Atari Flashback Portable

Fellow retro geeks, nostalgic nerds and dated dorks, as far as I am concerned, this is the Holy Grail of portable gaming and I've wanted this for as long as I can remember.

It's the friggin' Atari Flashback Portable.

Badass

Even as a child back in the Dark Ages, I recognized that technology was getting smaller, faster and cheaper and I often pondered how long it would be before the industry would eventually get to the next logical place and release a hand-held Atari, Colecovision or Intellivision system. I recall spending far too much time in my bedroom sketching and designing what I thought such a system might look like but of course, it was all just a bored kid's fantasy.

Now the good folks at AtGames, who previously brought us a slew of retro machines like the SEGA Classic Gaming Console, the Intellivision Flashback as well as the venerable Atari Flashback, are planning to release the Atari Flashback Portable, first officially licensed hand-held Atari 2600 game system. The unit should be out November 2016 and here's some marketing verbiage from their site:

• LCD screen
• Video out port (cable not included)
• Rechargeable battery included
• SD slot for downloaded games
• A travel-friendly MUST HAVE for the avid gamer
• 60 Legendary Atari 2600 hits including: Millipede®, Pong®, Missile Command®, Asteroids®, Centipede®

If AtGames follows their previous pricing from the SEGA Portable, which was updated earlier this year, then the Atari Flashback Portable should be priced around $50. Not too shabby.

The big selling point for me is the built-in SD card slot. In the past, the Flashback consoles have been limited by the built-in games that the producer was able to license for that particular version of the machine. So for example, the Atari Flashback 2 may have had a few more games built into it than the Flashback 1, but it may no longer have included a couple of your favorites due to the ongoing legal challenges of trying to license early computer-game technology from companies that often no longer exist or others who have now grown so large, their licensing fees have become too prohibitive for small companies like AtGames to tackle. Hell, I'm still not sure if there's ever even been a Flashback console released that has included Activision's top-seller, Pitfall, arguably the most popular 2600 game ever made!

But now we finally have a Flashback system with an SD card slot that lets you load up your own downloaded Atari 2600 roms, meaning that you're no longer stuck just playing the same included games over and over again. Better yet, you can most likely fit the entirety of the 2600 library on one inexpensive SD card enabling endless hours of retro-gaming Atari goodness on the go! That, to me, is worth the price of admission.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT ATGAMES ATARI FLASHBACK PORTABLE PRODUCT PAGE

WATCH THE VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT FROM "THE NO SWEAR GAMER"

BONUS VIDEO: ENGINEER-EXTRAORDINAIRE BEN HECK'S HAND-WIRED PORTABLE ATARI 2600

Fix-It Felix Jr. Mini

You can't tell, but this is tiny.

Disney's 2012 animated epic, Wreck-It Ralph, paid tribute to many classic video games from the '80s and '90s by bringing to life some of the most beloved game characters of all time such as Q*Bert, Pac-Man and my personal fave, Tapper. However the main story centers around a fictional creation of Disney's called Fix-It Felix Jr., a game that most likely took inspiration from the legendary Nintendo hit, Donkey Kong. In it, our titular hero takes on the task of repairing a crumbling building while avoiding the wrath of the evil Ralph, who tries to take out Felix by hurling rocks, or clumps of dirt or something at him...you know these 8-bit games make it tough to tell, sometimes.

It's not a bad little game and I know because Disney went the extra mile of actually designing and programming the concept into a playable game which you can download for your iPhone, Android or Windows phone -- sorry Blackberry (kids be like, wtf is a Blackberry?) You can even play it on your home computer, as long as you have Flash. (kids be like, wtf is Flash?)

But because it was never actually a real arcade game, you retro game collectors out there can forget about getting your hands on a working model, unless one of those kit-bashers, game-hackers or MAME-floggers that live in your web browser decides to build one. I'm looking at you Ben Heck!

But until that day arrives, what you can do is stop by eBay and pick up a (relatively expensive) mini-replica of the arcade game itself. This decorative miniature doesn't actually let you play the game, but it does feature an LCD screen with a video loop and sound effects and would be a worthy addition to any geek's man-cave. The bidding starts at $70, which I think is a little steep, but if you're a fan of the film, this is one collectible that you probably won't find anywhere else.

CLICK HERE TO PAY BIG BUCKS FOR A FIX-IT-FELIX JR. REPLICA

CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE GAME ONLINE FOR FREE

8-Bit Cinema

Stolen from Deviant Art. How's THAT for deviancy?

