Some people might think they have a pretty good setup with an HDTV or two, some 5.1 surround sound and all the most current game consoles. But the feat that this guy pulled off is simply astounding. He built a fully functional video game arcade in his basement. He’s got it all: Tron, Dragon’s Lair, Qix, Joust, that Star Wars cockpit game and many, many more. All the games and their cabinets are originals, no conversions and he even got the classic brown change machines! The blacklight-glowing carpet is a great touch as is the section with pinball machines. This photo gallery really brought me back to a time when it didn’t matter how many polygons made up your character, how good the mo-cap was or if the control scheme was up to snuff. All that mattered was that ninjas had kidnapped the president and whether or not you were a bad enough dude to rescue him.

Boy aren’t we all so sick and tired of this game concept. You know the one. You control the schoolgirl riding a bike that slams into some innocent guy at top speed and sends him flying into your friends who either do super Ha-Do-Ken style punches to help send him further or slow him down by getting in the way and dying. Wait a sec, that sounds awesome! Check out Nanaca Crash if you feel like burning the next 2-3 hours trying to beat my 1,492m record!

Forgive me the 2 gaming related posts in a row, but this one needed urgent mention. So the call goes out: anyone who owns a PSP needs to update their firmware so they can run the new Loco Roco Demo.

Much like Katamari Damaci, Loco Roco needs to be see to be believed. I can try to explain it, but I’m not sure the concepts involved in this game can be committed in a written form. The basics? You are in control of a group of blob-like creatures that can combine and or subdivide to alter their total mass, thereby allowing for differing handling characteristics such as speed and jump height. In addition to the differences in how the liquid-like beings behave, sub-dividing your characters allows them to fit in tight spaces, and be picked up by natural forces like the wind.

Also, the creatures sing to you.

I’m not joking. The entire time you play, the creatures are singing along with the music, and, get this: one blob sings lead vocals, with the rest as back up. Here’s to Japan and their unbridleled creativity and innovation when it comes to technology, games, and incredibly cute fictional creatures.

Though the days of 16-bit gaming have long since passed, it’s good to see that some people still acknowledge the power and the majesty of Sega’s Genesis console, one of my all time favorite pieces of gaming technology. Some genius out there has fashioned a guitar out of the venerable shell of a Genesis, which you can witness on the eBay. With any luck whoever buys this thing will get good, then go on tour so I can hear them crank out some modern day covers of such gems as “Kid Chameleon” or “Toejam & Earl“.