Since its inception, the Steam Deck has been a bit of a game changer in the PC gaming world. The goal of the handheld console was to make PC gaming as easy and straightforward as a walled-garden proprietary console like a Switch or Playstation but still allow for the more open gaming experience of a PC. At its core, though, it’s essentially a standard PC with the parts reorganized into handheld form, and there’s no reason any other small-form-factor PC can’t be made into a similar system. [CNCDan] has the skills and tools needed to do this and shows us how it’s done.
The build is based around a NUC, a small form factor computer that typically uses the same low-power mobile processors and graphics cards found in laptops but without the built-in battery or screen. This one has an AMD Ryzen 7 processor with Radeon graphics, making it reasonably high-performing for its size. After measuring out the dimensions of the small computer and preparing for other components like the battery, joysticks, buttons, and even a trackpad, it was time to create the case. Instead of turning to a 3D printer, this one is instead milled on a CNC machine. Something tells us that [CNCDan] prefers subtractive manufacturing in general.
With all the parts assembled in the case, the build turns into a faithful Steam Deck replica with a few bonuses, like an exposed Ethernet port and the knowledge that everything can easily be fixed since it was built from the ground up in the first place. The other great thing about builds like these is they don’t need an obscure NUC for the hardware; you can always grab your old Framework mainboard for handheld gaming instead. Reminded us of the NucDeck.
En el día de ayer, representantes del sitio Internet Archive anunciaron vía Discord que habían recibido la aprobación de Epic Games para distribuir de manera gratuita Unreal Gold (que incluye el juego base y la expansión Return to Na Pali) de 1998 además de Unreal Tournament GOTY de 1999.
Pueden descargar Unreal Gold y Unreal Tournament GOTY desde Internet Archive (archive.org) en los hiperenlaces mencionados, aunque también están los links para OldUnreal, mods que incluyen compatibilidad para sistemas operativos modernos en ambos juegos y otras mejoras. El instalador para de OldUnreal para Unreal Gold se puede descarga aquíy el de OldUnreal para Unreal Tournament GOTY en este otro link.
Para personas técnicamente expertas que deseen verificar la autenticidad de las imágenes del disco. Los hash para la ISO de UT son e5127537f44086f5ed36a9d29f992c00 (MD5) y 3f13d8a88620324f1cbf0a33029fc1d76c912821 (SHA1). Los hashes para la ISO de Unreal son 84d6b80125ab745644c269bb44e5ae39 (MD5) y 1957ece469b32bcdcd3ec9079407907e6b4b88cb (SHA1)
Estas versiones funcionan por supuesto con UnrealHD v3.1 y Unreal Evolution 2.2. UnrealHD es un mutador que reemplaza todas las skins borrosas de Unreal Gold y Unreal Tournament GOTY con versiones detalladas de alta resolución. También pueden descargar un pack de texturas HD de 7GB para UT GOTY en este enlace y otro pack de texturas de 4.6 GB para Unreal Gold aquí.
Por otro lado, Unreal Evolution es un mod para Unreal Gold que tiene como objetivo ofrecer un diseño general más ajustado a través de armamento y tiroteo mejorados y pulidos, una IA más inteligente y una ubicación refinada del enemigo.
Por supuesto, también hay mods más avanzados que mejoran mucho más la visual del juego, incluyendo ray tracing, un renderer para DirectX 11 (prácticamente un mod obligatorio) en ambos títulos y otros mods mencionados en la descripción del video debajo.
Acerca de Unreal Tournament GOTY
Unreal Tournament es el rey original en el mundo de los enfrentamientos multijugador. Como indiscutible Juego del Año 1999, Unreal Tournament agarró el género de shooter en primera persona por la parte sucia de los pantalones y lo sacudió por toda la habitación dotándolo de gráficos nunca vistos, un brutal sistema de juego y una enorme y variada lista de características que ofrecía a los jugadores mucho más de lo esperado.
