The GTIA Report

Amiga News:

After months of designs and negotiations Amiga, Inc. and ACK Software Controls, Inc. are pleased to announce that new hardware is on its way for Amiga users.

[...]

Initially, two systems will be produced that address two different market needs. The first is a consumer entry design that will offer a complete product with a target price point of $500.00, while the second will be of a power design that would have a target price point of $ 1,500.00. The PowerPC architecture will continue to be the architecture of choice for these new systems.

Amiga fans rejoice! New hardware to run AmigaOS 4.0 on, although I think the Amiga brand would get further along with a port to the x86 architecture.

It’s been 7 years since Ben completed his first video game portable, the original VCSp, and now he’s finished the Atari VCSp Rev 5.1.

WAKKA … WAKKA … WAKKA Microsoft and NAMCO BANDAI Create Video Game History With First-Ever Xbox 360 ‘Pac-Man(R)’ World Championship:

The Xbox 360 “Pac-Man” World Champion will receive worldwide acclaim from being the first-ever Xbox 360 “Pac-Man” World Champion and gain a place in gaming history. The winner of the finals will also receive other great prizes, including 26 years of free Quiznos toasted subs (one sandwich a week for 26 years, a $13,520 (U.S.) value), 100,000 Microsoft Points for games, movies and other fun content available on Xbox LIVE, and a one-of-a-kind Xbox 360 featuring a special design inspired by “Pac-Man.”

Signups don’t begin until April 25th, although you can download the full version of Pac-man and start practicing now. I’m curious what they’re going to do if the people tie, since Pac-Man does have a scoring limit of 3,333,360 if you “eat every fruit, every Power Pellet, every blue ghost and every dot for 256 boards without losing a single life.” This score is questionable though since an eight year old boy named Jeffery Yee is rumored to pass the 256th board and continue the game to a total of 6,131,940 points.

Charles & Marie: Back Off Door Mat:

You can block contacts in your IM and in your email In-Box and on your MySpace page and on various other occasions and applications as well, but what do you do to keep unwanted visitors from your front door?

Ouch, at $110 I’m afraid the mat wouldn’t stay at the front door very long!

Courtesy of DevryGuy:

eBay: Nintendo NES in-store 12-game KIOSK display RARE Promo (item 230114350156 end time Apr-13-07 18:00:00 PDT):

We’re selling an original Nintendo Entertainment System NES in-store display 12-game console! That’s right, it plays 12 Nintendo games in one unit and they’re interchangable with regular NES games! Just open the front panel and plug in your favorite cartridges, press the select button on the front panel, and switch between 12 different titles without worrying about blowing on the contacts or having the game pop out of the spring-loaded NES! These plug in and stay in place like Genesis and Atari games.

This was NEVER sold in store or available for consumer purchase! It was only used in retail stores to show off Nintendo games back in the 1980’s! Now this piece of gaming history can be the crown jewel of your collection! It’s an authentic Nintendo product, unit #18428. It features five controller ports (controllers not included) that accept standard NES controllers. The unit is grey METAL, with a black plastic controller rest. The color scheme matches the original grey/black/red NES & Famicom colors. The front panel has a red L.E.D. readout to display the cartridge number currently in play and includes a special Nintendo hex key to open the front panel to insert your games.

It looks pretty sweet, but the bids are already up to $698…

Majic Jungle Software:

Chopper is an Action packed side-scrolling helicopter game. Complete your mission, and return to base, while avoiding enemy fire from tanks, bazooka wielding mad men, and jets.

Mac OS X only though.

UCSC Engineering Building Attacked by Giant Gorilla. I’m surprised how little 14,000 post-it notes looks like…

Wil Wheaton’s Geek in Review: 8 Bits High and Rising:

The game began, and I was blown away. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen on a console. It made our Atari 2600 feel as technologically advanced as a set of alphabet blocks, and its recreation of the arcade game I loved was even more faithful than the Colecovision version of Donkey Kong I’d declared “the most radical game ever!” when I played it at a friend’s house five or six years earlier.

And so Wil tells a great story of perseverance and triumph over distractions to win a complete NES setup in 1986.

cre.ations.net - Creation: Wireless Sega Genesis Controller for Wii:

This project is the fruit of my labors, allowing you to use your old Sega genesis controller with the wireless receiver designed by Mark Feldman.

Awesome!