These Rubik’s pixel portraits by Irish artist John Quigley are truly mind-boggling. Not only did he have to map out the precise pixel positions for each cube in these creations, he had to rotate the sides of each cube into exactly the correct color scheme to make it all work. To put it all in perspective, the Space Invaders scene above required a whopping 1,330 cubes.

And while Sonic only took 784 cubes to get his spiky blue hairdo, he’s still cool in my book. Not all of John’s creations require hundreds or even thousands of cubes either. Check out this Pac-Man scene, created from just 102 cubes – it still gets the point across just fine.

And Mario is no less fun, even though he only consumed 24 Rubik’s Cubes.

For obvious reasons, I’m drawn to his retro video game pixel creations, but I couldn’t leave you guys without showing you John’s unbelievable 2,622 cube portrait of Barack Obama.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Be sure to check out all of John’s amazing Rubik’s Cube creations over at the Neo-literal Cubist’s flickr page. He can also solve a Rubik’s Cube in 44 seconds.

The cube also has some built-in memory so even if it runs out of charge while you’re in the middle of solving, you can still pick up where you left off after you recharge the cube. The charge time-to-battery-life ratio is quite atrocious though, 8 hours to charge for 1 hour of play. That’s downright puzzling. I know that if you’re good at it you can solve the puzzle 125 times before it runs out of charge, but still.

Plus it’s freakin’ expensive: Hammacher Schlemmer is asking $150 (USD) for a touchscreen Rubik’s Cube. Well actually the price might be justified, considering that the cube is intelligent: it can offer hints and can even solve itself if you want. Yes sir, I said IT CAN SOLVE ITSELF. Whether that’s an awesome idea or a redundant feature is up to you. I vote redundant.

[via Random Good Stuff]

The Pac-Man Rubik’s Cube features Pac-Man, all four ghosts (Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde), and the vulnerable blue ghost form on its six sides. This cube of classic gaming goodness is available at Pixelbrush’s shop at Etsy for a scant $7 (USD), so there’s really no excuse for not picking one up.

Now, if you really want to make my day, Pixelbrush, you’ll design a Final Fantasy Job Class Rubik’s Cube. Puh-wease?

[via Geeky Gadgets]

If you must know, I was only able to beat Cut Man. Or did I? I think I did. Or did I watch my brother beat Cut Man? Hmm. It shall remain one life’s great mysteries.

[via OhGizmo!]

Shown above is the mother of all puzzles, a conjoined sextuplet of cubes to keep you on your toes. But if you’re more of a puzzle amateur like me, I think the triple should provide ample challenge.

After you finish that, you can graduate on to the quadruplet version.

And then the quintuplet. It’s all a bit like Mr. and Mrs. Rubik took too many fertility drugs.

If you’re ready to have your mind bent, you can find all four versions of these conjoined Rubik’s cubes over at DealExtreme.

[via Gear Diary]

Salami, kielbasa, cheese, bread–there’s all sorts of goodness in this cubewich! It’s got everything but real puzzle factor, because I’m sure if you tried to turn it, the whole thing would just fall apart, and that would be a waste. Guess you’d just have to eat it instead.

I’ve been trying to think of other foods you could do this with besides fatty and processed meats and cheeses, and I’m drawing a blank. I guess you could cube come chicken, but would it be the same?

[via ForeverGeek]

This 3 x 3 x 1 Rubik’s Cube (aka the “Floppy Cube”) is so simple that your cat should be able to solve it – with one paw tied behind its back.

Apparently, this Japanese cube-modder figured out a way to slice up the original cube so a single layer could still pivot and work as a simplified mini-puzzle. In addition to the 1-layer cube, he’s also built a 2-layer version, which is still much easier to solve than the original.

Me, I just used to take all the stickers off and put them on the proper sides. Isn’t that a reasonable solution?

[via DGFreak]

Created by illustrator/designer Eric Pautz, the Rubik’s Lamp is composed of 26 interlocking colored cubes which can be rotated into an almost limitless array of color combinations.

By rotating the cubes, the lamp can produce forty-three trillion unique color patterns. Cool. I don’t even think I can count that high… 1… 2… 3… 4… eleventy… um, nope.

Now on to the bad news. Turns out that the Rubik’s Lamp is only a concept design, and has yet to be produced. From the looks of the colored acrylic panel design, it seems to me like something that someone over at fabrication-on-demand shop Ponoko should be able to bring to life. Eric, are you listening?

V-CUBE cubic puzzles come in 5×5x5, 6×6x6 and an insane 7×7x7 configuration for the true puzzle masochist.

The mammoth 7×7x7 cube is made up of hundreds of individual pieces which rotate around an inner mechanism that was precisely engineered to turn quickly and smoothly (hence the slightly bulging appearance of the cube). If I’m doing my math right, the V-CUBE 7 offers up about 1.95 * (10^160) permutations, so that should keep you busy for just a little while.

Think that seems unsolveable? Check out this video clip of master puzzle solver Frank Morris cranking through the V-CUBE 7 in just under 7 minutes flat:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And just in case that’s not complicated enough for you, the V-CUBE guys are working on future models all the way up to 11×11x11. O.M.G.W.T.F.R.U.B.I.K?

You can find all of these cubes over at the V-CUBES Online Shop. Prices range from about $35 to $70 USD.

[photos via Flickr and speedcubing]

The new Rubik’s Mirror Blocks puzzle makes things a bit more complicated than the original by making each and every one of its blocks a slightly different size.

And instead of pretty colors, each one is covered with a mirrored surface, making it just that much more difficult to figure out.

I managed to find a video clip showing the unboxing of the new cube here:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The puzzle is slated for release in Japan in the next couple of weeks for ¥2079 (appx $20 USD), but I haven’t been able to find out anything about a North American release. Perhaps if you’re persuasive, you can convince the puzzle’s designer, Hidetoshi Takeji to ship you one. He was recently sighted on the TwistyPuzzles forums offering to ship them internationally.

[via Digital Gadgets Freak]

This is a speaker that flashes its LEDs in time with your music, and looks like a fake Rubik’s Cube on a stand. It might look OK during certain (ahem) types of parties, but really, you can’t leave it out all the time, and who has the storage space?

This item can be yours from Perpetual Kid for the utterly insulting and ridiculous price of $49.99, which is about $47.99 more than I would guess it’s worth.

[via ChipChick]

You see, this art installation is the latest from the famous French street artist who goes by the moniker Space Invader. While he gained notoriety placing ceramic tiles of his namesake around the globe, his latest chosen medium has been to use Rubik’s Cubes to form his pixelated artworks. And then of course, the ghosts in the photo are none other than the antagonists of Namco’s 80s classic, Pac-Man (not to be confused with Pac-Gentleman, of course.)

So there you have it. Sometimes 2 + 2 really does equal 5.

[via The World's Best Ever via NOTCOT]

French artist Space Invader is known for leaving his mark all over the globe by placing tile art versions of pixelated gaming invaders in unexpected places.

His upcoming exhibition, entitled London Invasion and Bad Men Part II runs from October 5th through November 9th, 2007 at London’s Lazarides Gallery. Works on display include the Rubik’s robot pictured here among other pop art works.

[via Urban Retro Lifestyle]