The Saturn's been dead and gone for 11 years now, so modder Evil Nod certainly earns our kudos for turning it portable—and making me remember those brilliantly hilarious Saturn adverts from the mid-90s. If you haven't seen the delights of the Segata Sanshiro adverts on YouTube, definitely check them out.

Going back to the portable creation, it's just the full-sized console slimmed down and stuck in an ugly box, with a 7-inch LCD screen for playing NiGHTS Into Dreams and Virtua Cop. In the words of Segata Sanshiro, "you must play the Sega Saturn!" [BenHeck.com forums via Engadget]

Despite its gradual decline on account of downloadable demos and general console popularity (if you don't have one, one of your friends does), the in-store kiosk is still going strong—walk into any Best Buy or GameStop, and you can play a Wii, a PS3, and an Xbox, or even a PSP and a DS. And just like in the 80s and 90s, the kiosk's chances of the coveted trifecta of retail demo gaming (switched on, connected to working controllers, and playing a non-demo version of a game without time limits) hover at around 10%.

Anyway, Kombo's rounded up visual history of some of the most memorable console demo stations, and I defy any of you to make it through without suffering through at least two military grade Circuit City line-battle flashbacks. It's my turn, you turd. [Kombo]

Starcraft II: Some Thoughts On The Beta
The most important news? It runs well without a top of the line machine.

New Starcraft II Screens, With That Beta-Fresh Smell
OK, so I'm kind of craving Starcraft all of the sudden.

Aliens Vs. Predator Review: Too Human
We know it's not going to be a great game, but everyone loves a throwback.

What's The Father of the PlayStation Doing These Days?
Playing Xbox?

All The Super Street Fighter IV Dudley, Makoto, And Ibuki You Can Stand
Blasphemy, I know. But I loathe one-off Street Fighter characters.

Activision Chief Regrets Not Making Guitar Hero With Harmonix
A rare moment of honesty.

Civilization V Hexes PCs This Fall
Somehow, Civ just got even geekier.

Alan Wake Preview: The First Full Episode
I confess: I didn't even read it. I don't want the slightest spoiler.

First Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Screens, Gameplay Videos Leak

2010: A Video Gamer's Guide
Every big trade show of the year, charted.
I'm surprised anyone under 20 even knows who Sonic is.

Sega's released a pile of classic games in the App Store, all of which were technically emulated; the apps were emulators and ROMs, all packaged into one. (This made the adaptions faithful, if a little slow on non-3GS hardware.) Now, with the App Store's in-app purchasing system, they can do it right: the free app, which should show up sometime today in the beginning of February, comes with just one game—Space Harrier II—but you can buy as many as you want from within Ultimate Genesis. Here's the current lineup:

• Sonic the Hedgehog: $5.99
• Golden Axe: $4.99
• Ecco the Dolphin: $2.99
• Shining Force: $2.99

Some of these games are already listed as standalones, so in an abstract way, Ultimate Genesis is really just a new way to package old apps, and a focused sales channel for new ones. But that's exactly what a Virtual Console-style emulator is! And why this is a fantastic idea. [Sega]

How Xbox Could Have Helped The Dreamcast Survive
I didn't know this story—it's heartbreaking on several levels.

Star Trek Online Boldly Enters Open Beta
Jason Chen and I just got our invites, anyone else playing?

Heaven Shakes: New God Of War III Screens
Equally horrifying: Blood and manboobs.

And The Nominees For Best Video Game Writing Are...
The WGA should be ashamed of the nominations. There is some real shit writing on this list.

Most People Are Still Buying Boxed Copies Of Games
Interesting stats.

Tim Gunn Lives Up To His Name, Goes Buck Wild
There's a "make it work" joke here, somewhere.

Mass Effect 2's Soldier: The Shooter Class
I don't think I'll play the soldier, but the berserker mode is definitely my play style.

Senior Citizen Rolls 40 Perfectos in Wii Bowling
Please, someone, get these seniors something more entertaining to do.

Mass Effect 2 Sets Its Sights on the Modern Warfare Crowd
Yeah, another link for Mass Effect 2. Read it!

Halo: Reach Boasts New Tech, Bigger Battles
I could talk shit about yet another Halo game, but sadly, I know I'll still be playing it.

