Master modder Ben Heck has created a masterpiece “Of all the portable videogame devices I’ve ever built over the years one system has always been my “Holy Grail” to make – my “dream portable” if you will. (Yes, even more so than my Neo Geo arcade machine) And now after a couple years of tinkering it is complete! Without further ado – the Atari 800 XE Laptop!” Link.
In November Target Stores will offer BigGames Home Video Arcades – real arcade machines for the home that will retail for less than $500. Each unit plays 12 of the original arcade versions of the most popular Midway games including: Defender, Defender II, Robotron, Joust, Bubbles, Splat, Sinistar, Rampage, Rootbeer Tapper, Wizard of Wor, Timber, and Satan’s Hollow. Also – Dicks Sporting Goods will be carrying the tabletop version of the cabinet. I am totally going to get one of these, take it apart and see if I can add more games. Thanks Brian! [via] Link.
The 8th annual Vintage Computer Festival is being held on November 5th – 6th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. The highlight of this year’s event is a Homebrew Computer Club retrospective featuring a panel of original members of the Club including Steve Wozniak, Lee Felsenstein, and others. [via] Link.
G4 TV’s AOTS has links to the old favorite Oregon Trail as well as the emulators to run it. Try taking a journey by covered wagon across 2000 miles of plains, rivers, and mountains. Try! On the plains, will you slosh your oxen through mud and water-filled ruts or will you plod through dust six inches deep? [via] Link.
PBS’s site has a neat game where you listen to retro game sounds and try to guess which game they’re from. I got 15 out of 18, a couple of the games I never played back then or ROM now. This would be a fun category for Jeopardy. The site also has some other retro game trivia too. Link.
Mark posted a fun puzzle from the April 1960 issue of Popular Science. Head on over to BoingBoing and solve it- it would be great to have a MAKER solve it first! Link.
The IMSAI 8080 computer system (circa 1976) has been re-released by the original company. The case accepts a modern PC motherboard alongside the vintage S-100 system. Think of it as the ultimate old-meets-new case mod, complete with lots of switches and flashing lights. [