Ever wish you could see your favorite movie or TV series remade into an old school Nintendo-style video game? Well now you can with CineFix's 8-Bit Cinema series on YouTube.  A partial list of their remakes includes Jurassic Park, Big Lebowski, Terminator 2, Happy Gilmore, The Shining, Frozen (for the kiddies) and even The Walking Dead. While a more anally-retentive nit-picker would point out that some of their productions tend to lean closer to the 16/32-bit era art-style, I won't do that here.

Whoops, sorry.

So enjoy the videos and check out the links below for even more CineFix craziness. Sorry for the pre-roll ads, Google are greedy bastards.



CLICK HERE FOR MORE 8-BIT CINEMA

CLICK HERE TO VISIT CINEFIX

Camp Atari

Wet Hot American Summer

When I was a kid back in the 1980s, I remember being in the back seat of my parents' car, probably on our way back home from the mall, and listening to two guys on the radio prattling on with some "back in my day" rant -- kind of like this blog. At one point, during the laughter and comedy, one of the DJs says to the other "if your kid comes back from summer camp with a tan this year, it's because they moved Pac-Man outside." The idiot kid I was, I immediately sat up in my seat and inquired of my father as to just exactly where this awesome summer camp was where they play video games. "It's a joke, son, they were joking" was all I got back.


Well as it turns out, there actually was such a camp, sort of.

Back in 1982 our old pal, Atari, decided to throw their fortunes at a risky proposition (they were great at doing this) by investing in a series of computer camps across the U.S. called, of course, Atari Computer Camps. I never got to meet anyone that actually went to one, and at nearly $3,000 for a week's stay that's not a shocker. Keep in mind, $3,000 back in 1982, adjusted for inflation, would be about one kajillion dollars today. So you know, that one super-duper-rich kid in your school probably got to go. Along with the normal camp activities, swimming, baseball, volleyball, weaving, bonfires and sing-a-longs, kids got to learn how to program and operate Atari 8-bit computers, thereby positioning the next generation of kids to be well-informed future-consumers of all things gadgety and technical. I would have LOVED it! Legend has it that all of the remaining E.T. carts that weren't buried in that landfill in New Mexico were used to stuff mattresses at the camps while the instruction manuals were stacked high in the commodes for, ahem, personal use.

Want to know more? Then watch this historical document:



Oh, and there's a mini-documentary on the subject as well. Have a gander at this:



Still not enough? For even more info check out the links below:

CLICK HERE TO READ AN ARTICLE FROM ANTIC MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 1982

CLICK HERE TO READ AN ARTICLE FROM ATARI CONNECTION, AUGUST 1982

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT OFFICIAL ATARI LITERATURE INCLUDING BROCHURES

CLICK HERE FOR THE PODCAST AND MORE LINKS FROM THE TEAM AT ANTIC

A-Bit of Doctor Who

8-Bit musician Joe Jeremiah mixes it up with some Doctor Who. You can check out some of his original music here: https://soundcloud.com/joejeremiah. Enjoy!

HISHE: Tron Rap

An example of early computer animation.

If you're a dork like me, you'll love this. Although I still would have preferred a more old-school rap style for this particular video, like UTFO.

The Return of Retro-Cade

Good news everyone, after a brief hiatus, the Retrogeeker Retro-Cade is back online! For the grand re-opening we're featuring the video-game classics, Ms.Pac-Man and Q*Bert, with more to come soon! Scroll on down for some glorious 8-bit action!!


BONUS VIDEO: PAC-MAN FEVER

Light Those 8-Bit Candles

OK, so apparently Hanukkah ended yesterday and I was trying to get a related post up before then but dammit, there's just not a lot of retro-Hebronic stuff out there on the net. But I did find a little 8-bit styled interactive candle-lighting diversion that's kind of fun. So I apologize for this belated post but the way I see it "belated" is a just another word for "retro" so I'm in the clear. I'll try and do a little better next year. Now, I'm off to start my search for retro-Kwanzaa stuff on the web. That can't be too tough, right? 

The 8-Bits of Christmas

…and a cartridge in a pear tree.

Tired of hearing the same old Christmas music, year after year? Me too! So I went to the website, 8bitpeoples.com, and downloaded an all-star chip tune artist album, The 8bits of Christmas, absolutely free! Now you too can enjoy soon-to-be classic holiday songs like Jesus Holy, Born So Lowly, Last Christmas Hot Digi Rmx and The First Blip Blop Noel (sample video below) all played on retro game and computing gear including an NES, a ZX-Spectrum and even a Commodore Vic-20. You can preview the individual tracks or download the entire thing from 8bitpeoples' site. Cover art included.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO 8BITS OF CHRISTMAS AT 8BITPEOPLES SITE

8-Bit Violin

Sounds like two 8-bit weasels having sex.

