Games

There are lots of handheld retro game systems, but the GameShell offers far more versatility than others. In addition to playing emulators for Atari, GB, GBA, NES, MAME, MD, PS1, and more, its modular construction and GNU/LINUX-based dev kit encourages you hack and modify to your liking. Some assembly required.

Beat Saber is one of the most fun and addictive VR games we’ve played, but it requires a head-mounted display and VR controllers to play. DoodleChaos decided to see if he could make a rudimentary version of the game in Minecraft, by dual wielding swords and whacking flower pots while rolling down a track in a mine cart.

VPCabs has been making truly impressive virtual pinball cabinets for a while now. These models let you play modern and classic games in a compact space. The Vertigo is a 76.5″ tall machine that stands like an arcade cabinet, while The Vortex is a 39″ tall tabletop model. Both can play classic arcade games too.

Game developer Dennis Gustafsson is working on a voxel-based engine that features incredible environmental destruction physics. While the video posted by Bluedrake42 is lacking in gameplay, to see how the world reacts to damage is one of the holy grails of gaming we’ve been promised and has yet to be delivered.

The latest trailer for Obsidian’s sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds is disguised as a recruitment video for the Halcyon Colony. Come live and work on Terra 2 – a “gently terraformed” world with minimal hiring standards, run by awful corporate overlords, and teeming with scum, villainy, and a variety of terrifying creatures.

Beatboxer 80Fitz presents mouth sound versions of classic Nintendo music, including tracks from Super Mario Bros., Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario World, Kirby’s Dream Land, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Interactive system maker Realtime Department shows off a modern version of the classic foosball game where you never have to worry about losing the ball again. It features a 4K display and spinner style rod controls, and its virtual stadium and player uniforms can be customized.

Thermaltake’s height-adjustable gaming desk has RGB LEDs all around its perimeter that can be synchronized with other Thermaltake or Razer Chroma products. It has an electric motor, a removable full-length mouse pad, and can hold up to 330lb.

The original Sonic the Hedgehog has one of the most catchy and memorable soundtracks in the history of gaming, thanks to composer Masato Nakamura. Now listen as 130Grit Sound Studio performs a trio of familiar tunes from the game, done wonderfully in Dick Dale/surf rock style.

(Gore) If you’ve ever played a Mortal Kombat game, you know just how nasty the fatalities can be. Accompanying the brutal imagery are appropriately gut-wrenching sound effects. VICE News takes us inside Netherrealm’s Chicago HQ to see how they created some of the gnarliest noises in Mortal Kombat 11.

It’s a couple of years old, but that doesn’t make FamilyJules‘ hard rock medley of classic video game music any less entertaining. Whenever we hear video game music played with this much energy and speed, we think our character is about to run out of health. Grab the MP3 here.

The cinematic trailer for the interstellar follow-up to the popular space sandbox game Kerbal Space Program doesn’t show any gameplay, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome, as Kerbals race through space backed by M83’s epic Outro. For more on the game’s new features go here, and learn more from the developers.

The multitalented Aaron Grooves and Jared Charney Cohen collaborated for this fun tap dance, piano, and xylophone performance of the “Athletic” theme music from Super Mario World. If you need a smile today, this video should do the trick.

Retro system master builder Love Hultén continues to outdo himself, this time creating a sweet game cabinet not only inspired by the classic Nintendo Famicom system, but has a fully-playable console built-in. It also packs an old-school 9″ Sony Trinitron CRT, and has storage for controllers inside, and cartridges on top.

We don’t know too much about the upcoming game The Falconeer, but it’s clear from the teaser trailer that the open-world fantasy RPG looks gorgeous – and involves dogfighting between giant birds – and that sounds pretty awesome to us.

1up your living space LightCore’s fun light switch covers. They easily convert modern rocker-type switches into arcade-style buttons in a snap. Just remove your current faceplates, and screw these in their place. Available as single or dual switch versions, and a variety of color schemes.

When you make games that are as whimsical in nature as Nintendo, you’re bound to have some weird moments over the years. Nintendo fan Shiromi edited together a reel of some of the wackiest things that have happened to Mario, Link, and Kid Icarus and others over the years. Man, the 1990s were a strange time.

Unbox Therapy got his mitts on this incredible custom built tribute to Origin’s 2009 Big O gaming rig. It not only packs in a high-end Core i9-9900K gaming PC, but an Xbox One X, a PlayStation 4 Pro, and a Nintendo Switch, all in the same massive tower case. The design of its internals are incredibly badass.

Classical pianist Martin Leung dropped by the University of Michigan’s Britton Recital Hall to perform a medley of tracks from the world of Mario Bros., kicking things off with the classic Super Mario Bros. theme – and just to show off, he did that first bit blindfolded. If it seems familiar, he first performed the medley back in 2007.

With the recent release of Super Mario Maker 2, TheDominoKing decided to pay tribute to the franchise with an epic setup of 127,055 dominoes, all arranged to form images from the Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario World styles from the game. It took him about 2 months in total to set it all up.

Show your love for classic Nintendo games with this set of eight pressboard drink coasters made to look like flattened cartridges from the 8-bit gaming system. Includes Zelda, Metroid, ExciteBike, Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Duck Hunt, and Super Mario 2 and 3 designs.

If you grew up in the ’70s or ’80s, there’s not much more iconic than the box art from classic Atari games. Authors Robert V. Conte and Tim Lapetino explore the history of videogaming’s great forefather, and the artists and creative process behind these now classic works.

Looking for some nature sounds to help you relax or sleep? You could download one of the many white noise apps out there, or you could play FunWithGuru’s video clip, a 16-minute-long compilation of rain sounds captured from 50 different video games.

Konami jumps on the retro console bandwagon with a miniature version of NEC’s classic TurboGrafx-16 (aka PC Engine). The 1987 console was definitely ahead of the pack with its arcade-quality graphics. Now it’s coming back, loaded up with 50 licensed games, from R-Type to Blazing Lazers to Bonk’s Revenge. Drops 3/19/20.

Back in 1994, Battlefield developer DICE started work on this side-scrolling shooter back for the Sega Genesis and Commodore Amiga. The 16-bit game known as “Hardcore” was shelved for more than two decades, and has been given new life on the PS4 and Nintendo Switch thanks to Strictly Limited Games.

Folks who love the games on the Nintendo Switch, but who never play on their TV set will want to check out the new Switch Lite, which plays all the games that support handheld mode, but is strictly a portable. Its controls are built in, and the motion and camera abilities are gone. Drops 9/20/19.

Celebrate your love for classic video games with one (or more) of RetroBuilder’s miniature arcade marquee light boxes, each with razor sharp color graphics. Each box measures about 7.87″ wide, is made from bamboo wood, and is powered via a USB cable. Choose from 20 different designs, with more to come.

This lighthearted game puts you in control of a little bird who’s learning to fly – on a skateboard. The tiny skatepark is made up of office supplies like staplers, scissors, and sticky notes, offering a fun place for our avian friends to take flight. Grab the Alpha demo version of the game here.

Janice of East Dixfield, Maine is no ordinary grandmother. She has a love for classic 8-bit video games, and crochets wonderfully soft and comfy looking acrylic yarn blankets using granny squares in place of pixels. Her Etsy shop currently has blankets inspired by Donkey Kong, Galaxian, TRON, and Mario.

Beyond the “It’sa Me Mario!,” you have to admit that the sounds in Nintendo’s 1st-party games are often pretty silly. Comedian Gus Johnson takes his best stab at envisioning exactly how they come up with those sounds in the recording studio.