Tag Archives: retro games

Retro Games Controller: classic gaming for the masses

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A new gaming console has just appeared in the UK, and it’s aimed at nostalgic gamers who miss arcades. Learn all about this retro device in this story!

Image via Cool Smartphone

The gaming world has been growing non-stop for generations now, but it has always looked towards the future with the idea of predicting what is to come. THis is not the case of the Retro Games Controller, an extremely cheap gaming system (which costs only £11.95) that, instead of attempting to compete with your home consoles, aims to give older gamers a different option when it comes to enjoying games in their living-room. The Retro Games Controller is a tiny video game console built to be able to play classic titles, in the same vein of the classic arcade cabinets of the 80s, but without a physical box taking space in your living-room, and running all of the games straight from the controller itself. After supplying the controller with three AA batteries, you can plug it straight on your TV’s RCA port, and enjoy some of the simplest but most enjoyable games of the last few years.

Image via Cool Smartphone

The controller itself features an analog nub not unlike the ones from arcade machines, with two buttons that are used to perform the entirety of all tasks in the games, along with a select and start button. All of the games available for this console (which are over 200) have a very 80s feel to them, with retro graphics and huge pixels livening up your screen. When the console is turned on, you will be taken to a menu where you can pick your favorite titles, with games such as Racing Fighter, Aerial Warfare, Police vs Thief, PongPong, Space Base, Wonderball or Apple Chess among many others. When we say this is a very 80’s like machine, we refer to the period before the release of the NES, even, so forget the Castlevanias, Mega Man and other games like that. What is a real shame, though, is that titles like Pac-man or Donkey Kong are nowhere to be found in this machine, but both Namco and Nintendo have more of a reputation for being extremely protective of their IPs.

Image via Cool Smartphone

Just like we said before, this is not a gadget for gamers who already have a PS4 or Xbox One at home, but maybe for someone who was a teenager in the early 80’s and has fond memories of playing at the arcade while waiting for their pizza to be ready. This is a console for those who wish to wish to relive a time long gone, and even though the controller could be bigger, or it could have better options for a second player in several titles, this console does what it does extremely well.

The games are so simple and beautiful they are timeless, and with the holiday season just around the block having such classics ready to be fired up for the entire family doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all. Forget about the loading times and the cinematic experiences, this is gaming the way it was, and just the way you remember it.

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Retro Video Game System: Cartridges are back

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Get ready for some heavy nostalgia, as a completely new video game system promises to deliver content via cartridges: just like the old days!

Now that blu-rays are the default storage method for consoles, cartridges are a nostalgic thing that many of us miss and associate with the consoles of our childhoods. Ever since the N64, video game consoles have moved on to optical media, but the Retro VGS (Retro Video Games System) team view it differently, and think cartridges still can exist today. To prove their point, they are working in an upcoming cartridge-based games console.

This idea came from the mind of Mike Kennedy of the Retro Magazine, who is going to bring his project to Kickstarter where the community will be able to decide its fate this summer. Still, the idea seems pretty clear: retro-style gaming is ready for a comeback, and the experience just isn’t the same if the hardware doesn’t match. It’s like it’s 1989 all over again, thanks to this console and games like Shovel Knight.

The console’s name is still subject to change before it’s kickstarted, but it is being touted as Retro VGS. It will specialize in original 2D games made in a retro style, along with “16-Bit fan-favorite sequels” and some ports of mobile games that match the consoles’ vision and aesthetic. All of these games will release in cartridge form for the first time, so forget about patches, updates, and online play: this is just the game and the player, the way it was meant to be.

Kennedy’s team says the “RETRO VGS will reestablish the culture of video gaming, something that has been slowly dismantled over the last couple console generations. It will promote game ownership, tangibility and collectability. There will be no system updates, digital downloads or buggy games.” We’ll see about the bugs, Mr. Kennedy, but you have our whole support. Be sure to check out the project at the team’s Facebook page

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An Amazing/Insane Father Made His Son Play Through Video Game History

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Most people who start playing video games do so with whatever is trending at the time that they start. Same goes for other forms of entertainment as well. I’d wager that no music listeners began their journeys by hearing a primitive human banging two rocks together rhythmically, and then slowly worked his/her way through prehistory and history to the modern day. Video gaming’s history is significantly shorter than music’s, and that’s why Andy Baio could do what he did to/with his son, Eliot.

