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space invaders get animated

filed under: strange and wonderful | video games

Check out this wacky Space Invaders animated video that Taito recenly put together for their Game Station arcades in Japan.

The Anime-style video tells the story of a little girl and her encounter with those pesky Invaders. My favorite part has got to be the Vocoder-processed lyrics“We are Space Invaders. Here we come to be your friend. Space…

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November 6th, 2008 3 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

led mobile lights powered by the sun

filed under: design

These dynamic modern lights from Japan create a cool glow in any space without need for connecting them to an external power source.

Kyouei Design’s Mobile Lights store solar energy during the day, and automatically turn on when its dark…

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November 4th, 2008 2 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

roboppi flying copter: the real hoverround

filed under: gadgets | just plain fun

This tiny remote-controlled flying machine from Japan is a combination helicopter, UFO and hovering light show.

A pair of soft, brightly colored rotors help to propel the Roboppi (ROBO-P) flyer upwards and produce stable flight.

As it flies through the air, colored LEDs inside the spinning body of the Roboppi blink rapidly, producing a whirlwind of color…

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October 29th, 2008 3 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

zumreed turntable speaker for pocket sized djs

filed under: audio | gadgets | just plain fun | media players

Here’s a fun little sound system you can connect to your portable media player. ZumReed’s Pocket DJ Speaker looks like a tiny little turntable.

The mini speaker is small enough to carry on your keychain, hang from a briefcase, bookbag or purse strap…

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October 25th, 2008 post a comment stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

bandai tuttuki bako: stick your finger in the hole

filed under: gadgets | strange and wonderful

This new interactive toy from Japan involves sticking your finger in a hole on the side of the box to interact with a virtual environment. Really. I’m not kidding.

Bandai’s new Tuttuki Bako handheld interactive plaything requires you to twiddle your finger around inside the orifice to play with a variety of virtual characters on an LCD screen on the front of the device…

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October 24th, 2008 10 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

r/c boxing robots offer up a technical knock out

filed under: cool toys | robotics

These little toy robot kits from Japan do one thing and one thing only. They beat the crap out of each other.

Tamiya’s Robocraft boxing robots come in a kit that’s easy enough to assemble if you know your way around a screwdriver.

Each robotic boxer operates on a wired remote, which lets you control each of two gearboxes which drive the robot’s punches and movements…

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October 23rd, 2008 1 comment stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

r/c mechagodzilla robot: crush, crumble and chomp!

filed under: cool toys | just plain fun | robotics

Why is it that Japan gets all the coolest toys? I mean really, why can’t I walk into the neighborhood store and pick up one of these?

Coming this December from Bandai Japan, this remote-controlled Mechagodzilla robot is truly a sight to behold…

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October 19th, 2008 2 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

scope 2 rgb led watch reminds me of vector video games

filed under: retro | timepieces | video games

I don’t know what it is about these retro-futuristic watches from Japan, but for me they conjure up images of 1980s color vector video games like Tempest or Quantum.

The limited-edition Scope 2 watch uses a special multi-color (RGB) LED display to tell the time…

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October 17th, 2008 2 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

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