With all the DIY arcades out there like the Powerbook arcade or the Metroid themed MAME cabinet, you’d be crazy not to take a crack at building your own. Now if you just so happen to be rich, you won’t mind living by the motto, “can’t someone else do it?” Yes, someone else can do it and that someone is Zombie Arcades, a high-end arcade machines manufacturer based in the UK. These cabinets are are built from the ground up and designed for home use to bring back that classic arcade gaming experience you can only find if you traveled back to the ’80’s.

Each unit comes chock full with over 300 of the greatest arcade games from the past and present. With a 24″ Samsung LCD and two player arcade controls (with LED buttons), you must be wondering about the price. I hope you’re sitting down because these gaming rigs don’t go for anything shy of $4,400. Yowza. Time to put the house on a second mortgage.

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When you love to game, you’ve gotta have titles to play on the go. This is why the hardware hacking community will go out there, gather up parts and whip up a portable NES. There’s nothing quite like playing actual cartridges on your DIY console though, so make like this guy off of the BenHeck.com forums and create a portable Super Nintendo.

With a custom game enclosure and a sharp, backlit screen, this will blow away your acid-ridden Game Boy Color your parents made you hang on to. This portable SNES has rechargeable batteries and a cartridge slot as well. Everything you need to game on the go except for those expensive, rare RPG cartridges.
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The main reason you bought a Playstation 3 was probably due to Killzone 2 or Playstation Home, Sony’s new online service that’s supposed to be something like Xbox Live meets Second Life. You and your friends can meet up with your avatars, talk, chat, shoot the shit and so on. Oh, and more importantly, you can play games together too.

As of today, Sony is accepting applications for the closed beta test of the Home service. Right now it only looks like Japan is lucking out but the US market could soon follow:

Applications are initially being accepted from Thursday until Aug. 11 from users in Japan only. Sony expects to offer access to about 10,000 gamers during the beta, which will begin in late August.

During the beta stage users will be able to play the games that make up Bandai Namco’s “Namco Museum” package, which include PacMan, in the service’s “Game Space.”

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The video game industry comes up with a lot of crap. But now and then, there comes a game which everyone holds their breathe for, anticipating its release like a child on his birthday waiting for gifts. Then the inevitable shoot down, when you realize all you’ve gotten for a whole year of being a spoiled brat is a lousy sweater. That is the feeling these would-be games give us. We’ve limited the list down to five secure choices that poked at our consciousness and caused our anxiety to run a muck. Hit the jump to dive in:

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Dice can be some cumbersome equipment to carry around for board games. That’s alright though, because as long as you have your iPhone on you, you’ll have a set of some topnotch dice that’ll have any D&D enthusiast drooling at your feet. It’s only 99 cents from the Apple store, after which you’ll be rolling away with your D20 Gaming Dice Set. More practical than iBeer, with a prettier interface than that chick holding the D20 die.

Remember, it’s compatible with most die-based games, so you’re not limited to playing Dungeons and Dragons exclusively but c’mon, that’s what this app was made for. It’s got four, six, eight, ten, twelve, twenty and hundred sided dice a shitload of dice that’ll also let you roll between one and nine dice at a time.

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Any avid World of Warcraft player knows that getting your hands on a Mooncloth bag means BIG storage space, which is necessary when you’re grinding 100s of Primal Waters like a big douche. If you are said douche or you have a girlfriend who plays WoW, you need to head on over to Etsy immediately.

You should probably bring $180 with you when visiting Etsy. See, there’s a real-life Mooncloth (messenger) bag there for the taking and only one is left in stock. In fact, if you don’t buy it by the time you’re done reading this post, it’ll most likely be sold out. The bag itself features all kinds of lush fabrics like blue corduroy, gold polka dot cotton and plenty of zippers and velcro. Hold your beef jerky or your Warcraft laptop.

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Everyone has been comparing Bethesda’s Fallout 3 with Oblivion. That’s a real shame, considering Fallout’s true roots lie with Black Isle Studios. Though the game may not be what long-time Fallout fans are hoping for, it certainly will be remembered for the gore. One thing I’ll miss: groin shot. Here’s a few good reads on the upcoming post-apocalyptic pseudo-RPG from Bethesda:

Enjoy!

What was I doing during the conference? Drinking Club-Mate and playing a Galaga rip-off. Hit the jump to see my look of disappointment:
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Who would’ve thought an old Apple Powerbook and a trip to IKEA would be all it takes to create a sweet home arcade. Frederic Sebton took apart his old Powerbook and mounted the monitor and guts inside an IKEA side table, with the screen showing up through a hole cut out of the top of the table. After mounting an arcade style joystick in the cabinet’s drawer,  Sebton created a fun-filled MAME cabinet.

He provides his own step-by-step instructions on his approach to crafting your very own MAME cabinet to entertain yourself and your guests.  Just dig up your old laptop you never use, shove it inside a wooden cabinet and voila! Gaming goodness for the whole family.

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Hey, not all sequels suck! Forget about Speed 2: Cruise Control, that movie was garbage. We’ve grouped together a few sequels of well known video game titles that prove that the game industry isn’t disintegrating year after year. Hit the jump to catch the nostalgia:
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