Galactic Emporium

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Cryo-cloned Mice

Japanese researchers have made a major breakthrough in cloning which significantly increases the number of samples which can be cloned from. The new method could work with older and more damaged cells than any previous technology, raising the possibility of recreating extinct species, and we promise to get through this entire article without referring to a single Sam Neill-starring movie.

The Emporium Beta to Launch in March '08

Our thanks for all the great feedback and support during our alpha test period.

The Emporium will officially launch our beta site this coming March, 2008.

The Galactic Emporium editorial team.

New Star Wars Flash Drives From Mimobots

Okay, I'll concede that a fair number of my recent posts have related to Star Wars, but I'm not a rampant fanboy, I assure you, it's merely been an influx of relevant gadget news that's emerged from the blogosphere.

Today Mimoco, producers of Mimobot designer flash drives (who would have thought that the words 'Designer' and "Flash Drive' would ever appear together?) has announced it's second generation of limited edition Star Wars themed flash drives, featuring Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Boba Fett. The drives are slated for release in January and will feature a production run of only 3,500 units of each character. You can preorder the drives now; pricing for your IT Help Desk flash buddies are $50 for a 1GB, $70 for 2GB and $110 for 4GB, and each comes with your choice of five colors of 'ProtoHoodie Keychain Accessory'.

Hydrogen A Go Go

There's a lot of hype, buzz, and hoopla surrounding the current state of alternative fuel cars. Some of it's legit, some of it seems like a complete pipe dream, and a little bit of it is actually available
today or will be available in the very, very near future. Case in point, the hydrogen-powered, 68 miles-per-gallon Honda FCX Clarity.

ESP Game Harnesses Your Mind Powers (but not the way you think)

Most of the internet makes money from humanity's baser urges. A huge number of sites earn money from lust, Nigerian scammers harvest greed, and now Professor Luis Von Ahn has harnessed the computational power of slacking.  His thinking is if you can't be bothered to work for the people who pay you, you might as well work for him.

"Impressive. Most Impressive": Star Wars Fan Auctions off $34k+ in

Most people set an upper limit on a collection once it begins to take on a total net value of a mid-sized sedan, apparently eBay user mcfaydenb is not most people. The auction (which regrettably ends in about a day, so get bidding already!) includes over 1,110 figurines in their original packaging. The seller concedes that 'this is a big step I'm taking in order to move on and accomplish a new plan I have for my future." While we don't know the plan, the opening bid of $25,450 and a Buy It Now price of $34,500 leaves the possibilities as far ranging from home ownership, purchasing a boat or perhaps graduate school.

Five Dropdead Awesome Gadgets

1.  Paintball tank

Paintball can be one of the funnest things to do with your mates, running around re-enacting your videogame victories with just enough pain to get the adrenaline going.  But you don't play videogames where all the enemies are just as strong as you!  No, you want to mow through the opposition with vastly superior firepower, and for a mere eight thousand pounds (about a billion dollars - seriously, you're even losing against the Canadian dollar these days) you can get the same advantage while running around the forest.

Wii can Zap Zombies

Sega have confirmed that House of the Dead will be coming out for the Wii Zapper next spring.  For any fans of light gun games this is news on par with choirs of angels, rays of magnificent light, and a really friendly dude with a beard coming down from the sky.  The Domicile of the Deceased has been a paragon of action packed zombie blasting since it first came out, and it's exactly the product the new blaster needs.

Time to Spice Up Your Fortress of Solitude

Don't lie to yourself, the decor in your living quarters hasn't changed much in the last ten years since you made the liberating move down into you your Mom's basement. Besides expanding your collection
of action figures and possibly adding a new Matrix move poster, the style you've managed to capture is the same adolescent fan-inspired smattering of curvy, Lycra-wearing super heroines and
Sci-Fi kitsch. Maybe it's time to add a little new flavor into the mix so that if you do ever lure a female down into your underground lair you'll have more to discuss than the how you've been almost as touched
as your limited edition Star Wars Collectibles, still in their original blister packs.

