A Blast from the Past
Ah, the siren song of Ms. Pac-Man — nothing gets a heart pumping quite like the little analog jingle that jangles after a quarter is loaded into this video game. Fortunately, the Stinger Plus, from Game Cabinets Inc., has removed the coin slot from the equation to deliver arcade gaming to the living room. Containing everything a joystick jockey would need to play classic video games at home, this bulky, 26-pound console dwarfs the keyboard, as you can see above. But inside are more than 150 arcade favorites, and the capacity to add more. Did someone say Paperboy? Oh, yeah — it’s in there!
The console itself is actually a Windows XP computer (with an AMD 3200+ processor, 512 MB of RAM, a 160-gig hard drive, and a DVD drive) that runs emulation software to play older games. It comes with joysticks, buttons, and a roller ball, all preprogrammed to simulate the arcade experience, and a wireless mouse and keyboard to drive operations on the PC software side. Outputting in nearly every mode available (including component, DVI, and VGA output), the Stinger Plus plays nice with every digital format from 480i to 1080i, and even works with projectors — making the monsters in Rampage look truly menacing. Best of all is that now they won’t eat all your quarters. ($3,099; gamecabinetsinc.com)
Playing Cat and Mouse
The problem with most game controllers is that players don’t know what the buttons do. There’s no way to know if pressing the “A” button will perform a spin-juke or a roundhouse until it’s too late. And in the “frag ’em first, ask questions later” world of PC gaming, false moves can be deadly. Thankfully, Microsoft’s programmable SideWinder Mouse aims to change that with an LCD panel that displays gaming actions. Loaded with five buttons, three types of feet — to suit the user’s “glide” preference — and even cartridges that adjust the weight, this mean little mouse shouldn’t be taken lightly in the World of Warcraft (or the work world, for that matter). ($79.95; microsoft.com/hardware)
Small, Dark, and Slender
How do you make the most powerful portable gaming system even better? Don’t make it more powerful; make it more portable. That’s what Sony did with its update to the PlayStation Portable. The new PSP Slim & Lite packs all the same features into a 19 percent slimmer frame. That means on-the-go gamers still get PlayStation 2–quality gaming, Wi-Fi connectivity, stereo speakers, and USB 2.0 and memory stick capability wrapped around a 4.3-inch, 16.77 million color screen — all with 33 percent less weight to lug around. If you’ve still got the urge to super-size, the new video output feature lets you blast away on a big-screen TV. See? Less can be more. ($169; us.playstation.com/PSP)
Big-Picture Mentality
These days, most digital photo frames are all the same. Sure, some offer features that others don’t (like Wi-Fi accessibility or RSS stream support), but none have what makes the Gigantor Digital Photo Frame so special: massive, hulking, awesome size. With a 15-inch screen, this photo frame towers above the competition while providing pretty much the same features the others offer. For example, it’s got a slideshow mode and plays MP3s. But it can also display full-size photos of a loved one’s smiling face, a 12-inch ruler (with three inches to spare), or even an image of one of those older, smaller frames, if you’re the sentimental type. ($249; thinkgeek.com)
Crystal Clear
Headphones are pretty commonplace these days — and they’re also generally on the inexpensive side — but not every set sparkles like the Icon earbuds. A pair of gems made through a partnership between electronics industry giant Philips and luxury jeweler Swarovski, the Icons are adorned with a dome of crystal for each ear and set with silver fabric audio cables. In short, these earbuds look fabulous. They sound pretty good too, but that’s not really the point when you’re wearing jewels on your ears, is it? These might not be top-of-the-line headphones, but at this price, you’ll be looking and hearing good. And that sounds good to us. ($79; active-crystals.com)
Star Jonesing
Sir Isaac Newton famously stated that he was able to see so far because he stood on the shoulders of giants who came before him. With the new Celestron SkyScout, amateur astronomers can see even farther. No larger than a camcorder, the SkyScout utilizes GPS technology to identify stars, planets, and constellations at the simple push of a button. Users can either read about the celestial body on the digital display or plug headphones into the gadget to hear an audio description. The SkyScout’s locator feature also indicates notable stars and planets in the viewfinder — allowing you to see everything from dwarf stars to red giants and beyond. ($399; celestron.com/skyscout)
(Overindulgence of the Month)
You’re with Me, Leather
Remember the days when having a leather chair offered sufficient prestige? Now bragging rights belong to execs sporting Lenovo’s ThinkPad Reserve Edition, a suave little notebook computer wrapped in a leather package that also packs some impressive perks. Engineered to exhaust the heat from the Intel Core 2 Duo processor out the sides (to protect the leather), this system comes with up-to-date specs — but it’s the support that’s most impressive. Included is Lenovo’s personal welcome service, which helps ThinkPad owners set up the system, and the preventive maintenance program, which ensures it will run smoothly. In-person assistance (ready in less than four hours in most cities) is also standard. After all, you’re important, and deserve nothing but the best. ($4,999; thinkpadreserve.com)
— John Patrick Pullen
(The Way It Works)
How Do Video Game Emulators Work?
As technology continues to advance, older legacy hardware (like that Atari 2600 everyone loved in the 1980s) eventually breaks down. But instead of slowly fading away, old gaming systems can be simulated by software in devices called emulators, says Kevin Bowen, founder of ClassicGaming.com.
“If you go back to old computers or old arcade games,” says Bowen, “that hardware, 20 years later, is not very complicated. It’s easy to replicate old hardware with [modern] software, because computers are so much faster than they once were.”
Basically, emulators are software that replicates the hardware functions of older consoles. Each emulator is different — some are developed through revisions of previous emulators, while others are completely new builds.
Programmers code them by copying the hardware of original consoles, and in some cases they build new games for those older systems from scratch. It’s similar to people brewing their own beer — sure, you can go buy a six-pack of Coors, but wouldn’t it be more interesting if you brewed it yourself?
“The old games are copyrighted and in some cases are still sold, so the distribution and possession of those is still murky,” says Bowen. But, he points out, there is nothing illegal about building or owning emulators themselves.
In fact, there are many other uses for emulation technology, such as software used by libraries to access information in older systems. Also, current-generation systems, like the Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console, have adopted and commercialized emulation software. — J.P.P.
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