Tag: 1970s

We here in the U.S. might have had Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots when we were kids, but in Japan back in 1979, they had a little game called Pokapon. Instead of knocking off your opponent’s block like in Rock ‘Em Sock’ Em, the objective of Pokapon was to beat your friend senseless until their wig flies off their head.

While Cray Research may have only sold about eighty of it’s monstrous Cray-1 supercomputers back in the 1970s, its unusual hexadecagon design made it one of the most iconic computer systems of all time. So it was only a matter of time before somebody would do a Cray-1 inspired casemod.

This retro video is sure to put a smile on the face of any original Trekkies out there. If you were a kid in the 1970s, then this is exactly what your epic Star Trek fan flick would look like.

See if you can name all of the iconic retro images you’ll find in cutoutpaper’s Retro Laser Cut art. I definitely recognize my Speak & Spell, NES controller, Casio calculator watch, Etch-a-Sketch, ViewMaster, Atari joystick and Rubik’s Cube.

For those of us who grew up in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Disney’s The Black Hole was one of those seminal science fiction flicks we’ll never forget. And thanks to the guys at MINDstyle, we can now have a permanent keepsake of our memories.

What would have happened if you could have had an iPod, a laptop, or a cellphone all the way back in 1977? Designer Alex Varanese decided to go back in time with his modern gadgets to see what life might have been back some 30+ years ago, but with today’s tech.

We here at technabob are big fans of the guys over at Retro Thing. They’re always digging up the coolest blasts-from-the-past. Now, they’ve really outdone themselves, offering up a totally unique new product perfect for retro game fans.

Let me start out by saying I’ve always been a closet pinball fanatic. I can’t tell you how many hours of my youth I spent dropping quarters, flipping flippers, and nudging bumpers in that quest for that almighty extra ball or two.

Wanna own a bit of video game history? Then get your ass on over to eBay and put in your bid on one of these original Computer Space machines that are currently up for auction. The seller “mywantlist”, is offering both an original super-rare yellow Computer Space machine (only 1800 made), and one of the slightly less rare green models that came out after the initial popularity of the 1st gen.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of the Atari Punk Console (APCs), they’re analog noisemakers that offer up sounds that are reminiscent of the old square-wave bleeps and bloops of the classic Atari 2600 video game system.

Well, this all-in-one Atari 2600 mod isn’t exactly what I’d call “portable”, but the guy who built it certainly deserves props for creativity. This hacked-together Atari 2600 Portable goes by the name “Stella-Tubby” – which does a good job summing up its less than svelte form-factor as a handheld gaming console.

I was digging around the deep recesses of Flickr earlier today, when I came across a picture of what could be one of the greatest video game console oddities of all time. Apparently, this Rambo TV Game console came out at some point back in the 1990s.

This application for the iPhone lets you create cool vocal/guitar sound mash-ups that sound like something off of Frampton Comes Alive or Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet. LoL Software’s TALKBOX app for the iPhone lets you manipulate sounds with your mouth, creating that classic 1970s guitar wah-wah sound.

Space Invaders fans, here’s a fun way to save your spare change – if you happen to live in Japan, that is. This Space Invaders piggy bank looks just like a miniature cocktail table version of the classic arcade shooter.

I was perusing the dark recesses of eBay’s DVD auctions when I came across this little gem. Featuring such greats as David Hasselhoff, Christopher Plummer and Marjoe Gortner, this 1979 low-budget schlock ripoff on Star Wars’ popularity was originally titled Starcrash, but later got renamed to Female Space Invaders, presumably because video games were starting to take off, or LucasFilm sued them.

One of the rarest bits of gadget history you can find, this beautiful specimen of the highly collectible Hewlett-Packard HP01 LED calculator watch is available for auction over on eBay. There’s just over 2 hours left in the auction so if you want to get your geek on, you’d better get your bids in fast!