Immersive NexGen Chair Takes Furniture to Another Level

After doing some research for this article, I've unfortunately become disenchanted with every single piece of furniture I've ever sat on in my entire life. Sitting, as I've come to know it, just doesn't do it for me anymore. Why? Because sitting is just sitting.

Thanksgiving 2035: The Kitchen of the Future

Thanksgiving day is a wonderful time to gather together and speculate on the future of eating at home.  Innovations in culinary science are heartily appreciated while preparing the annual feast.  Electric refrigeration and the microwave oven have undoubtedly eased the cook’s burden while every food question imaginable is answerable using the Internet. 

A world with global shortages of clean water, food, and other resources will necessitate significant changes in our eating habits. From Turkey (the country, not the bird), the Altera Design Studio presents a dining system for the post apocalypse. Their Alight Kitchen concept anticipates such a future in its forward thinking design.

Will the Cost of Downloadable Content Be Too High?

Downloadable content is a dream come true for many gamers - no longer will your favorite games become boring or predictable for petty reasons like "you played it so much it overwrote your childhood memories" or "I can now complete it on Viking-Killing difficulty with my eyes closed". 

New levels can keep games fresh and challenging, updated with extra content developers can tune their product based on real world performance and feedback (taking care to ignore any feedback including the phrase "STFU" or "FAG").  But if it's a fantasy for gamers, it's an absolute nectar-and- mana soaked vision of paradise for the accountants who are even now giggling at the thought of people paying money for a game, then coming back and paying more for the rest of it.

Underwater Hotels: Race to the Bottom of the Sea

Having recently reported on Luxury Submarines, it seems appropriate to give an update on two ventures competing to become the first operational one atmosphere underwater hotel. Both were first scheduled to open in 2008 but early projections proved overly optimistic. 

While they are not yet taking  reservations, adventure travelers may soon have a chance to indulge in an exotic Captain Nemo fantasy vacation.

Precision Delivery System Lets You Literally Drop Everything

Picture this. You're in the middle of nowhere with nothing but your wits, determination, and a fully charged satellite phone. Why not order up a pizza for dinner and maybe some more deodorant and 400 pounds of other supplies? It'll all be thrown out of a plane flying miles away and will land within a few feet of your location.

That's what you get with the "miniaturized guided parafoil sensor delivery systems" currently in development by STARA Technologies of Gilbert, Arizona. While the preceding paragraph is a gross oversimplification of what the technology is capable of doing, it may very well be that straightforward some day.

Earth to Dog Tags: Return to Sender

I must have watched way too much X-Files when I was growing up, because I developed an unhealthy fear of alien abduction. That's not to say that I avoided all backwoods country roads at night, slept with a weapon under my pillow or in a chastity belt to avoid the much publicized anal probe, just that I had spent some time evaluating a contingency plan in the event that I was ever the unwilling victim of interstellar kidnapping.

While I brainstormed various effective hand-to-hand combat techniques that might be effective against my technologically advanced captures (the eyes, go for the eyes!), I never thought about how I might translate where to return me, after I handed down an interspecies ass kicking to make Chuck Norris proud.

Apparently I am not alone in this, because Earthbounddog.com has manufactured the first dog tags for those of us who spend a bit too much time worrying about the uncertainty of our return to Earth in the event of abduction.
 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aptera 3-Wheeled Mileage Monsters Coming Soon

How'd you like an all-electric vehicle with a 120 mile range that looks like the result of a wild night between the Batmobile and a dolphin? Oh, and it'll cost less than $30,000 and will be here in 2008.

It's called the Aptera Typ-1e. It'll initially be available in Southern California, then the rest of California, followed by the rest of the country. It's got three wheels (who needs 4 whole wheels anyway?) and in-car cameras instead of rearview mirrors.

