Hasta La Gadget!

Back in 2010, Ed Fries – former Vice-President of Game Publishing in Microsoft and one of the co-creators of the Xbox – created a “demake” of Halo for the Atari 2600 called Halo 2600 (Fries also talked about how the project came about on the linked page). Previously Halo 2600 was playable on PCs using an emulator or via its Flash port, but now the game is out as a legit Atari 2600 cartridge.

Here’s some gameplay footage of Halo 2600 courtesy of YouTuber dsdude1107:

Atari Age worked with Fries to release a cartridge version of the game. The first batch of cartridges were sold in a limited run in 2010, but they seem to be back in stock. You can order them from Atari Age for $50 (USD) each.

That’s pretty expensive, but at least each cartridge comes with a glossy label, a box and even a full color 8-page manual, all of which feature art that are waaaay better than how the game itself looks. Seriously kids, if you think the videogame trailers are misleading, imagine the crushing disappointment some of us suffered back in the day.

[via Retro Treasures]

When I dust off the old Atari Flashback to play games from the Atari 2600, I realize how crappy most of the games really were. The only games which really stand the test of time are the Activision games, like Kaboom!, River Raid and of course, Pitfall. These games not only featured addictive gameplay, but pushed the graphical and audio envelope for the simplistic, but groundbreaking 8-bit home console.

Now you can reminisce about Pitfall every time you have a cup of joe. Each of these 7.5 oz. porcelain mugs is emblazoned with pixelated image of the killer gators from Activision’s Atari 2600 classic. Of course, you really need to line up three of the mugs in a row to achieve the full effect. That’s okay, JamesBit has you covered, and only sells them in sets of three. I know you like your coffee, so it shouldn’t be a problem for you to down three cups at a time anyhow.

Grab a set of three Pitfall mugs over on Etsy for $23.99(USD). It’s how Pitfall Harry drinks his coffee every morning before going off and fighting giant white scorpions.

I like to think that I’m pretty plugged into retro geek culture, but I have to hand it to the guys over at You Found a Secret Area! for turning up something I’ve not seen before – a series of Atari 2600-themed cars from Hot Wheels. Oh, and you can still buy them!

The 1/64th scale die-cast vehicle series is packaged on cards that look like classic Atari 2600 games, including Breakout, Centipede, Pong, Missile Command, and Tempest. There’s even an Atari 2600 party bus (aka Urban Assault Vehicle) for good measure. I’m not sure if the vehicles really make much sense, but they’re still an awesome bit of swag for any collector of Atari 2600 memorabilia. My personal favorite has to be the Centipede monster machine – it totally reminds me of the 1970s with its funny car styling and giant exhaust headers.

Here are a bunch of detailed video shots of each vehicle, courtesy of Hot Wheels Nation:

You can find them over on Amazon for $9.99(USD) each. But you’d better move fast before they all become as hard to find as a copy of Air Raid.

How’d you like a sweet Xbox 360 portable? How about if we sweetened the pot even more by making it look like an old Atari 2600? Well if you enter this contest over on Facebook now, you could be the proud owner of such an awesome franken-console.

The guys over at Atari are celebrating the 40th anniversary of PONG by giving away this retro-styled Xbox 360 portable. It’s got a complete 360 system, along with a built-in LCD monitor, and a nifty woodgrain Atari 2600 styling package.

All you need to do to enter is to head on over to this Facebook page, and follow the directions by December 2nd for a chance to win this awesome bit of geeky goodness. Sadly, for our international readers, the contest is only open to U.S. residents.

I always wonder what became of paddle controllers. You know, like the ones that you used to play the Atari 2600 with back in the day. There are certain types of games – especially paddle ball and driving games – that lend themselves well to the single-axis analog control these primitive input devices provided. Well even if you can’t play your PS3 or Xbox 360 with a paddle, you can still have paddle controllers in your life, albeit as jewelry, not to play games with.

These nifty little Atari 2600 paddle stud earrings were created by Catrina’s Toybox as a follow-up to her equally nifty Atari 2600 joystick earrings. These tiny paddles measure about 1cm in length, and are handmade from polymer clay and resin – along with a tiny Atari paddle sticker for added detail.

They’re also available as somewhat larger (1″ long) cufflinks, so guys and girls can both get in on the retro paddle action. I always wanted to play Super Breakout in formalwear, didn’t you?

Perhaps the niftiest thing about these mini paddle controllers is that they actually turn from side-to-side. You have to be careful with them and not spin them all the way around, as they are delicate. Not that I didn’t break one or two actual Atari 2600 paddle controllers in my time.

Both the paddle controller earrings and the cufflinks go for $25(USD) a pair – which, coincidentally is about what you’ll pay for a pair of real paddle controllers. Be sure to check out Catrina’s Etsy shop for many more great geeky jewelry items to add to your collection – including some great Hostess Twinkie earrings, sure to last about as long as the actual snack cakes.