Game Boy in the Palm of Your Hand

12 AA batteries not required

It's not an app, it's not platform dependent, it doesn't cost money so you should just go visit Ben Midi's GameBoy page right now cuz it's freakin' cool. Tap the link below on your touch-screen phone (tablets and PCs work too but don't scale well) and you'll be magically whisked away to a webpage that turns your incredibly expensive, state-of-the-art smartphone into a classic 8-bit monochrome Nintendo GameBoy! LTE data speeds and 8-core CPUs don't mean sh*t when you're playing Mario Bros on a 160x144 pixel black and white screen! The full list of playable games includes: Mario Land, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Bomberman, Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby XXL, Space Invaders, Motocross Maniacs, Bomb Jack, Boxxle 2, Castelian, Centipede and Stopwatch (haven't tried this one out yet, I think I know how it works, though). After recently watching Nintendo smash down anyone trying to steal from their holy vault of intellectual property, however, you can bet Ben's GameBoy page will be coming down fairly quickly so you may want to check it out sooner rather than later (Lawyers? Anyone else smell lawyers?)

CLICK HERE TO VISIT BEN MIDI'S GAMEBOY PAGE

Little Professor Calc for Android

…with a REAL computer inside!

Before the Speak 'n' Spell, which became an official 80s icon by its inclusion in the movie E.T., there was the Little Professor Calculator that was invented by one-time computing powerhouse, Texas Instruments, in order to finally bring a happier, friendly face to the blood-sucking horror that is modern mathematics. Oh I know that math has brought us countless innovations from toasters that enhance our breakfasts to the latest and greatest supercomputers that spend all day planning military strategies, but let's face it, most kids find it pretty boring. Luckily for rich Western children, TI introduced this educational calculator dressed up as a cartoon professor back in 1976, which was born from the (then) dream that through the use of technology, the human condition could be improved upon and utopia would finally be within mankind's reach. So people started cramming microchips into everything they could get their hands on and now here we are today.
Aside from the kiddy artwork that adorned the casing, the Little Professor was a fairly standard calculator except that it also functioned as a basic quiz game, randomly generating simple equations to which the operator would presumably input the correct answer, resulting in hours and hours of fun and learning. For example: 6 x 9 = ? And the answer is 42. "ERROR!" The Professor would then shame you with stark computer-speak displayed on its LED screen and then give you another chance to enter the correct answer. At the end of a round of questions you got to see your total score which let you know if you were going to be a Humanities student or not.
For those of you old enough to remember this little gem and who perhaps would enjoy sharing childhood memories with your own modern iPad/Netflix electro-children of the 21st century, you can now pick up an app-ified version for your Android device from the Google Play store and (as far as I can tell) it's free. Check out the video demo below and then click the link to visit Google Play and pick it up. Enjoy!

THE LITTLE PROFESSOR CALCULATOR APP FOR ANDROID

Play Classic Nintendo Games on Your iOS Device for Free

GBA4iOS

You got an iPhone or iPad? You want to play Nintendo games on it but you don't want to jailbreak your phone to do it? Well it's easier and quicker than you might think. Pull this post up on your iThing of choice and follow these simple instructions:

1. Open SETTINGS app and go to GENERAL
2. Tap on DATE & TIME
3. Toggle off SET AUTOMATICALLY
4. Change the date to anything in 2012 (your Messages and data services will be disabled for a minute)
5. Tap HERE to go to the page to download the free GBA4IOS app
6. On the page tap the drop down and choose GBA4IOS and then tap INSTALL
7. Important: BEFORE you change back your dat & time setting, OPEN the GBA4IOS app and leave it up and running
8. Go back to SETTINGS app and toggle on SET AUTOMATICALLY to restore the date & time - your data services will be restored

That's it, the app has now been installed on your non-jailbroken device without going though the App Store! Crazy! Now, you'll need to download some game roms for your GameBoy emulator app but it's way easy too:

1. Your GBA4IOS app should still be open from before so go to it
2. Tap on the magnifying glass button at the top right of the app's screen
3. Tapping the button opens Safari and pulls up a web search with game rom sites, tap the first link
4. You'll be taken to a mobile site where you can download all the game roms you want - woo!
5. Pick a game and tap DOWNLOAD NOW which pops open a box asking you which app you want to open the download with, choose OPEN IN and then choose GBA4IOS
6. Wait a few seconds and you'll be taken back to the GBA4IOS app and your download should appear in the rom list

That's it, just tap on your rom and start playing!

I know it looks like a lot of steps, but honestly it took be about 2 minutes to complete, and it's worth it!

ColecoVision Reborn

Is shag carpet back in yet? Someone go find a hipster and let me know.

