The Guinness World Record for the largest videogame controller on the planet has been broken! British electrical engineering student Ben Allen along with co-creators Stephen van 't Hof and Michel Verhulst put together a gigantic 12ft x 5ft 3 in x 1ft 8 in, 18 stone NES controller to take the title, a joypad so big it needs two people to operate!

"The idea basically came from a brainstorm," said Allen.

"We were sitting around between lectures having a chat and a coffee, someone came up with the NES idea and we ran with it. From the conception to the completion of the controller took about six months, and after spending a lot of time planning, the actual build took about four weeks. There were lots of late nights, and lots of not sleeping! In fact, I even fell asleep on the controller for about half an hour one night!"

Showcasing the achievement at London's Liverpool Street Station, Tech Digest got some hands-on time with the daddy of all retro controllers. Though it takes some getting used to, the oversize buttons responded really well, pushing back against our hands with a satisfyingly spongy feel. Tech Digest, alongside Shiny Shiny's Becca, managed a respectable 67 lines on the NES version of Tetris, a potential record in itself on the unique controller.

But construction wasn't simply a matter of scaling up components found in a regular NES joypad. After a few nights spent stress-testing the unit in a rowdy local pub, Allen's team quickly realised the original iconic design couldn't withstand the repeated button presses made when playing scaled up to the new size.

"In the original controller there's just a bit of padding on the back of each button and a mesh on the circuit board," explained Allen.

"When you press the pad there it short circuits the mesh and pulls the signal low. Here we do it slightly differently. The mechanical switches in our prototype broke, so we went with a light-based system with a sensor. When you press a button, the light beam hitting the sensor is broken, the sensor filters that information and pushes it to the same electronics as used in the original NES controller, which then in turn registers your intended inputs."

So, could anyone make a working version similar to the record breaking kit on show? Allen, who studies at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, believes so:

"If you wanted to do it at home I reckon you could. Perhaps using a wooden frame rather than the stress-tested steel frame we've built, without the car wheel ball bearings too. Though it's not a cheap thing to do, if you had three guys, working four full-time weeks, you could probably do this, and some more."

The event was held in order to promote the release of the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012, which also features other quirky gaming records like "Longest Gaming Session in Free-Fall" and "Largest Competitive Pokémon Videogame Family". We can't begin to imagine what the conversation around that family dinner table must be like!

"We've been burning the midnight oil like ninjas for the 2012 Gamer's Edition: witnessing record attempts, talking to developers and playing as many videogames as we could handle." said Guinness World Records Gaming Editor, Gaz Deaves.

"Gamers all over the world can finally get their hands on the result of our hard labour, and this year's book packed with all the amazing records, facts and feats that they have a right to expect from Guinness World Records."

Out on Thursday 19th January, the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012 will be available from all good bookstores. And some rubbish ones too!

iPad this and 3DTV that! Who said Christmas had to be all about high-tech gadgetry?

Well, us probably! But that doesn't mean we don't have a soft spot for simpler times. So why not jump in the back of Tech Digest's Delorean and take a trip down memory lane, as we pick ten of our favourite retro (and retro inspired) gifts to pop on your Christmas wishlist.

When you're done here, be sure to check out the rest of Tech Digest's 2011 Christmas wishlists too.

We were all feeling quite nostalgic about reports that the "last typewriter manufacturer in the world", Godrej and Boyce, has shut down its factory in Mumbai, India. This would then meant the humble typewriter would likely go the way of the floppy disc. But it seems we were a little premature with the eulogies - the machinery is still in production, according to reports from Gawker.

Quotes Gawker: "The typewriter is "far from dead," said Ed Michael, general manager of sales at New Jersey-based typewriter manufacturer Swintec. "We have manufacturers making typewriters for us in China, Japan, Indonesia. ... We have contracts with correctional facilities in 43 states to supply clear typewriters for inmates so they can't hide contraband inside them."

While some countries, such as India, still use a fair few typewriters, there is also a significant nostalgia market for the retro gadget. If reports of demise one day were to be true, we would likely see a revival of the gadget - like we did with Polaroid.

