Tag Archives: space invaders

Start Your Own Alien Invasion with These Foam Space Invaders

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Space Invaders: they’re a bigger threat than most people realize. But don’t take my word for it; it’s not like I have top-level government clearance and know what goes on behind the doors of Area 51. I only pretend I do on dates. Available from Etsy shop Thunktronix, each bag of ‘Sooo Many Foamy Space Invaders!’ includes 70+ foam cutouts of the iconic video game characters so you can stick them to the walls all over your house. Or somebody else’s house, go wild!

Made from EVA foam, the sprites measure approximately 1″ – 3″ wide and are going to be a welcome addition to my bubble baths. Oh no, the aliens are coming! Pew pew, pew pew pew! I’ll be having so much fun I probably won’t even notice the water has long gone cold, and I’m all pruny.

Did I mention a bag only costs $10? That means for $100, you could have over 700 Space Invaders! That’s a lot of Space Invaders. Probably too many, to be honest. But don’t let me stop you from following your dreams; you do you, space ranger.

Taito Egret II Mini Arcade Cabinet Can Switch from Landscape to Portrait: Old Bird, Old Trick

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Many popular arcade games are side scrollers, but there are just as many classic ones that play from top to bottom, like shmups. Well, mostly shmups. The important thing is that someone at Taito had a stroke of genius and revived a forward-looking feature from one of its old arcade cabinets. The Egret II Mini is a mini arcade cabinet with a 5:4 display that can be physically switched between landscape and portrait mode, just like the original Egret II.

You simply push in the display and rotate it to your desired layout. Taking advantage of that display are the 40 built-in games, which include Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, and Elevator Action.

But that’s not the only modern convenience of the Egret II Mini. It has an HDMI out if you want to play on your non-rotatable but larger TV or monitor, and it has two USB ports for the optional wired controllers. There’s a controller version of the built-in arcade-style layout, there’s one with a classic gamepad layout, and there’s a paddle-style controller. The latter is even more special because it has an SD card slot, and it comes with 10 games that are meant to be played with paddle controls.

You can pre-order the Egret II Mini and its controllers now from Rakuten, but there’s no need to hurry because they won’t ship until March 2022 at the earliest. The mini arcade cabinet costs around $170 (USD), the paddle controller is around $110, the arcade controller is around $80, and the gamepad goes for about $30. That’s a lot of money. The Switch Pro or whatever it will be called might be cheaper than the Egret II Mini’s whole bundle.

[via The Verge]

Celebrate Your Pixel Art Love with These Colorful Plexiglass Sprites

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Those of us who grew up playing video games back in the 1980s have a special place in our hearts for the pixel art characters from the 8-bit arcade and home console world. From Pac-Man to Dig Dug to Donkey Kong to Galaga, game artists had to really stretch their creativity and imagination to give us memorable and identifiable characters using the most primitive of blocks and limited color schemes.

If you love old school pixel art as much as I do, then you need to check out this collection I found over on Etsy.

Idaho-based artist Thunktronix makes all kinds of nifty collectible trinkets based on classic video game characters and items, including all of the aforementioned games, along with Robotron 2049, Wizard of Wor, Frogger, Space Invaders, and more. Each of the sprites is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, so you can put a whole bunch of these on your shelf without taking up too much space.

Each one is precision cut from 1/4″-thick plexiglass, with some characters getting colorful backprinting, and others left to stand on their own as see-through shapes. In addition to video game characters, they’ve got a few other great designs, like Ignignokt and Err, the iconic, antagonistic, bird-flipping Mooninites from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which I just had to buy for myself.

Some pieces are sold individually, while many of them come in complete sprite sets. Prices start at just $5 for a single keychain-sized figure, while full game sprite sets range from $25 to $32. You can check out all of their designs over on the Thunktronix Etsy shop.

Yep, They’re Working on a Space Invaders Movie

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As far as I know, the entire plot of Space Invaders is “increase speed, drop down, and reverse direction!” But making vapid and obtuse movies based on popular franchises is what Hollywood does best these days, so I guess I wasn’t too surprised when I heard there’s a Space Invaders movie in development.

According to a report from Deadline, New Line is getting closer to starting production on said film, based on the 1978 Taito arcade game. Greg Russo (Mortal Kombat) is said to be writing the film, while Akiva Goldsman (Fringe, Star Trek: Discovery), Joby Harold (John Wick 3), and Tory Tunnell (Robin Hood) are responsible for producing this future trainwreck. I haven’t been this concerned about pixels being on the big screen since, well, um, Pixels.

