A Cool Gadget

What better canvas for your creative expression than an old 8-bit NES cartridge? That’s what the recent Famicase art exhibition in Japan was all about.

Satoshi Sagagami, who runs retro game shop Super Meteor, organizes the annual event which asks over 50 designers, illustrators, authors and game creators to create their own imaginary games and artwork using old NES carts.

My personal favorite has to be the Blowing out Dust from the Cartridge game — an experience I remember all too well whenever my console would freak out.

The AC Adapter Game looks like lots of fun, but might pose a strangulation hazard for the young-uns. I’m pretty sure this was played in at least one household out there at some point.

Other designs range from the entertaining - like this Roland TB-303 synthesizer inspired game…

…to the surreal. Anyone want to tell me what the heck is going on in this one?

..or this one?

Agriculture insists that you get off your lazy ass, get outside and grow some crops instead of sitting on the couch playing games all day.

So maybe I wouldn’t have bought that game, but I definitely would have purchased Vector Planet, which envisions what would have happened if the NES and the Vectrex had an illegitimate child. This is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Check out the entire collection over on the Famicase exhibition website.

[via Chip Chick]

Share This

Got a bunch of old electronic parts lying around? While they might end up in the trash heap for many of us, artist Ann P. Smith sees new life in old junk.

Smith takes broken down electronics and machine parts to create her amazing menagerie of animal and insect sculptures.

While they aren’t mechanical works themselves, many of her “robots” do feature posable joints, which she’s used to produce stop-motion animation of her critters.

Ann’s works are sold in galleries and shops around the US, and have been featured as illustrations in a number of magazines and other publications.

Find out more about Ann and her art over on her website burrowburrow. And when you’re ready to buy one of her pieces for your very own, be sure to check out her Etsy shop. Prices range from as little as $22 for simple insects, all the way up to $2500+ for her most intricate creations.

[via The Presurfer via designboom]

Share This

I don’t know if any of you heard, but there’s an itty bitty low-budget movie about some sort of winged superhero that just hit theaters this week, and maybe at least a few of you managed to go and see it. Sure, The Dark Knight may be getting Oscar-worthy reviews and raking in record box office, but why (minor spoiler ahead) did the Joker have to go and destroy the Tumbler? Why’d he have to go and do Bruce like that and take away the man’s wheels?

Now you can preserve the memory of the best Batmobile ever with this amazing papercraft model you can build for yourself.

The intricate Batmobile Tumbler design was created by paper-modeler extraordinaire Claudio, who managed to even figure out a way to make perfectly round paper tires.

Crafted from literally hundreds of individual pieces, it’s sure to take you much longer than the 2-1/2+ hour run time of the movie itself.

You can see many more photos, and grab the PDF cut-outs for yourself over at paperinside.

[via Fx Console]

Share This

Feeling a little blue today? Green with envy? Why the heck shouldn’t your wristwatch match your mood? Now it can, thanks to this new multi-color LED watch from Ohsen.

Just press the top button to cycle through 7 different backlight colors - perfect for color-coordinating your outfit or your state of mind. When activated, bright, colorful LEDs shine through the background of the analog dial.

Here’s the watch in its native “off” state. It’s actually not bad looking, and you wouldn’t know it had any special tricks up its sleeve until you press the backlight button.

While they’re calling this cheapie watch a “divers” watch, it’s only water resistant — not waterproof — so you probably should only go diving in the kitchen sink or maybe an inflatable kiddie pool.

With a little luck, you should be able to find a bunch of these for sale over on eBay with bids starting at just 99 cents (unfortunately international shipping from Hong Kong will set you back an extra $22.99).

Share This

I can’t decide if these Pac-Man skull caps are awesome or just weird. Let’s just go with awesomely weird. The colorful ghosts of video games past make yet another appearance, this time as crocheted hats.

Crafter ShadowsInTheNyte hand knits these goofy ghost hats to look like familiar video game characters. While I could only find Inky, Pinky and Clyde (where’s Blinky?), there’s also a Bob-Omb (Super Mario Bros.) and Moogle (Final Fantasy) hat available in her Etsy shop.