The typewriter was first introduced in 1714 by Hentry Mill, before the device was entered into mass production in 1868 in the US. Sales peaked in the 1950s when Smith-Corona sold 12 million of the machines in the last quarter of 1953. By 2009, only 400,000 typewriters were sold annually.

The much-loved Commodore 64 PC is to rise like a phoenix from the flames this summer, reborn as the souped-up C64x

Housed in the same old-skool casing as the original Commodore 64, the updated C64x will have specs fit for a modern day PC.

A 1.8Ghz dual-core Intel Atom D525 processor, Nvidia graphics chip, HDMI port, up to 1TB hard drive, 2 or 4GB RAM options and an optional Blu-ray player will all fit snugly inside the brown chunky keyboard.

And, for you older gaming geeks hankering for a bit of 8-bit retro playtime, it'll even come with an integrated C64 emulator.

Pre-orders start at around £365 ($595) with the first units set to ship in May.

Okay so I wont be giving up my record player any time soon but I do kind of love this Soundwagon record player. Officially licensed by Volkswagen, this mini hyper-portable record player is modeled after the VW's classic bus.

The wonderfully detailed bus has a built-in needle powered by a nine volt battery, so all you need to do is drop the wagon on a record and let it ride. Check out the wagon in action above.

A joint production with Atari, the Ion iCade tuns your iPad into a eighties style Atari games console complete with those indestructible knobs and buttons. Apparently the whole back catalogue of Atari is now on iTunes so you can play Asteroids and all the others. The iCade has pretty good speaker system too so it doubles as neat audio accessory for your Apple gadget.

How about a record player that you can hang on the wall? Ion Audio's Vertical Vinyl Record Deck is either battery or mains powered, comes with a wall bracket and looks great. Coming in Spring for £49. Check out the other 'Burger style' deck too.

Adding new tech to retro electronic deisgns is normally a recipie for disaster as you can invariably tell that whoever put the products together doesn't have an affinity for the original design.

That is absolutely not the case with Crossley Radio (think a US version of Bush or Roberts Radio) whose new line of up record decks and radios look amazing. Sure they come with USB connectors and other contemporary features, but they really do have the spirit and feel of the 50s/60s products they are aping.

I am very fussy about this type of stuff but I would have no qualms about giving the Crossley record decks house space. They ship to the UK too!

French designer David Turpin has teamed up with Native Union to create the Moshi Moshi 'POP' handset for mobile phones. The fantastic retro style handset, is based on Turpin's interpretation of the classic 1950s Bakelite telephone.

The Moshi Moshi line is designed to offer users the convenience and comfort of a traditional phone, but still give them access to the full range of features on their phones. The POP handset connects to a mobile phone using a 3.5mm jack allowing the user to make a receive calls through the handset. It also comes with a USB adaptor to attach the phone to a computer

In the past few months there has been a lot of discussion about the impact that radiation emitted by mobile devices may be having on our health and its link to an increased risk of cancer. One solution to this problem is to use a handsets to reduce your direct contact with your mobile device. The Moshi Moshi line through independent testing was found to reduce this threat by 99.9%.

The handset is available in pink, yellow, purple, blue and green.

It seems like the BoomBox is about to make a bit of a come back, with even Urban Outfitters carrying an iPhone Boombox. While it has a retro cool look to it, we miss the real thing and began a bit of a hunt to track down the stars of this 80's phenomenon from the JVC R646 to the Grundig RR 1000

The boombox, which reached its prime in the the 1980s, and was the must have item of the decade with 1000's of different models released. So we were super excited to come across this amazing site stereo80s.com completely dedicated to the single piece Boomboxes of the 80's. The site is constantly being updated with the goal of having information on every boombox ever in one place.
Make sure to check it out and see if you can find your old boombox.

Currently there are hundreds of boomboxes in the database so we decided to compile a list of 10 ghetto fabulous boomboxes.

From musicians making music on 8 tracks,to photographers rediscovering film, there has undeniably been an interest in returning to analogue technologies in recent years. It seems that hardly anyone I know under the age of 30 does not own at least a few vinyl albums, or a film camera. This might just be my friends, but the fact that you can buy record players and Lomo cameras in shops like Urban Outfitters, suggests its relatively mainstream.

