The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Whoa, this YouTuber has figured out how to play floppy disk games on his Android smartphone! If only this can be done on iOS devices……
This YouTuber made a hack to play floppy disk games on smartphones pic.twitter.com/BHoXaUEgHA
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 26, 2019
Darn this Wireless Game Boy controller is ingenious!
In a nutshell, InsideGadgets’ Alex Iannuzzi has created a custom Game Boy (GB) TX cartridge which transforms the original Game Boy into a wireless gamepad that can be used on any device that accepts USB HID input, like a PC or Raspberry Pi (via a USB receiver). Oh yeah, there are receivers for the GameCube, Wii and SNES too – which is just awesome!
The GB TX cartridge works with Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Colour, Game Boy Advance, and Game Boy Advance SP handhelds (Ed: there is also a GBA TX cart that works on the Micro, DS and DS Lite). The best part is that you don’t have to hack or upgrade the original Game Boy or the other GBA hardware to make this all work. Alex has done the hard work for your by designing and building the TX cartridges without the need to hack your precious Nintendo handhelds.
For more details or to place your order, go to InsideGadgets now. If you fancy yourself as a DIY guru and you want to have a crack at building one of these yourself, you are far braver than us, so go here.
image source: InsideGadgets
[story source: technabob]
If you haven’t been able to afford the astronomical prices for the PC-Engine GT (TurboExpress in the States) or the PC-Engine LT, then this DIY kit may be what you were looking for to morph your trusty PC-Engine into a mobile gaming powerhouse!
Sporting a 4 inch LCD and a custom 3D printed case (in varying colours), this awesome kit by Team Mercurius transforms the trusty original PC-Engine (and CoreGrafx & CoreGrafx II) console into one beast of a mobile gaming system. The unit operates via a USB power supply or you could hack and include a mobile battery for some true retro gaming on the go.
あけましておめでとうございます。
メルクリウスの次回出荷は1月中旬を予定しております。
今暫くお待ち下さい。#PCEメルクリ pic.twitter.com/46y9bdRU7s
— 「液晶操作機器搭載裏蓋壱號」（メルクリウス） (@mercurius2018) January 1, 2019
The whole kit will cost you under AU$200, however, the retailer (Ken Chan) does not sell internationally, so you will need a friend based in Japan or a proxy service to buy and ship it for you (when it is available).
image source: Akiba PC Hotline & Mercurius
[Story via Akiba PC Hotline!]
We have featured Love Hultén previously, so we thought we’d share more of their other drool-worthy one-of-a-kind gaming creations!
If you didn’t know, Love Hultén (LH) fuses traditional craftsmanship with modern technology, creating unique objects in an unexpected merge of form and function. By playing with preconceptions about art and design – the social, cultural and historical relations to objects we all share – LH tears consensual connections apart and provides a new context. Love Hultén presents genuine and attractive alternatives to contemporary appliances, adding unforeseen functionality, delicate execution and mystique.
You have to agree, these are mind-blowingly beautiful and just simply sublime!
Pet De Lux
Pixelvision 2.0
PYUA
OriginXL
Cary42
Pocket Spin
OriginX
image source: Love Hultén
Retro Revolutions’ resident console modder, Jarred Green has mashed the venerable Atari VCS / 2600 (4-switch) console with Atari’s powerful colour handheld, the Lynx, to create one drool-worthy and awesome system – the Atari Lynx 2600! Having an eye for detail, Jarred doesn’t do things by halves – he complimented his unique console creation with an equally awesome custom packaging (by Logan Hunt from NeonVision Design) that wouldn’t look out of place on the shelves at your local video games retailer!
So how does the Atari Lynx 2600 hold up? Is it durable? Does it play well? Do the Lynx handheld games translate well to console / TV mode? Well, what a better way to have answered these questions than by having the Atari Lynx 2600 available for play (Ed: you mean punishment!) during one of the biggest gaming events in the southern hemisphere, PAX Aus 2018!
The Atari Lynx 2600 was an absolute winner and a head-turner at PAX Aus 2018
Over the course of the three day PAX Aus event, the Atari Lynx 2600 was never left unattended, with gamers playing a swag of Lynx games, including California Games, with their reactions always being the same – huge smiles and just wowing at Jarred’s creation. The amount of positive feedback was actually quite overwhelming. Jarred was always on hand to answer questions from eager gamers, from how he made the console to being asked if he could create one or do a production run for them to buy one! Actually, you can lump us in that category – we want one too!
