1up.com has a look at a new slimline NES console made by a company named Messiah. They hope the console, named Generation NEX, will be able to reach consumers in retail stores. From the article: "We think our products can be mainstream, it's just a matter of finding and reaching those people. Everyone loves the NES, and grew up playing it...We're hoping to get Generation NEX into mainstream retailers. We think that'll help out a lot. It's kind of like one of those impulse buys, people aren't searching for it but when they come across it they'll be like 'whoa, I want that!'...The greatest challenge was incorporating all of the extra features into the hardware...It's quite easy just to make a clone that works with the existing stuff, but then when you incorporate the built-in wireless and all the other stuff that went into this hardware ... That was the biggest challenge, getting everything to work together."

An anonymous reader writes "Old school is new school, fool. It's time to take that retired NES controller of yours that you broke so mercilessly smashing it on the carpet in frustration at never ever ever being able to beat Ikari Warriors, and recycle that biz. Be good to the environment and turn that thing into a laser mouse, why don't you? And yes, the A button is left click, and the B is your right, and your raging case of carpal tunnel is about to get a whole lot more fun."

cafeman writes "This was a really hard review to write. It's been a long time since I've read a book that was so fascinating on the first reading and yet raised so many questions on the second and third. Books on the history of gaming are relatively few -- Joystick Nation, High Score, Game Over, Masters of Doom and The Ultimate History of Video Games, the major works on the topic, all focus on the West. Finding out more about the history of gaming in Japan is harder. Suffice to say that if you're interested in game trivia, Japanese console gaming industry history, or the Eastern cultural drivers behind game design and communication, you owe it to yourself to get Power Up. Why was the book so frustrating? That's an interesting question, one that I've since put a lot of thought into. Much to the annoyance of my wife, I might add." Read on for the rest of cafeman's review.

1up.com has another entry in its 'Crucial Classics' series, and this one features a truly excellent NES title, Bionic Commando. From the article: "Most of Bionic Commando's innovations came in its hero's bionic arm. While the lead-footed character could not jump, a tap of the A button sent a moderate length of cable zipping out at a 45-degree angle, in hopes of attaching to anything vaguely resembling a platform. From there the player could perform a Tarzan-like swing to cross distances or simply retract the slack, allowing their commando to hang from the ceiling or even climb up to the next tier. The arm could also be sent straight up or horizontally, but Capcom's designers wisely made the useful angled shot the default."

1up.com has a feature up examining the possible end of days for the Game Boy Advance. From the article: "...it would seem the end is nigh. Sony's PlayStation Portable offers PS2 level power and a beautiful screen next to GBA's humble, Super NES-quality experience. And Nintendo seems be placing its hopes on its quirky but successful two-screened DS. Rumors of a next-generation Game Boy system were crushed at E3 2005 with the unveiling of Game Boy Micro, a revised GBA selling on its stylish, compact design and beautiful (but minuscule) screen."

Joystiq brought to my attention the enormous collection of NES games currently up for bid on eBay. From the auction: "First off 776 nintendo nes games.. THAT is only 10 games from having the complete set of usa released nes games...I quit collecting six or seven months ago, but i'm sure the last ten games are on ebay right now.. this list is far to long for a two finger typer like myself to type so I'll try to make this as easy as possible.. First thing you need to do is google search MIKE ETLER'S RARITY LIST.. Print this list out... You need the first 17 pages.." Amazingly, Tycho Brahe (of PA) wrote in to mention that "We just picked this up to be the Omegathon Prize at PAX." Quite an incentive, eh?

Joystiq reports that certain Revolution-downloadable games will be recieving graphical upgrades, ala the classic NES titles released for the GBA. From the article: "...[Nintendo] did not divulge the nature of the enhancement, nor did he hint at whether the technology would be integrated into the Revolution's hardware or be a part of the downloaded game itself. Theorists speculate that it may entail reskinning some or all of the classic games in Nintendo's lineup, as was done for the compilation Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES..."

The Nintendo press conference touched on aspects of the Nintendo Revolution, but offered no details on what "the" revolution is. No word on the controllers or when the console will be released. One new tantilizing aspect of the console was announced, though: "The console also will have downloadable access to 20 years of fan-favorite titles originally released for Nintendo® 64, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System® (SNES) and even the Nintendo Entertainment System® (NES)." No word on pricing, of course, but exciting nonetheless.

Reader Mantorp wrote in to mention an article over on Something Awful (reader beware) discussing the good and bad points of everyone's favorite video gaming channel, G4. Except for not mentioning Icons (which I view as a variable but generally good program), they nail the channels pros and cons dead on. From the article: "I almost wrote an update like this when the merger first happened, but it would have been purely reactionary. The resulting channel needed time to ferment for better or worse, and luckily for you it got much worse because my only backup article idea was a fake guide to an NES game based on the Herman Melville book Bartleby The Scrivener."

