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Two new Sega Genesis Collection videos released
Seeing Alex Kidd was good and all, but now we're talking with new videos of Ecco the Dolphin and Columns that will be crammed into Sega Genesis Collection.I know there are a lot of young gamers around these days and some of you may not be old enough to have experienced the greatness of these two games. That's why I'm so excited Sega is releasing this collection of almost 30 Genesis games. It's kinda funny because Sega's old slogan - "Genesis does what Nintendon't" is so fitting. You see, Sega has put all their classic games onto one disc, while Nintendo forces gamers to buy all their NES games separately. For shame!
Is that a working Atari joystick in your pocket...
Tired of consoles that take up valuable entertainment center real estate? How about one that fits on your keychain instead? A new line of miniature Atari 2600 joysticks and paddles actually hook up to your TV to play built-in games. The mini-systems, which include two or three classic Atari games each, hook up to a TV through a six-foot RCA cord and external AAA battery pack.We wonder how playable these games are on such small controllers, but just the idea of a TV console that fits in your pocket intrigues us. Now if we could only get a pocket sized Intellivision, we'd really be in business.[Via Random Good Stuff]
Poll: What classic games do you want on the Wii?
We're not so sure that this rumored list of 26 titles for the Wii's virtual console launch is accurate, even if it's supposedly from a "trustworthy source." But we figured this was as good a chance as any to start a discussion of what games readers are actually interested in playing on Nintendo's enormously backwards-compatible system. Continue reading for a quick little poll on which of the listed games Joystiq readers would buy. Your favorite's not listed? Name drop it in the comments.
Run Classic on an Intel Mac
We have covered SheepShaver before here on TUAW, the PowerPC emulator that makes running Classic a possibility on Intel Macs so, but we just pointed out that it exists. The good folks at UNEASYsilence have gone through the trouble of putting together a tutorial on how to get Classic up and running on your Intel Mac using SheepShaver.Check it out if you still need a Classic app or two, but you crave the speed of the latest and greatest Mac hardware.
GameRanger to drop OS 9 support, eventually
Inside Mac Games reports that GameRanger, the online Mac gaming service, will stop supporting booting GameRanger client in OS 9 at some point this year. This should surprise no one since OS 9 hasn't been commercially available for years. Now, for you game crazy OS 9 holdouts, fear not. The client will still run in Classic (which itself isn't supported on newer Macs, but lucky there are solutions for that).I'm curious, how many TUAW readers are still using OS 9? Do you have plans to upgrade any time soon?
SheepShaver
Damien found SheepShaver last February, and at the time this PowerPC emulation environment (great for running Classic on Intel Macs) had 'experimental' attached to its explanation. While I don't know if it can be referred to as a solid powerhouse environment even still, it seems to have come quite a ways since February; up to version 2.3, to be exact. The latest version has support for up to 1 GB of memory, many bug and crash fixes, clipboard updates, performance enhancements and more.While it still might not be pretty, SheepShaver is one of the few, if only, methods I've heard of for running Classic on an Intel Mac.
Rig of the Day: Bookshelf Macs
Today's rig shot features a MacPlus, SE, SE/30, and a Classic adorning a bookshelf. I have to say the look nice up there. I may have a to add a couple to the bookshelf in my own office. I just really like the look of these compact Macs."Old Macs put to good use" posted by targuman2002For the month of April, the theme for our Rig of the Day will be "Vintage Macs" in honor of Apple's anniversary. If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. Let's see your vintage Macs (Apples and Newtons, too)! We'll select an image every day to highlight.
Nintendo help for your fantasy baseball team
While we question the ability of McSweeney's to integrate classic Nintendo characters into a major-league squad, that's just the scouting report that's been released for this truly fantasy baseball roster.For instance, you've got a young shortstop who spends way too much of his time with "fairies" in Link and the token female pitcher (albeit one with a built-in arm cannon) in Samus, but these inclusions will always be overshadowed by that of the stocky plumber stalked by rumors of steroid abuse. Way to go, Mario.
An Experimental Classic Environment for Intel Macs
One of disadvantages with Apple's migration to Intel processors will be the loss of the Classic (Mac OS 9) environment. Apple has said many times that the Classic environment will be incompatible with their Intel Macs. While this probably won't be a problem for many users, organizations like schools (who may have limited money to upgrade their sofware) will likely encounter a few situations where their new Intel Macs need a Classic environment to run a few applications.Enter Sheepshaver, an open source PowerPC runtime environment capable of running PowerPC Mac OS 9 applications. The developer has relased an experimental version of Sheepshaver compatible with Mac OS X 10.4.4 for Intel Macs.Apple may have dropped support for Mac OS 7.x --> Mac OS 9.x applications with their move to Intel, but the open source community has provided us with a decent solution. When my Intel iMac finally arrives, I'll give this a whirl. Maybe C.K. can check it out in the meantime.
Mac mini inside Classic Mac Update
Our own Dave Caolo Damien Barrett posted about a Mac mini stuffed into a Classic Mac SE/30's case last week, and a few new how-to's for this mod have since showed up.I especially like the black "Mac Minitosh" version by Lee on http://destruc.tv found today by Eliot on hack a day. This black beauty uses a black wired apple laser optical mouse and a black keyboard (I would have used a compact hhk2 lite in black instead, that being my everyday keyboard of choice). Oh and don't worry, no Classic Macs were harmed in this example; the Mac Lee used was already dead.If you would like more information about how to perform a hack like this yourself, check out these two Japanese sites. The first is a site Damien linked to before but which has since then been translated. The second link was submitted by TUAW reader Arlo:http://www.kaede.sakura.ne.jp/~kidou/mac/macmini01.htmlhttp://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/anagotendon/6007[via hack a day]
What you can't run on a Mactel
Ivan at creativebits has composed a list of application types that just won't work with Rosetta. From his list: The Classic environment (and hence, all pre-OS X apps) Screensavers written for PPC Code that insert preferences into the Preferences Pane Kernel extensions Apps that depend on one (or more) PPC-only kernel extension There are a few more, check them out. I said "See ya" to Classic a long time ago, so I'm not really concerned about the Mactel being the official nail in that coffin. As Ivan suggest, just look for the universal logo above when making purchases for your Mactel, just to play it safe.
Classic Mac Rubik's Cube sculptures
This is just fantastic. French artist Invader creates mosaic sculptures of images from pop culture using the Rubik's Cube as his medium. Called "Rubikscubism," his works include a classic Mac trash can and, my personal favorite, the pre- and post-representation of a defragmented hard drive (pictured at right). Other sculptures include Space Invaders characters, Nintendo's Mario and a very Nintendo-like explosion.Here is a Flickr site of a recent Rubikscubism gallery opening, and here is the artist's Flickr page. If only the Rubik's Cube had been given an aqua colored side...
