FIFA – Soccer (or “football” for purists, Europeans, and those British backpackers down at the pub who keep harking on about “the Motherland”) (1995-present) Multiplatform
For lovers of football, it is impossible to look past FIFA, especially the upcoming FIFA 10. Striking the perfect balance between football simulation and arcade gameplay, FIFA delivers an accurate representation of a real football match. It has won over many football lovers with its attention to detail and all the licensed teams that gamers can play as and, in its latest iteration, has been said to have surpassed its main rival, Pro Evo.

NBA Jam – Basketball (1993) Multiplatform from 16bit era
One of the first playable arcade basketball games, NBA Jam pumped the ball-dribblin’, player-jumpin’, slam-dunkin’ action greater than or equal to the max. Featuring some of the most recognised licensed teams of its time, NBA Jam allowed players to defy the laws of human physics and play the game in the way we wanted to — exaggeratedly, amazingly and awesomely.

Tiger Woods PGA 10 – Golf (2009) Multiplatform
Golf: a somewhat sedentary sport that has the potential to procure epic amounts of snoring when turned into a video game. But no snores will be had with Tiger Woods PGA 10, with the game being so immersive and accurate (when combined with the Wii Motion Plus sensor) that you actually feel like you’re there, trying (and failing so hard) to get that hole-in-one. Admittedly, golf isn’t for everyone, but for those who fancy a bit of virtual pro-putting, PGA 10 looks and handles the best.

Top Spin – Tennis (2003) Original Xbox, PC, PS2
While it’s hard these days to find a tennis game that doesn’t require you to waggle like a maniac to execute simple serves and backhand moves, we can thank our Wii-mote damaged plasma screens that there’s always Top Spin. A relative oldie but a definite goodie, you could play as licensed athletes through a fast-paced career-mode or enjoy an equally fast-paced quick match. The game shone in the choices it offered players and even allowed us to change our athlete’s DNA. Gotta love eugenics.

Football Manager – Football (2005-present) PC and MAC
Like a soccer star who has fractured too many ribs or a netball player with messed-up knees, sometimes all the sporting action—even that of the virtual kind—is just too much to handle. But if you love the sport, then, like many former athletes, you can try your hand at managing a team. Playing with numbers, stats and organising your team, Football Manager lets you step into the shoes of a manager to buy players, organise how your team will play, and then watch it all unfold in 2D. Subdued, yes, but utterly riveting for those whose loins are stirred by their passion for football.

Ashes Cricket 2009 – Cricket (2009) Multiplatform
Cricket: another sport that has so much potential to be dull in video game-form, but has defied the odds in Ashes Cricket 2009 and turned out to be an engaging video game that can satiate the appetite of fans and pique the interest of newcomers. It’s easy enough to pick up and play but also provide enough depth to keep gamers playing for the entire duration of a test.

UFC 2009 Undisputed – Mixed martial arts (2009) PS3 and Xbox 360
Admittedly, it’s difficult to talk about UFC Undisputed without making some kind of reference to the (sometimes) distractingly suggestive man-on-man action, because it really could be taken the wrong way. Thankfully, here at Gizmodo, we have nothing but clean minds, so we’ll just say that this is an accurate depiction of the hardcore fighting championship and will give fans of technical fighters something to salivate over. And we’re not kidding when we say it’s technical; button-mashing will only get you so far.

California Games – Misc. Sports (1987) Multiplatform from 8bit era
California in the 1980s: Big hair, equally big shoulder pads and an even bigger sports game that found a place in the hearts of gamers everywhere. There was an unparalleled joy that could be found in competing on the west coast in sports that were purportedly popular in the sunny state — freestyle footbagging, skateboarding, surfing, roller skating, flying disc and the ever-extreme BMX riding. The hours that people spent trying to impress the virtual judges in the game are a testament to how good it is.

Skate 2 – Skateboarding (2009) PS3 and Xbox 360
Skateboarding isn’t easy and it doesn’t get much easier just because it’s in a videogame. But, unlike real skateboarding, which tends to solicit broken shins, bruised limbs and a tad blow to the ego, Skate 2 gives players a chance to ease into the sport of riding your own set of wheels, performing stunts and tricks and feeling like you’re really there, being cool. Thank goodness for games.

Track and Field – Athletics (1983) Multiplatform from 8bit era
There’s button-mashing and then there’s button-mashing. This Olympic-themed arcade game was the original “smash the same button over and over again until you win!” sports title, and while senseless button-mashing may be frowned upon these days, there was something undeniably fun at the time about bashing a key to achieve athletic victory.

Playing With Balls is Gizmodo AU’s week-long look at the technology behind the sports we love, from the jerseys to the balls and everything in between. Go Hazelbrook Under 5s!

OK, it’s a sketch of a concept for what the French thought videotelephony would look like in 2000, not a working videophone, but still it shows people were thinking big at the time.

In fact, even earlier in 1878 a wily inventor named George du Maurier actually published a conceptual upgrade to the era’s “speaking tubes” using this drawing below, which depicts a “viewing display” to go along with that generation’s literal series of tubes.

Only in 1927, with the help of IBM, would the traditionally accepted view of a “videophone” come to pass. The screen displayed at brisk 18 frames per second and was run using one those room-sized computers. The video was one-way, but the audio allowed then Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover, seated in DC, to speak with an audience in New York City. [Wikipedia - Thanks, Blam!]

No word on new features; even though our own Matt really liked the original Chumby, he didn’t see much of a niche for it to fill. But the design has kind of an iriver neo-retro thing going on with the cubic design and big dial, and we’ve always had a soft spot for the little guy. We’ll update more as we get new information. [Ryan Block]

What combines Lego, stop motion animation and a tribute to 8-bit video games all in one place? Sorry, the answer is this 8-Bit Trip music video, but to be fair I would have guessed paradise too.

The video reportedly took about 1,500 hours to create, and I pretty much had an acid flashback-type experience while watching it, during which time I traveled back to the 1980s and relived my entire youth all over again in the span of about three and a half minutes.

Pong, Mario Bros., Raccoon Mario, Bubble Bobble—it’s all pretty much there, backed by an unmistakably 8-bit beat. Amazing stuff. [YouTube via Waxy via Boing Boing]

As school goes back, it’s a fun reminder that the laptop wasn’t always the essential piece of tech gear that you needed to survive uni. And with e-book readers and tablet PCs taking on more and more textbook duties, maybe they’re next in line after all. Time will tell. [PC World]

In case the antique aesthetic and outdated honorific didn’t give it away, this is a very old piece of hardware. Or rather, a very old collection of hardware: Filled edge to edge with handcrafted woodworking tools, this ornate box is a toolchest, lovingly assembled and carried by Mr. Studly when he was working as a piano repair man, of all things, around the turn of the 20th century.

Virtually every tool in this box has a plasticised, anodised, or even electronic modern counterpart, each one superior in some way to its predecessor, whether by cost, durability, convenience or concept, but uniformly less charming. I mean, look at this. This is a man’s livelihood, perfectly assembled, cleaned and organised, in a proud, beautiful wooden box. All I’ve got is this broken down MacBook, and a shoulder bag. [Phoenix Masonry via MAKE]

Also fun is the $US2 app’s use of the iPhone’s accelerometer to pitch-bend sounds, and its ability to let you jam along with a friend—and hear what they’re playing on your phone.

As you’ll hear in the video below, NESynth has built-in classic sound effects (jump, fire, laser, etc), and an arpeggiator to help build up melodies using the on-screen piano keyboard.

(For the synth geeks out there: sound generation comes from 3 pulse waveforms, a triangle waveform, and white noise.) [NESynth | iTunes Store]