Seriously, Hollywood folks, what particular strain of sativa are you smoking these days? I suppose these 8-bit characters have just as much potential as any of the other one-dimensional crap we see on screen these days, but I’m not optimistic.

[via io9]

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‘Space Invaders’ movie is closer to becoming a reality

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Warner Bros. bought the movie rights to Space Invaders years ago, and now it looks ready to do something with the classic alien-blasting franchise. Deadline reports that Warner's New Line Cinema is advancing production on the film, with Mortal Komba...

Space Invaders Gets an Official Board Game

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Space Invaders, the iconic classic video game we all know and love, just got even cooler. The popular arcade vertical shooter from TAITO is going to be a board game. Let’s just hope that the gameplay lives up to the arcade version. The game is being created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the classic 8-bit arcade game.

40 years already? That’s crazy talk. Space Invaders: The Board Game, combines today’s popular deck-building genre with a traditional strategy board game. 2-4 players will collect Space Invaders cards and add them to their hands while moving across the board and “shooting” enemies with their laser cannons. Pew, pew, pew. Visually, the board is designed to mimic the arcade game.

Over on Kickstarter you can pre-order the standard edition for $20 to $30, or the numbered Deluxe Edition for $75. There’s also a limited Space Invaders diorama art box autographed by Space Invaders creator, Tomohiro Nishikado – that’s going for a whopping $990 though.

So if you want to relive the excitement of the classic arcade game in a whole new way, this is your chance. It looks damn good.


[via Mike Shouts]

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Space Invaders Holiday Sweater: Pew Pew Pew!

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Destroy the brigade of rapidly moving aliens before they mow down your bases! With this festive Space Invaders sweater, you’ll be equipped to blast blocky 8-bit invaders with your laser cannon everywhere you go.

An army of little invaders is here to celebrate the season, while the giant alien in the middle is ready to stomp a bunch of pine trees, which also happens to be the easiest way to chop them down for Christmas trees. The brightly colored acrylic sweater eschews traditional colors and goes with eye-popping near-fluorescent shades of pink, green, and aqua. There, I finally got to use the word “eschews” in a sentence. It was that or “What rhymes with cashews?…”

So increase speed, drop down, and reverse direction over to ThinkGeek now, where you can grab the Space Invaders holiday sweater for $49.99.

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Space Invaders Backpack: Push Start to Carry

Space Invaders Backpack: Push Start to Carry

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Way back in the day, my game of choice on the Atari 2600 was Space Invaders. That was about all I wanted to play, with a little Pitfall thrown in the mix. Oddly enough, I don’t recall ever seeing a Space Invaders machine in the arcade back in the day. But now you can carry one around on your back with this backpack that looks like the game’s original arcade cabinet.

The bag has a print inside that looks like the little pixelated characters from the game. The bag has cool little invader characters for zipper pulls, and its straps are padded and adjustable. The main flap has magnets to keep it closed and there’s a padded pocket for your laptop.

The bag is water resistant and has silicone buttons and a slot where you can actually insert quarters. It’s not back-to-school time yet, but you need this backpack. It’s $49.99(USD) at ThinkGeek and available now.

Playing Real Life Space Invaders with Drones

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If you have ever dreamed of battling Space Invaders in real life, here’s one unique way to do it. For GeekCon 2016, a team led by Tomer Daniel created a game of Space Invaders that can be played for real.

space_invaders_w_drones_1

There are some computers involved, but the gameplay itself all takes place in real life. The targets are Arduino-enabled drones with LEDs, and you shoot a laser that turns itself off momentarily after firing, the gunner slides back and forth on a twenty-foot rail underneath the player’s seat, and the drones turn out their lights when they get “hit.”

It’s a pretty cool idea. They should up the excitement with more drones, and have them move faster and faster as they approach your recliner.

[via Hackaday via Neatorama]

3D Printed Space Invaders Rings

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space_invaders_ring_2

Jewelry is great because it’s a blank canvas that allows you an infinite amount of ways to express yourself. Most people will opt for some kind of bling, sticking to the old tradition that jewelry should be a display of financial comfort, but if you don’t care about that, these 3D printed Space Invader Rings could be right up your alley. They’re made from plastic or silver, and cost anywhere between $15 and $99. Some metals include brass, bronze, steel, and silver, while plastic is plastic dammit. They’re available now.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Technabob ]