Technabob » carnival

USB Basketball Game: Hoop Dreams in Your Cubicle

Technabob — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:19:47 +0000

Now that you’ve got one of those USB Whac-a-Mole games and a Mini Claw Machine in your office, why not round out your collection of mini carny games with this basketball dunking game?

The desktop game is a pint-sized replica of those B-Ball dunking games you might find at Chuck E. Cheese. Just shoot some hoops as fast as you can and track your progress on the LED scoreboard (conveniently powered by your computer’s USB port). To keep the game moving at a breakneck pace, they include four mini-basketballs for you to perfect your slam dunk with.

So if you’re ready to show off your inner Kobe, you can pick up one of these from Perpetual Kid for about $25 bucks.

Mini Claw Machine is Grabilicious

Technabob — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 22:09:22 +0000

Remember those irritating claw machines from the arcades and carnivals? You know, the ones that always had one really great prize inside that weighed 10 pounds more than the claw could lift? Now you can get your own miniature one for your cubicle.

This battery-powered mini claw machine provides all the fun and frustration of the full-sized version. You control the X/Y position and height of the “claw” with three little joysticks. Get the position just right, then move in for the kill to see if you can score a tasty treat. It even plays some circus-y music while you precisely position the grabber over your prize (if you find that annoying, you can disable the tunes.)

Designed to vend your favorite candies (or other small baubles,) I bet this thing would be a great diet aid if you’re used to regularly emptying out that bowl of sweets on your desk. If you’re feeling really whimsical, why not put your brand new iPhone in there and dare some co-workers to try to lift it out?

Available from Perpetual Kid, the Sweet Machine Candy Grabber is $38.99.

Whac-a-Mole in Your Pocket

Technabob — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 13:48:40 +0000

Remember the old Whac-a-Mole games from the carnival when you were a kid? Now you can have your own mini-version of the game wherever you go.

This pint-sized version of the stress-inducing game comes to us from Japan’s Epoch Games. This version of the game translates into English as the appropriately blunt “Mole Hitting.” While I haven’t been able to find a U.S. importer for this, it can be found over on Amazon Japan for ¥1221 (appx. $10 USD.)