A new Kickstarter project concerning something very dear to my heart has just surfaced. The same group that released the excellent Vectrex Regeneration last year has taken on the task of bringing the retrospectacular ColecoVision console to the mobile gaming community and they need your help. For those of you who need a refresher, the ColecoVision was introduced in August of 1982 as the ultimate Atari and Intellivision-killer -- and it almost succeeded until the Great Video Game Crash of 1983 made short work of the entire industry. At the time of its release, the system was way ahead of its competitors offering near-arcade quality graphics, arcade-style super-controllers and, via a seperate expansion unit, cross-platform compatibility with its greatest nemesis, the Atari 2600. The party was short-lived, however, and the system was discontinued in 1985, just three years before Coleco would file for bankruptcy and right around the same time that a little Japanese company, called Nintendo, decided to reinvent the home gaming market for a new generation with something they called the NES. But thanks to the folks at RantMedia Games, who happen to be huge ColecoVision fans, it looks like you'll soon be able to relive those totally tubular memories right in the palm of your hand. For more info check out the video and the link. (Special thanks to Cheryl for tipping me off on this awesome project!)

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE COLECOVISION KICKSTARTER PAGE

Legal Retro-Gaming with Retrode 2

Retro-gaming: Now with less felony!

Playing retro games on your PC, Mac or Linux box just got a little easier and a whole lot more legal. The Retrode 2 lets you avoid the gray areas involved with obtaining potentially-ilicit videogame ROMS for your software emulator by letting you use your own, legally-owned SNES or Sega Genesis carts instead. Check out the specs:

• Cartridge slots for Sega Genesis/MD and Nintendo SNES/SFC games. Access ROM (program/data) and SRAM (savegames)! Custom-made connectors of video game quality.
• 2×2 ports for Sega and SNES controllers.
• USB 2.0 Full-Speed composite device for driverless operation under any OS, using any emulator.
• Easy to use, configure and update.
• Expandable using plug-in adapters (Sega Master System, GameBoy and N64).
• Made in Germany.
• Dimensions and weight: 162mm x 80mm x 42mm, 200g (6.4″ x 3.2″ x 1.7″, 0.4lbs)
• Includes USB cable and instruction sheet. Suggested retail price: EUR 65 / USD 85.

The Retrode 2 even includes built-in controller ports so you can play all of your old favorites the way they were meant to be instead of using some flimsy stick from Gravis or CH Products (honk if you remember either of those guys!). The unit sells for about $85 and you can find out more about ordering one by visiting their website: www.retrode.com.

80s Games in Your Browser

Got the urge to kill some time on a Friday afternoon with some retro-bit-blasting but your IT guy keeps giving you dirty looks whenever you try to install games on your work PC? Well head on over to 80s Top Games and revisit your favorite gems from the 1980s right in your online net browser. Not only does 80s Top Games feature the classics you fondly remember from Nintendo, Sega and Atari, but if you grew up in England (or elsewhere) you'll be pleased to know that they also feature those odd-ball systems most Americans have never and will never recognize, like the Amtsrad, Spectrum and the "big in Japan" MSX, Microsoft's first attempt at a unified PC platform. And just like everything on the web should be, 80s Top Games is 100% free, although donations are welcome.

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR RETRO GAME ON AT 80S TOP GAMES

Pinball iPad Controller

Pinball. It's awesome and you know it. That's why you need this bad boy for your iPad: the Duo Pinball. I could tell you all about it by using double entendres and providing clever links to hilarious references, but instead you should just watch this video because the internet can't always do all the work for you:



WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE? CLICK HERE!

Learn to Spell While Phoning Home

Way back in ye olden days of yore, my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandpa had to learn his ABCs from what they called a horn-book or crib book, which was basically a bare ping-pong paddle with the alphabet scrawled onto it using a burnt stick or something. While the benefits of having a learning tool around with which you could play a quick round of table-tennis during recess were obvious, humankind soon discovered that a static display and lack of digital sound were keeping future generations from reaching their true academic potentials. Thus, in 1978, the brilliant engineers at Texas Instruments, known for their pioneering work in transistors and integrated circuits, decided to bestow upon us mere mortals, not unlike Moses at Mount Sinai, an electronic tablet. No it wasn't an iPad. It was called Speak & Spell and it was frakking awesome. Designed for children to assist them in learning how to literally speak and spell, the brightly-colored portable battery-murderer was the first device of its kind to feature true digital speech synthesis and not just human voices recorded on tape like the earlier See 'n' Say line from Mattel. While sales of the Speak & Spell were consistently brisk due to its innovative and engaging style of learning-through-playing, the device truly became a monster-seller after its inclusion into the plot of Steven Spielberg's 1982 classic, E.T. Thanks to modern technology, you can re-experience the thrill of spelling "boobies" on one of these machines by going HERE and trying out science teacher Kevin St. Onge's home-brewed Speak & Spell simulator featuring authentic retro sights and sounds! Make sure you've got Flash! (hint: press the "on" button to get the simulator started)

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.