Christmas is nearly here. Our relatives all have the typical Christmas decorations adorning the house, while geeks like you and I have robot snowmen on display and retro robot ornaments on the tree. Our homes are much cooler to visit during the holidays.

Here’s another cool geeky Christmas item. This 8″ tall musical UFO is being piloted by a robot snowman. It’s only $39.99. Enough said.

Amazon

Excerpt from:
Retro Musical UFO with Snowman Robot

“He who does not look back will never reach his destination.” So goes an old saying we have here. It doesn’t make sense (or at least my translation doesn’t), nevertheless it is appropriate for today’s gaming news: EA has made the classic Command & Conquer Tiberian Saga available for free download.

I think Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn have been free for some time now, and EA says the addition of Tiberian Sun and Firestorm to the list of free downloads is an early Valentine’s gift.

But with Red Alert 4 on the horizon – the game comes out on March 16 – we’d all be stupid to think that this isn’t a way to promote the aging series. Still, it’s free! Head on to Command & Conquer Classics/a> to download the games. The Red Alert Soviet & Allied ISOs are 520 MB each, Tiberian Dawn’s GDI & NOD ISO’s are 600MB each, and the Tiberian Sun & Firestorm installer weighs in at 1.2GB.

via CVG/a>

See original here:
command & conquer the tiberian saga for free!/a>

Craftster forum member whateverjames/a> knows that in life, as in Tetris, all good things come to an end. You can’t keep on clearing line after line forever. Not all of the shapes you’re given will fit and stack the way you want them to. In other words:

Craftster should have a series of works with this theme – the “Game Over” moments from video games. And then they should be turned into T-shirts. Then the proceeds from each design should be sent to me, because I came up with the idea. Ball’s in your court, Craftster.

Read the original here:
an important lesson from tetris, immortalized in cross-stitch/a>

Oh, I remember this little game. It was made by Rare after their success with Goldeneye. The game was good, but not up to Goldeneye’s standard, in my opinion. Well, a port of the original Perfect Dark is coming your way, if you’ve got an Xbox 360 that is.

This is a port of the original game for the Nintendo 64 that came out in 2000. The game will receive updated graphics and will be released in March. It will cost 800 Microsoft Points ($10 USD).

Stuff like this is one of the reasons why I really love my Xbox 360. There are so many great games on XBLA, like Geometry Wars, and others. But what also like is the re-releases and updates of old school games. It appeals to the retro gamer in me. I have to confess that it took at least a week of playing Geometry Wars non-stop before I opened my other normal games when the Xbox 360 was launched.

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Hopefully, this version will make up for Perfect Dark Zero.

Perfect Dark/a> via Kotaku/a>

Read more:
perfect dark heads back to the xbox 360 in march/a>

I still remember my first Apple computer. It was an Apple ] with a whopping 16k of RAM and it didn’t even have a floppy drive. So the sounds that come to mind when I think of my old are the squeals of program data loading from cassette tape. But the later models in the Apple II line actually could make their own music too. Now, thanks to the work of a couple of enterprising chiptune musicians, there’s a brand new synthesizer app that you can run on the Apple II series.

Created by M.J. Mahon and 8-bit Weapon, the Digital Music Synthesizer (D.M.S.) is the only wavetable synth for the Apple 8-bit machines that I’ve heard of. While it won’t run on the original or +, it works great on Apple //e, IIc, and IIc+ models.

D.M.S. can crank out up to 8 voices, which you can play from the keyboard. The app includes a variety of retro-modern sounds including acoustic piano, vibraphone, acoustic guitar, electric bass, trumpet, clarinet, square wave, sawtooth wave, sine wave, and of course, banjo!

Crank up your volume and click here/a> to enjoy a short sample of sound from D.M.S.

You don’t even need a monitor hooked up to use this synth. Just put in the floppy, wait for it to finish loading, and start mashing on keys for some 8-bit audio delights.

Got an old Apple II lying around? You can get your hands on DMS over at 8-bit Weapon/a> for $19.95 (USD). Naturally, it ships on a 5-1/4″ floppy. Woot!

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apple [ gets a brand new synthesizer/a>

Science fiction fans know the name Ralph McQuarrie/a>. The illustrator and designer has contributed to the look of some of the most popular films and TV series, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., and the big one: the original Star Wars trilogy. eFX enlisted 3D modeler Jay Kushwara to turn one of McQuarrie’s most favorite concept sketches of Darth Vader’s helmet into a premium collectible. The limited edition helmet – priced at almost $900 (USD) – has already pre-sold out/a>, and I think it’s easy to see why:

This mask erases any ambiguity regarding which side Darth Vader was on. That’s the most menacing frown I have ever seen.

Makes one wonder why this wasn’t the version used in the trilogy. Maybe because Anakin became good in the end? You can read more about the making of the helmet at eFX’ website/a>.

via Wired/a>

More here:
darth vader ralph mcquarrie concept helmet: force scowl/a>

I can’t believe that this Pac-Man arcade cabinet is actually a cake. As in bake it in the oven, cover it with frosting, cut it up and eat it – cake.

The cake artists over at Seattle’s Jet City Cakes/a> created this amazing desert that looks exactly like the original Pac-Man arcade cabinet. Every little detail is there, from the miniature red joystick, to the coin slots, to the teensy little ghosts, cherries and power pills on the playing field.

The birthday cake was made for someone who simply goes by “Dad”, so if you stole this cake (you wouldn’t steal a cake now, would you?) you could give it to your own father. Or if you’re a dad, you could keep it and chow down for yourself. Wakka-wakka-wakka.

via Geek Crafts/a>

See more here:
pac-man arcade cabinet cake is the best pac-man arcade cabinet cake ever/a>

We weren’t so happy with the PIC 1000/a>, Polaroid’s overpriced revision of their classic instant cameras. For those who only really want an instant camera for the white borders on the pictures, here’s a cheap solution – a picture frame that’s nothing but a white border.

You might have to crop and do a little editing on the colors of your pictures to really get that retro look. Urban Outfitters/a> is selling the Snap Shot for $10 (USD) for a set of 5 frames.

via swissmiss/a>

More here:
snap shot: frame it like a polaroid picture/a>

Sportpong/a> is a Nintendo-like take on the classic game, requiring physical movement to block or hit a virtual ball. But instead of using their hands, players put on paddles in the form of reflectors on each feet and play on a projected field.

Projectors beam down the field, while a camera tracks the movement of the reflector. The Sportpong software was built using vvvv/a>, a “multipurpose tool kit for real time video synthesis.”

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Frankly I’d rather play with an actual football, but then that wouldn’t be nerdy at all.

via The Awesomer/a>

The rest is here:
sportpong: tennis + football + nerds/a>

Who knew that Pac-Man had a side-gig as the baddest East Coast rapper you’ve ever seen?

At least that’s what DocPop/a> would like us to think in his watercolor illustration titled The Notorious P.A.C, commissioned by for nerdcore rapper Beefy/a> by his girlfriend. And check out Blinky masquerading as Tupac. It’s the official East Coast vs. West Coast video game feud, and Tupac will be turning blue just as soon as Pac-Man downs a few crack rocks (a.k.a. power pills). Of  course P.A.C. better watch his back. I heard Inky and Clyde are waiting outside the maze with guns.

Check out more of DocPop’s Pac-Man watercolor Ghost in the Machines series over on Flickr/a>.

Read the original:
the notorious p.a.c. (man)/a>