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Pixel perfect: Old video games re-created in real life

While we wait for the big-screen adaptation of Halo to hopefully come out in the next couple of years, we must wonder about the real-life looks video games of yore may have taken. Modern games already look like awesome high-definition movies, but what about their heavily pixelated predecessors?

German photographer Patrick Runte has taken on the idea and has come up with some fairly funny recreations of old 4-bit video games as they would have looked in real life. The games adapted include Tetris, Pac-Man, and of course Pong. He even goes off the grid just a tad to bring us a pinball recreation. Rad.

Runte's a good photographer and there are many more (not so geeky) images on his site. In the meantime, check out a couple more of his game shots after the jump.

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WPA wireless encryption cracked

Researchers have found a method of cracking a key encryption feature used in securing wireless systems that doesn't require trying a large number of possibilities. Details will be discussed at the sixth annual PacSec conference in Tokyo next week.

According to PCWorld, researchers Erik Tews and Martin Beck have found a way to crack the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) key, used by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). Moreover, they can do so in about 15 minutes. The crack apparently only works for data aimed at a Wi-Fi adapter; they have not cracked the encryption keys used to secure data … Read more

Where we've got Belmont Fever

Tech goddess Veronica Belmont joins us on the show today and dishes her thoughts on the $200,000,000 Pac-Man movie, video games in Las Vegas, nebulous Apple line-ups, and her quasi defunct Make Out Club profile. EPISODE 106 Download today's podcast

An arcade machine of a different scale

Hailed as the pinnacle of 1980s arcade gaming, Hammacher Schlemmer's 150 Classic Game Tabletop Arcade is a must-have for arcade junkies and the closest you can get away without carting home the real McCoy. Like its genuine counterparts, the authentic-looking console has an eight-way joystick and oversized button controls to re-create that nostalgic play and feel.

Best of all, it offers 150 vintage games, including Pac-Man, out-of-the-box, rendered on a 19-inch LCD encased in a space-saving chassis. Audio fidelity-wise, the $2,496 system is loaded with 2.1 speakers complete with dedicated subwoofer. Powered by a streamlined HP computer, … Read more

Wii virtual console releases for this week

Only two new games were released today for the Virtual Console. A puzzler from a familiar face and a side-scrolling beat-em-up game.

Pac-Attack (1993, Super Nintendo, 800 Wii points)--See Pac-Man like you've never seen him before in Pac-Attack. One of the first games to remove Pac-Man from his white-dot labyrinth dwelling, Pac-Attack had gamers using the hero in a puzzle game in which you must gobble up ghosts to progress. Riot Zone (1992, TurboGrafx 16, 800 Wii points)--What seems like it was torn out of a page from the Double Dragon series, Riot Zone has you beating … Read more

The 'Pac-Man Guitar' rules

Being of a certain vintage, we still have a soft spot for particular arcade classics from the '70s. (It doesn't hurt when they come with their own draft on tap.) So even though we're not into the whole guitar thing, we can't help but appreciate this one.

The "Pac-Man Guitar" is a 25.5-inch scale version of everyone's favorite insatiable yellow disc. And custom shop Specimen Products went well beyond the novelty factor, using "ebony, basswood, and maple with mother of pearl accents" to accompany the lacquer finish, according to Technabob.

As … Read more

'Pac-Man,' meet 'Zork'

"You have been attacked by a cyan ghost! You pass out and awake minutes later back where you began."

You might not remember it this way, but you--and probably everyone you know--has almost certainly had this experience, though in a different manifestation.

It's Pac-Man. Except instead of controlling your little yellow iconic character around a maze of dots and colored ghosts, this is Pac-Txt, a text version of the famous video game that recalls the old glory days of Infocom games like Zork and Leather Goddesses of Phobos.

I found the site after stopping in on one … Read more

Ms. Pac-Man's still got it

NEW YORK--It seems people like any excuse to play any video game.

While Halo III and Guitar Hero may be drawing a crowd at DigitalLife 2007, so were classics like Ms. Pac-man.

Namco had a large space at DigitalLife to remind gamers that video games of the '80s are now available for their phone.

Namco offers games like Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Mr. Do, Popeye, Snoopy and the Flying Ace, Galaga and even board games like Scene It?.

The games are available, regardless of your carrier, for the Palm OS, Windows Mobile phones, the iPod and the Sidekick, as … Read more

Study finds electronic health records vulnerable

The results of a fifteen-month study accessing the time to patch software associated with electronic health record (EHR) systems were published today by the eHealth Vulnerability Reporting Program. The program is a collaboration of health care industry organizations, technology companies and security professionals that is attempting to establish best practices within the emerging field of electronic health records in the adoption and reliance of eHealth systems, including electronic medical records (EMR), picture archiving and communication system (PACS), and medical devices. The 39-page report found much room for improvement.

It's one thing to have your credit card information compromised--that can … Read more