Games
US$200 Xbox 360 Getting Motion Control for Christmas?
Posted by Mark Wilson at 5:45 AM on August 23, 2008
It's a rumour, but it sure is a juicy one. According to an Xbox360Fanboy source close to Microsoft PR, the US$200 Xbox 360 Arcade (the SKU with no hard drive) will be sold in a bundle with a motion controller and a few motiony games during the coming holiday season. The possibility is certainly not all that crazy, as we've seen plenty of evidence supporting the Xbox 360 "Newton" motion controller, and everyone wants a piece of the Wii's big, hungry fanbase. Our guess is that if this rumour pans out we'll hear more around the Tokyo Game Show in October. [Xbox360Fanboy]

A MAME (arcade) cabinet will easily cost you several hundred to several thousand dollars. But one modder used a little ingenuity to take an old PowerBook with snapped hinges and fit it into an IKEA RAMVIK shelving unit. The result is a tabletop arcade machine รก la Galaga and Pac-Man that fits in a modern home. Here's the funny shot that tells you it's an Apple:
When tabletop arcade manufacturer Retro-Tech makes a coffee table, it's gotta do more than hold books on Famous Chateaus of the 18th Century and What Things Look Like From the Sky. It has to hold that stuff and piss off your home theater.
Want to become the coolest parent ever? Turn off the computers, put down the television remote, and do a little DIY with your kids this weekend by building your own arcade machine. While you assemble the pieces, regale little Tommy or Gina with the tales of your Space Invaders past. And when they look up at you, little eyes shining, and ask why you couldn't just get an emulator, tell them they were both adopted. [
Microsoft just announced that the XNA Game Studio, the user-created games program for the Xbox 360 is coming for the Zune. The demo shown at Game Developer's Conference shows a person controlling the game with the Zune pad, pausing the game, going out and switching music on the Zune, then going back into the game. Very neat.
Peter Hirschberg has just finished his stunning retro-gaming heaven, a Valhalla for the best arcade video games ever. His Luna City Arcade has 57 fully-restored arcade classics, which span from Asteroids to Zaxxon, plus a whole load of pinballs. Amazingly enough, he does all this on his own dime, for the love of it. It's open to the public now, and the best thing: entrance and quarters are completely free. Check the video, huge gallery and the interview with Peter after the jump.
































We've told you about something similar to the 12-in-1 Konami arcade cabinet before, but this is Konami's first appearance on Giz. Featuring (you guessed it) 12 classic Konami games—Frogger, Green Beret, Blades of Steel, Contra, Gyruss, Castlevania, Hyper Sports, Time Pilot '84, Shao-Lins Road, Jungler, Scramble and Super Basketball—its slightly smaller stature will make for snugger play, and its 15" screen will be smaller than many classic machines you are used to. But for a reduced price, it would make a fantastic gift under the tree...
We love technological advancement, but there is something that just feels wrong about TAB Austria's Virtual Pinball machine. Sure, the six different animated games offer more variety than your conventional machine, and the 42" plasma display looks a damn site sexier than the usual mechanized pinball floor, but these things were never meant to be altered. No, not even the promise of online tournaments and user upgradeable games can sway us.