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Awesome Retro

Dropping Snow Like Klax

Dropping Snow Like Klax

’80s kids might remember an Atari arcade game called Klax, a puzzle game where bricks dropped down the screen sort of like Tetris. Boing Boing’s Rob Beschizza thinks this house remembers the game too, as it satisfyingly drops snow off its roof in perfect brick-shaped pieces.

MCP Cassette Player

MCP Cassette Player

Artist Love Hultén is a master at creating interactive electronic works inspired by retro technology. While the MCP Cassette Player isn’t as complex as say, his VOC-25 synthesizer, it’s still a fun piece. It’s basically a tape player that looks like a wind-up toy and lets its user control the tape’s playback speed with analog control.

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Q Timex Reissue Watch

Q Timex Reissue Watch
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Replicating every detail of the 1979 classic, this 38mm wristwatch even has the period-accurate woven stainless steel band. Like the original, it features a rotating outer ring, luminescent hands, and dial markers, updated with a modern quartz movement. It’s available in eight colorways, but we love it in the classic blue and red.

Flipping Out Flip Clock

Flipping Out Flip Clock
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Cloudnola’s modern take on mechanical flip clocks has large, easy-to-read digits, and can either be wall-mounted or placed on a tabletop. It has a sturdy metal frame, and its flip panels are made from PVC. It measures 14.96″ w x 5.51″ h and runs on a single D battery (not included).

Timex T80 Watch

Timex T80 Watch

The Timex T80 was a staple of 1980s design. Now it’s back and updated for the 21st century. The new version is just a bit crisper looking all around, with an old-school black on grey LCD, Indiglo backlighting, alarm, date, and stopwatch functions. It’s available in a variety of metal finishes, and a Pac-Man edition.

Core Memory

Core Memory
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Photographer Mark Richards and author John Alderman offer a visual guide to some of the earliest examples of computing devices. The 176-page hardcover book features artistically-composed images of machines like the Eniac, Cray 1, and the original Apple 1, which call Silicon Valley’s Computer History Museum home.

Pocket Computers from the 1980s

Pocket Computers from the 1980s

These days, we all carry a very capable computer in our pockets. But back in the 1980s, pocket computers looked more like glorified calculators. The 8-Bit Guy takes a look at some of these early examples of miniaturization for a look at just how far computing technology has come in the last few decades.

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8BitDo Arcade Stick

8BitDo Arcade Stick
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Game accessory maker 8BitDo’s stick is the perfect controller for all of your favorite arcade games. Sporting a retro Nintendo-inspired look, it works via Bluetooth, 2.4Ghz, or wired connections, and encourages modders to swap components. Ideal for both PC and Nintendo Switch gaming.

8-Bit Boston

8-Bit Boston

The Boston track Foreplay/Long Time is a masterpiece of 1970s prog rock, kicking off with an epic instrumental intro, leading into a rock-and-roll classic. 8-Bit Universe presents an equally entertaining chiptune version of the nearly 8-minute long track.

Elago T4 Apple TV Case

Elago T4 Apple TV Case
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Do you have an Apple TV? Tired of staring at that boring black box sitting on your TV stand? Elago’s clever cover transforms Apple’s set-top streaming box into a retro gaming system. The Super Famicom-inspired silicone cover is strictly cosmetic, but it looks awesome. Elago also makes a matching cover for the Apple TV remote.

Wonderwall: 80s Edition

Wonderwall: 80s Edition

Musician Mick Mazz loves to reinterpret tracks and imagine what they might have sounded like if they came out in a different decade. His arrangement of the Oasis hit Wonderwall perfectly reworks the 1995 pseudo-Beatles track as a synth-heavy ’80s pop ballad.

Arcade1Up Pong Pub Table

Arcade1Up Pong Pub Table
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Arcade1Up continues to build out its collection of retro-inspired video game cabinets with this stand-up system that lets four people play Pong at the same time. It also plays Warlords, Circus Atari, Tempest, Super Breakout, and a couple of other Pong variants. Pre-orders start shipping 4.1.2021.

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Nike Blazer Mid ’77 Vintage Zig-Zag Swoosh

Nike Blazer Mid ’77 Vintage Zig-Zag Swoosh

Nike’s throwback sneaker embellishes a classic silhouette with an abstract swoosh logo made from red double zig-zag stitching. Its upper is made from white leather with grey suede accents, along with exposed foam tongues, and a translucent green rubber outsole. Coming in early 2021 to Nike.com and select retailers.

Legends Core Game System

Legends Core Game System
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AtGames‘ value-priced gaming system features 100 licensed console and arcade games built right in. Simply plug it into any TV via its HDMI port, and connect a USB or Bluetooth game controller of your choice. AtGames is also offering a bundle of its Legends Ultimate arcade cabinet and Legends Core for $599 through 1.14.21.

First-person Shooter

First-person Shooter

First-person shooter games have been around in one form or another since the early 1980s. In this slick video from 4096, they seamlessly edited together footage from various FPSes, showing off the genre’s evolution while working in some impressive transitions to make it look like we’re watching a single game.

Weird Computers of the 1970s

Weird Computers of the 1970s

The personal computing revolution didn’t reach the masses until the 1980s, but back in the 1970s, a groundswell was forming among hardcore tech nerds. LGR takes a look back at a number of the unusual computer designs that emerged in the years leading up to the PC revolution.

Who Sampled Kraftwerk?

Who Sampled Kraftwerk?

Eight Minutes Upside Down has created a fantastic series of videos which explore the many tracks that sampled sounds from other musicians. In this episode, you’ll hear how electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk influenced artists from Beck to Sir Mix-a-Lot to The Chemical Brothers to Miley Cyrus.

They Live ReAction Figures

They Live ReAction Figures
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Toymaker Super7 celebrates the 1988 John Carpenter classic They Live, putting on their special sunglasses to reveal the creepy ghouls living among us. The retro-style 3-3/4″ collection includes a man and a woman, along with limited edition OBEY and SUBMIT variants in black-and-white.

Evolution of Game Music: 1972-2020

Evolution of Game Music: 1972-2020

Take a few minutes out of your day and tune into Rob Landes‘ mega-medley, in which the violinist compiles 100 great pieces of music that chronicle the history of video game soundtracks. See how many you remember. That Crash Bandicoot theme gets us every time.

Bumpboxx Flare6 Bluetooth Boombox

Bumpboxx Flare6 Bluetooth Boombox
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Inspired by 1980s boomboxes, but updated with modern audio tech, the Flare6 cranks out 150-watts of power via its three speakers. It offers 12 hours of wireless playtime, and has a 1/4″ microphone input, SD and USB ports for playing MP3 files, and five EQ settings. For even more power, check out the 200-watt Flare 8.

DIY Vector Games Console

DIY Vector Games Console

You don’t see vector-based video games these days, but there was something really cool about systems like the Vectrex and games like BattleZone. Electronics wiz Mixtela was longing for the days of vector graphics too, so he built himself an impressive little system, complete with game cartridges. More details here.

Heavy Metal History of Video Game Music

Heavy Metal History of Video Game Music

Guitarist FamilyJules revisits his epic metal medley of classic video game music, tossing in a few new games along the way, and bringing the end of the collection up to date. Yep. It still sounds to us like every character is about to run out of oxygen and lose a life.

Atari Mini Pong Jr.

Atari Mini Pong Jr.

Atari, working in collaboration with UNIS Technology, Ltd. is bringing back its 1970s arcade classic PONG. This tabletop gaming system has a 7.9″ LCD panel and offers both classic 2-player mode, and 1-player vs. AI mode. It runs on USB power or AAA batteries and is shipping in limited quantities now.

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