eliot1zoom in

When he started his four-year-old out with games it was on one of those plug-and-play systems that comes loaded with a handful of arcade classics. Once he had gotten good at Pac Man, Rally X, Dig Dug, Galaxian, and the like, he graduated to the Atari 2600. He kicked butt in Asteroids, Kaboom!, Adventure, Combat, and E.T. Next came the NES, where Elliot beat the OG Legend of Zelda, Mega Man 2, and Mario. By the time he was six he was beating difficult side scrollers and complicated adventure games on his own. Next came the SNES, the N64, and eventually the Playstation 2.

eliot2zoom in

The end result is a kid who loves rougelikes with retro graphics along with more technically advanced modern games and, more interestingly, loves mastering brutally difficult games like Spelunky. The kid’s dad admits that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to beat it, even though Eliot didn’t just beat the game, but also managed to get to hell. Hell is only accessible by performing a specific set of rituals in a specific order that are dependent on finding unique items that are never in the same places twice and then performance a miraculously difficult and “audacious” kill of the final boss. It’s one of the most difficult things to do in all of gaming, and an eight-year-old did it.

spelunkyzoom in

What I realized reading Baio’s article was that he didn’t just condition his son to like old school gaming elements, he trained his son. I’m a ballet dancer, and my training didn’t start with this, it started with some really, really basic stuff. Training for anything else is exactly the same. You start with the fundamentals and slowly build up from there. The technical limits of early game systems meant that the games relied on simple mechanics, and Eliot mastered those basics before moving on to slightly more difficult material. We’re looking at our next E-sports champion right here.

[via Medium]

A Delicious Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Cake

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Are you ready for a quick nostalgia trip?  Our childhoods were spent amongst classic Zelda games and treats, and now we can speak about the two in the same story.

Tracey from the Little Cherry Cake Company is the genius behind this delicious retro looking cake. It features the Nintendo ...
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Retro Game Apps

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Video games have changed a lot over time. Some games use traditional playing platforms that require a hand held controller, others use movement sensitive remotes, then there are some that track your body movements to control the game. Games now also have some pretty impressive graphics that are almost movie ...
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How to set up your Raspberry Pi to play Atari 2600 games

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How to set up your Raspberry Pi to play Atari 2600 games

So after your brain hurts a bit and you're tired of learning computer science on the Raspberry Pi, you might want to relax with a bit of nostalgia and exercise your thumbs with some retro gaming. Want to revisit your childhood memories of Pong? Ping away. Maybe your kids have been hounding you for a video game console but you don't have the $300 to spring for a PS3. The Pi can help you with this and help teach your kids something, to boot. After some slight software configurations and a hardware purchase or two, you can relive the days of the almighty Atari 2600. Catch us after the break and we'll show you how to get your Pi to play all your totally legal cartridge backups.

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How to set up your Raspberry Pi to play Atari 2600 games originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atari 2600s get PC innards, 22,857 times more processing power

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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.

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Atari 2600s get PC innards, 22,857 times more processing power originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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University of Michigan’s Computer and Video Game Archive houses over 3,000 different games, roughly 35 unique consoles (video)

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University of Michigan's Computer and Video Game Archive houses over 3,000 different games, roughly 35 unique consoles (video)

Systems such as the ColecoVision, TurboGrafx-16 and 3DO may have been ousted from most home entertainment centers long ago, but they still have shelf space at the University of Michigan's Computer and Video Game Archive. Slashdot caught up with Engineering Librarian and Video Game Archivist Dave Carter and took a look inside the repository, which has curated around 35 classic and current-gen platforms and more than 3,000 different games. Having "one of everything" is the project's ultimate goal, but the logistics of acquiring every new game make achieving that feat a stretch. "Our realistic goal is to be sort of representative of the history of video games, what was important -- what was interesting," Carter said. "And then, not only to preserve the games, but also to preserve the game playing experience." As a "useable archive," patrons of UM's library can dig in and play at different stations with era-appropriate monitors and displays. While many visit for leisure, students have used the resource to research topics ranging from music composition to the effects of texting while driving (using an Xbox 360 racing title and steering wheel peripheral, of course). You can catch a glimpse of the collection in the video below or visit the archive's blog at the more coverage link.

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University of Michigan's Computer and Video Game Archive houses over 3,000 different games, roughly 35 unique consoles (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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