We're not much for console gaming, but we do have fond memories of running home after school to play Atlantis, so we were excited to see the Nuzzo brothers' rig—and even more excited to hear that they didn't have to sacrifice an Atari 2600 to create it.

A friend of Joe and Jesse bought out a pawn shop's entire video game supply—thousands of games and a few dozen systems—and part of the haul was an empty 2600 shell, so the brothers didn't have to destroy a working system to create this rig.

After a few missteps (PSU issues and a fried hard drive—hey, things happen!) the guys got on track and built up this rig based on a mini ITX board. A 2.4GHz P4 is the brains behind this beast that also includes 512 MB of DDR RAM.

And just what do the Nuzzos use this rig for? Playing old arcade games like Golden Axe and Final Fight, of course!

Why is this rig called the Vader ITX? Old-school gamers know that the all-black Atari 2600 was commonly referred to as the Darth Vader model.

To get this just-off-the-shelf look, Joe and Jesse repainted the case with both high-gloss and textured paint.

Like our car, the entire back of this case was reshaped and rebuild with Bondo and pieces of plastic taken from old monitors.

The multicolor glow emanating from inside the rig was created with UV-reactive spiral-wrap and UV lights.

For their winning entry, Joe and Jesse win a $500 gift certificate for Buy.com to fund their modding madness!

Enter to Win Rig of the Month!

To Enter: Your submission packet must contain your name, street address, and daytime phone number; no fewer than three high-res JPEGs (minimum size 1024x768) of your modified PC; and a 300-word description of what your PC represents and how it was modified. Emailed submissions should be sent to rig@maximumpc.com. Snail mail submissions should be sent to Rig of the Month, c/o Maximum PC, 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080.
The judges will be Maximum PC editors, and they will base their decision on the following criteria: creativity and craftsmanship.

One entry per household. Your contest entry will be valid until (1) six months after its submission or (2) October 15, 2007, whichever date is earlier. Each month a winner will be chosen from the existing pool of valid entries, and featured in the Rig of the Month department of the magazine. The final winner in this contest will be announced in the December 2007 issue. Each of the judging criteria (creativity and craftsmanship) will be weighed equally at 50 percent. By entering this contest you agree that Future US, Inc. may use your name and your mod’s likeness for promotional purposes without further payment. All prizes will be awarded and no minimum number of entries is required. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to their parents or legal guardians. Future US, Inc. is not responsible for damages or expenses that the winners might incur as a result of the Contest or the receipt of a prize, and winners are responsible for income taxes based on the value of the prize received. A list of winners may also be obtained by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Future US, Inc. c/o Maximum PC Rig of the Month, 4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080. This contest is limited to residents of the United States. No purchase necessary; void in Arizona, Maryland, Vermont, Puerto Rico, and where prohibited by law.

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