Awesome Games

Have a spare game controller lying around? Its tactile buttons and joysticks are great for fidgeters. Pilpoc’s Fidget Controller Pad is a fidget toy based on the same idea, but in a pocketable size. It has eight functions to keep fingers and brains occupied, yet measures just 2.8″ x 1.4″ x 1.0″.

Pac-Man is back in a frenetic 99-player battle royale. The goal: get through your maze, and be the last Pac-Man standing. You can mess with other players by gobbling ghosts and using your power-ups. The game arrives on Nintendo Switch Online a 6 pm PST on 4.7.2021.

One of the best things about the Nintendo Switch is its ability to go from a handheld to a home console. If you prefer to play on a big screen, then Michael Pick’s mod is for you. The builder created this fully functional Switch with a TV and custom-made buttons. Best of all, he donated it to Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Smartphone racing games often require tilting the screen to steer. While it’s not a bad control method, we prefer this clever design, which places the phone in a cradle that’s been rigged up to a metal frame and steering wheel. Though if your game requires acceleration or braking, that’s another problem.

During the creation of Halo Infinite the audio team at 343 Industries turned to an unusual method to make some of the game’s sounds. Instead of just playing this piano, they used a hammer, baseball bat, and other tools to demolish it, making some truly dissonant sounds. That dry ice on metal is especially disturbing.

There have been tons of covers of music from the various Super Mario games, but the members of the Super NES Band likes to play video game music using the actual tone generators classic consoles. Listen as they perform live medleys of tunes from Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario Land.

Inspired by the Nintendo GameBoy Color he had when he was a kid, artist and electronics wiz Jiri Praus made a custom version of the handheld, featuring a shiny brass front and a see-through back which exposes its meticulously bent brass wiring. He had to use an emulator instead of original hardware, but it’s still beautiful.

(Gore) The weapons in the RPG shooter Outriders have some of the most insane designs ever. Among them is the Grim Marrow, a deadly light machine gun made from bones wrapped around a sparkly crystal structure. Kamui Cosplay built an amazing replica from PVC and foam, loaded with colorful light-up crystals.

LEDclaw makes all kinds of geeky lights, including this wall light inspired by game controllers. The 20″ wide light is made from wood and cast acrylic and backlit with colorful LEDs. The design is based on the Xbox controller, though the buttons and thumbstick have been reversed. And that’s an upside-down Dreamcast logo on top.

The PlayStation 5 is a powerful piece of gaming hardware, but its design is definitely controversial, and it doesn’t exactly blend into its surroundings. So builders Chris Salomone and Shaun Boyd got to work to conceal the console inside of a wooden shell that looks like a gigantic version of the original PlayStation.

URWizards creates unique dice for role-playing games. You’ll discover new colors every time you roll these gorgeous pieces made from prismatic glass. They’re sold in a set of seven dice, with various D20 designs to choose from, including moon, triforce, unicorn, and dagger. They also sell a frosted version.

VGMtogether coordinated more than 160 musicians around the world to join in an online concert celebrating video game music. Their subject, the soundtrack from Paper Mario: The Origami King. Kudos to project director Laura Intravia and her team for putting it all together.

The first game to use Unreal Engine was… Unreal. Since it appeared on the scene in 1996, computer graphics technology has evolved in leaps and bounds. GameSpot looks back at the history of Epic’s 3D game engine, and just how far it’s come over the years, even powering the environments in The Mandalorian.

This quiet and contemplative sim game from indie developer Slug Disco Studios makes you god of an underwater ecosystem. Every creature you create in the game’s habitat evolves on its own, with each subsequent generation changing and adapting to its environment. Available on Steam Early Access 3.16.2021.

With locations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines is filled with vintage arcade machines that date back to the Soviet era. Incredibly, the machines have all been restored and are playable. Baklykov. Live takes us on a tour of the museum, its machines, and other artifacts.

The lobby music from the Nintendo Wii’s Mii Channel is like the modern-day equivalent of elevator music. The soft and soothing soundtrack has been the subject of many memes and cover versions, but this is our favorite. Alex Moukala reached out to 30 musicians around the globe to join him for this epic jam session.

Inspired by the hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, Matt Round of VOLE.WTF released this retro-style online chess game. What makes it especially impressive is that the game’s logic was written in less than 1 kilobyte of JavaScript code, incorporating code by Oscar Toledo G. and pixel art by Pinot W. Ichwandardi.

New Wave Toys expands its collection of 1/6th-scale arcade machines with a duo of vertical scrollers. The Romstar low-boy 1942 machine is pristine, while the 1943 Overhaul Edition has a battle-worn coin door. Both cabinets play both games and include a mini arcade stick for 2-player action. Pre-order by 3.17.21 and save $20.

Joystick-based controllers are great for casual gamers, but hardcore players prefer a mouse and keyboard for precise control. Tech Yesterday shows off a custom-made gamepad with a thumb-driven optical sensor to bring mouse-like precision to a handheld controller thanks to a miniature optical circuit. (Thanks, Lambert!)

This upcoming open-world sci-fi game from developer Andrey Fomin has a retro vibe inspired by early computer games, like those on the TRS-80. The characters, backgrounds, weapons, and objects are made entirely out of ASCII characters. Play an early demo in your browser here, and sign up for Early Access on Steam.

(PG-13) A group of Pokémon Go players employs the help of a kid to help hatch some virtual eggs. All of a sudden, a crowd descends on their car with the notion that the costumed kid is an actual Pikachu. Like all RackaRacka videos, chaos, violence, and destruction quickly ensue.

Our first experience with simulation games was playing SimCity on a Macintosh SE around 1990. Will Wright’s city-building series led to numerous sequels and spin-offs and gave birth to an entire genre of games, including his people simulator The Sims. Mental Floss walks us through the origins and history of the popular series.

Get ready to race with this arcade racer, which brings Hot Wheels action to consoles and gaming PCs. The game features crazy tracks with lots of loops, twists, and banks, with online multiplayer for up to 12 racers. It also has a track editor and livery editor for your car collection. Drops 9.30.2021.

Arcade1Up created these retro video game systems that you can put on a tabletop or mount on a wall. Each one features a 17″ color LCD screen, arcade-quality joystick and buttons, and comes loaded with eight licensed games. QVC sells the Asteroids, Pac-Man, or Ms. Pac-Man variants, while HSN has a Centipede version.

Stop-motion animation expert Animist walks us through the process of posing an action figure of Street Fighter’s Sakura Kasugano, as she delivers a series of deadly blows to a Red Bull can. This making-of video is well worth a watch, but if you’re in a rush, you can skip to the finished sequence here.

Animator Alan Becker is best known for his Animation vs. series. When he’s not making those, he spends his time painstakingly replicating the vibrant worlds of Studio Ghibli entirely inside of Minecraft. You can join his Ghibli Minecraft server here, and check out the GhibliCraft YouTube channel for more videos.