As technology and gadgets become more and more sophisticated there seems to be an increasing desire to hold on to old technologies, if only for nostalgia's sake. Vinyl in many ways has been the poster boy for this trend back to analogue, demonstrated by the fact that as CD sales fell by the way side, vinyl sales have continued to rise over the last two years.

So undeniably we are still invested in analogue tech. So why did Sony put the final nail in the Walkman coffin this week? They cited low consumer interest in the product for their decision to end production after 30 years, but when was the last time they did anything to even make you aware that the product was still around?

Regardless, I believe that Sony has missed the boat by failing to jump on the analogue trend. Especially as the cassette seems to be following in vinyl's shoes and is on the verge of making a come back.

In the last year numerous indie bands have started to release music on cassette, including the likes of "Of Montreal," "Internet Forever," "Sky Larkin," "Seams," and the list goes on. In fact last week it came to my attention that there are tape-only labels starting to emerge, such as new London label "Cool In A Crisis".

So with cassettes set to be the next big trend in analogue tech, did Sony pull the plug on their Walkman a little to soon?

Smartphones, tablets, 3D TVs; who needs em? Back in my day it wasn't about whether or not your mobile could multi-task, but rather if it would fit in your rucksack without the weight of it snapping your spine in two. 3D TV was but a futuristic dream as we made do with the snow-storms of analogue TV receptions, while tablets were something you took when you had had a particularly heavy night on the town.

With technology progressing so quickly these days it's easy to forget the trailblazing products that paved the way for the iPods and PlayStations we now take for granted, not to mention some of the quirkier tech ideas that were perhaps better off left on the drawing board.

So let's turn back the clock, scour the online boot-sale that is eBay.co.uk and dig out 10 great retro gadget gems.

Click below to get started.

Remember the uber-cool self-lacing trainers that featured in Back to the Future II? If you don't, firstly there's no way we're ever going to be friends. Secondly, hit the video below to check them out.

Remember now? Well today those trainers took one small step towards becoming a reality after news has spread that Nike have filed a patent with an aim towards possibly developing a pair. Lights, recharging batteries as well as the auto-tying could all feature should they ever be fully developed.

While one side of me would kill to have a pair of motorised auto-lacing Nike trainers, the other half of me would always be worried that they'd get wet in the rain and go into meltdown, lopping off my feet in the process. That would not be cool. The below clip of a custom job however is the very definition of cool.

For the record, considering Back to the Future II's 1989 release date and the movie's time-travelling now-near-future setting, figuring out whether to file this story under "Retro Gear" or "Future Gear" nearly caused me to have some sort of minor existential breakdown. That's what you get when you mess with the space/time continuum I suppose.

Via: Engadget

Pure and Marshall have joined forces once again to revamp their rocking Evoke Marshall range with the Evoke 1S Marshall radio.

Now complete with an aux-input for MP3 players, it also features an FM radio, an OLED display and support for all Profile 1 digital standards such as DAB, DAB+ and DAB-R, making it travel friendly if you take it on any European trips. While it runs off of mains power, it's also compatible with the Pure ChargePak, allowing you to use it when a plug socket isn't handy.

Made with as many real Marshall amp bits and bobs they could find, the solid wood radio is as sturdy as any full size radio, and, in a cheeky nod to classic mockumentary Spinal Tap, has a volume knob that goes all the way up to "11".

It's one drawback is that it only plays your tunes in mono-output, unless you fork out an extra £34.99 for the mini-Marshall amp auxiliary speaker to go along with it.

Paul Marshall of Marshall Amplification said: "We're excited to bring the Marshall brand back to this fast growing segment of consumer electronics. Working with PURE we've created a digital radio that brings iconic Marshall design to an equally iconic radio that all listeners can embrace as a stylish statement of their love for music."
 
Available from HMV in August, the EVOKE-1S Marshall will cost £119.99.

The floppy-disc may have gone the way of the Dodo, but there is one ageing technology that may yet prove to be as resilient as a cockroach; the cassette tape. Maybe it's the sentimentality that we attach to our favourite music, or that Sony are keen to do right by format that filled their coffers back in the 1980's and early 90's. Whatever the reason, Sony are set to launch a new boom box this month, the CFD-A110.

