Tech Culture

If you need a daily dose of gaming on the cheap and don't mind exploring the seedy underworld of imitation hardware, check out the S602, a ridiculous $66 Sony PSP lookalike by Chinese company JXD.

Aside from looking almost exactly like a Sony PSP, the device features Android 4.0 and an ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor, PowerVR SGX531 graphics, Wi-Fi, and 512MB of DDR3 RAM. The 4.3-inch touch screen (resistive) displays a resolution of 480x272 and also supports 1,080P HDMI out. Unlike most modern consumer electronics sold here in the U.S., the little handheld that could supports a healthy amount of multimedia formats and codecs. … Read more

GameStop is entering the end of an era.

The company told The Verge in an interview published recently that the PlayStation 2 is starting to be removed from store shelves to make room for the hardware that will be launching in the coming years.

"The PS2 is a unique one -- we still generate a whole lot of profit off PS2 sales, but we're going to keep PS2 where PS2 does sell, and we won't put it in stores where we see really lapsed sales," Mike Dzura, GameStop's senior vice president of store operations, told … Read more

A fan had a dream. He dreamed he would some day roll around Vice City in a souped-up DeLorean, dressed as Marty Mcfly, packing heat, and terrorizing the town. Then he made it happen.

The creator of the Back to the Future Grand Theft Auto mod (SeedyROM34 on YouTube), spent months working on the elaborate creation with many hours of file editing thrown into the bargain. This is quite a bit more than just a skin. There's time travel, an excellent-looking Marty McFly character, and a detailed DeLorean complete with flux capacitor.… Read more

A new variation of Angry Birds teased by game maker Rovio could find you on the side of the pigs.

A lone red Angry Bird nestled on Rovio's Bad Piggies Web site is innocently minding his own business. But click on that bird, and a torrent of pigges rain down upon him until he's flooded by his green attackers.

Beyond the tagline: "Something PIG is coming," Rovio offers no further clues on the upcoming game. But the video suggests a reverse spin on the familiar concept in which you would instead join forces with the pigs … Read more

Nokia's new Music app offers U.S. Lumia owners their own free streaming service.

Available as of today, Nokia Music kicks off with more than 150 different playlists chosen by a team of music experts. The playlists run the gamut from Detroit underground music to performances from the New York Philharmonic, according to Nokia, and feature tracks from artists such as Lana Del Rey, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna.

Users can also scour a collection of millions of songs to generate their own playlists based on their favorite music and artists. And though the service is designed for streaming, Lumia … Read more

While we may never think the world of 3D movies, at least the 3D printing ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly in a good direction. With interest in 3D printers, as well as accessibility to them, becoming more commonplace, an increasing number of artists use these machines -- capable of making nearly anything -- to stretch the limits of design.

The first 3D Print Show, held in London's Brewery next month -- October 19-21 -- gives those in the 3D printing industry a centralized venue for collaborating and educating, as well as showing off some mind-bending 3D creations.… Read more

Developer Square Enix announced today a mega box set celebrating the 25th anniversary of the legendary role-playing video game Final Fantasy. The 35,000 yen ($446) compilation, due December 18, costs a pretty penny, but it offers hundreds of hours of classic gameplay plus a few extra bonuses. … Read more

The phrase "immersive experience" gets bandied about quite a bit, but it's often an overstatement -- unless you happen to be in a room completely surrounded by a fully playable Ms. Pac-Man game.

Keita Takahashi, the creator of Katamari Damacy, got to experiment with a variety of video games for the recent Babycastles Summit at the Museum of Art & Design in New York.

Takahashi's new take on Ms. Pac-Man involved projecting it onto the walls and ceiling of a room. It looks like what would happen if Tron and Ms. Pac-Man got together, minus the glowing skin-tight suits.… Read more

Zap! Atari and Microsoft today launched Atari Arcade, an excellent example of how HTML5 can change the way we play video games.

The portal of retro entertainment -- primarily launched to celebrate Atari's 40th anniversary -- includes Asteroids, Centipede, Combat, Lunar Lander, Missile Command, Pong, Super Breakout, and Yars' Revenge. The best part? It's free, and doesn't require Flash, Java, or any other plug-in to play, running solely on HTML5.… Read more