If the 120 mile range isn't enough for you, wait a little while longer for the Typ-1 model. It's a gasoline-electric hybrid that's capable of achieving -- get this -- 300 miles PER GALLON. Unreal. That's more than a lot of bigger vehicles get per tank.

Humans vs Machines: We're Winning Because We're More Fun to Shoot At

Those interested in playing chess (or in the eventual domination of our kind by machines) may be interested in this page, where you can play the Shredder chess program hosted on the makers servers. 

We've known for a while that the computers can kick our ass in this particular (and very importantly, non- violent) field of combat but this is the first program I've seen be so smug about it. The instructions point out that "even on 'hard' Shredder doesn't show his full capabilities. He is trying to provide an equal opponent for a human player on those levels."  The phrase 'puny fleshling' isn't explicitly said, but is pretty heavily implied.

How good to make computer opponents has been a major question in game design for years.  We all know that our artificial adversaries should be able to beat us in any video game - after all, they're coded entirely into the world we're interfacing with through eyes and fingers and could instantly headshot any human who arrives if there wasn't programming telling it "Don't do that. Now, take a few seconds to turn around while he shoots you.  No, slower than that."

Not the Moonwalk You're Used To: NASA to Test Inflatable Moon Base

When I think of a structure to serve as an outpost on the lunar surface, 'inflatable' is not my first choice of adjective to keep me protected from the cold abyss of space. Apparently NASA does not share my concerns and will be undertaking a year-long test for the prototype moon base at McMurdo Station in Antarctica beginning in January 2008.

The structure was created by a consortium public and private sector funding, pairing NASA, NSF and privately held ILC Dover, which brought experience working with inflatable structures and available materials that could be utilized. NASA and ILC each committed $295,000 to the project, before soliciting NSF to assist with the delivery and testing of the inflatable at the Antarctica base.

 

Fan Friendly Sci-Fi: The Convention Experience

“Is anyone here a sci-fi geek fanboy?”, asked host Adam Malin to open the Official Battlestar Galactica Convention at the Burbank Airport Marriot Hotel.  As hands shot up around the room, I asked myself the question.  In my high school days, I would have made a Vulcan salute, but my street cred in the world of fantasy fandom has severely diminished over the years.  I am certainly still a genre “fan,” but in this crowd of true “fanatics”, I barely ranked.

In the ballroom next door, another group of niche entertainment aficionados were welcomed to the Official Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis Convention.   There was plenty of cross over between the audiences and while playing favorites was common, real rivalry was understandably absent.  Most Star Trek and Star Wars fans will admit having an affection for both universes even as they fight it out in the hallways with phasers and light sabers.

MyLifeBits To Make Forgetfulness a Thing of the Past?

Your home movies may never be the same if Gordon Bell gets his way. He's the computer scientist in charge of Microsoft's Media Presence Group, a group that's working on what he calls "surrogate memory". It's basically a system that you wear on your body that records everything you see and do. The data gets uploaded to your computer and you're able to search for it later.

One part of the system is a camera with an infrared sensor that snaps photos whenever it detects someone else's body heat. There's also an audio recorder that will capture every single conversation you have.

I can see several uses for such a feature including, but not limited to, becoming much better at winning arguments with friends and loved ones. My better half seems to already have some sort of memory chip implanted somewhere because she remembers EVERYTHING, especially minute details of conversations that I like to gloss over, conveniently forget, or a combination of the two.

The Movie: The videogame: The Movie

Ghostbusters III is coming out as a videogame next year.  This is the most important thing to happen since 1989, and if you disagree you can just get back to knitting cardigans for My Little Ponies because we're going to be over here talking about awesome.

The path for videogames as movie sequels was blazed by Stranglehold, the shooter billed as the "spiritual successor" to the ultimate action-fest that was Hard Boiled.  Directed by John Woo and starring a digitally rendered Chow Yun Fat, reprising his role as Inspector 'Tequila' Yuen (a man who can hit more drug dealers with two pistols than you could if you slammed the moon into New York). 

