The Atari joystick is back

Posted in Games by Conner Flynn on November 14th, 2008

Atari joystick is backDo you miss such classics as Q-Bert and Pitfall? Chances are you’ve figured out by now that your vintage Atari Joystick won’t plug into your computer, no matter how you try to shave the connector into a rough USB shape. Lucky for you, Legacy Entertainment’s classic controller looks exactly like an Atari joystick, but it’s Windows / OS X / Linux compatible, and connects via USB. Supposedly, it will run with “nearly any emulator,” so get the 80’s tunes ready and get ready to play some old classics on your PC. Only $14.99.

Atari will publish Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Posted in Games by Shane McGlaun on November 7th, 2008

Ghostbusters GameI really liked Ghostbusters when I was a kid and Atari has some really good news. As Ray Parker would say, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” the Ghostbusters game has found a publisher. Whether or not the game would make it was debatable after it was dropped from the lineup of the original game publisher.

Atari has announced that it will be bringing Ghostbusters: The Video Game to market in 2009 for six game systems. The game should be cool for those who grew up watching the movies. The original cast is back for the game lending likenesses and voices to the project.

25 Awesome Geek cakes

Posted in Lists by Conner Flynn on November 2nd, 2008

Optimus PrimeThere’s always room for dessert and nothing beats a fresh and cleverly made geek cake. In recent years “Geek cakes” have become an art form, hopefully not your pet name used by your significant other. One thing is certain, if geeks love a thing, chances are it will become a cake. So, we wanted to take a look at some of our favorite geek desserts and celebrate the clever bakers and icing artists that make geek birthdays and weddings just a bit more fun. Click through for cake and prepare to get hungry.

Atari Hero: Play Atari 2600 like a rock god

Posted in Games by Conner Flynn on September 28th, 2008

Atari Hero: Play Atari like a rock godThis is not my first console mod, but I think it’s the neatest. As far as I know it hasn’t been done before. I wanted to be able play Atari 2600 games like you play Guitar Hero… With a guitar. With this mod, you just pop in your favorite 2600 cartridge, and play the game on your guitar. The screen is right in front facing you as you hold it. Instead of strumming, just use the small joystick on the upper right, or for games like Breakout use the paddle controller below the screen. The fire button is the top button on the neck of the guitar, so yes, you really hold it in guitar fashion as you play.

I had originally intended to make an NES-Hero, taking advantage of all the guitar buttons, but didn’t have a spare laying around. Which was just fine with me because this Atari-Hero turned out just awesome. It took me about 2 months more or less, simply because it was hard to find the time with my duties here at the ‘Brick, but it’s finally finished. I incorporated actual pieces of the Atari console itself, like the faux woodgrain front panel with logo and the grill from the top of the console, even the cartridge slot itself. The circuit boards all had to be fabricated and custom shaped, then put in place. The Atari console combined with the circuit boards makes for a stunning look in person. (Sorry about the crappy pics. It’s so shiny it’s hard to get a good shot) More pics below.

Four-way Pong coffee table

Posted in Games by Conner Flynn on September 13th, 2008

Four-way Pong coffee tableCoffee tables just sit there and do nothing. They just wait for the stray drink and the occasional pair of feet and that’s about it. If you want a more adventurous coffee table, you could get yourself SparkFun’s LED coffee table, which took two years to build. It kicks the legs out from beneath other cofee tables with it’s ability to play a four-way game of cooperative Pong.

It uses 64 RGB serial matrices, 4 Atari controllers, and an LPC2106 dev board to create said game of Pong. Since it’s a one of a kind piece, you can’t just pick one up at the store. But if you’ve got about 2 years and some electronics experience, you can make one too. Or just admire this one.

Homemade Pong watch

Posted in Watches by Conner Flynn on August 31st, 2008

Homemade Pong watchPong is hip again. Or should I say wrist? The Homemade Pong Watch was created by John, a lover of Pong who managed to compress all of the electronics for the watch into a trim 10mm-thick case. The 96×64 OLED display runs continuously and as John points out, there is no need to press a button to see the time. Battery life is 25 hours, so recharging is done every night. It looks absolutely worthy of my wrist in action. I would watch it play all day and get nothing done. Check out the video below. Excellent work.

Wii woodgrain mod gives it an Atari look

Posted in Wii by Conner Flynn on August 24th, 2008

Wii woodgrain mod gives it an Atari lookWood classes up almost any gadget. Even simple USB drives. But when you give the Wii a woodgrain makeover, the result is simply awesome. It’s as if the the old Atari woodgrain consoles merged with the Wii. Much better then boring Wii white. For now it’s just a concept design by Joe D, which is a shame. Nintendo would sell a ton of product.

Joe’s concept apparently has a layer of woodgrain veneer on the Wii-Mote, Nunchuk, even the Classic Controller and Nyko Perfect Shot. That’s sweet enough, but he also gave the controllers get some bright white backlit buttons and black paint to bring out the wood. Once you see design like this it’s hard to come back to reality and pick up your white wiimote.

Shop for groceries, play some Atari

Posted in Games by Conner Flynn on May 19th, 2008

Shop for groceries, play some Atari
Clean up on isle six, I just kicked your ass at Missile Command. How cool is this? This Milwaukee, Wisconsin grocery store has an atari section, where you can hang out and play, complete with period TV, wallpaper and furniture. It’s a great way to get the guys to do the shopping, I’ll say that.

The display includes a fully-functional Atari 2600(Newer black version), and a nice assortment of about 50 classic games just waiting to be stolen. Looks like the only detail from my childhood that they missed is having my mom stand there nagging me while I’m trying to play Space Invaders. Otherwise, it’s like being there. Note to the employees: That plant fails to hide the cords.

The Atari 2600 cake looks retro delicious

Posted in Games by Conner Flynn on February 24th, 2008

Atari 2600 cake
There must be something in the icing air lately. I thought that the R2-D2 cake we showed you last week was the coolest geek cake. But having a special place in my heart for the Atari 2600, I want to dig into this delicious cake made to look like the original Atari console.

What’s next? An NES and SNES cake? I hope so. I’m getting a sugar rush just looking at it in all it’s 8-bit glory. Ironically, the simple Pac-Man decorations along the side are an improvement on how that game looked on this console.





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