Atari

The Ion Audio iCade, which came out earlier this year, gives your iPad that good old-fashioned game feel that takes you back to when you skipped class to drop quarters at the local arcade. There's no denying that the iCade is nifty, but the $99 price tag is a bit of a turn-off.

That's why retro gamers are getting excited about the upcoming Atari Arcade Duo Powered Joystick. It's designed to work with the Atari's Greatest Hits iPad app, which features 100 classic Atari and arcade games.

The Atari joystick isn't as fancy as the iCade, but it should be cheaper. The iPad simply docks into a slot at the top, rather than use Bluetooth like the iCade. The controller part of the device has a simple pattern with four buttons and a joystick.

Details are sketchy so far. All we know is that the Atari Arcade Duo Powered Joystick is supposed to be available soon at retailers like Target and Toys "R" Us.

If you haven't been able to tear yourself away from Centipede or Asteroids or simply want to relive the Atari glory days of your childhood, then you can add this gadget to your gaming wish list.… Read more

It started life as an April Fool's prank on ThinkGeek.com, but overwhelming consumer interest prodded the company to bring the iCade to life (much like the Tauntaun sleeping bag, another ThinkGeek mockup that became a real product). For the uninitiated, the iCade is a pint-size arcade cabinet/stand for Apple's iPad. Slide an iPad in, and it acts as a wireless Bluetooth controller for the Atari iPad app, which offers 100 classic arcade and home console games for $15 (or individual game packs for 99 cents).

Our iCade just arrived this morning, so we quickly assembled it … Read more

Back in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, one of the favorite destinations for kids after school and on weekends was the local video arcade. Many readers will probably remember changing dollars for tokens, stacking up tokens and quarters on machines to indicate you "had next," and how quickly you could blow your money by playing game after game. Sadly, arcades slowly died out as home gaming consoles improved and stand-up arcade cabinets--for the most part--became a thing of the past.

When iOS devices and the iTunes App Store came along years later, the developers of those old games (… Read more

It's a throwback episode of Crave this week as we reminisce about Lego figurine space helmets, vintage Atari computer keyboards, and Disney's Star Tours merchandise. Also, Darth Vader puts his star power behind a new line of coffee and an adorable coin-operated robot brings panhandling into the 21st century.

Subscribe in iTunes SD Video | Subscribe in RSS SD Video… Read more

New gadgets can bring nostalgia for the technology of yesteryear. The Niyari Atari 400 Style Keyboard from Japanese online store GeekStuff4U is a prime example.

With computers these days pushing the boundaries of modern design to its limits, one can sometimes miss the old days when almost every piece of consumer tech was beige. The Atari 400, for example, was a sort of all-in-one BYOD computer targeted at children. Its beige, brown, and orange keyboard was probably designed to make using a computer in 1979 fun.

The Niyari Atari 400 keyboard mimics the design of the computer's membrane keyboard (a spill-proof keyboard with pressure pads for keys), but adds some modern chiclet keys. It also has a numerical keypad, which was not found on the original computer.

Keen on getting one? Well you can't. The online store has discontinued its 11,980 yen ($144) novelty peripheral and recommends that folks look at other keyboards as an alternative.

… Read more

Atari's Greatest Hits lets you relive the early history of video gaming, giving you tons of old-school arcade and Atari 2600 hits on your iPhone. But it's not without flaws. Games like the original Asteroids, Tempest, Gravitar, Crystal Castles, and many more are available via in-app purchases packaged with their associated Atari 2600 games and some extras. In other words, the Atari Greatest Hits app itself is free, but if you want to play Tempest, for example, you'll need to buy the Tempest pack (99 cents), which comes with Tempest, Tempest for Atari 2600, Outlaw (2600), and … Read more

In a CNET News story yesterday, our very own Josh Lowensohn explored Apple's recent patent application for an interesting touch-screen concept. The patent details separate smaller displays outside of the regular iPhone touch screen. According to the patent filing, these separate displays could be used in tandem with the main iPhone touch screen or used by developers to show added information in apps and games. Josh is careful to point out that patent applications don't necessarily mean a company will use an idea in a future product, but they are nonetheless interesting to consider.

Obviously, adding separate screens would open up all kinds of options for apps, but I wonder if these areas would be used by Apple for showing things like battery life, current time, camera information, or other more generic smartphone-related uses. But if these added touch-screen areas could be used by app developers, it would open up a huge number of possibilities for more interesting on-screen controls and other information widgets related to what's happening on-screen.

Even without knowing whether this will come to light, what sort of uses can you envision for extra displays around the main iPhone screen? Let me know your ideas in the comments.

This week's apps include an app for star gazing that uses augmented-reality technology and an app that lets you play classic arcade and console games from the golden age of gaming.… Read more

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded

Facebook launches the Open Compute Project, a collaboration with hardware manufacturers, aimed at making more energy-efficient Web-centric computers

The FCC adopts new rules on roaming rates and cell phone signal boosters

T-Mobile confirms that the Sidekick 4G will cost $99 when it launches April 20

Atari Greatest Hits brings vintage Atari titles to the iPad and iPhone

The personal jet pack takes a 7-minute flight in New Zealand, a new record.

Say goodbye to jean pockets full of quarters. A massive collection of coveted classic Atari games--including old familiars such as Pong, Asteroids, Missile Command, and Battlezone--is now officially available for iOS devices.

Atari's Greatest Hits features a mesmerizing amount of nostalgia in one app. One hundred classic games are available, grouped in packs of three and four that are available as a 99-cent in-app purchase.

For those of you suffering from a severe 8-bit addiction, a $14.99 package contains 100 classic arcade and Atari 2600 titles. You'll squeal when you see the retro-riffic black-and-white option for the Atari 2600 games, which transports you to the glory days of gray scale.

If only I could go back in time to the mid-'70s and show this to someone waiting in a 60-person line to play Pong.

Born nearly 40 years ago, Atari became a true pioneer in the arcade and home video game industry and sold tens of millions of Atari 2600 consoles worldwide. Anything Atari is retro gaming goodness, and naturally the name carries above-average expectations.

I gave the game collection a spin an iPhone 4 and iPad 2, and the experience differed greatly depending on the device. … Read more