But then, that's nowhere where you haven't been before, so probably he won't give a damn either. And I won't blame him. [Joystiq]

A lot, apparently. To actually play games on this SNEGENES P portable, you have to jam actual cartridges into the back of the portable.

It's not an issue for collectors, obviously, but in this day and age of cheap emulators it seems a bit excessive. Let's see a lite version.

Note: The modder recorded the demo video incorrectly. This system doesn't actually play games in reverse. [Ben Heck Forums via Technabob]

I want to recount the story for you here—I really do. The feeling of running down the stairs that morning, tearing into a tower of gifts balanced on one of the tall, pink chairs of our formal living room. I want to tell you about almost opening a small, rectangular box just two gifts into the unwrapping (one with an eerie resemblance to the size and shape of a Sega Genesis game box), before my parents recommended I work my way through the the pile in a different direction to save the pièce de résistance for last.

But to tell this story again, the pinnacle of my Christmas experience, one properly softened by a Vaseline-coated lens while simultaneously sparkling with double starburst filters, feels disingenuous.

You see, I wrote it all down on paper once before. I was 10, putting me in fifth grade. Still obsessed with my Genesis, this tale of Christmas morning 1992 (late adopter) would be the perfect narrative for the English portion of Mrs. Lustig's class. And I have little doubt that my adultish perspective—one that has difficulty tuning out today's culture for a time when kids only got gifts for big holidays, one that is so spoiled it can call in any toy at any time from any company—has clouded the importance of that Sega Genesis to me. I'll simply never recapture the unbridled love placed on paper via number 2 pencil with this clunky Macbook keyboard I'm typing on now. And an LCD does so little justice to childhood memories when compared to a piece of looseleaf, pulled without regard from a spiral notebook.

The Sega Genesis was my Red Ryder BB gun. It offered me the elation of its receipt, the disappointment of Tazmania and the eventual perspective that memories will forever be altered by the ones that follow. I'm not sure I'll ever relive a moment quite like ripping through paper to find, in complete shock, that I'd gotten exactly what I'd wanted that Christmas. But there's always next year.

The Dream Cat Venus is coming to Japan this month for $110. Both touch and sound sensitive, the Venus (no relation to the planet or the feminine razor) reacts to your petting and talking with a proper amount of nudging and purring. And like the Sony Aibo, the Dream Cat can actually "see" through its camera-enabled eyes.

But does this poor robot need to look like the product from a My First Taxidermy kit? Drop the realism for a moment, Sega, and let these helpless kittenbots out of your dungeon in the uncanny valley. Such amoral plush tactics may work fine to tease the buffets of Melmac, but no one wants to see Japan become Melmac...any more than it already has. [Sega Toys (pdf) via CrunchGear]

You'll be able to create your own "shows" with 55 different explosions which you can then take anywhere, as the device is designed to be portable—it takes AAA batteries for power and looks fairly diminutive. It'll retail for around $160 when it's released, but that release isn't until August 1st. Releasing a fireworks machine, virtual or no, four weeks after both July 4th and Canada Day is like investing in pumpkins in mid-winter. [Sega via OhGizmo]

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The Retro-Gen (branded Sega, though we can't imagine Sega actually had anything to do with it) features a USB-rechargeable battery and comes pre-loaded with 20 "classic" games (we're not sure what they are, hence the quotes). It says it'll only play licensed ROMs, though who knows what that means; we'd imagine you can just load it up with whatever you've got. It doesn't look like it has an extra port for another controller, which would come in handy for multiplayer games using the handheld's TV-out, but you can't have everything, right? It's available for pre-order now, for a $50, $10 off the usual price. [Video Game Central via The Mirror]

UPDATE: ThinkGeek responds in the comments below.

The home experience always felt half-baked and watered down—but that was also in the days before everybody had a 46-inch TV and you had to share a single display for multiple people. Now, it's coming to Xbox 360 and people have giant TVs, but there's no twin-stick to play it. Yet, anyway.

But you can build it! (Oh yeah, that was the point of this post.) All you have to do is find two tube-like candy containers and some arcade buttons, then re-wire your Xbox 360 controller like so. Done! And so worthwhile. [Gamerbook via 1UP via Kotaku]