video-games

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19 Amazing Video Game Cakes

Serious gamers know just how time-consuming gaming is, often making it difficult to do anything besides working (only to buy more games) and playing the games themselves. Even so, gamers usually do still manage to have lives outside of the console; these cakes are some of the amazing creations born as a result.... READ ON

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Early Video Game Ads

Those of you who grew up playing the Atari, Sega Genesis, Nintendo and Super Nintendo will want to check out the treasure trove of 80s and early-90s video game advertisements at Damn Cool Pictures. Among the hilariously dated, nostalgia-packed ads is one for this ridiculous game – which was apparently developed and never... READ ON

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The Late Movies: Nintendo Preview Music Jam

Tonight on The Late Movies, an important historical document of the early 1990s: Nintendo Preview Music Jam. Although there are only three volumes online, they give us three hours of video game AND hip hop nostalgia, rolled into a nice package. What's going on here? Basically, it's somebody playing Nintendo games while a professionally mixed hip hop soundtrack grooves on in the background. These videos were available on VHS in 1991, and I distinctly remember seeing one of them in middle school.... READ ON

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Why Angry Birds is So Addictive

In this analysis, usability expert Charles Mauro dissects the wildly successful game Angry Birds in order to explain why it's so engaging -- what factors in the game affect human cognition so that we'll spend hours flinging virtual birds at virtual pigs? I love Mauro's dry explanation of the game's premise: ... For those who don’t have a clue what Angry Birds is all about, here is a quick synopsis. The game involves employing a sling shot to propel small cannonball-shaped birds with really bad... READ ON

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The Wizard, The Power Glove, and Children in Peril

Why They Made This Crazy Movie Released in 1989, The Wizard was a major motion picture that doubled as a promotional vehicle for Nintendo products. It's quite likely the only motion picture to require a "Power Glove Consultant" (for the record, this consultant is named only as "Novak" in the credits), and the movie is crammed full of product placement -- primarily for the Nintendo Entertainment System and its games, but also for a bevy of partner brands, including Hostess (a major plot point involves... READ ON

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20 Cool Console Case Mods

Modifications to your standard computer chassis, or console cases as they're called in the video game industry, has been elevated to an artform. But don't take my word for it. Check out the 18 images below! Be sure to tell us which is your favorite in the comments. And if you've modded out your own console, include a link so we can all see... READ ON

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7 Video Games Based on Works of Art (or a John Hodgman Podcast)

Video games often feature dumb premises: plumbers must save a princess from a dragon/turtle monster? What's going on there?! But what happens when video games are based on great works of literature, music, film, and theater -- does great art make a great game? Read on for some of our favorites. 1. The Great Gatsby: Based on a... READ ON

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"Twin Peaks" as an Atari Game

Have you ever wondered what a Twin Peaks video game would look like? Apparently there were plans for a Nintendo game that never made it off the ground. Now coder/musician Jak Locke has created a sort of Atari 2600/NES-ish game based on the last episode of the show. Spoilers abound, of course! Plus, the game seems to lack much of a coherent plot or sensible gameplay. And it's extremely slow to get started (not so different from the show); not much happens until around 1 minute into the video below.... READ ON

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A Video Game Made of Cardboard

Here's a video game (a sort of ultra-simplified Super Mario Bros) made using paper, some motorized rollers, a speaker, a knob, a cardboard box, and an intriguing little circuit board thingy called a Teagueduino. It's a little hard to explain what this is and why it's awesome, so just watch the video -- and stick around for the second half, in which the creators take it apart to show you how it works. Fun, but probably not much replayability. Video Game in a Box from adam kumpf on Vimeo. If you want... READ ON

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This Tetris Documentary Will Rock You

So I'll go ahead and assume you're aware of King of Kong, the videogame documentary that chronicles an epic struggle to dominate the game of Donkey Kong. Kong was a surprising movie mainly because it was supremely interesting to non-nerds, even though its subject was nominally a video game -- and who wants to watch a movie about a video game, much less a super-old video game? Well, the short answer is of course that the film was about people who play video games, and these days, that category extends to... READ ON