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Tech

Pac-Man, Tetris Among MoMA’s First Video Game Acquisitions

By Judy Berman on

“But it’s art, Ma.” Teenagers, rejoice, for MoMA has legitimized what you’ve been telling your parents for years. The museum has announced its first video game acquisitions, a collection that includes 14 titles ranging from classics like Pac-Man and Tetris to more contemporary game-design paragons including Katamari Damacy and Portal. According to Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design, this is only the beginning of “an initial wish list of about 40 to be acquire in the near future.” Kottke points out that Nintendo titles are conspicuously absent, likely because negotiations with the company are still in progress. Check out the rest of the games MoMA bought, all of which will be on view (and, we assume, available for playing) at the museum in March 2013, after the jump. … Read More

Music

Famous Songs as Reinterpreted by Tech Nerds

By Victoria McNally on

If there’s one thing nerds on the Internet are really, really amazing at — you know, other than science and inventing and math and learning useless facts about science fiction franchises — it’s using technology and creativity to reinterpret their favorite things. Ever wonder who was the first guy to figure out how to play music using the tones on a Touch-Tone phone? It was probably a nerd! And technology buffs all over the globe have only expanded their efforts in synchronizing music and machines since then. Have a listen to some of these incredibly done covers and let us know what you think! … Read More

Pop Culture

Watch MIT Students Transform I.M. Pei Building into Playable Tetris Game

By Architizer on

There are end-of-term pranks, and then there are end-of-term hacks. MIT students have been known to integrate entire campus buildings into theirs, the most famous (and coolest) example being the Great Dome’s transformation into everyone’s favorite droid, R2-D2. The latest hack occurred last night, when a team of students programmed a monumental game of color (!) Tetris on the gridded facade of MIT’s Green Building. Designed by I.M. Pei, the concrete structure is the tallest building in Cambridge, and its modular frame of windows proved the ideal vehicle for the task. These factors marked the tower prime real estate for future hacks, so much so that “Tetris on the Green Building” had long been coveted as the “Holy Grail of hacks.” Apparently, the students used a joystick mounted on a podium at ground level to control the game, which mimicked the original’s title scroll and its classic “game over” animation. You can watch the video below to see how the night played out. … Read More

Pop Culture

When Life Imitates Video Games: The Best Real-World Reenactments

By Christine Jordan on

In every geeky gamer’s life, there comes a time where he realizes he really, really needs to stop playing video games and get outside. Sometimes the fresh air and sunlight isn’t enough to set ‘em straight, though — in fact, we’ve found an almost alarming number of real-life video game recreations, from life-sized Tetris with human pieces to supermarket rounds of Pac Man. Below, check out our favorite off-screen video game love letters, which are precisely 35% awesome, 15% disturbing, and 50% “How on earth does anybody have that much free time?” … Read More

Web

Video of the Day: Vintage Video Games on Fire

By Caroline Stanley on

Pong. Tetris. Pac-Man. Your favorite vintage video games are all featured in the video after the jump, and they’re all on fire thanks to YouTube user brusspup. This amazing animation took him took him over two weeks, plus “a lot of fire, a lot of smoke, a lot of heat, and a whole lot of frustration.” Click through and indulge in some ’8os nostalgia. … Read More

Photography

Pic of the Day: Things That Look Like Tetris Pieces

By Caroline Stanley on

The collection of photos in L-plate big cheese‘s “Tetris Tetris everywhere” Flickr gallery totally made our morning, while simultaneously stirring up some serious nostalgia for our old NES. More images, along with running commentary from L-plate, after the jump. … Read More

Cocktails

Terminator Cocktails: The Rise of the Robot Bartenders

By Peter Joseph on

Sorry Copenhagen: Not all of today’s visionary thinkers are focused on cloud-sourcing and climate change. Some of them are doing important work behind the bar, as well. While most drinkers are happy to enjoy a decade-old scotch or a classic cocktail, there are plenty who are not so old-fashioned. Here, we review some of the brave souls exploring unknown territory in alcohol-based… Read More

Art

Video of the Day: Architecture Tetris

By Kelsey Keith on

Designer-in-training Sergej Hein animated this entertaining parody of Soviet Bloc architecture, filtered through the early ’90s pop culture touchstone Tetris. Hein, who grew up in Riga and later East Berlin, explains, “They used to build cheap housing for workers…. These ‘blocks’ were so similar that in Soviet times, you could easily wake up at a friend’s place in another city and still feel like you are in your flat. Even the furniture was the same.”In an interview with YouTube’s Creator’s Corner Blog, he outlines the production trickery involved: a 3D animation of the building (basically an edited version of the block apartments across the street from Hein’s own residence), plus a time-lapse sky sequence the designer shot with hisDSLR (one photo every five seconds over the duration of three hours, compressed to 1:21 minutes in length).… Read More