In honor of Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary, Google has created its most amazing Google Doodle yet: a playable browser-based version of Pac-Man in the usual Google logo space. They did an excellent job, complete with authentic graphics, sounds, and scoring.

When you first go to Google, you’ll see a static image. Wait a few seconds and the page will reload with a hybrid JavaScript/Flash application (it uses Flash for sound) that brings the Google logo to life. Excellent work, Google!

P.S. If anyone figures out how to save a playable version of the game, let me know. I haven’t had to time to dig into it yet.

I mentioned this last year, but I figure more people are using Twitter now. So if you want to Twitterize together, feel free to folllow @benjedwards. Help me build a massive, influential Twitter army through which I can disseminate my august opinions on technology, vintage computing, and Burt Reynolds. (Or at least help me eclipse 100 followers — that’s right, I said oooone hundred!) With numbers like that, we could organize some crazy flash mobs.

Super Mario Bros. Crossover is, in my opinion, the only Flash game worth playing. The Internet-keen amongst you may have run across this already on other blogs, but I thought it was worth repeating here.

In SMBC, author Jay Pavlina masterfully recreates Super Mario Bros. in Flash with a surprising bonus: five additional playable characters pulled straight from iconic NES games. There’s Link from The Legend of Zelda, Samus from Metroid, Mega Man from his self-titled game, Simon Belmont from Castlevania, and Bill R. from Contra.

Each character retains certain abilities from his respective game, and the SMB power-ups provide each with character-appropriate upgrades. It’s an exhilarating feeling to destroy every brick you can find with Bill R’s spread shot, or to blow up goombas by laying bombs with Samus. If you’ve ever wanted to gun down Bowser, here’s your chance.

I don’t want to spoil all the surprises. Play the game and find out more.

Technologizer just published the first photograph of Mario Segale to ever grace the intricate tubes of the Internet. And it happened in an article written by yours truly. It’s titled “The True Face of Mario.”

Who’s Mario Segale, you ask? He’s the man that inspired Mario’s name and Italian heritage. To see the photo and to read more about how Nintendo’s famous plumber got his name, mosey on over to the Technologizer and check it out.

P.S. If you like it, please digg it and spread the word.

P.P.S. I thought I had this post up publicly yesterday, but just realized I didn’t. Oops.

In Memoriam: Ed Roberts (1941-2010), creator of the Altair 8800.

Atari Corporation premiered the first member of its ST series, the Atari 520ST, at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show 25 years ago this January. After the 520ST shipped mid-1985, Atari released an upgraded model in 1986 called the Atari 1040STf — variations of which remained best sellers throughout the ST’s run.

In honor of the Atari ST series’ 25th anniversary, I’ve dissected the popular Atari 1040STf in my usual style for PC World, making this the ninth entry in my “workbench series” of tech autopsies. I think it turned out very well, and I hope you enjoy it.

I have fond memories of the 1040STf because my father bought one for the family back in 1986. Games like Phantasie, SunDog, Exodus, and Gauntlet always come to mind when I think of Atari’s GUI-based wonder.

Is anybody else out there a fan of the Atari ST series? If so, tell us about it. What ST model(s) did/do you have? What are your favorite ST games? Bonus points to anyone who can provide a picture of themselves using an Atari ST before 1990!

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Here are my previous workbench teardowns, if you’re interested: Atari 800, Commodore 64, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Famicom, Apple IIc, IBM Model M Keyboard, TRS-80 Model 100, and Macintosh Portable.

PC World recently published my latest slideshow, The Evolution of Removable Storage, which examines removable computer storage media of the last 60 years. You’ll find plenty of fascinating pictures and lots of written history as well. It’s less like a slideshow and more like an illustrated article in spirit. I hope you enjoy it.

Technologizer also posted one of my latest pieces yesterday: 15 Consumer Electronics Design Mistakes. It’s not perfectly VC&G-related, but it is part of a series with two previous Technologizer articles of mine: 15 Classic Game Console Design Mistakes and 15 Classic PC Design Mistakes.

Last Sunday, PC World published my last slideshow of the year, The Ghosts of Christmas Games Past. It examines twelve retro Christmas video/computer games from the dawn of time right up to ten years before the present.

Sorry I didn’t tell you guys about the article earlier this week; it slipped past me and I didn’t know it was up yet.

Once again, Merry Christmas!

“No more Mr. Ice Guy.”

It looks like Kickle Cubicle visited much of the Eastern U.S. coast over the weekend with a nasty snowstorm; hope you guys are digging out all right. Here in NC, some of us lucked out with a light dusting and a lot of rain.

Kickle Cubicle itself is a fun, Lolo-esque NES puzzler with a silly name that hints at both kicking and modular office partitions (thankfully, cubicles do not actually appear in the game). If you run across it, I highly recommend picking it up.

Merry Christmas from VC&G!

Discussion Topic of the Week: It’s Santa time once again. If you could magically (and freely) have any one item for your classic computer or video game collection, what would it be?

A Well-Loved Milton-Bradley Microvision Box (Front)

Thirty years ago last month, Milton-Bradley released the world’s first handheld game console with interchangeable cartridges, the Microvision. As a result, the Microvision was the first handheld “system” in the classic sense: it allowed the user to play numerous arbitrary software titles on a single base console.

As you may have read in my last VC&G post, I recently celebrated this anniversary over at PC World with a slideshow of handheld system history.

It always pains me when I don’t have the time to write up an in-depth history of the subject I’m focused on at any given time, so to compensate a bit, I’d like to share some scans of assorted Milton-Bradley Microvision paraphernalia that I’ve assembled.

[ Continue reading [ Retro Scan Special ] Milton-Bradley Microvision » ]