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Intellivision’s Amico is the latest retro console revival
Intellivision, the video game maker that didn't survive the '80s, is back and ready to build something new on top of gaming nostalgia. After teasing the idea earlier this year, the company has announced plans for a new console called the Amico -- one part retro console and one part family-friendly modern gaming system. Intellivision plans to release it with a mix of classic titles and new originals in 2020.
The Analogue Nt Mini wants to be the last NES you'll ever buy
Trying to play an NES cartridge on Nintendo's original, 30-year-old hardware can be an exercise in frustration. The console's ancient composite cables offer terrible image quality on modern televisions, and getting games to actually run is a ballet of reseating, jostling and, of course, blowing on game cartridges. Nintendo's own NES Classic Edition and the Wii U and 3DS virtual consoles offer refuge for the casual gamer's nostalgic yearnings, but collectors looking for an authentic, cartridge-based retro gaming experience have long suffered under the dark shadow of compromise. Is it better to play on the original, but unreliable, hardware, or an NES clone plagued with compatibility issues? With the Analogue Nt Mini, you may not have to tolerate either -- but at $449, Analogue's compromise-free Nintendo doesn't come cheap.
Cyberpunk PC classic 'System Shock' is getting a proper remake
While System Shock might have only just received a facelift when it launched on GOG.com earlier this year, an entire remake of the legendary PC game is now in the works — and perhaps even System Shock 3. And if you've never heard of System Shock? You should have: both the creators of BioShock and Deus Ex were involved in the game, which is a 1994 classic in its own right. Night Dive, the same company that was tasked with this year's digital renovation, will handle the remake. It's picked up full rights to the franchise.
The aluminum Nintendo Entertainment System is custom built inside and out
The folks at Analogue Interactive know that making a good looking game console only goes so far, and that it's what's on the inside that truly counts. It's with that in mind that the solid aluminum Analogue Nt -- the outfit's take on the original Nintendo Entertainment System -- sports fancy innards in addition to its machined casing. As Polygon writes, the system's motherboard is custom as well, sporting a fancy black printed circuit board, transparent solder mask and raised copper traces. We've embedded a picture after the break. Sounds pretty snazzy, right? Well, the outfit's still promising audiophile and videophile quality out of their little aluminum box that could, and units still command a $500 starting price for pre-order. You might balk, but remember, this is the same company that charged $1,300 (minimum) for a wood-encased Neo Geo. Comparatively, this is a steal.
Now you can play 'Defender' and 900 other arcade classics in your browser
It seems like the Internet Archive was just getting started when it resurrected WordStar and The Hobbit from floppy-disk purgatory. Now, the latest additions to the Javascript MESS emulator are of the arcade variety. Specifically, games including Defender, Mr. Do!, Zaxxon and Joust are now playable in your browser. The IA's website says that most of the Internet Arcade's games should work, although some better act as a "verification of behavior programming" than anything else. Jason Scott, who runs the collection, has a blog post detailing what browsers perform best (a 64-bit version of Firefox is tops, apparently) and how to setup a gamepad for the whole shebang. You know, if digging through gaming's origins is your thing. Be careful, though. Playing Millipede as a kid may have cost you a few quarters, but if you get caught playing it at work it could be a whole lot more expensive now. [Image credit: Rob Boudon/Flickr]
Watch this guy shred through four decades of video game music
Sure, some video games require lightning-fast fingers, but even the most insane combos in Street Fighter don't quite compare to running up and down a guitar's fretboard lickety-split. To pay tribute to 40-plus years of gaming history, YouTuber FamilyJules7X put together an epic 17-minute performance (embedded after the break) of music from the medium's past and present. If you ever wanted to hear heavy metal versions of classic game-themes like Space Invaders, Phozon and Tetris alongside those of Donkey Kong Country, Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Fallout 3, this should be right up your alley. Most impressive? Jules shot the video, mixed the audio, programmed the drums and performed the guitar and bass parts himself in eight days -- all during his last week of college finals. If you want to download an MP3 of the track, hit the YouTube page. Now, if you'll pardon us, we have some head-banging to do.
Atari 2600s get PC innards, 22,857 times more processing power
Atari games redesigned in HTML 5 may bring back a flood of nostalgia, but they leave out a key part of the gaming experience: the classic hardware. Hard Drives Northwest filled that void by gutting a limited number of authentic Atari 2600s and stuffing them with modern PC components. Packing a Core i7 3.4GHz processor, the retro console now boasts 22,857 times more processing power than it did in its heyday, according to Microsoft's calculations -- more than enough oomph to handle the recent remakes. Other internals include 8GB of RAM, a 120GB SSD and a Radeon HD 6570 graphics card with 1GB of video memory. With support for USB 3.0 and 2.0, eSATA, DisplayPort, DVI and HDMI, the system is well stocked on the connectivity front. Finally, the signature of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell acts as the cherry atop the faux wood grain-toting package. While the souped-up machines aren't up for sale, a pair of them are slated for a giveaway. Glamour shots and the full set of specs await you at the source.
iFixit continues its retro gaming rampage, reduces an innocent Atari 2600 to bare components
iFixit, is no device safe from the scars of your screwdriver? These eyes have been scarred, forced to witness the destruction of yet another childhood icon. Previously it was the RCA Studio II and the Magnavox Odyssey 100 before that. Now it's the rather more memorable Atari 2600 going under the scalpel, four simple screws removed to reveal an eight-bit, 1.19MHz processor featuring 128 bytes of RAM (yes, a massive 1,024 bits) and a graphics adapter capable of 192 x 160 resolution with 128 colors -- though only four could be used on any given line. Through these humble beginnings the cartridge-based console was born... and now here it rests.
