No Quarters Required

Windmills. Tulips. Wooden shoes. These items may represent your estimation of Dutch life and culture. Allow me to disabuse you of the notion that no GP-worthy innovation has come from that low-lying pastoral wonderland known as the Netherlands. For years, we (I) have been dreaming of a way to play the arcade and console classics of yesteryear in a manner befitting their original button-mashing glory. It would seem that the anguished cries emanating from the corridors here at Gear Patrol HQ have been heard by a young Dutchman, named Martijn Koch. His answer: retro space.

Paying homage to the first coin-operated arcade cabinet, “Computer Space” which debuted in 1971, retro space fearlessly collides a nostalgic design with the latest in construction and gaming hardware. This sleek beast will satiate your hunger for audio/visual stimulation by way of a 24 inch 1080p LCD display married to 200 watts of audiophile quality sound. The cabinet is precision milled, offered in a variety of slick hues, and features an anodized aluminum control panel to support and cool your sweaty mitts. Add to that the brains to emulate over 100 licensed arcade classics or your collection of 8 and 16 bit ROMS and you’ve got yourself a veritable retro-game-gasm.

What this means to you: Suffice it to say, retro space is the bar for which all retro games (any for that matter) should be held. Say hello to the newest addition to your game room.

Cost: $7150 - $8590 @ Retro Space

His knee looks fine to us.

Nope, it’s not CBS Sports - you’re looking at Tiger Woods 09.

For ten years running, EA Sports’ venerable Tiger Woods Golf series has steadily improved the virtual golf experience for the teeming hordes of digital duffers. This year’s game is certainly no exception. Rendered in the same high-def glory as your favorite fourth round telecast, Tiger Woods 09 offers you access to some of golf’s most hallowed grounds all for the cost of a dozen Pro V1s. Considering the fact that you’d be lucky to escape with any of those pricey orbs intact following a round at any of the game’s courses, Tiger Woods 09 might sit atop the standings in the golf-value department.

Annual Tiger devotees will be pleased with the addition of several new features to this iteration; club tuning allows you to adjust face bias and perimeter weighting like you are tweaking Indy car gear ratios. EA’s player creator is still second to none, allowing you to craft your own custom golfer (think you, with bigger muscles). Dynamic skill adjustment promises to keep the game challenging for veterans and neophytes alike. Even Tiger’s own swing coach, Hank Haney, cameos to orchestrate your range routine. Wii owners should stretch before swinging as they’ll be tested with 1:1 motion control over their digital doppelgangers.

What this means to you: Tiger Woods 09 is the most immersive golf experience to date for home console players. If you’d like to get your feet wet without paying a dime, download the free demo available on both Xbox Live and Playstation Network.

Cost: PS3 ($59) | Xbox 360 ($59) | Wii ($49)

Also See: Free Course Wallpapers on EA Sports

One Step Closer To Actually Being Roger Goodell

The holy grail of virtual gridirons

Believe it or not, that most magical of annual gaming occurrences is upon us once again. Yes, prepare to burn one of your cherished sick days, as the yearly celebration of Maddenoliday is less than a week away. Never mind that Madden NFL 09’s cover boy happens to be wearing the wrong shade of green, this year’s anniversary edition promises to be the most accurate and complete football simulation that you’ve every laid your sweaty mitts on.
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If you haven’t played any of the Meetal Gear series then MSG4 is a good way to get your feet wet. Guns of the Patriots is the fourth installment of the Metal Gear Solid series, by Kojima Productions and if you’ve seen the game trailers then you know this game is nothing short of bad ass.

Game synopsis, trailer and thoughts after the jump.

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The Apple MacPro Tower might be a gorgeous desktop, in the realm of computers, but the Voodoo Omen is more of a monolithic shrine to the gaming gods. Almost as if it were cut out of a single block of… um… badness.

Voodoo Omen’s austere exterior belies the interior components though. Inside you’ll find a quad radiator and copper cooling pipes, a Voodoo Omen all aluminum chassis, vertical thermal diffusion cooling, built-in 7-inch auxiliary LCD display, tool-less architeecture, top-loading cables for cleaner access, 14 color choices, laser engraving, RGB accent lighting and a price tag that will require a home equity loan. [via Gizmodo]

Cost: $6,500 - $22,000 @ VoodooPC | June 2008

Don’t have the money to get yourself into a Porsche yet? (ED: pronounced “Por-sha”, for the love of all that is holy and good, please stop saying “poursch”)

Well, the high five and six figure price tags may be a barrier to entry, but that doesn’t mean you can’t experience a taste, albeit virtually. The Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S Wheel comes with a hand-stitched leather steering wheel with metal badge, three-pedal set and interchangeable gearshifts (six-speed manual or Tiptronic sequential). The icing on the cake is the included 1GB USB drive in the shape of a Porsche key. [via BornRich]

Works on PC or PS3.

Cost: $325 @ Fanatec