Reviews rated it as a short but utterly awesome gunfight - which you might realize means it was a perfect sequel.  Some complained that the plot was weak, but here's the way it is.

Antimatter: The Cosmos Answer to Red Bull

When I was in middle school if you wanted to work up a solid caffeine buzz you pretty much were reliant on Mountain Dew or the rarer, but more treasured Jolt Cola. After all, with the tag line "All the sugar, twice the caffeine!", it was hard not to get excited at the prospect of pure, fast burning, twitch-inducing rocket fuel to pour down your throat.

Then college came and Mountain Dew became more of a routine, mid-morning replacement for coffee in order to power through early morning (9:00?! What is this, the third shift??) classes. Little did I know a revolution was about to unfold within the beverage industry,
when Red Bull, the grand daddy of energy drinks hit the market and put everything short of a triple-shot of espresso on notice.

It didn't take long for the market to flood with competition: Amp, Hansen's, Monster, Rockstar, Pimp Juice, Crunk, you couldn't swing a cat and not hit half a dozen new super-caffeinated, sugary 8oz
cannisters of wake up juice.

5 Personal Flight Vehicles for Your Holiday Wish List

The holidays are fast approaching and, let's face it, we all know someone who's impossible to shop for. Why not give that special someone the death-defying gift that keeps on giving? I'm referring, of course, to a personal flight vehicle. Here are five to choose from complete with pricing, availability, and the types of people who would enjoy each one most.

1. AirScooter

Cost: Around $50,000
Availability: Sometime in 2008
Pilot Type: Patient, likes simplicity

You'll have to put a photo of this one in an envelope if you're going to give it to someone as a Christmas present because the AirScooter II isn't quite ready yet. It's expected to go into production "in 2008, but no firm date has been determined at this time," according to the company's FAQ page.

The vehicle itself is 11 feet high by 7 feet wide by 12.5 feet long and weighs 350 pounds. It's got a 5 gallon gas tank that's good for 2 hours of flight. It's made of "space-age materials" like lightweight steel, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, carbon-fiber composites, fiberglass panels, urethane coated fabrics and nylon webbing. I found no mention of Tempur material, which as we all know is the most space-age material of all.

A Quartet of Cool Co-operative Titles

In this wonderful world of massively multiplayer games, with its Hordes and Fortress-favoring class-based teams, it's worth remembering that "co-operating" with another player was once viewed as only one step removed from having tea parties together and braiding each others hair.  Here I look at four games that bravely stepped forward with new ways to work together in a world where most two-player games were based on punching the other guy in the face until he fell over.

1.  Smash TV

For those who missed out on one of the best shooters ever, Smash TV was a game where you had a machine gun, the enemy had baseball bats and they still had the advantage.  Besieged on all sides by oceans of enemies, this wasn't "We'll work together and have a chilled time" co-op, this was "Two men on a leaking lifeboat surrounded by sharks during a typhoon" teamwork - gritted teeth sweating and swearing where if neither of you screw up you might make it to the next level.

Space Shuttle Mission: Give Those FPS's a Break and Learn Something

Sure, Bioshock and Call of Duty  have been getting all of the video gaming press recently, but there's more out there than just grabbing the biggest projectile weapon and launching a full frontal assault on wave after wave of adversaries. So, in the interest of expanding your gaming horizons, we bring to you word of Space Shuttle Mission 2007, a fully immersive space simulator.

 

Reloaded Retro Controllers

People say that things were better in the old days.  Every one of those people is old can safely be ignored, and possibly taunted by hiding their walking sticks and replacing their hearing aids with Death Metal filled iPods. Anyone who says that the gaming world was better in a time without Mario Galaxy had better do so in a very quiet voice at least four impenetrable barriers away from me.

Once we admit we live in a fabulous wonderland of magic that our Vic-20 coding forebears couldn't dream of if they ate a bathtub full of magic mushrooms soaked in fire flowers, it's okay to indulge in a little nostalgia.  We're the first generation where the clicking of a digital joystick, the sticking of a fire button or even the scent of a particular sweat-stained plastic can trigger childhood memories.  Here are 5 ways to flashback to swearing at those damn centipedes.

