Pitfall Harry In Your Pocket

This month we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the seminal Atari 2600 game, Pitfall! whose rabid popularity helped put a once little-known game company named Activision on the map and on gaming consoles everywhere. Designed by David Crane, Pitfall! was considered to be one of the progenitors of the "platform" genre and paved the way for later games such as Super Mario Bros. and Alex Kidd while showing off to the world just what could be accomplished on such a limited machine as the Atari 2600. So to celebrate, and to cash-in on an old property, Activision has released a new Pitfall! game for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Those familiar with the hit iPhone app, Temple Run, will recognize it as the inspiration for this game in that your 3D character runs down a 3D path of sorts, jumping, swinging and dodging 3D hazards while collecting priceless digital riches and virtual treasures. If you stop, you die. While I personally would have been happier with a translation closer to the original 1982 version, it does prove to be a fun time-waster, albeit a frustrating one at times. Before you go, check out the old Pitfall! commercial featuring none other than a young Jack Black!

CLICK HERE to go to the iTunes page for Pitfall!

Into the Fox's Den

So it seems that long-time co-workers, David Duchovny and GIllian Anderson have finally done what their on-screen X-Files personas could never accomplish. Yup, they're dating. There's even reports that the two have moved in together and Gill's kids are now living with the Kalifornia star (no not Californication, Kalifornia, which is better anyway). Here's a quote I stole off of Geekologie:

"A source exclusively told CDL that David and Gillian have been in a serious relationship for some time now and she and her children are shacking up with the Californication actor. This is a long time coming for the pair whose chemistry on their hit show was always a source of tabloid conjecture. Gillian and David worked together from 1993 to 2002 and starred in the movie version in 2008. Although it seems every fan in the world wanted to get the two together, a relationship was never declared during filming."

Now, I've been doing some web-digging, and it seems that this is mostly conjecture and the reports have all been from way-sketchy sources - plus their publicists are denying the whole thing - but the public doesn't care! This is geek-couple royalty we're talking about here and it's been a few years since we've had a good Mulder-And-Scully-Are-Doing-It story! You can read about it more HERE by searching Google.

Star Wars Micro Arcade Machine

In 1983, the Star Wars franchise was still quite the Hollywood juggernaut as the final installment (or so we thought) of the classic space saga had just been released and moviegoers everywhere were lining up in droves to find out if Darth Vader was really, in fact, Luke Skywalker's father (SPOLIER ALERT: He was, and also Chewbacca turned out to be his sister). Now, the other pimply-faced-teen-oriented money-making powerhouse at the time was none other than the venerable Atari Corp., who had previously been responsible for many of the world's best-loved arcade titles, such as Asteroids and Centipede, as well as some of the worst, like E.T. Little did they know at the time that their hitherto unstoppable cash-machine was about to come to a grinding halt, precipitating the North American Video Game Crash of '83. But just before the proverbial shit hit the metaphorical fan, they managed to release several more classic arcade machines, not the least of which was Star Wars, a game that successfully married the action-packed wizardry of Atari with the spectacular imagination of George Lucas. While of course it's considered to be fairly simple by today's video game standards, Star Wars still holds up as a competent first-person space-shooter that eschews pure realism for good old twitchy fun. So fun, in fact, that a very clever fellow, who goes by the name of Le Chuck, decided to build his own Star Wars arcade machine to have around the house. Well ol' Chuckie must have been short on space because he ended up making a 1:6 scale version of the game which, at 12 inches high, makes a great companion piece to any standard 12 inch action figure, which can be seen HERE along with several other photos of this minuscule masterpiece (worth it). Check out the (somewhat long) video below to get a peek of it in action - yes, it is fully functional including the custom-built steering yoke. And make sure you catch the last 2 minutes if you'd like to see a slide show of the building process. If Le Chuck ever decides to sell this thing, it'll be number one on my Christmas list.

