Technabob » q*bert

Woolygeeks’ Fuzzy, Felted Video Game Characters

Technabob — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:08:41 +0000

I think we can all agree that biggest problem with retro video game characters is all of those jagged edges. I mean really, you could cut your hands on those sharp pixel corners. So what’s the solution? How about smoothing them out and making them fuzzy?

At least that’s what crafter Jennifer Hayes of WoolyGeeks has been doing with her needle felted video game characters. Each of her little fuzzy felt creations is lovingly handcrafted from 100% wool fiber and is so cute that I think I might hurl. I mean look at those Pac-Man ghosts. And check out Q*Bert in all of his orange-y glory!

Who wouldn’t love a menagerie of these little guys on their desk or on top of their video game cabinet? And who here among us can ever forget Slime from the NES classic, Dragon Warrior?

I always wondered why Slime was so happy. If I were Slime, I’d want to take a shower and scrub all day until it was gone. And what collection of geek craft would be complete without some Super Mario Bros. 1-Up and Super Mushrooms? As good as they look, please do not attempt to eat them. I do not believe that your stomach will enjoy the process of digesting wool. And that goes for the cat too.

Prices for Jennifer’s felted creations range from $9 to $40 and can be found over on WoolyGeeks’ Etsy shop now. And if you’re into Dungeons & Dragons, you must check out her cute and fuzzy Beholder.

Stickable Sound Pads Turn Any Surface Into a Speaker

Karen M. — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:30:44 +0000

SoundPads by Sonic Impact are stickable little pads that “convert any thin-walled high-transmission surface into permanent stereo speakers.” That means you can stick these guys on a door, cabinet, table, box, desk, or even a poster- and have insta-speakers.

The site gives you fair warning that once these are stuck, they aren’t coming unstuck. Where you stick them affects the sound quality, of course, so you might want to do a bit of trial and error before attaching them permanently to your vintage Q*bert poster.

The SoundPads are just over 4 inches in diameter so should remain relatively discreet. They promise to “make most surfaces thump with sound.” I like the sound of that! You can get a pair for $17.99 from ThinkGeek.

Q*Bert Qollects Quarters Quite Quickly

Technabob — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:26:39 +0000

I saw this poster over on eBay earlier today, and I thought it was really funny.

Designed as a promotional piece to encourage arcades to carry the classic game Q*Bert, somebody in the marketing department at Gottlieb got the bright idea to replace pretty much every letter they could with the letter “Q”. Isn’t that just Quazy?

For some reason all of those Q’s got me thinking about that SNL “Spelling Bee” sketch with Will Forte and Jack Black…

Q*Bert + Quilt = Quiltbert

Technabob — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:11:40 +0000

Remember the expletive-spouting orange dude from 1980s arcade game, Q*bert? Well the strange little guy has now been immortalized in this awesome handmade video game quilt by Lenore, an artist over an Evil Mad Scientist Labs.

She’s done a valiant job recreating the details of the game, including the game’s signature isometric diamond blocks you jumped on, those spinny colored escape platforms, and a couple of those weird enemies. Best of all, Lenore documented the construction process, so you can make your own too.

Actually, the best part of the design is the score of just 400 points, which is about as far as I ever got in this game before perishing from that stupid purple snake (his name was “Coily”, thanks WikiPedia!) @!#?@!

[via MAKE]