Retro Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Musubo's stylish iPhone cases bring fun and flair to a crowded market

by Steven Sande (May 8th, 2012)

In my daily work for TUAW I see a lot of iPhone cases. For the most part, it's hard to distinguish one from the other, so when Musubo offered to send me a set of their new iPhone 4/4S cases I took a quick look at them first. It's a good thing I did, because what I found was a set of fun and ...

iPhone case doubles as a Magna Doodle

by Mike Schramm (Apr 16th, 2012)

I think this is great, and I assume that other "children of the '80s" will agree. The iFoolish is a silly name for an iPhone case that's actually got a working Magna Doodle on the back. Sure, they can't use the name, but that's a Magna Doodle all right. A little magnet on a pen that you can use ...

Ultra-rare Apple WALT up for grabs on eBay

by Steven Sande (Mar 11th, 2012)

TUAW readers who are into collecting Apple devices are going to love this eBay find: a prototype of an unreleased product from 1993. The Apple WALT (Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone) was introduced at Macworld Boston in '93, the same venue where the ill-fated Newton MessagePad first went on sale. ...

Mofone iPhone case puts old school grip on a new school dialer

by Mike Schramm (Dec 5th, 2011)

I remember back when the iPhone was so new that you had to build your own retro handset for it, even before little companies started making their own products. But the retro handset trend has fully moved into the mainstream at this point, with the Mofone case now being sold at none other than ...

Chrono Trigger screenshots out, with touch controls and redone menus

by Mike Schramm (Nov 21st, 2011)

Square Enix's Members site has posted a few screenshots of the long-awaited release of Chrono Trigger on iOS, and truth be told, they're a little disappointing. Don't worry -- the game is still there, and as one of the best console RPGs of all time, I'm still excited to play through it again on ...

Huge Apple memorabilia collection up for auction on eBay

by Mike Schramm (Nov 9th, 2011)

TUAW reader Kray Mitchell sent along a link to let us know he's posted a whole bunch of his collection of Apple memorabilia from over the years on eBay, and even if you don't have the cash to pick up this stuff at all, it's at least interesting to browse through it. He's got an original Newton ...

Daily iPhone App: Wizardry Labyrinth of Lost Souls

by Mike Schramm (Nov 8th, 2011)

I'm torn on spotlighting Wizardry here -- on the one hand, it's a pretty successful rendition of the old computer role-playing games made for the Apple II and other platforms. Once you figure it out, the turn-based gameplay is nicely complex and provides for some pretty fun dungeon crawling, ...

The original Apple TV, the interactive television box

by Mike Schramm (Sep 15th, 2011)

Even some old-schoolers might not know this, but Apple's more recent foray into the living room with the Apple TV wasn't the first time it has attempted that jump. You've probably heard of the home console Pippin, but Apple also spent part of the '90s working on an interactive television box, a ...

TUAW's Daily iPhone App: 8-bit vs. 16-bit

by Mike Schramm (Aug 3rd, 2011)

8-bit vs. 16-bit is a standard arcade shooter (in which you take down enemies as they fly at you on a 2D screen) with one very meta twist: You can flip back and forth between an 8-bit (as in, the old NES and Atari-style graphics) and a 16-bit (like a Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis) mode at any time. ...

Make your iPad 2 look like a Gameboy with this retro gaming case

by Kelly Hodgkins (Aug 2nd, 2011)

Lootiful has a line of snap-on iPWN cases that protect your iPhone in style by making it look like a Nintendo Gameboy. The business, run by a single graphics designer, has now extended its retro gaming cases to the iPad 2. The iPad 2 version is identical to the iPhone 4 and 3G/3GS version. ...

Jailbreak app iMAME4All adds iCade support

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jul 11th, 2011)

The latest version of iMAME4All, a jailbreak app that lets you play retro arcade games on your iOS device, added support for the iCade desktop arcade cabinet for the iPad. It lets you play any MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) compatible ROM on your iCade and opens it up to a variety of ...

iCade, the almost-ultimate gaming accessory for your iPad (updated)

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Jun 24th, 2011)

I've been playtesting the iCade for a few weeks now to see how it holds up under "real world" use. The iCade began as a joke product on ThinkGeek's website but was then produced by ION Audio as a real, working arcade cabinet for the iPad. Using Bluetooth to connect to your iPad, the iCade ...

PadRacer lets you draw your own track, join two iPads together and steer with iPhones

by Samuel Gibbs (May 25th, 2011)

Retro 2D top-down racing is enjoying somewhat of a comeback thanks to the iPad. The large screen and adaptable control schemes mean that games like Micro Machines are once again fun to play on a portable screen. PadRacer is one such top-down racing game that takes retro to a whole new level ...

HipstaCase iPhone case perfect for Hipstamatic hipsters

by Mike Schramm (Apr 29th, 2011)

The folks behind the Hipstamatic iPhone app are ready to let you take the old-school camera vibe all the way. They've introduced a Hipstamatic iPhone case called (what else?) the HipstaCase, and while it isn't quite as functional as that concept Leica iPhone case we posted the other day (it's ...

Capcom's free Arcade adds Final Fight, 1943

by Mike Schramm (Apr 5th, 2011)

Capcom has added two more titles to its free Capcom Arcade app, which hit the App Store a while ago. First up is the classic beat-em-up Final Fight, and it's a big retro release for Capcom -- the company has even changed the app's name and icon just to celebrate. Final Fight's a great game, as ...