For all of you classical geeks out there, check out this working 8-bit-styled violin made by Flickr user, Ranjit. It doesn't play chip tune music or have a MIDI port, it's an honest to goodness, completely functional violin. And by completely functional I mean it technically works as it should, however the ear-piercing, mind-numbing noise it produces needs some fine tuning. Check out the video.



CLICK HERE TO VISIT RANJIT'S 8-BIT VIOLIN PHOTO PAGE

404 Treasure Not Found

Mages and bards and elves, oh my!

Usually when I click on a link that leads me to a 404 "page not found," I feel a little tiny hint of frustration well up in the depths of my psyche as I read whatever funny little message the sysop decided to adorn the 404 with. Well the other day I hit one again trying to find something on GameStop's site but this time, I actually felt a smile come on as the page offered up the consolation prize of a little rogue-like maze crawling game for me to play. It's nothing extraordinary but it was a nice change from the usual static pages I usually end up on. Props to the internet for actually surprising this jaded old blogger! Kudos!

CLICK HERE TO PLAY THE GAMESTOP 404 NOT FOUND ROGUE-LIKE GAME

IF YOU ARE CRAVING EVEN MORE DUNGEON CRAWLING, CLICK HERE

World's Biggest Pac-Man

The original Pac-Man game from Namco was an 80s classic and will always retain its crown as the top-dog of all video games. But if I could change one thing about it, it would be this: bigger boobs MORE MAZES. "So go play Ms. Pac-Man, you schmuck! It's got like four of them! (mazes, that is)" you brazenly respond. Well OK, Ms. Pac-Man's 4 mazes are definitely a step up from her old man's lone blue labyrinth, but it certainly doesn't hold a candle to this:

Yup, it's the world's biggest Pac-Man game and it was created entirely by ordinary netizens like you and me. Once logged into the site (using Facebook, of course), users can access a simple WYSIWYG editor that allows wanna-be game designers to create their own ultimate Pac-Man maze in just about any configuration they desire. When finished, the new maze is then is automatically linked to the existing collection of mazes via the escape tunnels, which, when entered, will transport the player's avatar to a whole new play-field, rather than just spitting him or her out of the tunnel on the opposite side (as was in the original game). The result of all of this effort is an endless, massive grid of interconnecting Pac-Man mazes that seem to go on forever. If you just want to play a quick game of dot-munch, however, and do not want to link your Facebook account to yet another damned website, you can do that too. There are plenty of unique mazes to start out on, each presenting its own twists and turns, while keeping intact the now-iconic sounds and sprites that make Pac-Man the game we all know and love.

One last thing. While I thought I'd never have to say this about any modern website built after Y2K, the site actually works best in Internet Explorer, and in fact (shudder), was designed specifically for it. So shut down your Chrome, Safari or Firefox and dig out that old M$ relic so you can get your digital noms on! Woof!

A big thanks to RetroGeeker fan, Cheryl, for tipping me off to this awesome, awesome site! Cheers!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT WORLDS BIGGEST PACMAN - NO QUARTERS REQUIRED

Ultimate 46 Inch Arcade Machine

Building home arcade cabinets has been an underground phenomenon for quite a few years now. There so much information about it on the net that with just a little plywood, an old PC and some open-source software, you too can construct your very own arcade machine that let's you play your all-time favorite video games in the comfort of your own home - yup, even Golden Tee! While many folks choose to go with the standard upright, bar-top or cocktail table designs, some truly dedicated geeks proudly exclaim "not enough!" and set their sights on a much loftier level of awesome when designing their own machines. And folks, I think I found our top contender so far. Check out the custom options on this massive, 4-player, all-inclusive 46" LED display arcade monstrosity up for sale on eBay!

• 46 inch LED HD display

• Full Body side art, front kick panel art and LED illuminated custom marquee art (configurable at purchase, you don't have to have Rocky on there)

• Powered by a Dell XPS 8500 with i7 CPU at 3.9GHZ, 8 GB RAM, 2TB HD, 1GB Video card

• Special Flight stick with an original authentic Blue Tron handle

• Discs Of Tron Push/Pull Spinner

• High power 46W PC speaker system w/subwoofer

• Dual top fire joysticks per player

• RGB Buttons - All buttons can have thousands of custom colors

• RGB joystick handles - Can have thousands of custom colors

• RGB Trackball - Can have thousands of custom colors

• Regular spinner control

• 6" Diecast Metal Racing Steering Wheel

• Special Custom Formica covered curved Control Panel base! (The only base like this in the world!)

