Hasta La Gadget!

I can remember years ago standing in the game store in the mall playing the demo NeoGeo machine and wanting one so bad I could hardly stand it. I remember that original NeoGeo arcade system console being insanely expensive for the time. If you always wanted your own NeoGeo, you’ll be able to get one in early December for a much more reasonable price than the original’s $650 price.

The Neogeo X Gold will launch worldwide on December 6 of this year at an MSRP of $199.99(USD). The X Gold bundle will include the Neogeo X Station, the X Joystick and the NeoGeo X Handheld. The portable device has a 4.3-inch LCD display, expandable game card slot, internal stereo speakers, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The portable device also has 20 preloaded classic Neogeo video games.

The X Handheld is a portable gaming system that you can carry with you wherever you want to go for mobile gaming. When docked with the X Console, you can play video games on your big-screen TV via HDMI or AV outputs, while charging the handheld. The X Joystick let you play those classic games with the big and beefy classic arcade stick. If you’d like more details on the NeoGeo X Gold system, you can register your interest now over on their website.

Say the words Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, Centipede, Galaga or Joust, and you’ve just named some of my all-time favorite arcade games. So when I stumbled onto these unusual variants of these 1980s classics, I was at once befuddled and at the same time intrigued.

These mash-up prints were created by 9times1minus1 (also known as “eight”) over on Etsy, and they envision the characters from iconic arcade games invading other games. So for instance, there’s Donkey Dug, which puts Pooka, Fygar and Dig Dug on Donkey Kong’s girders.

Then, there’s Joust Bros., which is the perfect synthesis of Joust and Mario Bros. I always thought those levels looked similar, and flinging turtles into the lava pit below makes just about as much sense as ostriches anyhow.

Other mashups include Donkey Burger (DK x BurgerTime), and the oddly named, but somehow appealing Ms. Paciaga (Ms. Pac-Man x Galaga).

While I’m not sure that I would have wanted to play all of these games, I have to say that some of them look like they would have worked just fine as 9times1minus1 envisions them. When you really think about it, did the plots and characters in any 1980s video game really make that much sense? Why couldn’t Jumpman have been a chef on a quest to make the perfect hamburger? I would have ponied up a quarter to try my hand at that.

If you’d like to line your walls with these unusual video games, they’re available for $25(USD) each as 16×20 digital prints over on Etsy.