A couple weeks ago, Tanner Sandlin of Austin, Texas, dug up a boxed copy of Air Raid for Atari 2600, and sold it on eBay for $31,600. Inevitably, people are digging through their closets to see if they’ve got easy money collecting dust. Now, two more Air Raid cartridges are on sale, though they lack the original box that made the first auction so successful. The first auction is for a cartridge in good condition, and the seller is the second owner, having purchased the game from the original owner in April 2009. Current bids are over $1,600, with five days left in the auction.

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Yahoo Answers is a massive, sometimes embarrassing snapshot of the human psyche, where anyone can ask any question to an anonymous peanut gallery of non-experts. So for no reason whatsoever, I decided to see what the site’s users were saying about video games. After digging through hundreds of queries — many of them about video game violence and addiction — I amassed a solid list of topics that really matter. Here are some of the most maddening, mystifying and terrifying questions about video games, as posted on Yahoo Answers.

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The Colorado Rocky Mountains are going to get more game-like this ski season, with a new program that rewards skiers with achievements and other metrics as they ride. Epic Mix, which debuts Colorado ski resorts in November, uses radio frequency identification, or RFID. With an RF tag built into every lift ticket, the mountain knows where you ride, the lifts you take and the distance you ski, and Epic Mix doles out achievements based on your accomplishments.

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Over at Kilted Moose, Scott Munro put together a short list of his favorite video game music. They don’t align with my favorites at all, but the thing about game music, and music in general, is that we’re drawn to different songs and styles for different reasons. So here are some of my most cherished video game songs. I won’t say they’re the greatest compositions of all time — many are just deep cuts from well-known games — but they deserve to be appreciated.

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The last thing most gamers do when they get home, rip the cellophane off a brand new game, pop it in and press ‘start’ is think to themselves, ‘I’m going to play this game multiple times until I discover the best possible course through it and then share the info with strangers on the Internet.’ For amateur video game videographers like Zach Sharpe and Mathieu Brunelle, it’s par for the course.

These unsung heroes put in countless hours for no pay and little fame just so we have some original, entertaining content that also spells out how to defeat that one boss we’re stuck on, or exactly where to find that last golden widget in the haunted forest. Though companies like Prima and BradyGames are still putting out print strategy guides and bigger game sites dedicate endless resources to crafting their own walkthroughs, Sharpe and Brunelle are just two of hundreds giving them a run for their money.

We reached out to both to find out how much work goes into their video guides and why they do what they do.

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Arcades are dead, but that isn’t stopping thousands dozens of people around the world from attempting to recreate the nostalgia for BO-infused sweat-boxes in their own homes. The following homemade cabinets range from the weird to the weirder. They may be set to “free play” or feature new games but these out-there homemade creations will make any arcade rat worth their tokens yearn for track balls, joysticks, and over-sized buttons.

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“The Legend of Zelda” franchise turned 25 this week – another Nintendo series in recent months to hit the impressive milestone. Mario celebrated his 25th birthday last September, and two months later Nintendo threw him a party at the Nintendo World Store in New York City. (Full disclosure: I covered the event.) Most would agree he deserves such fanfare. But what about Link and Zelda? Will there be a celebration in their honor? We asked Nintendo.

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Steve Jobs passed away yesterday, as most of you probably know. This is significant, because Jobs wasn’t simply a good businessman; he was a creative genius who constantly saw the potential for applications of technology in our day-to-day lives. Although Apple never spent much time exploring the world of video games, it is impossible to pretend that Jobs’s passing means nothing to this industry.

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Known for developing the beloved Halo series, Bungie has gained a strong following for their leadership in FPS gameplay design. Now, Bungie is proving to be a leader once more within the video game industry by reaching out to victims of the Japanese earth quake disaster.

By visiting the Bungie Store, gamers can help give aid by purchasing a wrist band, all proceeds will forward to Red Cross and aid the quake victims.

It’s a touching act that speaks on Bungie’s commitment to not just the gaming community but to the human one as well.

The bands are like the ones you can find for other causes like Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong campaign. Embossed in the wristband itself is a text that reads: “Ganbare Nippon,” which according to Bungie is a phrase used to uplift the spirits of people in need.

“It is a show of support and a call for unity,” said Bungie via their announcment of Ganbare Nippon.

Japan has been the center of gaming for all the decades previous and no doubt they will remain so in the coming years. The quake and the tsunami that followed has been a shocking world event. As gamers we feel a certain unmatched connection to Japan and the Japanese people.

“Help us spread this message. Copy this link into the communities you visit,” said Bungie. “Ask your family, friends, and those you game with to get involved in any way they can in support of Japan Quake Relief 2011.”

[Source: Ganbare Nippon - Japan Quake Relief 2011 via Joystiq]

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