arcades

Wish you had the space in your home to house an arcade cabinet? YouTube user "vcoleiro1" might just have the solution. He's built himself a Space Invaders-themed mini arcade console.

This little piece of technology was made using 6mm medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and decorated with graphics from the original arcade machine, which lends an authentic touch. Despite its small size, we wouldn't mind risking finger cramps to enjoy some good old alien blasting on this.

Apart from Space Invaders, this little device will accept almost any Game Boy Advance cartridge. Of course, playing the turn-based Pokemon on this won't exactly have the same effect as playing Tomohiro Nishikado's 1978 classic shooter.

Those interested in buying these little wonders can email their creator at vcoleiro1@gmail.com. Watch the video to see it in action. … Read more

When it comes to racing games on the iOS, you have plenty of choices. Whether you want to race cars, motorcycles, ATVs, jet skis, or planes, the iTunes app store has excellent options.

Probably the most recognized racing games would be Firemint's Real Racing, the Need for Speed franchise, or the Asphalt racing games, all of which offer 3D racing action. But we've found that sometimes it's the arcade racing games that can be more fun if you're in the right mood.

This week's collection of iOS apps is all about arcade racing games. The first is a recently released 2D top-down racer with unique controls and six-player local multiplayer. The second moves toward combat racing with upgradable cars and tons of levels to conquer. The third is an excellent physics-based racer with a focus on skidding and sliding around corners to get to the finish line.… Read more

Doodle Jump is a fun and addictive platform-jumping game with a cute, hand-scribbled aesthetic and a cleverly integrated leaderboard. Not surprising for such an addictive game, the interface couldn't be more simple: you keep jumping automatically, and you gently tilt the device to move left and right. As you move higher and higher up an infinitely scrolling, wraparound vertical screen, you jump onto an increasingly challenging arrangement of platforms--including moving blue platforms, crumbling brown platforms, white platforms that disappear after one jump, and platforms with jump-boosting springs and jet packs.

You have to tap the screen to shoot the … Read more

Most of the music people enjoy doesn't sound very good. That's not to say it isn't good music, just that it doesn't sound great. I'm not picking on digital or contemporary music; most of my favorite Motown and Stax soul music from the 1960s and 1970s sounds like crap. Most rock music from any decade sounds cruddy; that's just the way it is.

A lot of today's best bands, including alternative darlings Arcade Fire, make awful-sounding recordings. I'm specifically referring to their Grammy Award-winning "The Suburbs" album from 2010; it'… Read more

Super Stickman Golf is a 2D golf game that's really easy to pick up and play, with tons of fantastical themed courses, interesting power-ups, and excellent physics-based gameplay. Though the game has a huge amount of arcade-like features, the goal is always the same: try to get the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible. The challenge is that it can be much harder than it looks.

Rather than your standard 3D layout seen in many golf games, Super Stickman Golf offers up a 2D platformer experience. The courses often have multiple levels you'll need … Read more

Once game consoles hit their stride in the '80s and '90s, the platform game became enormously popular. Especially with the release of the now legendary Mario games, just about every developer rushed to produce a game that offered that perfect mix of running, jumping, and collecting items for points, all while exploring a strange and often fantastical world.

This week's collection of apps includes modern twists on the old-school platform games many of us remember. The first lets you explore deep mines for treasure; the second will bring back memories of precision-heavy, rage-inducing platform classics; and the last offers up cartoonlike graphics as you explore a dreamlike fantasy world.… Read more

A fellow co-worker who's an unabashed iOS enthusiast passed by my cube yesterday and saw me playing on a table-top arcade machine sitting on my desk. He stopped, eyes drawn to the bright colors on the sides and the top, and the arcade graphics on the small glass screen. I explained that it was an iPad sitting in the iCade, a $99 self-assemble arcade cabinet with Bluetooth joystick.

Naturally, he wanted to try it out on a few games he liked. I explained that the iCade currently only works with Atari's Greatest Hits app, which admittedly has 100 games, but lacks arcade classics like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Joust--games that are, of course, made by other publishers. I also explained that it really only worked in portrait mode (or a slightly precarious but still-possible landscape mode, by using a groove on the outside edge).

He started to sour. Eventually, he walked away.

Of course, for arcade nuts and fans of novelty bar-top/desktop toys, the iCade is still a pretty awesome little treat. But until it can support other games--which Ion, the maker of the iCade, says will happen via a shared API--its appeal will necessarily be limited. I can think of dozens of games in the App Store that would be perfect for the iCade: Street Fighter IV. Death Rally. NBA Jam. Pinball HD. Tetris. Space Invaders Infinity Gene. The aforementioned Pac-Man. … Read more

It started life as an April Fool's prank on ThinkGeek.com, but overwhelming consumer interest prodded the company to bring the iCade to life (much like the Tauntaun sleeping bag, another ThinkGeek mockup that became a real product). For the uninitiated, the iCade is a pint-size arcade cabinet/stand for Apple's iPad. Slide an iPad in, and it acts as a wireless Bluetooth controller for the Atari iPad app, which offers 100 classic arcade and home console games for $15 (or individual game packs for 99 cents).

Our iCade just arrived this morning, so we quickly assembled it … Read more

Back in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, one of the favorite destinations for kids after school and on weekends was the local video arcade. Many readers will probably remember changing dollars for tokens, stacking up tokens and quarters on machines to indicate you "had next," and how quickly you could blow your money by playing game after game. Sadly, arcades slowly died out as home gaming consoles improved and stand-up arcade cabinets--for the most part--became a thing of the past.

When iOS devices and the iTunes App Store came along years later, the developers of those old games (… Read more