nes

World's biggest NES controller and other giant tech in video

The world's largest video controller has been unveiled at London's Liverpool Street Station. The controller is an exact replica of an old NES joypad, scaled up 30 times in each dimension. Hit play on our video (above) to see the massive pad in gigantic action.

The working humungopad, which is 4 meters long and weighs 120 kilograms, was created by British engineering student Ben Allen and collaborators from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. It takes two people to play and has to be transported in a lorry.

"We built the controller to celebrate the 105th … Read more

The Nintendo 3DS finally gets Game Boy Advance games

How to get Game Boy Advance games on your Nintendo 3DS:

Travel back in time to when the Nintendo 3DS was $250. Buy one. Travel back forward in time to December 16, 2011, look in the Nintendo eShop for "settings," click "your downloads," and collect your 10 classic GBA games.

Back when Nintendo first announced a 3DS price drop, early adopters of the Nintendo 3DS were understandably frustrated. However, those early customers became "Ambassadors" entitled to 20 free downloadable games--10 NES, 10 Game Boy Advance--that Nintendo promised would be available before the end of … Read more

VoodooWares turns NES consoles into lunch boxes

Now you can share your childhood gaming memories with your children, thanks to the vintage Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) lunch boxes refurbished by VoodooWares and sold on Etsy. Each lunch box costs $45 and is salvaged from irreparable NES consoles with their parts emptied and fresh coats of paint. There's even an option to customize the exterior and velvet interior with your own name and messages for an additional $30.

It's heartening to see these old consoles getting a second lease on life. While they're at it, maybe VoodooWares could introduce Sega, PlayStation and Xbox versions in the near future.

(Source: Crave Asia via Dvice) … Read more

3DS owners not totally out of luck, thanks to Nintendo 'Ambassador program'

A bumpy start out of the gate has forced Nintendo to drop the price of the 3DS 32 percent, down to $170 from $250 beginning on August 12. A weak launch lineup, failure to deliver a robust online marketplace on time, a finicky 3D experience, and an overall dearth of compelling software are to blame for disappointing sales.

And what if you were one of the early adopters who paid full price for a 3DS? Fortunately, all is not lost. In an attempt to make good for those loyal few, Nintendo has introduced what the company is calling the "Ambassador program."

Any 3DS unit that connects to the Nintendo eShop before 11:59 p.m. ET on August 11 is automatically registered to receive 20 free titles from the online store. Ten free NES titles, including Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and The Legend of Zelda will be released on September 1, and 10 Game Boy Advance games, including Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong will be released before the end of the year. … Read more

Retro Mario box art reveals his true fate

Nearly 26 years ago, Super Mario Bros. hit retail shelves and put millions of gamers in control of a wacky plumber determined to defeat Bowser and save Princess Toadstool. The NES classic is a cherished first experience in video games for many people, but there's something you may have missed on the original box art: Mario is about to die.

In one of those "How did I not see that?" moments, Reddit poster Deluxo pointed out last week that the iconic character appears to be near death on the cover of one of his most famous games. He's clearly hovering right over a lava pit in Bowser's castle, having just missed a critical jump and soon destined to be crispy. Just looking at the image makes me cringe and is a reminder of how many times I had to restart a level because I couldn't time a jump right. … Read more

Crave 35: Everything but the girl (podcast)

Without Jasmine around to keep us classy, the Crave crew spiral into an abyss of kinky robots, violating tricycles, and retro-digital alcoholism. Still, it's an entertaining descent into low standards and thinly veiled innuendo. All that, plus some iPad 2 hands-on impressions from Donald Bell.

Subscribe in iTunes SD Video | Subscribe in RSS SD Video… Read more

Cheers to DrunkenNES, a breathalyzer video game

Remember when people used to give CPR to NES cartridges back in the day?

So does Batsly Adams (aka Andrew Reitano), a 26-year-old electrical engineer by day and an NES hacker/artist by night. He has created DrunkenNES, a cleverly titled breathalyzer video game whose results depend on how sloshed you are.

DrunkenNES runs on a PowerPak cartridge, which allows enthusiasts to run homebrew games on the ancient 8-bit Nintendo console. Batsly cobbled an alcohol sensor and an Arduino microcontroller board into a plastic NES cartridge shell, which uses an NES communications driver to feed your blood alcohol level (BAC) to the custom-made game as you exhale. Just don't be that guy who spittles everywhere.

You can get six results based on your reading: sober, getting started, buzzed, tipsy, drunk, and wasted. Afterward, the true BAC level is shown; if it's high enough, you make it onto the high-score list. The last man standing (if he's indeed still able to stand) wins. … Read more

Xbox birthday signals death of 5-year console cycle

When the Xbox 360 turned 5 years old this week with no known successor on the horizon, and no new imminent PlayStation or Wii either, it may well have signaled the demise of one of the video game industry's most longstanding truisms.

Since at least the mid-1980s, major console makers have generally come out with new models every five years or so. For example, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) came out in 1985, followed by the Super NES in 1991, the Nintendo 64 in 1996, the GameCube in 2001, and the Wii in 2006. Sony put out the first … Read more

iPod dock rocks an NES controller

Etsy member GeekUnique makes a line of products called Rock Dock, which are custom iPhone/iPod docks based on real retro console parts. Pictured here is the NES controller version, which goes for $34.99.

Unfortunately, this product is really just a dock. Pressing on the buttons won't do anything, so don't get your hopes up of being able to ace a vertical shoot 'em up game with it.

There are other Rock Docks made from other consoles' controllers and NES cartridges. Check out GeekUnique's Etsy store for the full lineup.

(Source: Crave Asia via Joystiq)

preGame 32: Fallout: New Vegas

Today on preGame, we'll brave the post-apocalyptic Mojave desert in search of the man who tried to kill us! Tune in as we try our luck with a demo of Fallout: New Vegas.

But first, Mark and Jeff reminisce about a console celebrating its 25th birthday this week. That's right, the original Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES for short) is a quarter-century old. We'll chat about the first time we remember firing up the system, cartridge blowing, and much more.

Making headlines this week are the top-selling video games of 2010 this far. There are a few … Read more