From this chair, you can be the Space Invaders king! It’s too bad that these are just prototypes of a chair that only some day be made by the design collective Dorothy. 

I hope that these guys decide to manufacture this chair, although I have trouble seeing where you’d rest your arms. I guess like the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones on HBO, not all thrones are comfortable.

[via GeekAlerts]

Brookhaven Lab engineer Willy Higinbotham’s Tennis for Two was less a game and more a demo of manipulating a bouncing ball on a scope, but it is seen as the forefather of all modern games which started with PONG and Space War. Now, thanks the to loving restoration work of Peter Takacs and a team at today’s Brookhaven Lab, the original game is being brought back from the dead.

The original 1958 demo unit was dismantled shortly after it was completed, and back in 1997, the Brookhaven engineers attempted to recreate the original, but used solid-state electronics to do it. The video below shows the first restoration attempt in action….

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

But in the interest of 100% accuracy, the team is working on a much more authentic version, replicating the electronics of the original. Thanks to the restoration of an old Donner analog computer, the fully restored version is nearly complete, and should be revealed very soon.

[Brookhaven bits & bytes via Wired]

It was announced today that Christie’s will be auctioning off one of these extreme rarities on November 23 in London. The particular Apple-1 system for sale is serial number 82, and includes all original packaging, instructions, a cassette interface, the sales invoice, and a “tech support” letter signed by Steve Jobs himself. The shipping box even has a return address of Jobs’ parents’ house.

Christies expects the machine to sell for somewhere between $161,000 and $242,000 (USD). Considering that the system originally sold for $666.66 back in 1976, I’d say that’s a mighty fine return on investment. Although the same amount in Apple stock purchased when they first went public would probably be worth nearly as much.

[via Pursuitist]

Radio Man was created by a Swiss engineer named August Huber. Ah, now the yodeling makes sense! He’s 7 feet tall and took 10 years to complete. It supposedly could walk, talk, sing, or yodel at his master’s command.It was supposedly powered by batteries hidden in the legs, but honestly, this makes me wonder if this was a work of fiction. Batteries in the legs? I thought that back in the 1930s it would have needed something like a truck filled with batteries to power it.

[Modern Mechanix via DVice]

Run, slide, climb and jump your way to eBay now and prepare to bid at least $36 (USD) for the poster. Plaid pajama bottoms not included.

[via gameSniped]

The game will feature “2.5 D” graphics and support for Plus+ , a social network for iPhone/iPod Touch gamers. Freeverse have yet to reveal a price for the game, which will be released this April.

What’s next? Alien vs. Pooh?

[via TUAW and Freeverse]

They’re available at Geekware for $15 (USD), and are also available in classic gray.

Thanks to a partnership between TakaraTomy A.R.T.S. and Nintendo, we’re now getting these Game & Watch minis. Each game is a faithful miniature reproduction of its original version. Unfortunately, they’re not actually playable (boo!), but they do offer the authentic LCD animations from the originals. As an added bonus, the mini Game & Watch titles have a built in solar panel, so you never have to worry about batteries.

At this point, the titles available are Parachute, Octopus and Chef, so if you’re looking for Donkey Kong of Mario Bros. you’re outta luck for now. And despite the fact that they’re not actually playable, they’ll still look pretty cool hanging from your keychain. Here’s a little video showing them off in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

They ship this April, and you can pre-order them all now over at Strapya World for just $11 (USD) each. What do you think the valet will think when I hand over my car keys with one of these hanging from them?

[via Gigazine]

The set of 6 shot glasses includes graphics from six retro Atari arcade games: Asteroids, Centipede, Pong, Breakout, Missile Command and the aforementioned Battle Zone. The flip side of each glass features a color-coordinated Atari logo. Each class holds a perfect shot of your favorite liquor, or is perfect for catching quarters during your drinking games (and save ‘em for later for some arcade play.)

You can grab the full set over at Amazon for $16.99 (USD). Whiskey not included.

[Have more than 5 drinking buddies? Then grab a set of these Pac-Man shots to go with.]

The retro-styled LG Serie 1 television doesn’t just look like an old set, it actually uses good old CRT technology. No schmancy flat screens here, just a old-fashioned 4:3 aspect ratio cathode ray tube for you to watch your reruns of I Love Lucy on.

The set features a 14-inch diagonal screen, complete with rabbit-ear antennae and chrome legs. It even has old-school knobs for changing channels and adjusting volume. However, this set has a modern digital tuner, composite video for your retro video game console, and a wireless remote so it’s not completely antique tech.

For extra fun, you can flip the television between full color, black & white and sepia tone modes:

The sets are available in the orange color shown above (model 14SR1EB) and a dark brown (model 14SR1DB). At this point the LG Serie 1 Retro Classic TV is currently only available in Korea, where it currently retails for 249,000 KRW (appx. $216 USD).

[photos: EarlyShop]

So far, the Atari Arcade includes web-playable Flash versions of four arcade classics: Asteroids, Battlezone, Crystal Castles, and Lunar Lander. Hopefully, they’ll add more games in the not-too-distant future. I want my Dig-Dug and Paperboy! They’ve also thrown in versions of a couple of classic 2600 games, Yar’s Revenge and Adventure. Each of the games is a faithful recreation of the original, with the addition of a global high score leaderboard.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the new Atari Arcade, and play without fear of ever running out of quarters again.