1.  XBox Atari Joystick

This frankensteinian fragging controller was devised by a devout Galaga fan, eager to recreate his childhood high scores with an authentic control experience.  This labor of love uses an authentic Atari 7800 joystick dragged kicking and screaming into the modern age by an unholy marriage with the guts of an XBox pad.  One imagines that an Atari component connected to a modern console would have a lot of questions, like "What are all those colors"?, "Where is the music coming from"? and "This show looks very violent, when are we going to switch it off and start playing games?"

Private Luxury Submarines: Megayachts of the Deep

Large Personal Luxury Submarine. Just the words make my heart go pitter-patter.  If I could choose one toy worthy of Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, it would definitely go underwater.  The shopping trip begins at U.S. Submarine Inc., a Florida-based company with a number of options for the well-heeled submariner.

The different models are all designed to look like super streamlined yachts enclosing a pressure hull rated to 300 meters.  Leaving the harbor, views from the main deck and bridge compartment whet the appetite for the upcoming plunge below the waves.  The Marlin 1000 is their most basic “starter sub” a mere 56’ in length with a maximum surface speed of 10 knots.  Up to 16 passengers can share in the decadence.

Astronomically Hi-Def TV

DirecTV has announced that they will launch a new satellite next year that will be dedicated to broadcasting HD content. In order to try and barter a free ride into orbit (OK, maybe this isn't true, apparently they're just doing it for some PR), they've extended NASA an offer to outfit the International Space Station with free high-definition television.

The promotion is in conjunction with DirecTV's extension of their HD offering from 75 channels to over 100 within the next year (with up to 150 coming as soon as they get the new satellite in the air).
 

Girl-on-Alien Action? Not In My Backyard!

Mass Effect's release draws ever nearer, space fans! Only a few short days left before you'll be able to get your hands on this epic adventure - that is, as long as you're not in Singapore.

Singapore has their own version of an ESRB-like overseeing company, called the Media  Development Authority (MDA). There's a large difference, however, found in the fact that the MDA operates as a part of Singaporean government. There's a decree from the MDA that states that games sold within the country of Singapore cannot contain "exploitative or gratuitous sex and violence, or denigrate any race or religion." (The Darkness was recently prohibited due to religiously offensive content and violence, and God of War has been banned thanks to nudity and, well, more violence.)

I, Robocar: LA Auto Show Design Challenge

If you thought the concept cars were the coolest attractions of the annual Los Angeles Auto Show, you must have missed the entrants in this year’s Design Challenge.  Now in it’s fourth year, the competition features visionary vehicles on the sci-fi highway to the future.  The contestant teams represent eight of Southern California’s premiere automotive design studios and their entries this year are once again, radical, gnarly, awesome, and just plain bitchin.’

Check out that Volkswagon Slipstream, a two wheel teardrop shaped pod with airplane fins that let you drive 250mph, but only in the carpool lane. How about the Toyota Biomobile Mecha (image, above) that uses dynamic driving instincts as it rolls on four nano-laser wheels  powered by pollution. 

5 Ways to Improve MMORPGS

A trial for popular Korean MMORPG Shaiya is promising executions, according to this article by Kotaku, and that's awesome.  Assuming that it will be used as an in-game punishment it's an inventive measure, an entertaining way to suspend an account, and will trigger an absolute firestorm of pitchfork- wielding outrage when the regular media eventually notices it.

For CNN this'll be an early holiday present wrapped in winning lottery tickets - a triple-header chance for "video game outrage", "kids programmed to murder" and the ever popular "talking heads prove they don't know a goddamn thing about the internet, the games on it, law or the death penalty".  Expect bonus sombre "Is the death penalty humane?  Join us after this extremely gratuitous news footage we vaguely justified with that question, when we'll be discussing the disgusting violence in video games."