Well, re-branded at least, if not strictly new. The eagle-eyed among you might recognise similarities to 2003's CFD-A100TV, and barring the omission of an analogue TV band, it is indeed very similar. Playing back both CDs and cassettes, it features full range speakers, a microphone port for post-pub karaoke sessions and 14 AM/FM presets.

It'll cost about £145 pounds when converted from Yen when it launches in Japan this June. No UK release planned yet though, so might be best to hit your local car-boot sale if you need a cassette player sharpish.

There's been lots of movement in Camp Polaroid this year, what with the appointment of Lady Gaga as creative director of the brand. Now we're finally seeing some new kit to go along with the Paparazzi popstar in the shape of the Polaroid 300 Instant Analogue camera.

A modern touch-up of the classic Polaroid idea, the camera allows you to develop pocket-sized snaps as soon as you've taken the picture.

New features include an auto-flash and manual exposure compensation, with the photos themselves printing out onto 2.1 x 3.4-inch film with the iconic white border affect.

However, there's a high-price to pay for what is essentially ancient technology. £79.99 will grab you the camera, while a batch of 10 Polaroid 300 instant film will set you back a difficult-to-justify £12.99.

If you still can't resist the camera's retro charms however, you'll be able to pick one up from Firebox at the beginning of May.

You can shove your PS3s and Xbox 360s; put yourself in front of a classic Galaxian arcade cabinet and watch as it devourers all the silver in your pockets with old-school gaming joy. Emulators like MAME may keep your piggybank full, but modern controllers don't feel right in the 8 -bit world.

Thankfully, Retro Thing have been quietly working away on their Clear Classic USB Joystick, modelled after controllers familiar to any gamers from the 70's and 80's.

Retro Thing worked closely with Legacy Engineering ( the team behind the Atari Flashback 2 retro console) to get the iconic feel just right, but added their own blue LED light into the mix to give it a Tron-like glow.

The controller, compatible with both PCs and Macs, comes complete with an Atari 2600 emulator and 80 homebrew games to get you started.

The limited edition joystick costs $29.95, and Retro Thing stockists Reflex Audio happily ship to the UK.

Buy one here.

The Consumer Electronics show, the behemoth of tech, the Valhalla of gadgetry, has come and gone for yet another year. But this time, rather than arriving with a bang, it slinked into sight with something more like a whimper.

CES 2010 had really had the wind knocked out of it before it had even got into the ring this year. All eyes were already on Apple and their rumoured Tablet in the run up to the event, despite the fact that Apple are traditionally a no-show at CES, instead planning their own top-secret unveiling at the end of January. Likewise, Google delivered a sucker-punch in the shape of the Nexus One, their flagship handset revealed at their own event on the eve of CES 2010's opening.

To make matter's worse, Microsoft's opening keynote speech (delivered by walking personality drain Steve Ballmer) was pretty darn dull. First a power cut, then a load of waffle on the 2 month old Windows 7, Ballmer hardly seemed to be trying to keep our attention. Though the Christmas release date for Project Natal was welcome news, it revealed nothing new about the device, whilst the partnership with Hewlett Packard for the new Slate device seemed merely like a case of keeping-up with the Joneses. Or should that be the Jobs-es?

But the Las Vegas event wasn't without its highlights. Far from it in fact. Maybe it's the recession, or the generally pocket-pinching mood in the air these days, but for once the most sought after tech wasn't in the realms of dreamy aspiration, but was actually fairly affordable.

Take for instance the brand new 3D TVs on show, of which the Sony BRAVIA XBR-52HX900 (video above, courtesy of Ashley) was the pick of the litter. Finally shaping up to the standards set by its cinema siblings, company reps promised that the average 3D TV will cost little more than a top-end Full HD set. Skype and video calling in many TV sets too will help turn your living room into somewhere the Jetsons could only dream of.

E-readers are also looking to be both big and affordable in 2010. As a comic book fanatic I'd have liked to have seen more attempts at a colour screened e-reader (I'm not including the MSI offering, which is really just a dual-touch screened PC, super-cool as it is). Plastic Logic's Que Pro e-reader looked great though, with a massive, durable screen, and was far lighter than the hundreds of books you'd be able to store on the tabloid-sized device.