Really, how can you not love a game with instructions that read: “The primary objective of the game is to break a path through the shield, and destroy the Qotile with a blast from the Zorlon Cannon”?

[via Kotaku]

This is the third revision of the Atari 800 laptop that Ben has built, and this one captures the spirit of the original 8-bit machine the best. I have a special place in my heart for the 800, as it’s really the first “serious” computer I had when I was growing up. Sure, I got to play with an Apple ][ for a while around the same time, but the first code I ever wrote was in good old Atari BASIC.

The design of the console is very reminiscent of the classic 800, complete with that dirty beige case color, and a real Atari 800 clicky keyboard. Check out the wonderful details like the front-mounted cartridge slot, and the flat Reset/Start/Select/Option buttons in their original hues.

While the hardware isn't actually from an original Atari 800 (it's an XEGS motherboard), it still looks like an 800 and plays all the original games, so that's good enough for me. The machine has also done away with the need for storing programs on cassette tape or floppy disk by getting itself a nice little 2.5" PATA hard drive under the hood. Heck managed to work that magic using a custom-programmed MyIDE circuit. The luggable system even owes a nod to Nintendo. That's because it's power supply came from a Gamecube. Go figure.

The pop-up angled keyboard is a really nice touch that makes it much more like the original 800 too.

Here's the 800 laptop in action, playing Lucasfilm Games' 1984 classic Ballblazer, one of my favorite 8-bit games of all time:

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And how about a little Buck Rogers for those of you into that scene:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Want to get one for yourself, or just want to see how he built it? Head on over to Ben’s website for more details.

With his Jump ‘n’ Run series, photographer Patrick Runte aims to bring the pixels out into the park… or the hedge maze, as it were. The series includes Tetris, Pong, and Space Invaders, though not quite as you might expect to see them. A few of the images are collected here, but there are even more at Runte’s site, from this and other projects.

Now we just need to convince someone to build games from these concepts. If LEGO-everything can work, so can this!

[via GameSetWatch]

These Nintendo mini classic games have gotten a modern makeover, with all of the electronics fitting neatly into a keychain-sized gadget.

Each one hearkens back to a classic Game & Watch title. There’s Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., and Mario’s Cement Factory, among others. All of them feature the same rudimentary LCD animations found on their ancestors, along with simplistic color overlays.

Each of the Nintendo Mini Classics is available over at Firebox for £9.99 (appx. $16 USD). But if you’re willing to dig around a bit over on Amazon, you can find some of these for as little as $2.99!

Despite my squealing over the smile on Donkey Kong’s face, however, I think that little fire is the best part. This project really reflects the qualities that keep these old games around in iconic status: simplicity and high fun factor. Of course Donkey Kong is silly; the whole concept is silly. So let’s put a happy face on ‘im.

Now I want to see giant Lego versions of the old man from The Legend of Zelda.

[Fantastic Rob's Flickr via CraziestGadgets]

If Tetris is not your retro look — or game — of choice, the aptly-named Etsy shop VinylWallDesign has a few other interesting choices for you: Pac-Man and Space Invaders. We’re talking about the classics here.

The shop features several simpler designs that aren’t influenced by classic games, just in case you prefer penguins to cunningly fitting falling blocks together for hours. Prices for the sets range from $20 to $65.

The Arcade Mania is a glass-top table with a built-in 150-in-1 arcade machine. Okay so the booze isn’t built-in,and technically the Arcade Mania is a coffee table, but come on man. Twinbee and tequila. Beer and B-wings. Goonies and gin. Hell, Goonies is good with anything. And yes, it supports 2 player drunken gaming. If you’re mind isn’t blown by now then you suck. I hate you. You and your healthy lifestyle.

For those whose minds are blown, the Arcade Mania can be yours for £1,660 (approx. $2,440). There’s also a stand-up version for people who like standing up more than sitting and enjoying life.

Adorned with the group’s iconic airbrush winged scarab and flamejob art, ZVUE’s Journey MP3 player ($40) is perfect whether you’re a fan of original frontman Steve Perry, or his modern-day (dead ringer) replacement Arnel Pineda. The player comes pre-loaded with 22 songs from their recent Revelation album, including 11 new tunes, and 11 classics re-recorded by Pineda. Of course, with just 1GB of storage, you won’t be able to store all that much more than the complete works of Journey anyhow.

So if you’re ready for you and your money to go Separate Ways, head on over to Walmart and put one in your Open Arms for some Lovin’, Touchin’ and Squeezin’ now.

[via anythingbutipod]

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I can’t decide which is funnier, Crow and Tom Servo arguing over the finer points of the DOS command line, or the memories of what seemed like an endless wait for the overhyped System 7 operating system.

Of course, Joel presents the ultimate solution to the system wars – Amiga OS.

Oh, how I miss MST3K.

The display includes a fully-functional Atari 2600, along with a wide assortment of about 50 classic games to keep your mind sharp in between the Cap ‘N Crunch and the Mrs. Paul’s Frozen Fish. I especially dig the retro wallpaper and crappy old color TV which complete the kitschy rec room motif.

Koppa’s Farwell Foods is a great example of why we need little neighborhood grocery stores (I’ve heard their Fulbeli Deli makes a mean sandwich too). If you happen to be in the Milwaukee area, check them out at 1940 N. Farwell Ave.

[photos via Flickr and Play in the City]