While they do look very much like their video game counterparts, I can’t help but think that I’d look like Dumb Donald from the old Fat Albert cartoons if I wore one.

See what I mean?

Share This

Britain is reportedly on alert for the wasp knife, a knife that can “deliver a ball of compressed gas capable of killing its victim at the press of a button.” A needle in the tip of the knife’s blade shoots out a little frozen gas ball which instantaneously grows to “the size of a basketball” and freezes the victim’s internal organs.

The Wasp Knife was created to kill bears and sharks, which is super handy if you’re like me and you find that bears and sharks are constantly bothering you. Especially bears. Then again, I spend most weekends hiking the back-country of rural Montana while slathered from head to toe in a delicious layer of honey, so maybe it’s related to that.

Guess where the knife is made? The U.S.A., of course. Do we know how to kick ass or what? Just kidding. This is insanely scary. You can read the full article in the UK Daily Mail.

Share This

For all those times you just can’t handle holding your iPhone in your hands, the Soaripod will hold it for you. It’s got a flexible 12-inch extension arm and clamps to any surface.

The company refers to this product as “the natural evolution of a long-necked dinosaur.” I think this is a bad marketing slogan, because by now everyone knows about the ginormous asteroids and we’ve all seen Jurassic Park and it’s just not working for me on any level. But, maybe that’s also partly because the Soaripod looks almost exactly like the evolution of this Gorillapod I got like 3 years ago to hold up my digital camera.

You can buy one here for $29.99. Now for the lame part: they don’t have one that fits your shiny new iPhone 3G yet, only your ancient, crusty, old 1st generation iPhone or iPod Touch (maybe that’s where they got the dinosaur slogan from - Ed.). They fit on other cellphones, video players, and smartphones as well, but exactly which ones aren’t specified.

[via GeekSugar]

Share This

The first thing that pops into my mind when I hear the word “candelabra” is The Phantom of the Opera. The second is Liberace. The third is an old episode of Scooby Doo involving a haunted mansion. I’m reasonably certain that the words electronic and modern aren’t anywhere on the list. Of course, I’ve been known to be wrong before.

French designer Philippe Boulet decided it was finally time to bring the old tabletop relic into the new Millennium. Their modern spin on the candelabra replaces the old wax-dripping candles with cylindrical LED shafts which radiate colored light.

No more messy wax or fire hazards here. Just pure low-voltage modern technology. They’re available in two designs: a color-changing jeweltone (€200/$317 US), or a hand-embellished lace pattern (€300/$475 US). Both can be found over at Lux et Déco (L.E.D., get it?).

Share This

I’ve seen some offbeat casemods in my travels, but I haven’t seen one quite this odd in a while.

Apparently, some guy from Holland came across this cheese display prop and said to himself, “I’ve always wanted a PC that looked like a wheel of cheese”. So he got to crackin’ it open, and loaded its guts with electronics.

As I look at the back of the case, I’m not really sure how the ventilation system works, unless the computer is either stood on its side or operates face down. Whatever — it’s all weird — maybe it’s supposed to be suspended from fishing line for all I know.

In my eyes, it looks more like a Roomba than a cheese wheel anyhow.

[via Modding.ru]

Share This

When somebody says to me that they’ve got a new radio controlled vehicle for me to look at, I usually think of cars, trucks, helicopters or maybe even a tank. The last thing to pop into my mind is someone’s grandma strapped to a wheelchair. But what’s to say that I’ve always gotta be right?

Stunt Granny is a remote-controlled little old lady, strapped to a miniature motorized wheelchair. (You’ve gotta love the flame job on the sides, no?) The remote uses a joystick controller to steer her through a variety of obstacles, and offers a handy “Turbo” button for when gran needs to make a speedy getaway.

Packed right in the box are a number of props for the chair’s octogenarian occupant to navigate through, including a tiny wheelchair ramp for jumps, and a bunch of little grocery store items for you to knock over as you direct her through her death-defying feats a la Evel Knieval (who would be just about as old if he were still with us).

So what are you waiting for? You can get your hands on your own little daredevil senior citizen over on WowZZers for about $25.

Share This