This cute machine has a 4GB built-in storage and a mini SD expansion slot. You can also play movie, audio, picture files and listen to FM radio while on the move. But we think the D-pad and the X, Y, A, B configurable buttons may be much useful for retro gaming.

$99.99 @ ThinkGeek.

Image: ThinkGeek

Post from: EveryJoe

Awesome Pocket Retro Game Emulator

\r\n\r\nSo who hasn\’t heard of The Three Stooges? You know, Larry, Curly and Moe? No? Doesn\’t ring a bell? Well, if you have no inkling who the three are, then you probably don\’t belong to the generation that watched the original black and white series or their voluminous re-runs.\r\n\r\nI watched a few seasons on the boobtube when I was younger, even the ones with Shemp in it. Yep, before Curly, Shemp was the one taking the beating from Moe, and sometimes Larry. Hmmm, before I go on to the gist of the story, let\’s take a closer look at The Three Stooges. Who were they and what did they have to do with television and video games?\r\n\r\n

The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid-20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. They were commonly known by their first names: \”Larry, Moe, and Curly,\” and \”Moe, Larry, and Shemp,\” among other lineups.\r\n\r\nThe act originally featured Moe Howard (played by Harry Moses Horwitz), brother Shemp Howard (played by Samuel Horwitz), and longtime friend Larry Fine (played by Louis Feinberg). Shemp was later replaced by brother Curly Howard (Jerome Lester Horwitz) in 1933. When Curly suffered a stroke in 1946, Shemp rejoined the act.\r\n\r\nThe Stooges\’ hallmark was physical slapstick comedy (yes, the ones where you see guys hitting one another) punctuated by quickly delivered one liners within outrageous storylines.

\r\n\r\nSo you see, they were more than ripe for the picking for video game developers wanting a shot at bagging part of the legacy left by The Three Stooges.\r\n\r\nCinemaware and Activision won the rights and released in 1987 a video game entitled, well, The Three Stooges, for the Amiga. Later, the game was ported to different systems, including the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Gameboy Advance. I played the game on the PC, a version released much later.\r\n\r\nThe game involves Moe, Larry and Curly playing mini arcade games derived from classic Stooges films. The goal is to raise enough money, $5,000 to be exact, to save an old widow\’s orphanage. The Three Stooges, according to many industry experts, was quite advanced for its time, featuring sampled speech (yes, the characters talk using the voices of the actors), and multiple endings.\r\n\r\nTo raise the dough, The Three Stooges need to play through several mini-games such as throwing pies at rich restaurant customers, competing in a cracker-eating competition, and pitting Curly against a giant of a man in a boxing match.\r\n\r\nI tried playing the game in a licensed online version … and found out that I suck at the mini-games I used to ace. Sad.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Three Stooges: Crazy retro gaming

I love this line: Fear has no form. Fear has no name. But now fear has an address … Castlevania!

Post from: EveryJoe

Blast from the past: Castlevania commercials

My only regret is playing the game over and over again and not buying its sequel, Zoids: Fuzors. Sigh. The Game Boy Advance and the Zoids: Legacy cartridge are long gone from my hands, but I can still relive the game through the dozens of videos on the Internet.

Take these videos, for example. They feature the final battle of our heroes against the Death Meteor. Enjoy!

Post from: EveryJoe

Zoids Legacy: Final battle versus Death Meteor

How did the current home-console controllers come to be? How have they evolved? You may have noticed some similarities between the current generation controllers, or between them and the previous generations of controllers. So, how do they all tie together?

Let’s try to find out. I’ve put together a chart, or controller family tree, that tries to connect all the current console controllers with their predecessors. Firstly, I don’t think anyone else has tried to do something similar on the Web, and secondly, none of the manufacturers actually come out and tell you who they’re borrowing ideas from. This means that a lot of the information presented here is my opinion. I try to keep things accurate, using facts I know, but also making some of my own conclusions where no hard evidence is available.

Suffice it to say that Sock Master has done a good job at assembling his little project, from the old school Atari 2600 joystick to the sensational Nintendo Wiimote.

Atari 2600 joystick: Grandpa Controller

Nintendo Wiimote: Junior

Here, take a gander at Sock Master’s work.

Post from: EveryJoe

The video game console controller ‘family tree’

Well, here’s my list:

Pong, Space Invaders, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Leisure Suite Larry, Afterburner, Double Dragon, Prince of Persia, Tetris, Secret of Monkey Island, Sonic the Hedgehog, Castle Wolfenstein, Super Mario Kart, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Minesweeper, Myst, Rayman, Command & Conquer, Tekken, Tomb Raider, The Sims, Grand Theft Auto, and Total War.

Darn, I think I have to brush up on my video games history and literature again.

