This DIY Kit Turns Your Game Boy Advance SP Into An Arcade

The Game Boy Advance SP is one of the best handheld systems ever made, fixing nearly every issue the original Game Boy Advance model had while also lookin a whole lot sleeker. It’s also, apparently, the perfect system to use in a DIY-style tiny arcade kit, and you can buy one for yourself now.

Available in a variety of styles from the Etsy seller RetroJoyGaming, these Game Boy Advance mini arcade kits come with pre-sized pieces of wood that have been stained and oiled, leaving room for you to pop your open system in and start gaming like you’re playing on an arcade cabinet. There are even little marked cutouts for where the shoulder and power buttons go so you don’t need to remove it to turn it off or play a more complex game.

You’ll also get a design template in case you want to then add your own custom artwork to it, and you can pop your system back out if you want to use it the standard way again.

As an optional mod, you can add a tiny joystick to the control pad, though this does require screwing it in place and should really only be done if you don’t plan on using the Game Boy Advance SP for anything else.

It’s certainly a unique take on the at-home arcade space and quite a bit cheaper than the pre-made machines available from other companies. With lots of arcade ports available on the Game Boy Advance, as well, it’ll feel even more authentic to play on it.

Comic-Con Special Edition Scheduled For Thanksgiving Weekend

With vaccines rolling out more widely in the United States and daily new COVID-19 cases a fraction of what they were a few months ago, San Diego Comic-Con has been scheduled as an in-person event for later this year. However, it’s going to be held on Thanksgiving weekend, which could throw a wrench in plans to see your family.

Comic-Con Special Edition will take place at the San Diego Convention Center as a three-day event from November 26 through November 28. That means it starts the day after Thanksgiving, assuming the health situation allows for it.

“It is our hope that by Fall, conditions will permit larger public gatherings,” Comic-Con International said in a statement.

The organization also emphasized in the statement that despite online-only events replacing the in-person ones, it has experienced revenue loss that led to pay cuts for its employees. It’s hoping that can be turned around with Comic-Con Special Edition, but the decision to host it on Thanksgiving weekend almost certainly means a great deal of local San Diego workers at places like restaurants and hotels will also be forced to work over that weekend instead of spending time with their families.

Some other major 2021 conventions are still up in the air–at least publicly–such as E3. According to Los Angeles city documents, the in-person component has been canceled and replaced with digital events. Separate digital events from various game publishers replaced E3 in 2020, and the ESA told GameSpot that it was “transforming” E3 for 2021, in some form or another.

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Rust: Console Edition Comes To PS4 And Xbox One May 21

After previously sharing a vague Spring 2021 window for Rust: Console Edition, the development team at Double Eleven has finally given a firm launch date: May 21. The launch comes after major optimization challenges that were needed to get the game running on systems with significantly less power than the PCs required to run the original version.

In a post on its website, Rust: Console Edition studio Double Eleven–the PC version was made by Facepunch Studios–said it needed to get the game working with 4.5 GB of RAM, despite the PC version having a minimum 10 GB requirement. This required rewriting much of the game in the Unity engine, but it still had extremely long loading times that could hit 45 minutes. Further optimization tricks cut this down to about one minute.

“We have got to a level of performance and stability that the majority of our beta testers seem to be happy with, and we are in the background striving to make it better every day!” said community manager Pedro Silva.

It took three years to create Rust: Console Edition, and the game will continue receiving new updates alongside the PC version, though these will not be the same updates the other version receives. It will remain a separate experience with its own roadmap and community.

Earlier this year, the original PC version of Rust saw a huge surge in popularity after big-name streamers took an interest in the game. It was the top-streamed game on Twitch for a time, even beating out the behemoth League of Legends.

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Daily Deals: Oculus Quest 2 Discounted at Newegg

Carrying over from Friday, the Oculus Quest 2 continues to be discounted over at Newegg thanks to a promotion they have running. The Quest 2 is a great way to get into the VR world, as it offers a cable free experience but can also be hooked up to a PC later for more intense VR sessions. Monster Hunter Rise is also out, so if you’ve yet to pick that up, check down below for some handy links to get you started on that journey!

Buy 2 Get 1 Free on Harry Potter The Illustrated Edition Books

All 4 books are eligible; get 3 books for as low as $49 (or $16.45 per book)

Amazon is currently hosting a Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale, and this is the first time ever that all four books are eligible. If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter books and you haven’t seen any of these coveted hardcover editions, you are seriously missing out. The illustrated editions are easily the best Harry Potter books you can get, and especially so if they’re intended for children and kids with short attention spans. There are hundreds of beautiful illustrations, some full cover and some interspersed among the text, that are extremely well done. The one caveat is that only the first four books in the series have undergone the illustrated treatment. Even if you were to get the three most expensive books, you’d be paying about $55, or only $18 per book.

Add three books to your cart and check out to see the 3 for 2 discount

AtGames Legends Ultimate Home Arcade for $499 Shipped

The AtGames Legends Ultimate Home Arcade normally can only be purchased at Sam’s Club. That means you’d need a membership or pay the 10% surcharge fee. Shipping isn’t usually included, either. Now you can get it at Walmart for the same price, with no membership, and with free shipping. This is a full-sized cabinet that’s much more robust than your typical Arcade1Up cabinet. It features a generously sized high-definition 24″ LCD monitor and two player setup (each player gets a joystick, six action buttons, and a spinner). There’s also a trackball for precision gameplay like in Centipede. Speaking of which, the biggest draw are the 300 licensed arcade and console games that are preinstalled. That includes classics like Missile Command, Asteroid, Space Invaders, Burger Time, Fix It Felix, and much much more. If you have the technical know-how, you can also add in your own games with a USB flash drive. If you want our hands on impression, check out our IGN review for this arcade cabinet.

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