Atari 2600 stuffed into Game Gear, Sega Nomad seen casting envious glances

Oh sure, there's bound to be some protrusion when shoving a retro console into a gaming handheld, but inelegant styling was a way of life for Sega back in the mid-90s. Modder Chris Koopa has achieved the impossible by stuffing an Atari 2600 (or the important parts, anyway) along with 40 games into a hacked up Game Gear and enabling it to operate for nearly a full workday with just five AA batteries. And yeah, there's totally a 2600 cartridge slot to allow for playback of original titles. You know you're oddly interested in seeing more, so tap the read link for a few shots from the rear / side.
[Via: technabob ]

Man hacks GameCube controller for the Wii with tremendous effort

Admit it. You've got an old GameCube from yesteryear laying around, and the slow economy (and fear for your life) is holding you back from running to your nearest brick-and-mortar to pick up a Classic Controller for your Wii. You know you want to play Super Mario 64 to work off that turkey, but you can't justify laying out the cash. Fret not; YouTube user marcan42 has you covered, courtesy of a PIC18F4520 microcontroller and makeshift GameCube connector, along with a chopped off Nunchuk extension cord. Of course, you could just pick up a different model, but that would be way too easy. We didn't say it was pretty, but if you're still intrigued, check the full vid after the break.
Update: As a bunch of commenters have pointed out, this can be done already by plugging the GameCube controller directly into the Wii. However, this mod lets you do it wirelessly -- err, if you don't count the big microcontroller and mess of wires.

[Via: Engadget ]

Nokia Quake III gains on-phone server, Bluetooth keyboard and mouse support

Remember when playing Quake III at a decent resolution required a $5,000 Alienware? Man, those were the days. Now, we can't help but be thankful for a few special Nokia handsets (the N95 8GB, E90 and N82 in particular) that can all handle the game by their lonesome. In fact, the latest version of the software adds a few remarkably awesome extras. For starters, users can now take advantage of on-phone server support, meaning that your handset can actually host a Quake III multiplayer battle (and may we recommend the server name "trashaccident?"). Also of note, the devs have tossed in support for Bluetooth mice and keyboards. We know, right? Tap the read link for all the juicy installation instructions.
[Via: Decoder ]

World Golf Tour - Time Waster

Just how far can you go with an online game? By some measures, World Golf Tour could be considered a Time Waster that is all grown up. It's trying to be a desktop-quality game provided online.
The game play is pretty much par for the course, as far as golf games go (sorry, I couldn't resist), and the course imagery is gorgeous, maybe a little too much so. As is typical in golf, there are only a few things that move: in this case the player, the ball, and the flag. Unfortunately, it's pretty obvious that these are rendered in 3D on top of a static image of the course, making them look out of place.
Worse, to achieve the beautiful effect of having photographic imagery for the game, you are confined to a set number of vantage points, many of which are fine when the ball lies in the center of them, but become very awkward when the ball is not. The terrain very obviously has undulations in it, and the ball seems to react fairly reasonably to the terrain, but you can tell that the ball's movement is somehow disconnected from the scene.
Although all of this seems like criticism, the truth is that these are compromises that are reasonable for such a beautiful free online game, if it wasn't for one fatal flaw: Flash. Unfortunately, on my reasonable speedy machine, Flash seemed to act up on every third shot, and would cause my shot meter to jump around sporadically, making it impossible to make a decent shot, never mind a good one. Now, I'm not very good at this as it is, but in one 9-hole round I had at least 8 shots completely ruined by a freezing display.
Now to be fair, World Golf Tour is still in beta, and hopefully they can iron out this very ugly divot in what is otherwise a fairly decent fairway.
You can play a skills game for free without signing up for an account, but to play a full round or to play with your friends, you'll need to sign up for an account and give away your email address and birthday. Is it worth it? I guess it depends on how much you like golf.
[Via: Download Squad ]

Xbox 360 outsells the original Xbox, Microsoft heads down to the trophy shop

In the manner of a modern day fable on par with The Little Engine That Could or Rocky, Microsoft has just announced that sales of the Xbox 360 have outraced total sales of the original Xbox, a mere two days after the 360's third birthday on November 22. Do you feel yourself getting teary-eyed? Sure, the gang in Redmond could have stopped believing, or reaching for that rainbow (or whichever tired cliche you prefer), but it looks like all the hard work has paid off -- Microsoft has won a race with itself, and in doing so has given us all hope. To put this in perspective, a total of 25 million original Xboxes were sold during its lifecycle of November 2001 - May, 2005 (roughly three and a half years). The company has yet to release precise sales figures for the 360, but between price cuts in Europe, Black Friday, and the New Xbox Experience, they expect to ride out the tail end of this year with a huge sales boost. Great job, guys! We knew that some day your company would be a success.
[Via: Joystiq ]