Características principales:
Modo Principiante – Esta competición Botmatch es el lugar de entrenamiento para los recién llegados. La opción Principiante hace que los bots controlados por el ordenador durante la partida se muevan más lentos e inflijan menos daño con sus ataques. Para los nuevos en los shooters en primera persona, aquí es donde das tus primeros pasos, nacen las habilidades y empieza la adicción…
Modo Hardcore – Ponte la armadura extra y ten una toalla cerca del ratón para limpiarte el sudor de las manos. Este modo sólo para profesionales hace que los bots se muevan, esquiven y salten a la velocidad del rayo, además de que inflijan MUCHO MÁS daño con los ataques estándar que sus homólogos del modo Principiante
IA de bots mejorada – Los bots en Unreal Tournament juegan como si se hubieran inyectado una enorme cantidad de esteroides. Sus habilidades básicas en el deathmatch han sido prácticamente perfeccionadas, su comprensión de las reglas del juego es excelente, su capacidad de navegación por los niveles es similar a la de un GPS y la amenaza que representan para tu existencia es muy real
Conversaciones por radio – Cada una de las órdenes que están a tu disposición durante el juego está acompañada de un mensaje de texto en pantalla Y un mensaje de audio. Las peticiones de refuerzos o de fuego de cobertura están acompañadas por secuencias pregrabadas comunicando tus necesidades. Lo que lo hace especialmente genial es el hecho de que también puedes escuchar los mensajes de tus oponentes (incluso si estás jugando contra bots, porque los bots también son personas)
Nuevas opciones de línea de comandos – Para los administradores de servidores más hardcore, ésta es la forma soñada de acceder a las diferentes características y gestionar una partida. Prácticamente cualquier opción que quieras modificar puede ser accedida a través de la línea de comandos de UT. ¡Rápido y fácil!
Interfaz de usuario mejorada – Unreal Tournament introdujo una mejor forma de ver lo que estaba ocurriendo en una partida. Usando un HUD exclusivo para cada tipo de juego (Combate a Muerte, Capturar la Bandera, Dominación y Asalto), el juego ofrece toda la información necesaria para jugar de forma eficaz y SIN bombardear al jugador con demasiados datos
UBrowser – El robusto sistema Ubrowser de Unreal Tournament es la forma más fácil de encontrar una partida en Internet y unirse a la batalla. Ubrowser elimina la necesidad de descargar aplicaciones de terceros para la búsqueda de partidas. Con tan sólo hacer clic en el botón «Jugar online» y seleccionar un servidor de la lista, la partida está en marcha
Cámaras de espectador – Ver una partida de Unreal Tournament tiene el potencial para ser casi igual de divertido que jugarla. Gracias a las cámaras de espectador, los jugadores pueden entrar en una partida y cambiar entre las diferentes cámaras para contemplar la acción. Incluso la cámara puede adherirse a uno de los jugadores y ver la acción desde su perspectiva. De cualquier modo, es una característica genial y una estupenda forma de aprendizaje para los nuevos en el mundo del juego online
Modo Salto – Salta el doble de lo habitual como si llevaras un interminable par de botas de salto. El impacto que tienen estas botas en el juego es casi indescriptible, cambiando la dinámica por completo
Requisitos Mínimos:
Sistema Operativo: Windows 95/98/2000/Windows NT 4.0/Linux/Mac
Procesador: Intel Pentium 200MHz or AMD K6 200MHz
Placa de Video: Placa Aceleradora de 8MB
Memoria: 32MB RAM
Espacio en Disco: 605MB
Internet: Conexión a Internet de Banda Ancha
Periféricos: Teclado y Mouse
Acerca de Unreal Gold
La nave donde estabas prisionero ha tenido que realizar un aterrizaje forzoso en el mundo en 3D más rápido, bello y peligroso jamás creado. Mira a tu alrededor: el agua cristalina resplandece, las sombras bailan y se desplazan, la arquitectura alienígena se desvanece en el horizonte.
Descubre el secreto de este misterioso planeta y averigua por qué una raza pacífica ha sido esclavizada por unos brutales agresores sin escrúpulos.
Características principales:
Más de 47 sorprendentes misiones para un jugador
20 niveles multijugador con 5 modos de juego diferentes
Enemigos extremadamente inteligentes, cada uno con características únicas
Un arsenal de más de 13 armas letales, garantizando una acción sin límites
Incluye mejoras técnicas y todas las realizadas en Unreal hasta la fecha
Mejoras tanto en el aspecto gráfico como en el rendimiento especialmente realizadas para las tarjetas gráficas más actuales
Requisitos Mínimos:
Sistema Operativo: Windows 95/98/2000/Windows NT 4.0/Linux/Mac
If you’re unfamiliar, the Unnamed SDVX Clone is basically a community-built game that’s inspired by the original Konami titles. [Luke] decided to build a handheld console for playing the game, which is more akin to the arcade experience versus playing it on a desktop computer.