• Dual wired light guns for arcade gun games

• 2 X-Box 360 wireless game pads coupled with special software that will give you the capability to play the newer home console games.

...and it plays around 30,000 games (but you have to find and install them yourself). Want it? Just cough up $7,995 and it's yours!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS ON THE 46 INCH ARCADE MACHINE ON EBAY

BONUS VIDEO: BUILD YOUR OWN BAR-TOP ARCADE MACHINE!

Bartop Arcade Cabinet - 720p movie (Weecade Clone) from Dave Filet on Vimeo.

Battlestar Galactica 8-Bit RPG

For those of you who missed it, Ronald D. Moore's 2003 Battlestar Galactica Syfy Channel reboot was a massive critical success. Old Ron, who had previously worked on Star Trek's DS9 and Voyager, took a kitschy but hopelessly dated Star Wars wanna-be by Glen Larson, creator of Knight Rider, and entirely remade, not only the image of the show, but the image of sci-fi/space-opera for the next decade. It was so good, even girls watched it. It was so good, even Edward James Olmos (Blade Runner, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice) was in it. Check out the original mini-series trailer to see some pure space-awesomeness:

I know, right? So recently, there have been talks of producing another, yes, another reboot of this venerable space shoot-em-up with a different cast and production team as well as the added twist that the new show or movie in question would go back and pay homage to its 70s roots in some way. Does that mean more disco aliens? In the meantime, take a look at College Humor's take on the story, this time with an 80s slant. If you enjoyed those old Nintendo RPGs like Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda back in the day, you'll probably enjoy this as well - sorry about the ad:

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

LucasArts Says "No More Games"

Ah, Disney. You great absorber of American cultural icons. First the Muppets, then Pixar, later Marvel and now of course, Star Wars. And while just about everyone on the planet is excited about the prospect of a stream of new Star Wars films coming our way, the bajillion-dollar buyout was not without its casualties. Specifically, I'm talking about the LucasArts game division, known for such retro classics as 1990's The Secret of Monkey Island, 1992's Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and 1995's Full Throttle. For whatever reason, Disney has put the kabosh on the long-time producer of video-tastic hits and game-horrific misses, and in doing so has killed off an American institution that has been chugging along since before your mama was knee-high to a cocktail arcade machine.
The story of what most folks call LucasArts actually begins around 1983 after a successful joint venture between Lucasfilm and Atari which produced the quarter-sucking-classic Star Wars: The Arcade Game. Back then, Star Wars ruled the universe and every kid alive wanted a piece of that laser-blasting action. So for years, the video game industry (along with the movie industry, TV industry, etc.) shamelessly ripped-off the look and feel of Star Wars as much as possible, often without even trying to hide it. Realizing the massive potential for profits to be gained from expanding into other media outlets, and having tasted extraordinary success with their earlier venture into the arcade, Lucasfilm teamed up once again with the other "ruler of the universe" of the time, Atari, to help them with their foray into the world of video game development. The result of this second collaboration was the formation of Lucasfilm Games, which would eventually be reorganized into the gaming division of  LucasArts Entertainment Company in the early 1990s. So in 1984 with the fresh smell of success of still under their noses, Lucasfilm Games blasted out of the gate armed with two now-classic 8-bit games that pushed the boundaries of what was then thought possible with 48K of RAM and a 1.79 Mhz processor: Ballblazer and Rescue on Fractalus. If you aren't familiar with either of these ground-breaking games, do yourself a favor now and head on over to Atarimania.com where they've posted hi-res scans of the original Electronic Games Magazine article from 1984. It's a fascinating and informative read for any retro-gamer or Lucasfilm fan.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE IN ELECTRONIC GAMES

gAtari Hero

Here at Retrogeeker we believe that the future is the past, and if anything proves this half-baked statement true, it's the way all of these young-uns are suddenly embracing and fulfilling the previously unfulfilled promise of 8-bit music's awesome potential. So without a lot of hubub, I give you the gAtari 2600...

"8-Bitty" Bluetooth Gamepad

ThinkGeek.com, in case you didn't already know, rules. Besides the fact that they have a gazillion different tech/geek/nerd items available to the savvy spaz for purchase, most of their products won't break the bank, wilt your wallet or chomp your change like some other gadgety stores (cough, cough - Brookstone and Sharper Image). Plus they looove retro stuff like this super-awesome Bluetooth-enabled Nintendo-styled gamepad for your iPhone, iPad, iPod or Android device.