PS3 firmware v2.53 bringing full screen Flash support

It seems like just yesterday (or last month, to be more exact) that we were enjoying the spoils of firmware 2.50, and now, Sony's giving us a little pre-Thanksgiving treat with version 2.53. Slated to hit the wires sometime on November 26th, the latest PlayStation 3 update will bring along full-screen Flash support (huzzah!) among other minor tweaks. Check the full changelog in the read link, and get ready to get your download on tomorrow.

[Via: Engadget ]

Lively from Google going the way of the dodo

Not that we were huge fans of Lively to begin with, but I'm sure someone out there loved it. Right? No? Perhaps that explains Google's announcement that, "despite all the virtual high fives and creative rooms everyone has enjoyed in the last four and a half months, we've decided to shut Lively down at the end of the year." So grab those screenies before 2009 and your avatars and rooms go dead.
One or two of you may cry out in anguish as a few million vertices are silenced with the click of a mouse: "why Google, why?" Well, I'm sure it wasn't the fact that it was PC-only (and Firefox or IE7-only). Or that it wasn't the most stable thing Google has produced. Or that it was, ya know, like Second Life Lite but for chat. Because, clearly, the world needs a few zillion more Second Life-style chat clients, right?
If you are to believe Google, it's because they want to focus on their core business. You know, search and ads and apps that don't look like Animal Crossing. Besides, they can always roll this into Sketchup, so you could have a virtual barn raising. We can dream, can't we?
[Via: Download Squad ]

NXE hitting 360s with red ring, freezing and sorta-sexy-avatar issues?

If you wouldn't mind looking up from that avatar creation screen for a second -- yes, we're aware of how much that t-shirt selection means about you as a person -- you might notice that your Xbox 360 is dead. At least, a few hapless souls on the Xbox forums seem to think NXE is to blame for such atrocities. Numerous folks are reporting variously bad red ring configurations, random freezing and a huge pile of blockbuster titles that won't just play themselves. The biggest problem is that Microsoft isn't universally treating problems caused by NXE as an "oh, our bad" sort of situation, and at least from anecdotes we're seeing has charged quite a few folks $100 to fix their freshly-out-warranty Xbox 360s -- not to mention separating them for weeks from their precious murder simulators.
[Via: Engadget ]

Hori's Wii Classic Controller: if you're really into autofire

Fans of the old-timey GameCube will rest easier tonight knowing that Hori is now manufacturing its variation of the classic controller, creatively named the "Classic Controller." We've seen other gamepads in this style, but not many that get it as close to the original design as this -- plus it has those insane autofire switches. These bad boys are available in black, white, and blue on December 4th in Japan, and you can pre-order them now for $29.90 over at Play-Asia.

[Via: Nintendo Wii Fanboy ]

Valve offers its entire PC games catalog for $100

If you’re already planning to buy the PC version of Left 4 Dead, you might be interested to know Valve is running a great deal on its entire back catalog with the Valve Complete Pack. For a mere $100, gamers can score all 22 titles released within the studio’s twelve years of development history, including every Half-Life game and Counter-Strike iteration, as well as Day of Defeat, Team Fortress 2, Portal, and the aforementioned zombie shooter.

Individually, that amounts to about $234 according to the company. With Left 4 Dead currently selling for $45, you’re basically getting all of Valve's previous releases for $55. Those who bought the Orange Box last year already own the priciest stuff in this bundle, otherwise this sounds like a deal well worth investing in. More details including the full list of games available can be found here.
[Via: Jose Vilches ]

EA SPORTS Active is hardly the Wii Fit slayer we were hoping for

Our exercise-averse bones were certainly shaking at rumors of EA's supposed onslaught on the Wii Fit-dominated "video games don't have to be fun, they can also make you sore and grumpy" market, but we must admit we're a little disappointed in the end product. EA SPORTS Active for the Wii eschews Nintendo's Wii Fit peripheral entirely, instead opting for a leg strap to hold a nunchuck controller and track the movements of your rippling thigh, while an electronics-free resistance band is there to make everything harder. The good news is that Bob Greene, Oprah's personal trainer, was involved in Active's creation and the wide assortment exercises it will subject you to, so you know it's going to turn you into an eternally beautiful and endlessly influential TV talk show host in a few short weeks. Speaking of, did everybody see that 30 Rock episode with Oprah in it? Can we just give Tina Fey all the Emmys right now, or do we have to wait until next year? Video of EA's Active is after the break.
[Via: Engadget ]