[Luke’s] build relies on a Raspberry Pi 4B, which donates its considerable processing power and buckets of RAM to the project. The Pi was installed into a 3D-printed case with a battery pack, touchscreen, and speakers, along with multiple arcade buttons and rotary encoders for controlling the game. Booting the Pi and clicking the icon on the desktop starts up the Unnamed Sound Voltex Clone. The game itself will be fairly familiar to any rhythm game player, though it’s a tough more sophisticated than Audiosurf. [Luke] demonstrates the gameplay on YouTube, and the finished project looks great.
If you ever played an arcade game and wondered what was inside that joystick you were gripping, [Big Clive] can save you some trouble. He picked up a cheap replacement joystick, which, as you might expect, has a bunch of microswitches. However, as you can see in the video below, there are some surprising features that make sense when you think about it.
For one, there are plates you can put on the bottom to limit the joystick’s travel depending on the game. That is, some games only want the stick to move up and down or left and right. The knobs are quite nice, and [Clive] mentions the size and thread of the knob with the idea you could use them in different applications. You can also buy replacement knobs if you don’t want to get the whole assembly.
The mechanics are rugged but straightforward. The circuit board is surprisingly stylish but also simple. Still interesting to see what’s inside one of these, even though the schematic is extremely simple.
If you need an excuse to use one of these, how about an arcade table? If you aren’t a woodworker, grab a 3D printer instead.
A little while ago Oasis was showcased on social media, billing itself as the world’s first playable “AI video game” that responds to complex user input in real-time. Code is available on GitHub for a down-scaled local version if you’d like to take a look. There’s a bit more detail and background in the accompanying project write-up, which talks about both the potential as well as the numerous limitations.
We suspect the focus on supporting complex user input (such as mouse look and an item inventory) is what the creators feel distinguishes it meaningfully from AI-generated DOOM. The latter was a concept that demonstrated AI image generators could (kinda) function as real-time game engines.
Image generators are, in a sense, prediction machines. The idea is that by providing a trained model with a short history of what just happened plus the user’s input as context, it can generate a pretty usable prediction of what should happen next, and do it quickly enough to be interactive. Run that in a loop, and you get some pretty impressive clips to put on social media.
It is a neat idea, and we certainly applaud the creativity of bending an image generator to this kind of application, but we can’t help but really notice the limitations. Sit and stare at something, or walk through dark or repetitive areas, and the system loses its grip and things rapidly go in a downward spiral we can only describe as “dreamily broken”.
It may be more a demonstration of a concept than a properly functioning game, but it’s still a very clever way to leverage image generation technology. Although, if you’d prefer AI to keep the game itself untouched take a look at neural networks trained to use the DOOM level creator tools.
The run of 54 titles from 2006-2009 may not have made the iPod a handheld gaming success, but many still have fond memories of playing games on the devices. Unfortunately, Apple’s Fairplay DRM has made it nearly impossible to get those games back unless you happened to backup your library since those games can’t be downloaded again and are tied to both the account and iTunes installation that originally purchased the game.
Fortunately, intrepid hackers found syncing their iPods (or iTunes libraries) with working copies of the games could reauthorize the games via Apple’s servers to a secondary iTunes installation. Any supported iPod could then be linked to this installation and get the games as well. Through the wonders of virtualization, the iPod Clickwheel Games Preservation Project by [Olsro] allows you to install many of these games on your own iPod with an iTunes install inside a Windows 10 VM which saves the expense of shipping iPods all over the place.
DIY gaming handhelds have long been the purview of the advanced hacker, with custom enclosures and fiddly soldering making it a project not for the feint of heart. [Beth Le] now brings us a custom handheld for the beginner that can be assembled in 15 minutes and doesn’t require any soldering.
These claims might seem suspicious at first, but the fact that the build is powered by a Framework mainboard makes the dream seem attainable. Using an 8″ touchscreen and a rehoused mobile device controller, the 3D printed enclosure turns the PCB and battery into an interesting alternative to a Steam Deck.
[Beth] recommends waiting for the forthcoming revision 2 to make your own as she is working on refining the model. She also suggests printing in PC or PETG since PLA is too brittle and ABS warping can be an issue for tolerances with the pogo pins. In any case, this is definitely a project to keep your eye on if you enjoy gaming on the go.
In the world of retro gaming, some legends never die – especially the ‘phantom’ PSP, Sony’s mythical handheld that never saw the light of day. While that elusive device remains a dream, hacker and gaming wizard [Kyle Brinkerhoff] built his own – and Macho Nacho made a video about it. His creation, which also goes by the name ‘Playstation Zero’, isn’t just another handheld emulator; it’s a powerful, custom-built system that revives the classics and plays them on a portable device that feels like the future.
