Hasta La Gadget!

While it’s not the DL-44 heavy blaster we’ve been holding out for, this Nintendo Zapper is almost as cool. Using the classic Duck Hunt light gun from the original NES, the team at North Street Labs created their own laser pistol. Using a 445nm diode, some batteries, wiring and imagination, the light gun was painstakingly put together, complete with physical safety lock and custom aim-assisting heat sink. The end result is a bona fide laser shootin’ gun, capable of not only setting alight matches from a distance, but setting the curtains on fire too (probably). See it in action in the video after the break, where it also tops out their laser meter, rating it — at least — at an eyeball popping 2W. Then tap up the source to see how — for educational purposes — you could make your own.

Continue reading NES light gun gets a laser upgrade, fulfils countless childhood dreams (video)

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

NES light gun gets a laser upgrade, fulfils countless childhood dreams (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Sep 2012 14:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hackaday  |  North Street Labs  | Email this | Comments

We all know what the Nintendo Entertainment System looks like, right? Well, if a butterfly had flapped its wings in a slightly different manner, things could have apparently been quite different. Former Director of Game Creative at Nintendo America, Howard Phillips, has recently uploaded some images taken from a 1985 brochure for a precursor to the NES called the AVS (Advanced Video System). While a glance at some vintage-looking hardware that never came to be — such as the wireless controller — is a retrospective tease, it was the marketing material from a couple of years later that really snags the attention: an advert for a knitting machine peripheral. The image shows the NES we know and love, with a controller in a dock, attached to a knitting device turning-out what we can only assume are some leg-warmers. Not wanting to alienate its largely male audience, however, the tagline reads “Now you’re knitting with power.” Given that it never came to market, though, we guess that not quite everything was acceptable in the eighties.

Continue reading Early Nintendo brochure shows us the childhood we could have had, the knitting we never did

Filed under: Gaming

Early Nintendo brochure shows us the childhood we could have had, the knitting we never did originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  Gamemaster Howard (Facebook)  | Email this | Comments

It takes a serious old school gamer to walk around with his NES Zapper in a holster. Apparently, A.F. 275 is just such an individual. If you also wear a Zapper holster and should meet him on a dusty street at high noon, you’d better be fast. He can draw and shoot ducks faster than any man alive. Or so I figure.

He made this cool plastic over-the-waistband holster for his Nintendo Entertainment System Zapper. Afterwards he had to range test it, so he ran it through six rounds of Duck Hunt, drawing on each duck from a holstered position and hit every one of them. That’s better than I can do un-holstered.

The holster looks pretty sweet. You might think that the gun would warp and melt under the heat and pressure, but I guess these guns are tougher then they look.

[af275 via Neatorama]

If you so happen to have $150,000 in spare cash lying around somewhere, or money that you have access to, and are looking for something to invest all that moolah in, perhaps it is time to look beyond the regular vehicles of investment such as property and financial instruments, or even less traditional modes such as wine, comic books or vintage cars. How about video game memorabilia? Enter the pre-release prototype of Nintendo’s first Legend of Zelda game which hit eBay earlier this morning? Yes sir, a seller going by the name “tjcurtin1″ has put up his copy of a pre-release prototype version of The Legend of Zelda, in addition to a totally new and sealed copy of the game up for auction – with an asking price of $150,000. Here is what tjcurtin1 has to say.

This is a complete version to my knowledge and as far as I know does not differ from the released version. The simple label reads “HP NOA 2-23-87 Legend of Zelda.” The actual release of the game was August 22nd 1987. I can only speculate that the 2-23-87 refers to the date they completed this prototype and being so close to launch is why there are no differences from the released version. Again I’m speculating. If you google NES Zelda Proto you will see the history of this particular cart. I will be happy to add pics, answer questions (to the best of my ability) and field offers for this title. If you look through my 100% positive eBay history you will see I am a regular purchaser and seller of video games. This is without a doubt the pinnacle of my collection and I challenge anyone to come up with anything more important in the video game collecting scene. Stadium Events? How many carts are out there? Hundreds. NWC Gold Cart? Again how many? There is one Prototype in the world for the NES Zelda, one prototype that started the launch of a generation of gamers and you are viewing it.

What do you think of such geekery and the amount of commitment to the cause?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Zelda NES case mod features a light-up Link [Updated], NES controllers given a new lease on life as wallets,

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

With its GameDock, Cascadia Games has a new twist on iOS arcade play — it lets you use your TV and two classic controllers. While retro games are popular on iPhones right now, an intense session can go haywire if your digits start slippping around on the screen, and head-to-head play is literally that if you’re sharing a small device with a foe. That aforementioned situation inspired the GameDock, which turns into a full-blown console when you plug in and pair your iPhone, iPad or iPod using Bluetooth, then connect your TV, along with a couple of USB game controllers. Just like that, you and a buddy are playing big-screen Asteroids, Centipede and 100 or so other iOS games that work with iCade. With 43 days remaining, just shy of 10 grand has been offered toward the $50K goal, so check the source if you want to revel in the gaming days of yore — eye or thumb strain-free.

Continue reading Insert Coin: GameDock lets your iPhone interface with a TV and controllers, game it old school

Insert Coin: GameDock lets your iPhone interface with a TV and controllers, game it old school originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Kickstarter  | Email this | Comments