slap Fight, in a vertical TATE mode that closely matches the dimensions of the arcade machine. If you take a trip into the settings menu, you can turn on the system’s rumble, which gives you vibration-based feedback during gameplay. Very cool. The battery typically lasts four to five hours on a charge with my brightness and sound settings in place, but the device is rated for  seven hours.

Simply put, if you’re a retro game fan who doesn’t want to drag consoles out of your basement–or you simply want to take them on the road–the GP2X Caanoo is must-have. It’s affordably priced, and it gives you access to a wide range of games. I’ll touch on the GP2X Caanoo’s other functions in a future article, but for now consider the handheld more than worthy of a 2D-X Excellence Award.

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.

[Hat tip: Hack A Mod]

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’ve ever wished Mario had a robot helper with big guns to blast that damn Lakitu out of the sky, consider your wish granted: SOPHIA the 3^rd from 2D classic Blaster Master joins the ever-expanding Super Marios Bros. Crossover roster.

SOPHIA will have most of her abilities from Blaster Master, like firing homing missiles, hovering, driving on walls and the ceiling and even swimming capabilities. She’ll even be able to jump off walls and re-attach herself in mid-air – and her missiles are the only weapons in the game that can destroy Bullet Bills, Buzzy Beetles, and those damn Spike Tops.

There are limitations to all this awesome, though. Crossover creator stresses that SOPHIA will have limited ammo to make the game fair. “In order to shoot homing missiles, the player will have to collect ammo from defeated enemies,” he writes. You also lose all your ammo when you die, but grabbing a star will grant you unlimited ammo and full hovering powers on top of its usual invincibility.

The game will be featured on explodingrabbit.com later this month. More info here.

]]> http://www.2d-x.com/blaster-master-makes-super-mario-bros-crossover-better/feed/ 0 http://www.2d-x.com/nes-router/ http://www.2d-x.com/nes-router/#comments Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:55:40 +0000 Jeffrey L. Wilson http://www.2d-x.com/?p=12851

That copy of Athena that you couldn’t pawn off finally has a purpose.

The geek geniuses at the Unconventional Hacker have taken 20+ year old technology–the NES cart–gutted it, and replaced the innards with a Belkin wireless router. But you can’t simply cram a wireless card into a cartridge; some soldering rewiring is required.

Thankfully, those same geek geniuses have penned a step-by-step instructional guide complete with the tools needed to get the job done. Would’ve made a pretty sweet shop class project, yes?

October 18, 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of the NES’s launch in the United States. To celebrate, we’ve compiled a list of the top 5 modded NESes. Naturally, we’d only recommend modding non-functioning systems — after 25 years, that console feels like family! But what you do with your NES is up to you. So, without further ado, here are your top 5 modded NESes:

#5 — NES Lunchbox
Here’s a simple idea for beginner modders: Turn your once-loved console into a caddy for your chow. All you need is a couple of hinges, a rotary tool, some glue, and a bit of patience. Voila! Lunch is served, retro-style. Sure beats that brown paper bag, huh? And to think, we were using lunchboxes like this one when we were kids instead. (Okay, that lunchbox rocks. But one made from an old NES? Even cooler.)

#4 — NES Alarm Clock
Worried you’ll stay up all night playing games and won’t wake up in time to go to work? Check out this NES alarm clock. Sure, it may seem like your average run-of-the-mill alarm clock simply housed inside an NES, but the buttons on the paddle correspond to the hours and minutes buttons on the clock, and you can hit the reset button if you need a little snooze. Pretty clever, if you ask us. Click here to see it in action. Now, if only it would play the theme from Super Mario Bros. when the alarm went off…but I suppose you can’t get everything, can you?

#3 — NES Paul
Used to be, you had to play Guitar Hero or Rock Band to combine gaming and rocking out. Let us introduce you to the NES Paul. Click through for pics of the in-progress mod, including a crazy-big knife used to cut through the body of the NES. Plus, there’s a convenient hole in the NES for the guitar’s input jack. How thoughtful. As if that wasn’t nerdy/awesome enough, the modder covers video game music, presumably on that sweet guitar.

#2 — NEStickle
Once a humble NES, this console has been transformed into a mighty joystick, compatible with Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3, and even a PC or Mac. The power button on the console stands in for start, and the reset button is select. Plus, when not in use, the paddle covers up the USB cable that plugs into the desired console. The interesting thing is, the modder who created this beauty actually gave it away to a friend as a gift. What a giving, selfless soul! Could you do that? (My answer: hell no.)

#1 — NES DVD Player
Next time you watch Super Mario Bros. on DVD (we won’t tell!), wouldn’t it be fitting to watch it with a DVD player made out of a NES? In six steps, this Instructables tells you how to do it yourself with the aid of a dremel, a couple screwdrivers, and a hot silicon gun. Not a bad way to reuse your beloved but broken console. See can see it in action here.