Retro Revolutions doesn’t do things by halves! The Atari Lynx 2600 comes in its own unique retail packaging!
For the technically minded, the Atari Lynx 2600 sports some very impressive specifications that take advantage of current technologies, including output via HDMI. As we mentioned earlier, Jarred’s eye for detail extends from the aesthetics (like the airbrushed logos and the 3D printed cartridge adaptor for the Lynx carts – by Extreme Consoles), customs ports (for VGA and HDMI out) and custom paint detailing, to the innards with McWill’s LCD mod (with VGA output), the VGA to HDMI scaler (for compatibility with current displays) and of course the mapping and wiring of the Lynx controls to the DB9 joystick ports. Oh yeah, the one-button Atari joystick didn’t cut the mustard, so Jarred used a NES control-pad (also custom painted to compliment the colour scheme of the console) to implement the Lynx’s two button control system – he really did think of everything.
We can’t compliment Jarred enough, cause this is one super impressive mod that not only knocked our socks off, but it knocked the socks off thousands of PAX Aus attendees that got to play it – you can’t get a better endorsement than that! And yes, the Atari Lynx 2600 survived PAX Aus!
The Atari Lynx 2600 creator – Retro Revolutions’ Jarred Green
So what’s Jarred’s next creation? He tells us that he will have something just as unique and just as jaw-droppingly awesome as the Atari Lynx 2600. Perhaps we will see it at PAX Aus 2019? We honestly can’t wait!
You can follow Jarred’s awesome mod projects via his Retro Revolutions social platforms on Twitter and YouTube.
Watch the vid to see how the Atari Lynx 2600 evolved from idea to console!
source: Jarred Green, aka: Retro Revolutions
The one off Atari Lynx 2600 is carefully packed and ready to be unleashed at PAX Aus 2018
The only place on the planet where the Atari Lynx 2600 could be played – in the Classic Gaming Area at PAX Aus!
The feature rich Atari Lynx 2600 – even the unique box takes centre stage!
Initial test is a success! Of course we were going to play our fave Lynx game first!
Getting in control!
Ready for PAX Aus 2018 action!
The players are starting to chase some high scores
Ah, why the hell not. We love it when people do stuff just because they can!
Would you play on this wee Wii in an Altoids tin?
source: Shank Mods
Oo’er, this is one slick portable wooden Sega Saturn!
c_mon’s creation is the first Sega Saturn laptop we have ever seen, and definitely the one and only wooden Sega Saturn lappie! Oh yeah, don’t get too excited about buying one, this was a commissioned piece for one lucky gamer.
For posterity’s sake, here are the specs:
image source: Chevy presents totally awesome tuesadays via bitfixgaming
Talk about an awesomely impressive retro hardware hack!
What do you get when you grab a Tomy Turnin’ Turbo Dashboard, Sega’s awesome OutRun arcade game and a very very clever hardware hacking peep named Matt Brailsford? You get a hack to outdo all other hacks – the Tomy Turnin’ Turbo Dashboard OutRun Arcade!
Rather than regurgitating the meticulous steps Matt took to create this awesome piece, read his epic blog post right now! Wish we could make this!
source: Circuitbeard
image source: Circuitbeard.co.uk
Hack or not to hack the SNES Classic Mini: that is the question and my dilemma! On the one hand, I want the SNES Mini to remain as it was intended by Nintendo, and on the other, I want to load it up with more games than you can poke a stick at!
Apart from entering the murky waters of gaming rom legalities, I also don’t want to risk bricking my cute little SNES. I am aware that the hack to load more games is well tested and there are easy to follow instructions out there, but I choose to leave my SNES Classic Mini as is – with its 21 legal video games!
I’ll admit that in the past I dabbled in the shadows of piracy by exchanging C64 games on tape in the schoolyard. Even though I thought it was cool to do this back in the day, I am now filled with regret that I had cheated the creators of making a pretty penny for their creation. The other and less moralistic reason for not wanting to hack my SNES Classic Mini is that I’ know I would suffer from being spoiled for choice. When faced with a choice of hundreds of gaming roms, I know I’d skim past a fair few of them, thus missing out on playing some real gems, and worse still, not play a load of games due to the sheer volume of choice.
Whatever your choice, you can do whatever you see fit with your SNES Classic Mini. I just chose to leave mine alone.
Programmer Dmitry Grinberg has cleverly hacked a Dreamcast VMU to run a Flappy Bird clone, wow! Watch the demo video below and/or read about how he did it.
Source: dimtrygr on YouTube via Technabob
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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.
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