Wall To Wall Retro Video Games From Ikea For $10

Originally I was going to write about an ongoing retro video game Ebay auction that had already reached more than a half million dollars, but the listing has been pulled. We were wondering whether those bids could have been real, but it's "game over" on the auction. Sadly, the point is moot.

That said, we would have thoroughly enjoyed the affiliate fees had one of our faithful Retro Thing readers won the lot, but we figure that perhaps it's smarter to find a thriftier way to share our love of old video games. For me, being a career cheapass is what got me into retro video games in the first place...

Ikea, of all places, is offering a set of wall decals to retro up any room in your house that has... uh... walls. While not devoted to any specific game, you can feel the ghost of Berzerk & Space Invaders here. Because the decals are lo-res blocks of a single color, I'm reminded of the stripped down graphics of the earliest home consoles, so this is about as retro as retro gaming gets.

For $10, the SLÄTTHULT (I know, I know...) provides you with four sheets of decals about the size of a legal pad. It's the same lineup of characters on each sheet, and you get two color variations. The sameyness is even MORE of an authentic retro gaming move if you ask me.

Other companies have offered similar retro gaming wall decals, but they've almost universally been way too expensive. Only a few have been of actual gaming graphics - most I've seen show characters like Mario and Zelda rendered as cartoons. Cute, but my memory of these characters is a but more on the blocky side.

For those of you who don't want to splash out the 10 smackers for the Ikea decals, and if you want to go even deeper into video game history, you'll be pleased to know that Retro Thing is negotiating to bring you wall decals of our own. For $4 we hope to send you the end of a roll of masking tape, and instructions on how to create your own wall-sized Pong diorama.

SLÄTTHULT computer game stickers