Hasta La Gadget!

Now that he’s conquered the world of tiny LEGO Macintosh and iMac computers, LEGO builder Chris McVeigh (aka Powerpig) has headed further backwards in time to create LEGO kit versions of the Atari 2600 and C64 personal computer.

These awesome little kits accurately capture the spirit of these seminal parts of consumer electronic history. The Atari 2600 kit sells for $42.50(USD). It’s assembled from 130 pieces, and includes two tiny joysticks and three little cartridges. When complete, the console measures about 3.75″ wide x 1″ tall x 2.5″ deep.

The Commodore 64 kit (also $42.50) is a bit less complex, and is made from 82 bricks. But that doesn’t make it any less perfect. I can imagine connecting my 1530 C2N Datasette player and loading up a copy of Attack of Mutant Camels. The C64 is also a bit bigger than the 2600, measuring 5″ wide x 1″ tall x 2.5″ deep when assembled.

Great job, Chris! Keep ‘em coming. I’ll definitely bite when you make me an Atari 800 and an Apple ][.

We’ve seen some ambitious Blinkenwalls in our time. Nearly all of the attention is unsurprisingly focused on the wall, however, and not on the often clever hardware and software behind it. Vienna’s Metalab wants to shift the limelight by kicking it old school. Instead of the thoroughly modern Arduino and Fonera hotspot that normally light up Metalab’s 45-block glass wall, the team’s Blinken64 project swaps in a Commodore 64 with a cassette drive and the unusual Final Cartridge III feature extender. Getting lights to strobe requires dusting off more than just hardware — all the animations have to be written in assembly-level MOS Technology 6510 code that even our nerdy parents might forget. The result you’ll see in the video after the break is a far cry from the relatively easy, web-accessible hardware that normally powers such blinkenlight creations, but it’s also a testament to how relevant classic technology can remain when it’s in the right hands.

Continue reading Metalab wires its Blinkenwall to run from Commodore 64, gives no word on the obligatory Tetris port (video)

Filed under: Desktops, Misc. Gadgets

Metalab wires its Blinkenwall to run from Commodore 64, gives no word on the obligatory Tetris port (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 00:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Hack A Day  | Email this | Comments