Neil Halelamien writes "Many enjoy listening to video game music arrangements, like those offered by OCRemix, Project Majestic Mix, or the Minibosses NES-rock band. A newcomer on the scene is the Video Game Pianist, an accomplished performer studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His skills garnered the attention of some in the industry -- he performed at the 2005 Game Developers Conference and will also be playing live at E3 this year. His web site offers some amazing performance videos (many with him playing blindfolded), downloadable albums, live internet concerts, sheet music, and other goodies, all for free. His albums and videos include several selections from the Mario, Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Final Fantasy series. Fans of his work can also donate to support his music."

Alien54 wrote to mention a story detailing an FBI crackdown on pirated...NES games. From the article: "More than 60,000 pirated copies of Nintendo game consoles were seized Wednesday during raids in New York and New Jersey, prosecutors announced. Four people were arrested in the crackdown on the theft of popular games such as "Donkey Kong," "Mario Brothers," "Duck Hunt," "Baseball" and others, according to a release by federal authorities and papers filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Nintendo told the FBI that individuals and companies copy the video games and sell the pirated versions throughout the world, costing the company millions of dollars in lost revenue annually, according to the complaint."

Andrew writes "If you're a fan of the NES and `80s video games like me then this is too cool for words: A video of University of Wisconsin a capella ensemble Redefined performing Nintendo a capella. The file is a little large (about 47 megs) but definately worth the download."

Via Press the Buttons, a node over at Everything2 with an excellent synopsis of the lifespan of the Nintendo Entertainment System. It details the background of the video game industry at the time that the NES came onto the stage, the launch and the peak of its success, and the factors that led to the console's eventual decline. From the writeup: "In the aftermath of the home video game crash in 1983, nobody in North America seemed to want anything more to do with video games. Having been burned by the atrociously bad Atari 2600 games flooding the market and the rise of the home computer, both retailers and parents, and to a lesser degree gamers, were reluctant to risk their hard-earned money on another console. Analysts claimed that video games were yet another fad in an infamously faddish time that came and went and now are gone."

Via Joystiq, a very worthy site that's sure to stoke the fires of nostalgia. VGMaps.com is an altas for games old and new, with extremely impressive stitched together screenshot displays. Some of my personal favorites include Zebes, The Maniac Mansion, and the FFI Overworld.

Eli Singer writes "Are gamer employees different? This is the question John Beck and Mitchell Wade answer in Got Game, How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever. They argue that yes, employees who grew up with Nintendo, TurboGrafix and Genesis approach their work in fundamentally different ways than non-gaming workers. If you grew up with games, you can use this book to teach your boss how to appreciate your gaming abilities in the workplace." Read on for the rest of Singer's review.

Last Saturday night I had the pleasure of enjoying the "Dear Friends" concert of Final Fantasy music in Rosemont, Illinois. Composer Nobuo Uematsu is well known among game players for the intricate melodies that create the backdrop for most of the Final Fantasy titles. Even the older titles, 8-bit compositions though they were, made for evocative soundscapes. When taken into the hands of a skilled orchestra Uematsu's works are incredibly stirring pieces of music. Read on for my impressions from the start of the first U.S. concert series composed entirely of video game music. Update: 02/25 21:08 GMT by Z : Coincidentally, GamesIndustry.biz has an interview with Nobuo Uematsu available for perusal today.

MasterPlaid writes "A group of anonymous cowards (eningeers) has apparently constructed a four-story mural of scenes from the NES Super Mario games. The best part is, they did the whole thing out of Post-It Notes, recreating the wondeful pixellated goodness we expect from Super Mario. The idea for this mural seems to have originated in the Strong Bad email of the same name."

roadies writes "Early adopters are sure to import the latest handheld system from overseas. We're not talking about the Sony PSP here fanboys. We are referring to the Pocket Famicom. The pocket famicom has a 2.5" screen. Plug it into a TV and you can play your classics without having dig out your old Nintendo console. It supports standard 60-pin Famicom games, but with a $10 adapter it will play your 72-pin NES games."

Deven "Epicenter" Gallo writes "I've perfected a process by which to overclock the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to run games smoother without slowdown. The NES CPU normally runs at 1.79 MHz, I've reached a stable maximum of 4.2 MHz, about a 230% overclock. The games do not run faster than they should, the CPU never overheats, and most games are perfect up to 3.3 MHz!" Here's the guide on how to perform the modification, along with photos and demonstration videos

mikey573 writes "Eight years ago yesterday I founded the Videogame Music Archive. In a hostile copyright environment, its nice to see at least one slice of our digital heritage left intact." Hey, it's not the Minibosses, but the Wizards and Warriors theme is still excellent.