Gearfuse

Even if my NES were still around, I doubt it would work. There’s something about sitting around in a dusty closet that doesn’t work well with the functioning hardware of gaming consoles. But don’t let it’s inability to work get you down. There are still plenty of possibilities.

The NEStickle is a Sanwa joystick, including buttons, built right inside of an old defunct NES console. The stick with compatible with Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and even Windows, Mac and Linux machines. While the NEStickle is certainly not the most space conscious gadget, if nothing else it’s an awesome example of console recycling.

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Feeling nostalgic? Just converted your basement into a bar and need a new coat rack? Consider Surface Tension’s hangUP coat racks. They’re made from real wood and real arcade joysticks and buttons. You can get them in 3UP and 4UP versions, each with the respective amount of coat hangers included. The best news is that they’ll be taking custom orders soon, ensuring your arcade fantasies live on forever.

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When you can’t use a mouse because of too much Guitar Hero, don’t fret; alternative means of controlling your computer’s cursor are just over the horizon. The University of Washington is developing a vocally controlled mouse interface that’s completely hands free!

Similar to speech recognition that aids in typing, the vocal joystick makes using a mouse as simple as humming mantras in front of your computer. Using different vowels and sounds, the vocal joystick is able to create cursor motion and clicking functions as if you were using an ordinary mouse. However, playing Minesweeper is still a pain in the ass.

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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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If you grew up in the 1990s, you may remember the Neo-Geo Home MVS console. It was a flop, due mostly in part to expensive hardware and super expensive games. Fast forward to 2008 and still, no one is looking to pay an outrageous price for an arcade-style joystick.

One student at NJIT decided he’d make his own joysticks instead. Although they work fine and look OK, the stix come in wooden boxes. Ugly wooden boxes full of splinters. It’s not pretty but it gets the job done. Oh, and they also work on PS2 and Dreamcast. Not too shabby.

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Slippers. Most commonly worn by hospital patients and sleepy-eyed senior citizens. The Joy Slippers are a substitution for a mouse and joystick, controlled via foot movements. The best thing about the slippers is that you can make them yourself with a step-by-step DIY. (more…)

The Megatouch Elite Edge ION might looks more like a slot machine than something you’d see in an arcade, but the ION is what we might see being added to the arcade floor in the near future.

Featuring a 15-inch touch screen, a joystick, some stunning 3D graphics, and a collection of 102 games (ranging from puzzles to sports and action), the ION wants to be in an arcade near you. Want one for your personal arcade? Pick it up for £3,999.99 ($7,895). — Andrew Dobrow

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Talk about nostalgia. These Hang & Play Atari Wall Hooks bring back a lot of memories of a lot of sleepless nights in front of my 13-inch TV. And what a cool piece of decoration and design to showcase in your home. Make your house reflect who you are.

And who are we? We are nerds. Through and through. Which is why the Hang & Play hooks caught are eye. Of course the hooks are not operational joysticks, but the memories of Space Invader are worth their electrical inability.

They also seem they’d look cool at pretty much any angle. If you don’t have a nice section to set up the hooks, a vertical set-up would be fine. We don’t think the Hook is for sale, but damn do we want one. — Andrew Dobrow

Hang & Play [Coroflot.com]

The reason a lot of us have never really got into the whole “cellphone gaming” thing is because of the lack of a decent navigation control option. How can you truly control a game with one hand and no mouse. Which is why this concept of a Pop-Up Joystick is such an interesting idea.

Some people might think it’s just another part to be easily broken, resulting in more trips to the customer service department of your service provider. And that would be a good point. But for those who are interested in mixing their digital mobile life with their gaming alter ego, you would surely find a need for a joystick to enjoy a full gaming experience.

There are no details about releases or if this thing will EVER be released, since it is only a concept, but odds are that if it were to show its face, it would most likely appear in Japan or Korea. Of course, this is only personal speculation, but come on, where else could something like this possibly be available for the first time? — Andrew Dobrow

Compact Analog Thumbstick [IndustrialDesign, via Core77]

This apparently homemade Wii joystick makes you wonder. Why is it so much bigger than the console it’s attached to? You could argue that the creator was trying to emulate the feel of an arcade game cabinet, but to us, it looks awfully similar, in both size and design, to the Dreamcast Arcade Stick joystick controller. It has the same six buttons and joystick, and looks to be the same size, as well. It looks like someone either pulled the innards out of an Arcade Stick and made a new case, or simply repainted the existing case. It’s now available on eBay. — Mike Payne

[via Gizmodo]