Driven by a hunger for the ultimate gaming experience, [Kyle] set out to blend modern tech with retro gaming magic. He started with the Raspberry Pi, loading it up with emulation software for all the iconic systems—from NES and SNES to the Sega Genesis and Game Boy. But [Kyle] didn’t just slap on an off-the-shelf emulator; he dived into the code himself, optimizing and tweaking for lightning-fast responsiveness, so each game plays like it’s running on the original hardware. That’s hacking in true form: pushing the limits of software and hardware until they work exactly the way you want them to. Best of all: he published it all open source for others to use.
In the spirit of the Geneboy—a handheld Sega Genesis built by [Downing] and featured on Hackaday back in 2012—[Kyle]’s device pairs handheld emulation with the consoles all nineties kids wanted for Christmas. To capture the tactile thrill of vintage gaming, [Kyle] went a step further by designing and 3D-printing a custom controller layout that mimics the feel of the original systems. If watching someone neatly soldering a pcb sounds relaxing to you, don’t skip the middle part of his video. Although this little beast is packed with all bells and whistles you’d expect to see on a Raspberry Pi, it does lack one serious thing: battery life. But, [Kyle] is open about that, and hopes to improve on that in a future version.
If you want to see the full build, check out the video below. Or, immediately dive into [Kyle]’s Github, order the cute Takara shell, and get started!
This DIY lasertag project designed by [Nii], which he brought to Tokyo Maker Faire back in September, is a treasure trove. It’s all in Japanese and you’ll need to visit X (formerly Twitter) to see it, but the images do a fine job of getting the essentials across and your favorite translator tool will do a fair job of the rest.
There’s a whole lot to admire in this project. The swing-out transparent OLED display is super slick, the electronics are housed on a single PCB, the back half of the grip is in fact a portable USB power bank that slots directly in to provide power, and there’s a really smart use of a short RGB LED strip for effects.
The optical elements show some inspired design, as well. An infrared LED points forward, and with the help of a lens, focuses the beam tightly enough to make aiming meaningful. For detecting hits, the top of the pistol conceals a custom-made reflector that directs any IR downward into a receiver, making it omnidirectional in terms of hit sensing but only needing a single sensor.
Want to know more? Check out [Nii]’s earlier prototypes on his website. It’s clear this has been in the works for a while, so if you like seeing how a project develops, you’re in for a treat.
For fans of retro games, Pac-Man is nothing short of iconic—a game so loved it’s been ported to nearly every console imaginable. But the Atari 2600 version, released in 1982, left players scratching their heads – as laid out in a video by [Almost Something]. Atari had licensed Pac-Man to ride the wave of its arcade success, but the home version, programmed solely by [Todd Fry], missed the mark, turning an arcade icon into a surprising lesson in over-ambitious marketing.
Despite the hype, [Fry] faced an almost impossible task: translating Pac-Man’s detailed graphics and complex gameplay to the Atari’s limited 4 K cartridge with only 128 bytes of RAM. Atari’s strict limitations on black backgrounds and its choice to cut costs by sticking with a 4 K cartridge left the game barely recognizable. The famous pellet-chomping maze became simpler, colors were changed, and the iconic ghosts—reduced to single colors—flickered constantly. And then, Atari went all in, producing twelve million copies, betting on the success of universal appeal. In a twist, Pac-Man did sell in record numbers (over seven million copies) but still fell short of Atari’s expectations, leaving millions of unsold cartridges eventually dumped in a New Mexico landfill.
This debacle even kind of marked Atari’s 1983 decline. Still, Pac-Man survived the hiccup, evolving and outlasting its flawed adaptation on the 2600. If you’re interested in learning more about the ins and outs of game ports, check out the fantastic talk [Bob Hickman] gave during Supercon 2023.
We have probably all been there: that sudden memory of playing a (video) game and the good memories associated with said memory. Yet how advisable is it to try and re-experience those nostalgic moments? That’s what [Matt] of the Techmoan YouTube channel decided to give a whirl when he ordered the Arcade1Up Pong 2 Player Countercade game system. This comes loaded with multiple variants of the Pong game, including Pong Doubles and Pong Sports, in addition to Warlords, Super Breakout and Tempest. This unit as the name suggests allows for head-to-head two-player gaming.
This kind of ‘countercade’ system is of course much smaller than arcade versions, but you would expect it to give the Pong clones which [Matt] played as a youngster a run for their money at least. Ultimately [Matt] – after some multiplayer games with the Ms. – concluded that this particular nostalgia itch was one that didn’t have to be scratched any more. While the small screen of this countercade system and clumsy interface didn’t help much, maybe Pong just isn’t the kind of game that has a place in 2024?
