Archive for January 2008

Here’s another photo that proves the equation Craft + Pac-Man = Awesome. You’ve got to hand it to the artist who created this amazingly precise cross-stitch version of the characters from the 1980s Namco arcade classic. Created by Flickr contributor EverySpoon, the tiny cross-stitch features detailed renditions of Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Clyde, Pac-Man and some delicious cherry treats.

Wii gamers rejoice! It was only a matter of time before it happened. EA has gone on record to say that the insanely popular Rock Band franchise is on its way to Nintendo’s great white console. In a third-quarter financial conference call today, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello mentioned in passing that Rock Band is currently in development for the Nintendo Wii.

Want to get your point across? Why not say it with light? This new kit lets you create your own custom LED light board using any pattern you want. The whole thing reminds me of a modern-day Lite-Brite. The latest Open Source creation from Evil Mad Science Labs, “Peggy” gives you the parts you need to make a pixelated grid of LEDs in any design your little heart desires. Peggy is named for her 25 x 25 pegboard which can hold up to 625 LEDs in place for your custom signs.

The Nintendo DS Lite might be the most successful portable gaming console ever, but it won’t win any awards for pumping out lots of volume. This add-on snaps around your trusty DS Lite and gives it a serious boost in the audio department. Gametech’s Sound Shell DLite adds on bigger amplified speakers to your DS Lite, but also adds some significant bulk in order to house the larger speakers and a battery compartment to power them. The DLite isn’t just about sound.

As much as I love my iPhone, I can’t stand getting fingerprints all over the phone’s beautiful glossy screen. So I was jazzed when the guys over at Norway’s Elliptic Labs let me know about their new touchless user interface technology. The system is capable of detecting movements in 3-dimensions without ever having to put your fingers on the screen.

Sometimes it’s a bit of a challenge to tell the exact time on an analog clock. Sure, you can say “it’s about quarter-to-three”, but it really might be 2:47. This intricate wall clock tries to solve that problem by displaying every individual minute as a separate point on the dial. Looking like a cross between a clock and a Sputnik satellite, the TikTak clock by Dutch designers Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe makes a strong visual statement.

The last time I saw such a brilliant blending of Pac-Mania and illumination was the amazing Pac-Man Christmas tree that showed up on the streets of Madrid over the holidays. Now you can have your own personal Pac & Pals light show thanks to these fun colored light blocks. Designed by French lighting company Remake Design, these clever interlocking light blocks now come in Pac-Man inspired styles, including colored ghosts, dots, and of course the pie-shaped yellow guy we all know and love so much.

Just the other day, I showed you guys a really crummy PS3 knock-off, but I think this videogaming oddity surely trumps that one. This strange little console can’t decide whether it wants to be an Xbox, a PlayStation 2, 3, or something else altogether.

While there’s still no official word from Nintendo on anything but white Wii-motes, there is now a third-party option for those of you bored with the standard-issue models. Snakebyte is one of the first companies to offer a third-party substitute for the Wii-mote (called the Riimote), and will be offering them in colors not offered by Nintendo.

On the eve of the in-store release of Apple’s sleek and sexy MacBook Air portable, it’s been revealed that an even thinner, tinier MacBook is in the works. The MacBook Paper is about twice the thickness of a sheet of paper, and it too fits inside of an envelope.

You’ve gotta hand it to those cheap Chinese knock-off manufacturers. At least they attempt to keep up with the latest gaming consoles when they crank out their crap. Case in point, this awful PS3 copy known as the PolyStation 3. While it may look slightly like a real PlayStation 3, under the hood, this Mini PS3 is completely incapable of playing anything resembling real video games.

Back in the day, I did my stint designing lighting and sets for community theater companies, so I’ve seen more than my share of wooden acting. But this is the first time I’ve ever seen metal acting. The RoboThespian is a life-sized robotic puppet, designed with one mission in mind — to entertain.

Here’s a fun weekend project for all you hardware hackers out there. The Ybox2 is the latest version of a programmable IP-connected set top box which can fit entirely inside an Altoid box. The system can be programmed to display widget-like channels on your television, using a library of freely-available software.

I just love the clean, minimal design of this white-on-white LED clock from Japan. The simple dot-matrix display is powered by bright white LEDs layered beneath a clear and white acrylic shell. The clock offers alarm capability, and can be automatically set via a radio signal (although it’s possible this feature only works in Japan).

Back in the early 1980s, long before the Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 dominated the “next-gen” video game market, a little known console lived on the cutting-edge of gaming technology. The RDI Halcyon was a LaserDisc-based gaming system which was designed to bring the first full-motion video gaming experience to your living room.

This strange appendage snaps on to the bottom of your standard PlayStation 3 SIXAXIS joystick, turning it into a poor-man’s DualShock controller. PEGA’s oddly-named “Vibrating Bag” adds rumble capability to your stock PS3 controller. Now they don’t specify if the vibration actually works when the game generates its feedback signal, or if the thing just continuously rumbles.