Whether you're too young to know about some of the classic game consoles or too old to remember, the Ultimate Console Database is for you. It’s an online encyclopedia of consoles past and present from the famous to the exotic. The founders say, “The mission here is to have pics and info on every video game system ever made, clones included. An impossible mission, but a man can dream.” Incredibly, there are 600 consoles listed!

The Rules: To be a game system a machine must conform to the following:

It must have cartridges, CDs, DVDs, or other interchangeable media (no pongs, although there are a few exceptions to this rule)
It must be playable through a TV or have it's own screen capable of displaying sprites
It must have a primary focus of playing games (thus early computers that use carts are eliminated)

Perfect, headed there now...

Ultimate Console Database - Great Info on Every Console Ever Made!

Duh-Duh-Duh-Duhhhhhh!

Possibly inspired by the Nintendo Logo Maker, the folks over at PhantomHourglass.org have put together a little Flash application that lets you create your own "You got an item" scene from The Legend of Zelda . Not only can you personalize what the old man tells you, but you can also change the item Link picks up from a boring old sword to any 35 x 35 pixel image.

Make Your Custom Classic Zelda Scene

Also Available in Link to the Past

8-Bit GoodNES

MTV's Stephen Totillo profiles some of the people who have made it their goal to collect all 700+ NES games in their original boxes. Between them they've sold everything from PS3's to T-shirts to fund a quest that can easily run into the thousands of dollars. Rare games like Stadium Events or a gold Nintendo World Championship cartridge can demand hundreds or even thousands of dollars by themselves.

The highest-end, rarest NES game of them all is a cartridge made in limited supply for the 1990 Nintendo World Championships. Supposedly 100 gray ones exist; 26 more were painted in gold. And that's it. "A gold one sold on eBay for over $7,000"!

Who needs a P-S-3 when you've got an N-E-S?

NES Fanatics Get MTV Fame

Free games! 101 and then some

1UP has done it again, another Games for Windows feature that dug up more than 101 free PC-based games. "It's not hard to find free games on the Internet -- but it's damn near impossible to sift through the terabytes of crap to find good ones." Agreed! They've tracked down another 101 absolutely, positively, no-strings-attached free games that are actually worth playing, grouped them into handy categories, and put most of 'em up for easy download. There's something here for everyone, so dive in!

The guide is divided into these fifteen genres:

The Best Free Games

It's amazing what you can get for free on the internet these days. Music, movies, applications for everything, and yes lots of free games. And while you can get lots of free games online, none usually match the quality of the titles at the store. But there seems to be a shift lately in this arena, and Gamecron is compiling what they consider to be the best free games with the quality of the store-bought ones. Check them out!

Free Games, Get Your Free Games Here

"The Ultimate Free Games List"

As opposed to "shareware" where the user is required to pay (e.g. after some trial period), "Freeware" is copyrighted computer software which is made available for use free of charge, for an unlimited time, Freeware games are completely free. These free games vary in entertainment and production value, the goal of this site is to compile the best Freeware games available on the net.

Freeware Games This Way

Videogames Unseen, Unreleased & Beta Archive!

Recognize that game? Maybe not, but you may recognize his face. That's what Link looked like before he was finished for The Ocarina of Time™. This is one of many pics of beta games you can check out on Unseen 64.

Unseen 64 is a simple archive collection of screenshots for beta & unreleased videogames. Unseen 64 is made for fans by fans, so everyone can contribute to the archive for preserving the history and changes in the videogames development.

Some titles you should check out while you're there; Dinosaur Planet, which later was transformed into Star Fox™ Adventures. Twelve Tales, the little cute squirrel shown there later became the foul-mouthed furrball known as Conker in Conker's™ Bad Fur Day. And long before Kameo™ ever made it into your 360, we played it at E3 on the Nintendo® Gamecube™.

Rummage Through The Unseen, Unreleased & Beta Archive

Thanks to Clint Williams for sending this one in!

X-Arcade™ Remix

Many customers have inquired about the X-Arcade for use in projects other than gaming. One example of this that we get questions on often is using it for music projects.

One such customer is Nathan Ramella who sent us a video of his project in action. "Hey there, just wanted to let you guys know what I've been doing with my 2-Player X-Arcade™. I made it into a music toy. You guys might get a kick out of it, you can see details on my blog @ www.remix.net, I've put up a video on Google™ as well showing it in action. Love the joystick, it's great. I hope my video inspires other people to pick one up!" Hit play below!

If you too did something interesting with your X-Arcade, Send it in! Your submission might make it into a future newsletter.

Arcade Reproductions

Do not let your eyes deceive you, that is NOT a real Donkey Kong cabinet. No classic arcade cabs were hurt in the making of this article. These guys built classic arcade cabs from scratch!

The first two cabs built are a Donkey Kong 3 (pictured) and a Mario Brothers...Both are going to be made into MAME cabs. BLASPHEMY!

DK & Mario Bros. Arcade Cab Reproductions

Another crafty individual "pin_wiz1" over at Arcadecontrols.com built his own Star Wars Cabinet from scratch and a classic cabinet wasn't sacrificed in the process. Check it out!

Star Wars Reproduction

X-Arcade™ Is Hardcore

The newest issue of Hardcore Gamer magazine has hit the newsstands with a cover story on our favorite subject, retro gaming! The article touches on some the known and less known arcade classics that brought us to the modern-day gaming world we have today.

The article ends by talking about the different home arcade solutions available, including the X-Arcade™ controllers. Though they forgot to mention that our controllers work on consoles (and they left the X-Arcade Machine out of the article altogether), the X-Arcade™ products still shine above the rest.

But don't take our word for it , you can download the magazine for FREE!

Download Hardcore Gamer Magazine

Got classic gaming news? Send it in!