Hasta La Gadget!

Here’s a coffee table that would go well with the steampunk NES. It was made by Charles Lushear of Bohemian Workbench using found items. I wouldn’t disagree if you think it’s more junkyard than steampunk, but either way it’s an impressive piece.

The cedar wood tabletop used to be part of a fence, the A and B buttons are antique clock movements and the Start and Select buttons are vintage rifle magazines. But the most intriguing part is the directional pad.

Apparently that piece of metal is a Katanga cross or a handa, a copper cross that was used as a form of currency in the Democratic Republic of Congo from the 19th to the 20th century. Katanga Katanga cross, y’all.

Lushear is selling it on his Etsy shop for $2,600 (USD). That’s a lot of Katanga crosses.

[via Apartment Therapy]

Just about every gamer we know has wanted to alter a game world on the spot, whether it’s to cheat, fix game mechanics or experiment. Special Stage Systems’ Ming Mecca system is built entirely around that concept — and will definitely appeal to anyone with a fondness for analog electronics. Knobs and switches on its World Core synthesizer module adjust the game machine’s maps, graphics, characters and even physics through voltage tweaks. Players only have to load assets on an SD card if they’d like a different look, and they even have access to the firmware and schematics if they want to go completely off the beaten path. Input is just as unconventional: a Control Core turns NES-compatible gamepads into signal generators that can be used just as easily for music making as for playing. Ming Mecca isn’t expected to ship until summer 2014, and it won’t be cheap at an estimated $999 for a World Core and $350 for the Control Core. Even so, we’re sorely tempted to splurge — it’s not often that a gadget scratches so many of our nostalgic itches at once.

Filed under: Misc, Gaming

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Source: Special Stage Systems

I love a good art exhibit as much as the next guy, but sometimes it can get a little boring just staring at all the static paintings on the walls – never mind the humiliation of getting chastised by the museum security for standing to close to them, like what happened to me a MoMA a couple of months back.

These unique paintings not only are more visually stimulating than most, but are interactive. Created by Brent Watanabe, For(){}; is an installation of paintings which let you play video games on them.

The acrylic paintings simply serve as projection surfaces for the retro-style games, while passersby can play a quirky, custom video game using an old-school NES controller. Brent used Flash and the Box2D physics engine to create the game. The gameplay is described as follows:

“There is no beginning or end to the game, just collecting and wandering, birthing and consuming, an arbitrary point system rising until your inevitable death and the birth of another generation. It is a game mechanism without the game. An addictive but essentially aimless experience.”

Check it out in action in the video below:

I don’t know about you, but I’d spend a lot more time at art galleries and museums if this was the kind of stuff hanging on the walls.

[via PSFK]

Are you looking for the perfect gift for your gamer girlfriend? Or maybe you just want it for yourself, but either way if you’re into games, especially NES games from back in the day, perhaps these NES cartridge rings might be worth checking out. While they are actual cartridges, they are handmade with pretty impressive detail with a variety of different “titles” available to choose from, such as Zelda as pictured above. According to its creator, Jess Firsoff, each piece is made to order so you might have to wait about a week before they are sent to you. These “cartridges” can also double as earrings if that’s your thing and each will set you back around $24.99. Available in grey or gold finishes, you can head on over to Firsoff’s Etsy page for the details. At this time of posting, Firsoff seems to be on vacation according to her Etsy status, but you can check out the additional photos anyway.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Pikmin 3 Releasing On The Nintendo Wii U On August 4, Nintendo 3DS XL Bundled With Animal Crossing: New Leaf Releasing On June 9,

Etsy artist Jess Firsoff makes NES cartridge rings. All you have to do is insert them into your loved one’s front-loading cartridge ring slot. You can ask her to make a cartridge stud out of any game, including the famous gold cart of The Legend of Zelda.

If you don’t specify your game of choice when you place your order, Jess will just make you a Mario Bros./Duck Hunt ring.

Jess normally sells the NES cartridge rings on her Etsy store Oh My Geekness for $25 (USD) each, but she temporarily closed the shop “for a few days” so she can work on her exams. I suggest you use the time to decide which cartridge you’d like to turn into a ring.

[via ThisIsWhyImBroke]