Kotaku: do it yourself

The Most Beautiful Atari 2600 Lamp Ever Created

Mike Fahey — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:20:00 MST

In the long and storied history of Atari 2600-themed lighting projects there have been countless interesting creations, but only one Atari 2600 lamp deserves to be called the Ultimate. This is that lamp.

Okay, so perhaps Atari 2600 lamps aren't all that readily available in the first place, but that surely doesn't steal away any of the awesome from this piece. Created by Instructibles.com user Seamster, the lamp functions as both a giant, non-working replica of an Atari 2600 joystick on it's own, but take off the top, screw in a light bulb, add a box art-covered lampshade and hit the big red button - yes, the button is functional - and you have the fanciest lighting solution a gamer could ask for.

Hit the link for instructions on how you can go about hurting yourself while trying to replicate what Seamster did.

Giant Atari Joystick Lamp [Instructibles.com - Thanks Tony!]

Mashade: Make Your Own Bad Video Game Mashups

Mike Fahey — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:40:00 MDT

Mashade.com is a newly launched website from Blockade Entertainment and GorillaSpot, Inc. that allows users to quickly edit their own video game trailer mashups. Take video assets from partners such as EA, Take 2, Sega, Codemasters, and Ubisoft, drop them into the editor, add sound clips, music, text, and effects, and you end up with something relatively horrible, as seen below.

I'm sure as more assets are added and they get music from bands other than Breaking Benjamin and Atrayu we could see some rather spiffy things coming out of the site. For now, expect lots of random crap, such as the downright horrible Brothers In Arms mashup you'll find after the jump. Just be patient with it as the site is currently dealing with bandwidth issues stemming from inconsiderate video game blogs trying to show them to the world.

Build Your Own Video Game Mashups [Mashade.com]

Ben Heck's PlayStation 3 Laptop

Mike Fahey — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:00:00 MDT

My consoles absolutely hate Ben Heck. Every time he releases a new mod, such as this gorgeous PlayStation 3 laptop, similar to his Xbox 360 Elite laptop from awhile back, I tend to spend many hours sitting in my living room, eyes moving curious from consoles to the cabinet where I keep my (barely used) tools. With my degree of electronics knowledge, this is the game console equivalent of having someone quietly staring first at you, and then at a loaded gun in front of them, over and over again. Luckily for them I've yet to work up the nerve, though I do have an extra PSone sitting around gathering dust. I think I just heard it whimper.

Ben Heck's Latest Wonder Project: PS3 Laptop [Gizmodo]

A Tardis That Travels Back In Arcade Time

Mike Fahey — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:40:10 MDT

What better way to transport yourself back to the time of arcade dominance than an actual time machine? Simon Jansen obviously has too much time on his hands, being the man behind the ASCII recreation of the original Star Wars film, and now we know where he's been getting all of that time. Not only did he build his own version of Doctor Who's Tardis, he stuffed it with a folding MAME cabinet so he could play games from the past! Jansen has painstakingly documented the entire process, including a picture of his lizard, which I am positive was integral to the project. If I lived in a bizarro world where I didn't need to work and sleep in order to survive, I would have two of these.

Building a MAME console inside a TARDIS [ASCIIMATION via Wired Gadgets]