There were, of course, tablets aplenty. The dual-booting Viliv P3 may be an underdog in the category, but seemed way more exciting than Microsoft's offering. The offer of both Windows and Android on the same device showed a respect for user choice not often seen in the back-slapping world of consumer tech.

There was still time for fun too. The Parrot AR Drone Quadricopter was fun and fresh, combining real-world toys with augmented reality controls. A little less high-tech but full of retro-chic was the Lasonic i931 iPhone dock/ghetto blaster mash-up. Odd's on its at the top of Flava Flav's Christmas list. And there was still some time for the weird and the plain old dumb, too.

Though less prevalent than other years, there were some great examples of brand new tech on show that were genuinely exciting. A real head-turner and my favourite item of the show was the Light Blue Optic Light Touch. Using a pico projection engine and a touch sensitive sensor, it'll turn any flat surface into a touchscreen. It works ridiculously well despite still being in the development stages, and has almost unlimited potential.

Some detractors say that, recession or not, CES looks to be on its last legs. It's sad, but not unlikely, when you consider the audiences that companies like Apple and Google can command for just a single product launch. However, for emerging companies like Light Blue Optics CES is still vital to gain some exposure, not to mention the fact that such a prominent date in the calendar forces the tech giants to have made some significant, competitive advances in their gear, year-on-year.

So here's hoping the old dog's got a bit of life left in it yet. Hopefully next year will kick off the recessionary cobwebs and kick the show back into high-tech gear. It wouldn't take much to tempt us back to the City of Sin once more.

Click here for full CES 2010 pre-show, day one, day two and day three round-ups.

Another day, another Tech Digest CES 2010 round-up. Fancy Tweeting hands-free in your car or controlling your PC by breathing? Check today's top stories below and find out how.

Twitter coming to Ford cars
The digital equivalent of drink-driving?

Motorola announce Backflip Android Phone
Hinged smartphone is Motorola's big CES 2010 offering

Ion launch the iType full QWERTY keyboard add-on for the iPhone
Making the portable unwieldy

Vuzix demo Wrap 920AR Augmented Reality visor
Turning your trip to the shops into a scene out of Robocop

Zyxio's new breathing-based PC controller, the Sensawaft
Affordable accessibility gadget, perfect for disabled PC users

3D gaming headed to the Palm family
Apple isn't the only mobile now capable of some hardcore gaming action

Is the Viliv P3 the underdog tablet to look out?
Dual-booting tablet is looking very tasty indeed

Razer and Sixense bring motion gaming to the PC
But will it catch on within the incredibly competitive PC gaming peripheral market?

UK getting the Dell Mini 3i
Android phone hitting UK shores in the not-so-distant-future

Video- Armour Home Q2 Tilt Internet radio
Innovative and simple radio from Brit-based Armour

Video - "World's smallest Windows PC" the UMID M Book 1
It makes a gnat's bum look big. Well...not quite. But you get the idea

Video- Casio's Digital Art Frame
Making all those dodgy Facebook snaps look good

Video - The coolest retro iPhone hi-fi ever, Lasonic's i931
Bring 80's boom box street-chic bang up to date

Video - Toshiba's Cell TV that is controlled by hand gestures
Innovative tech, but it makes you look a bit of an idiot; not sure I want a work out in front of the telly

Video - Sony's BRAVIA XBR-52HX900 3D TV
Their flagship 3D set is a stunner

Video - Panasonic's 3D camera
Bet the adult-entertainment industry cant wait to get its mitts on this one

Click here for more CES 2010 coverage from Tech Digest

Tech Digest at CES is sponsored by Best Buy. For more CES stories and videos go here

Those folks over at Retro Go have caught wind of a Joe-Colombo inspired house phone headed to the UK.

The Colombo One is as sleekly designed as you'd imagine considering its inspiration. Standing upright on a white panel base, the phone has a decidedly retro, swinging 60's feel about it, but with the modern additions of text messaging capabilities and a digital answering machine.

The phone also features storage for 250 contacts, 20 ring tones and a 1.4 inch full graphic inverse display.

The Colombo One is available from Argos for £33.32.

Check here for more details.