There were rumors of a Playstation 5 and news on the next generation of Xbox, but this E3 was ultimately pretty light on the cool hardware. We knew that was the case given the sheer amount of VR accessories most of us can’t or won’t use any time soon.
Mike Mika is a video game developer, so naturally he has a passion for video games. He modded Donkey Kong once so his young daughter could play as Pauline instead of just watching her flail as a damsel in distress. His first major paycheck went towards one of those Star Wars gaming cabinets from the ‘80s where you…
Released in 1979, the original Sony Walkman completely changed how people listened to music. Your tunes were free to go anywhere—and sound like complete garbage. The quality of music on cassette tapes can’t compete to today’s digital formats, but if people still like the sound of crackly records, surely there are …
Before the Super Nintendo, and even before the original NES arrived in North America, I cut my gaming teeth on the Commodore 64. It was sold as one of the first personal computers, but to many kids of the ‘80s, it was instead their first gaming console. I have many fond memories of the C64, but thanks to the C64 Mini,…
For a short while, listening to popular songs played on old-school calculators was a fun YouTube distraction. Fads come and go a lot faster on the internet, however, which is unfortunate for Casio. It’s releasing an updated version of a popular ‘80s calculator that plays music and a video game—but maybe a few weeks…
If you grew up in the ‘80s watching G.I. Joe and playing with the toys, you undoubtedly remember the Rattler, Cobra’s workhorse fighter plane. The original toy version was powered by imagination, but Adam Woodworth’s upgraded version—which actually flies—is instead powered by servos and ducted fan engines.
Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's weekly roundup of the most amazing toys we’ve seen all week. Usually, this is where we’d tell you what sort of wonderful toys we’ve got in store for you, but seriously: Look at that Black Panther figure. Look at it.
A few years ago we reviewed a souped-up NES clone called the Analogue Nt with a prohibitively expensive, $500 aluminum housing. It was a beautiful piece of hardware, but ultimately it only served to remind my coworker Adam Clark Estes of just how basic and boring 8-bit NES games are. Nostalgia really needs a ‘your…
Pour through an old album of your parents (or grandparents) and you’ll probably find a photo of them riding a classic Schwinn bike that looks like it was designed by an aerodynamics-obsessed Oldsmobile engineer. Schwinn has long since updated its bike designs, but the company pays homage to its past with an indoor…
Have you ever fantasized about having a house completely and totally managed from the comfort of your desk chair? Or are you just too lazy to bother flipping switches, but inexplicably willing to devote hours and hours to figuring out a computer program that does it for you? Today’s smart home tech makes all of this…
Still having a hard time finding a Nintendo Switch in stores? Or maybe you’re tired of waiting for Nintendo’s promised online store full of retro games? Tim Lindquist took things into his own hands and built a Nintendo Switch clone from scratch that can emulate games from over 50 classic systems.
Just after 11 am on Saturday morning, I became the proud parent of my very first Tamagotchi, freshly hatched from its virtual egg. By yesterday afternoon it was dead; its passing a poignant reminder that the gadgets we adored as kids aren’t always as awesome 20 years later when we’re grownups.
Unlike many of my friends, my first video game console wasn’t the original NES. It was a Commodore 64, which my parents bought as our first home computer. It could do a few useful things, but the C64 was always first and foremost a gaming system in our house. So while I find the SNES Classic Edition intriguing, this …
It’s widely assumed that the next Classic Edition of retro hardware from Nintendo will be a tiny version of the N64. But I disagree. With four controllers, 3D games, and complications over bringing Goldeneye 007 back, a retro version of the N64 would make for some expensive nostalgia, particularly when the Game Boy…
Video games like Super Mario Bros. and Tetris included some of the most catchy background music ever put on a cartridge. But would you recognize those same classic video game themes played backwards? An artist created an album featuring four memorable game themes performed in reverse, and we can’t stop listening to…
Before you start complaining again about the lack of 8K video content online, take a moment to experience what TV was like 87 years ago. As Tim Rowett of Grand Illusions demonstrates, in 1929 TV screens were the size of bottle caps and boasted a paltry resolution of just 30 lines.
If you’re looking for a quick hit of internet fame around the holidays, consider baking up some gingerbread and making anything but a house. So far we’ve seen crashed Enterprises and Death Stars, but a gingerbread Apple II computer, complete with edible circuitboards inside, easily wins Christmas this year.
Aside from the pointlessly short controller cables, the only other complaint we have with Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition is that it only comes with 30 classic games. There are so many classic consoles and retro titles to choose from, which is why the RetroEngine Sigma might be a better alternative since it promises to…
If you feel there’s something missing in the entryway of your McMansion with its towering ceiling, the world’s largest arcade cabinet might be exactly what you’re looking for. But if it ends up seeming out of place, that’s too bad, because at 14.4-feet tall there aer few other rooms in your house in which this…
