Ruckingenur II: Reverse Engineering Video Game


[Zach Barth] has released Ruckingenur II, the game of reverse engineering. The latest in his Games for Engineers series, it is a full game with multiple levels and live action cut scenes. Set with a military theme, the goal is to reverse engineer enemy items. Pictured above is a lock to a weapons cache.

The pixelized style is consistent throughout. Even the cut scenes have the effect. The reverse engineering is fun enough to keep you interested while you learn. There is an in game help system that keeps you on track as well. Our only suggestion is that he get some better costumes next time!

UPCB Makes Your Arcade Stick Universal


The Universal PCB project lets you make any controller (specifically arcade sticks) console agnostic. A PIC microcontroller is used to translate between the button presses and the signals for the specific console you’re connected to. It uses a DB15 for the external plug. The PIC knows which console you’re plugged into based on which pins are high or low in your console specific adapter cable. The board includes a piggyback plug so you can plug in an Xbox360 controller board (like the one above) since the console requires authentication. The PIC’s firmware is conveniently upgradeable over the USB cable.

USB Driver Hacking


[qDot] sent in his efforts to hack the oddest USB interface I’ve seen. The game is played by relaxing, so the controller senses biometrics. His notes on his adventure in hacking a driver are a bit entertaining, and definitely interesting if you’ve considered doing a little USB driver hacking of your own. If there’s enough interest, maybe he’ll post some more code to get things rolling.