Dell to offer Xbox 360 Arcade and Rock Band 2 for $199 on Black Friday

The Black Friday deals have already started to flow in over on the HD front, but now that we're closing in on America's most mayhem-filled shopping day of the year, we're beginning to see stellar deals from nearly every CE category. One that caught our eye here recently was from Dell's list, and it involves what's already the cheapest gaming console on the market today (the Vii notwithstanding). On November 28th, Dell Home's website will offer the Xbox 360 Arcade with seven games including Rock Band 2 for $199, and while we highly doubt you'll receive any guitars, drum sticks or sweat bands for that price, we suppose there's always a remarkably small chance that you will. Keep the faith and raise the horns, brothers / sisters.
[Via: Engadget ]

Walmart, Kmart announce Black Friday-esque deals for days other than Black Friday

Want to get a jump on your holiday shopping or find a couple of insane bargains to keep for yourself? A few retailers are offering what they've dubbed "Black Friday-style" price cuts for tomorrow -- Saturday, November 8th. Walmart's got a sweet 15.4-inch Compaq CQ-139WM (with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive) laptop for $298, in addition to a PlayStation 2 bundled with a $30 WalMart gift card for $129, and a PlayStation 3 with a $100 gift card for $399. Over at Kmart they're offering up a rad 32-inch Sylvania LCD HDTV for $439.99 (they usually go for for $550). They also have several deals for Sunday, November 9th, including the Wii Fit for $89.99. Is it safe to assume that every Friday (not to mention Saturday and Sunday) until Christmas will be "black"? For the full, mind-blowing rundown, hit the read links.
[Via: CNET ]

Intel Core i7-equipped Falcon Northwest Mach V gaming desktop hands-on

Benchmarks and reviews of Intel's Core i7 processors are pouring in, and while mere mortals must wait till later this month to get their hands on the hardware, we spent much of our weekend working overtime with Crysis, Fallout 3, and Age of Conan on an $8,238 Core i7 965-equipped Mach V gaming desktop from boutique PC manufacturer Falcon Northwest. It's got the works and then some: liquid cooling, dual ATI Radeon 4870X2 graphics cards with 2GB of RAM on-board, 12 GB of DDR3 RAM, Blu-ray, HD-DVD (yes, you read that right), and over a terabyte of storage. Based on our dozen or so hours of grueling, utterly boring hands-on tests, all three games were plenty playable maxed out at 1920 x 1080 resolution with 4x anti-aliasing -- only Crysis ever dipped below 40 frames per second, and we never saw Fallout 3 under 60. We sincerely hope you appreciate the backbreaking, soulcrushingly hard work we do for you -- more photos and benchmarks (including Crysis) in the gallery. [Via: Engadget ]

Marware's Game Grip for the iPhone complicates what should be simple

We've seen a few accessories for augmenting the gaming experience on the iPhone which would give the device awesome functions similar to a game controller, such as the elusive and yet-to-materialize iControlPad and the totally fake JoyPod. Well, Marware's Game Grip is sort of like that -- silicone sleeves that your phone fits into -- except that it doesn't actually do anything beyond providing 'handles' for your phone while you game. Oh, and it exists. So let's refer to it as the 'enjoyment enabler' of your iPhone 3G or iPod touch 2G which can be used with headphones (just like normal), can be charged while gaming (just like normal), and has a 'cord management system' (kind of not normal). If that's not enough to convince you to reach for your wallet, the "lifetime guarantee" and ludicrously zany look of the thing will probably get you to bite... it's $49.99 and available for pre-order right now.
[Via: Engadget ]

Pandora devs announce memory upgrade via confusing brainteaser

We'll be honest with you: we don't read the GP32X board nearly as often as we'd like -- but we did manage to cull from its archive this cold, hard fact: Pandora is now going to ship with 256MB of beautiful, delicious RAM, AND 512MB of flash memory -- that's double what we initially were told to expect, and Craigix confirmed that Ubuntu is now running 20 percent faster with the upgrade. This windfall comes at no additional cost to the patient, patient consumer. Our advice though? Next time there's a seriously righteous spec bump happening, try not to couch it in a riddle.
[Thanks, Jared E]
[Via: Engadget ]