From our own point of view of having played Pong (and many other ‘old’ games) on a variety of old consoles at retro events & museums, it can still be a blast to play even just Pong against a random stranger at these places. Maybe the issue here is that nostalgia is more about the circumstances of the memory and less of the particular game or product in question. Much like playing Mario Kart 64 on that 20″ CRT TV with three buddies versus an online match in a modern Mario Kart. It’s just not the same vibe.
Desde que Epic Games Store se lanzó en diciembre del 2018, Epic prometió dar un juego cada quince días a lo largo del 2019. Luego, el 23 de mayo de 2019, comenzó a regalar un juego por semana, y hasta dos o tres títulos en el mismo día en ciertas fechas.
El 12 de diciembre de 2019, Epic Games Store anunció que un nuevo juego sería gratuito cada día desde el 19 de diciembre de 2019 hasta finales de 2019 bajo un subprograma de «12 días de juegos gratis». El 1 de enero de 2020, Epic Games Store extendió el programa hasta 2020.
El 10 de diciembre de 2020, Epic Games Store anunció que regalaría un juego gratuito cada día desde el 17 de diciembre de 2020 hasta finales de 2020 bajo un subprograma de «15 días de juegos gratis». El programa se repitió en el 2021, 2022, 2023 y seguramente se repetirá este año.
Listado de juegos regalados por Epic Games Store desde diciembre del 2018 hasta la fecha
El número total de entradas en esta lista de Epic Games Store es de 503, a lo cual hay que restarles 54 juegos repetidos y sumar los siguientes títulos y restar los DLCs y/o add-ons si queremos contabilizar juegos individuales:
+ 4 (The Jackbox Party Pack que incluye 5 juegos)
+ 1 (Borderlands: The Handsome Collection que incluye 2 juegos)
+ 6 (Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection que incluye 7 juegos)
+ 1 (The Alto Collection que incluye 2 juegos)
+ 2 (Shadowrun Collection que incluye 3 juegos)
+ 2 (BioShock: The Collection que incluye 3 juegos)
+ 1 (Lisa: Definitive Edition que incluye 2 juegos)
– 21 DLCs y complementos.
El número total de títulos regalados en Epic Games Store, en definitiva hace un total de 458, valuado en más de US$ 10.000 si lo calculamos a su costo de venta en EE.UU. El monto exacto de US$ 10.277 fue calculado por Statistica y no comprende los juegos regalados en el 2024 (que serían fácilmente otros US$ 2000 o más).
En pocas palabras, tranquilamente podríamos decir que el costo de una cuenta de Epic con todo lo que se regaló en Epic Games Store desde diciembre del 2018 hasta ahora, supera los US$ 11.277 y podría valer más de US$ 12.000 cuando termina el año -si es que canjean todos los juegos que regalan, claro.
Juegos repetidos – DLCs o Complementos para Juegos Gratuitos
Booom is a fun platform that lets you create your own AI generated trivia and social games. There are lots of templates for getting your game set up and running, or you can create your own games from scratch using the AI editor (currently in beta). You can even invite up to 8 friends to […]
Yandere AI Girlfriend Simulator is an immersive escape room game where you interact with an intelligent AI girlfriend character powered by ChatGPT. This game has been blowing up in popularity across social media recently, especially on TikTok and YouTube! The goal of the game is to convince your AI girlfriend to let you escape, through […]
charades.ai is a fun word guessing game that uses AI to play charades. You are shown an image generated by DALL-E and have 5 chances to guess the 5-letter word prompt that was used to create it. With a new round each day, it puts an AI spin on the classic game charades! Correct letters […]
AI Dungeon is a text-based game that uses AI to generate an endless, unique story based on your text prompts and decisions. It allows players to input their own choices and actions, and the AI will respond with appropriate and unpredictable outcomes. It can be used as a creative tool for writing, as well as […]
Backseat AI is a Riot-approved AI companion that offers live coaching, pro builds, stats, runes, and counters for League of Legends players. Developed in collaboration with the popular live streamer Tyler1, this free tool provides a fun experience for fans along with real-time commentary and analysis throughout your matches. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or […]
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claims might seem suspicious at first, but the fact that the build is powered by a Framework mainboard makes the dream seem attainable. Using an 8″ touchscreen and a rehoused mobile device controller, the 3D printed enclosure turns the PCB and battery into an interesting alternative to a Steam Deck.
In the spirit of 