Post from: EveryJoe

The History of Video Games in two minutes

Here’s how you do it:

First, jump towards your opponent and hit him with a fierce kick attack. As soon as you land on the pavement, hopefully behind your opponent, hit him (or her, as the case may be) with a follow-up standing fierce punch. While busting your opponent’s face with the fierce, you should also be holding the joystick (or directional cross key) in the direction of the opponent. Note that Ken should not be moving towards the opponent as doing this will result in a throw.

Now comes the critical part, that of buffering a fierce Dragon Punch into that fierce punch you just landed. This is why you should be holding down the directional key in the direction of your opponent. Remember that Ken’s Dragon Punch (and Ryu’s for that matter) is executed by doing the following: forward, down, down-forward + punch. Doing this to end the first combo will give you four hits on the opponent (more if you’re fighting taller opponents like Sagat and Zangief).

What happens next will seem like a blur to your opponent as Ken steps in with a couple of jabs, a fierce punch, and another Dragon Punch.

Confusing? Here, watch this video:

Post from: EveryJoe

Street Fighter II: Ken’s Touch of Death Combo

Anyway, without further ado, I present to you dear readers my answers to Aiza’s meme:

1. Name and Job/s (if I want to share it) - Joel, freelance writer and editor by day, mild-mannered father by afternoon, and video game addict hell-bent on virtual world domination by night.

2. You’re currently playing? - Perfect World, which is, in my mind, currently the best MMORPG available in this little tropical country, Drift City, MMOdom’s answer to my Need For Speed, and a plethora of old video games, including Super Mario Brothers, Adventure Island, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, and Contra. I’m also into—gasp!—casual gaming with AstroPop, Dynomite, Zuma, and Feeding Frenzy topping my list.

3. Favorite game genre/s - It’s got to be MMORPGs and their direct predecessors RPGs and adventure games. Real-time strategy comes a close second.

4. Favorite game/s of all time - Hmmm, let’s see. There’s the Zoids series for the Gameboy, the Super Mario Brothers series for the Nintendo systems, and the Starcraft, Warcraft and The Sims series for the PC. Oh, wait, I forgot to include the totally mind-blowing Total War series. They really rock!

5. Favorite game character/s - Megaman, hands down.

6. Earliest and fondest memory of gaming? - Hundreds of hours playing Taipan on my rusty and yellowing-with-age Apple IIc. It was sooooo good, despite the lack of graphics and sounds. Incidentally, I revived my Taipan addiction by playing Tradewinds.

7. Most hated gaming moment/s - Does spending an entire day trying to get a little brown alien out of a pit count?

8. Gaming gadgets/consoles you own/owned - In order of “appearance”: Coleco Telstar Arcade, Mattel Intellivision, Pac-Man arcade machine, Galaxian Travel arcade machine, Apple IIc, Atari 2600, Nintendo Family Computer, IBM PC (the really old one that came in a very heavy metal casing), Nintendo Super Entertainment System, Gameboy, Playstation, and this computer I’m using now.

9. If you had a “gamer’s shirt,” what would the color and design be? - Hmmm, color, hot pink … with the line, “I’m wearing this because …” in front, and ” … my girlfriend (wife, lover, boo, whatever) pwned me in PvP.”

10. Gaming stuff on your wish list? - A very powerful laptop and unlimited wifi connection.

Oh, wait, it doesn’t end here. I’m going to bring this meme a bit further by tagging some friends in the local MMORPG industry. Let’s hear it from Mon, Carlo, PJ, John, Chino, and Chris.

Well, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for their answers to Aiza’s meme. I’ll make sure to repost them here. *wink, wink*

Screenshot taken by Jake Majadillas (bonAkid of Perfect World Philippines Tiger Server) and modified by Joel from the online game Perfect World, property of Beijing Perfect World Co. Ltd. Cross posted on MMOtaku.

Post from: EveryJoe

Egad, I’ve been tagged!

Well, borrowing from what he’s written on the About page of his blog, Zack Scott is a prolific videographer. His collection of videos, which is very extensive, focuses mostly on comedy, education, and (gasp!) his cute pets.

So what does his being a, uhmm, cute pet lover have to do with Nintendo and widely or little known facts about the company? Watch this.

You have no way of knowing this just by viewing the video on Re:Retro, but when you hop over to YouTube and check out the Zack Scott’s collection, you’ll discover that his “Amazing Nintendo Facts” video has racked up more than 2.5 million views. Whew!

Kudos to you, Zack! Maybe one day you’ll do a rundown of the Top 100 video games of all time?

Post from: EveryJoe

Amazing Nintendo Facts by Zack Scott

The author of this mish-mash, however, missed the entire Apple line of personal computers. I owned an Apple IIc, so I know first-hand that a lot of video games can be played on the machine—that is, if any Apple computer is still intact to this day.

Post from: EveryJoe

Video game consoles, then and now