Tag: 1980s

Retro gamers, If you’re looking for some nice background music for your holiday parties, you might want to check this out. Chiptune musician Rush Coil has put together this full-length digital album of classic Christmas tunes, rearranged with the inimitable sounds of classic 8-bit sounds of 1980s video games.

Do you still have your old NES console? Do you love electronic music? Then I know what you’re getting for Christmas. This new cartridge for the old Nintendo Entertainment System features a bunch of new “chiptunes” by electronic recording artist Animalstyle (or is that 4NIM4L57YL3?)

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.

We’ve seen a variety of old 1980s computers get transformed into new things thanks to the wonders of casemodding. But amongst the Sinclairs, Ataris, Commodores and the like, this is the first time I’ve come across a Sega PC mod.

Now that you’ve got your Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Tetris retro mini arcade cabinets, it’s time to add to your tiny arcade collection with a few slightly newer games. These 4-inch long mini arcade games are modeled after classics from SEGA’s arcade hey-day.

These paintings by pixel artist Jude Buffum show what happens when cute 80s kids toys take each other on in a battle to the death, Mortal Kombat style. Looks like CareBear has ripped out Teddy Ruxpin’s heart in an awesome finishing move known as the “heart attack”.

This just in… It turns out the very first MAC computer was not released in 1984 by Apple. In fact, you can get your hands on a very rare candy apple red MAC made all the way back in 1980 if you’re the high bidder over on eBay.

This portable gaming system looks a whole lot like Sonic The Hedgehog. So it’s a good thing that it actually plays a variety of classic SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive games. Freetron’s FunPlay 20-in-1 not only can be connected to your television, but since it runs on 3-AAA batteries can be played on the road with portable DVD players (as long as they have a video input).

I have a very vague memory of playing with one of these Terminator joysticks on my old Atari computer system back in the 80s. I can’t believe somebody managed to dig one of these oddities up.

I found this great time capsule image over on Flickr earlier today… I’m not sure where Flickr contributor Rotin managed to dig up this postcard image, but I can’t believe there was actually a Pac-Man Land attraction at the Six Flags Over Texas theme park back in the 1980s, and I never got to go.

If you grew up in the 1980s, you probably remember Nintendo’s Game & Watch LCD games. These primitive portable games were the great-grandparents of the Game Boy, GBA, and DS, and now they’re back for you to enjoy once again.

Remember the classic episode of Futurama where Fry has to save the planet from “Invaders! Possibly from Space?” Pretty soon, you’ll be able to take down those aliens while listening to your own all-Rush mix tape while chugging a 2-liter bottle of Shasta too.

Sure, Christmas is almost seven months away, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start getting in the spirit really, really early. Especially if you really, really love your retro video games. I first eyed Hallmark’s keepsake Pac-Man holiday ornament back in December 2008, and grabbed one for my tree then.

These Pac-Man ghost coasters bring back 80s arcade memories every time you raise a glass. ArcadeArt handcrafts these whimsical ghost coasters (aka ‘Ghosters’) that display Blinky the red ghost on one side, and then flip to reveal a post-power-pill blue ghost on the flip-side.

Remember the old Nintendo Game & Watch LCD games from back in the 1980s? These early handheld video games have always had a bit of a cult following, despite their primitive, repetitive graphics, and drab monochromatic screens with cheesy color overlays.

I’ve seen plenty of portable retro video game systems in my travels, but never one that attempts to cover as many bases as this one. This Chinese import plays 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit titles from 7 different game platforms in one compact system.