Dig it:

• Classic retro-styled game controller fits in your pocket and works with iPhone & iPad
• 8 button control including 4 face buttons, select, start, and two shoulder buttons... plus the D-Pad for movement
• Wireless Bluetooth® connection with auto power save mode
• Mini version of larger size iCade cabinet invented and designed by ThinkGeek
• Fully compatible with all iCade games
• Completely open development platform. App developers can add support for iCade with no permission needed from Apple or ThinkGeek. (See links for code examples below).
• "Atari Greatest Hits" iPad App ready to go with the iCADE, including support for over 100 classic Atari games.
• Atari App comes with Missile Command for free, other games available for in-app purchase. 3-game packs are $1. All 100 games are $14.99
• Compatible with iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Android support for most tablets and smartphones.
• NOTE: Atari Greatest Hits only runs on iPad, not on iPhone or iPod touch.
• Requires 2 x AAA batteries (not included)

CLICK HERE TO THROW MONEY AT IT

Bonus Video: iCade 8-Bitty demo in FULL COLOR!

Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded

One of the most popular computer game series of the 80s and 90s, the tongue-in-cheek (or hand-in-pocket) humor of Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards was a hit with juveniles of all ages. The game began its life as a basic text adventure for the Apple II called "Softporn Adventure" released by Sierra Online in 1981. Digital titillation being a rather new form of entertainment in the early 80s, the game was, of course, a huge success, prompting Sierra to task now-legendary programmer Al Lowe with the honor of rewriting the game to utilize a graphics engine (read: digital boobs). The result of Al's hard work was perhaps greater than the sum as the oddly endearing protagonist of the game, Larry Laffer, or as he is better known, Leisure Suit Larry, unexpectedly became a very marketable property. Five sequels (some say six) and millions of 5.25 inch floppies later the original series finally came to an end in 1996. After many years of dormancy, several questionable Larry adventures eventually appeared on Xbox and Playstation but they lacked involvement from the original creators and dropped most of the naughty-but-not-dirty humor of the classic series by replacing any potential instances of "clever" with "cleavage." Good eye-candy, to be sure, but weak gameplay. As one would expect, these titles sold poorly (they wouldn't even take my copy of Magna Cum Laude at Game Xchange, true story) which sadly brought the entire franchise to a screeching halt. Boo. But here's the part where the little indie developer swoops in to save the day. From Wikipedia:

• In June 2011, Replay Games announced on their blog that they had acquired a license for the Leisure Suit Larry series. Replay Games plans to re-release the titles it has licensed for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, XBLA, PSN, On-Live, and Steam. It is also announced that Al Lowe will be involved with the development of the new releases.

And then:

• In April 2012, Replay Games initiated the Kickstarter project Make Leisure Suit Larry come again! which finished funding on May 2, 2012 and secured a total of $674,598 ($655,182 via Kickstarter and $19,416 via Paypal) in funding compared to the $500,000 that was asked for. The "HD" Version of the game has a completion date of October 2012 listed, but it might be delayed to December 2012 or early 2013 since hitting the $650,000 mark. The $650,000 mark will add more story, dialogues and one more character.

Yup, they even got old Al Lowe to come back. Click on the links below. You know you want to.

CHECK OUT THE OFFICIAL SITE FOR ALL THE SLEAZY DETAILS

Bonus Video: Al Lowe talks about the rebirth of Leisure Suit Larry

Mad Ducketts: Converse Mario All Stars

Last year Nintendo, a one-time playing card manufacturer, teamed up with Converse, makers of quality footwear since 1908, to produce a series of Mario Bros-themed Chuck Taylors which include elements of 8-bit art from the 1985 blockbuster video game. The kickin' kicks also feature retro Nintendo fonts on the insoles, special Mario-style stars and even hidden game levels beneath the double-layered ankle panels. Reportedly the shoes sold out the first day that they were released in Japan and have already begun to command ridiculously high prices on the collectors market. If you really want a pair badly enough, head on over to eBay and you can pick up a brand-new sealed pair for only $799. Free shipping, of course.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE LISTING ON EBAY

I Wear My 8-Bit Sunglasses At Night

These are awesome. What more can I say? They don't light up, they don't check your email, they just sit on your face and look cool. They cost less than $10 so you can buy all of your friends one – wait for it – unless you're still reading this post in which case you probably don't have any...friends, that is (cue the crickets). They also come in a version with clear lenses in case you want to, oh hell I don't know, pretend you're Clark Kent while playing Superman on the Atari 2600 maybe?