On The Flip Side

It's long been known that geeks, retro and otherwise, enjoy the novelty of "playing records" – not just listening to music, but the act of collecting vinyl records and gathering together to play them on vintage, and otherwise, music reproduction equipment. However those in the know will quickly point out that the 1/8-inch compact cassette at least equals the classic vinyl disc in terms of pure retro coolness (don't even get me started on 8-track). Finally someone has decided to revisit the long-abandoned idea of combining these two mediums into one package, and that someone has turned out to be the increasingly clever ION Audio, a consumer brand introduced by Numark Industries, who have already made waves in the music industry with their innovative DJ turntables and mixing gear. While it's certainly not the first of its kind, the ION Duo Deck is probably the first vinyl/cassette combo player to feature powered on-board USB, which not only allows the transfer of music to a PC or Mac (using the included cable and software) but also eliminates the need for a traditional wall-wart power adaptor, although one is included. Small enough to fit into your backpack, the unit can be powered by batteries as well and features both a built-in speaker and headphone jack making it a complete package in the category of portable retro music players. Here are the stats of this soon-to-be-released wonder:

• Compact, portable design fits easily into a bag or backpack
• Plays and converts vinyl records and cassette tapes
• Built-in speaker allows you to listen to your records or cassettes anywhere
• Convert records and tapes into MP3s using the included EZ Vinyl / Tape Converter software
• Headphone output for private listening or connection to external speakers
• Plays and converts 45 and 33-1/3 RPM records: 45 adapter included
• Plays and converts both normal and chrome cassette tapes
• Onboard light makes finding the groove quick and easy
• Retractable tone-arm clip for secure, compact travel
• Powered by batteries (not included), USB connection or wall adapter (included)

Click HERE to go directly to the product page.

Mega-Mario-Contra-Vania

Mario. The very name conjures up memories of me sitting cross-legged for hours in front of an aging Zenith chugging cans of Coke while my thumbs went numb from relentless button-mashing and my brain formed tiny little dents from the incessant repetition of the Mario theme song. Good times, good times. Well for those of you who also share a kinship with the NES and its unique franchise of video game characters like Link, Mega Man and, of course, Mario, there's now a way to get all of your Nintendo jollies in one place. "Where" you ask? Why right here on the internet, of course! Head on over to Exploding Rabbit and try your hand at Super Mario Bros. Crossover 2.0, a complete rewrite of the original Super Mario Bros. game, but with the very special option to play not just as Mario, but as one of your favorite classic NES-game characters like Samus from Metroid, Simon from Castlevania or even that dude from Ninja Gaiden. Whichever one you decide to play also features the powers of that particular character, so for instance, if you play as the Contra guy, you can use your rifle to blow away Goombas and pick up coins. What more can I say? Go check it out!

Re-Boot Cop

In 1987, Dutch-born director Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, Basic Instinct) bestowed upon us a brand of American hero that until then had been largely absent from the genre of action-oriented science-fiction, well at least since the cancellation of the Six Million Dollar Man. His name was RoboCop and he was a freakin' cyborg. And cyborgs are cool. Continuing a trend that had begun with other sci-fi films of the 80s such as Bladerunner, RoboCop was set in a violent dystopian future where urban congestion and corporate omnipotence had all but smothered the spirits of the downtrodden populace, hmm sounds a bit like 2012. Well here we are 25 years later and the powers of Hollywood have decided that it's time for a reboot (at least that's longer than they gave Spiderman). Helmed by Brazillian director, Jose Padilha, the new and presumably improved RoboCop will begin shooting this fall featuring a fresh new cast and state-of-the-art CGI effects, which I assume means no claymation. Not much is known yet about the project other than that it will feature some pretty big Hollywood names like Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson and Hugh Laurie, and while that does sound promising, leading actor Joel Kinneman, who plays officer Murphy, has already been quoted as saying that the film's tone will be closer to that of the Dark Knight than to that of the original, "more campy" RoboCop - and that right there gives me pause. Frankly, I get a little worried whenever that increasingly overused comparison is made as it tends to set the film up for failure from the start. Plus, it's 2012, the Dark Knight came out in 2008 for crying out loud! You're supposed to say that it's "better than The Avengers," if you want people to plunk down hard-earned clams to see your crappy flick. Sheesh!

You can check out the first viral video from the upcoming blockbuster below. It's just enough to whet your appetite, though.