The idea of in-game events reflecting antisocial behavior is brilliant - those griefers can provide a few minutes of spectacle and entertainment for all those they wronged.  Extend the games to include chatlogs and forum posts and we could get a whole host of improvements:

1.  Nerfed for real

Every time a character uses the word " nerf" after an update, a random stat or ability effect will be reduced by 10%.  It is possible to reduce all your stats to zero in this manner, leaving your character unable to affect the world in any way while they stand there and complain pointlessly, which is pretty much what you were doing anyway.

Build Your Own (Sweet, Cherry Wood) Speakers

For some reason, Japan always seems to get the coolest technology before the United States; Rodan, 100 Mbps Internet, Vending Machine Camouflage and now Do-It-Yourself, custom speakers.

JVC has released what is arguably the ultimate way to make your home stereo system truly your own; by allowing the user to assemble the speakers by hand. The $369 kit includes cherry wood cabinets, 8.5 cm wood speaker cones- rated to 30W, porting tubes and dampening insulation to create your very own audio experience. The argument for this speakers being that any man can go out and buy a pair of  speakers, it takes a true enthusiast to buy a box of parts and build his own, in order to ensure bragging rights.
 

Hack: Controlling the Wii With Your Fingertips

The fact that you can control something in a video game with your movements may be cool enough for you, but if you aren't satisfied with holding the Wii remote, or if you seek that closer bond between you and the screen, you're in luck. Here's a neat little hack that will allow you to control the Wii with your own fingertips.

As you may know, the Wii operates through the diffraction of infrared light; that is, the remote has a sensor at the tip which is detected by the Wii station.

To ditch the remote, all you'll need is an infrared LED array (you can pick one up for a few bucks at your local Radio Shack), and some reflective tape (also fairly cheap).  The whole project will only set you back about ten bucks, give or take, and it's totally worth it because you get to pretend that you're some badass high-tech agent out of Minority Report.

"Laugh it up, Fuzzball"

Self admittedly, the original headline for this post was "How to Guarantee You or Your Child Gets Their Ass Kicked Twice Daily," however that seemed a bit wordy. The point being is that you better be supremely self-confident or the world's biggest Star Wars fan to endure the torrent of verbal assaults that are bound to follow you while strutting around with Ole Chewbacca on your back.

The creators of this bag have decided that one of the greatest sidekicks in cinema history would be better served as a pseudo-taxidermied carry-all for geeks on the go, than as the Ewok loving, copilot of the Millennium Falcon, worthy of his own punk theme song.  

Five Incredible Speedruns

A speedrun - completing a game as quickly as possible in one sitting - is an epic gaming achievement. Far from being a way to minimize the amount of time you spend playing, a real speedrun means you've played the game through more often than many people could count (or even survive).  Here we look at five of the best:

1. Portal

You might now be thinking with Portals, but this guy is living breathing and dreaming them.  This absolutely incredible 18 minute speed run (I dare you to follow what's going on in the first chamber of part 2), with its wealth of shortcuts, techniques and outright glitch-exploits shows that the player probably spent longer in Aperture Science than some of the development team. 

Bonus content: the first minute of part 1, waiting for the Aperture Relaxation Vault to open, paints the most terrifying picture of an ADD afflicted Cola-hyped gamer I've ever seen.  We can only imagine that his room is ritually destroyed every time a game takes a longer than a minute to load, then all the pieces ground into powder should there be an unskippable cutscene.

Xbox Live Turns Five

Xbox Live was a pioneering service and helped set the foundation for modern online gaming, and today it turns five years old. Unlike Portal, there will be no cake. There will, however, be presents and prizes for loyal subscribers.

If you're among the Live elite - that is, those of you who've continually subscribed with the same account since 2002 - you'll be the proud new parent of 500 adorable Microsoft Points to spend on some shiny new gamerpics or themes. If you're just a normal, run-of-the-mill subscriber who hasn't been around the whole five years, you can still get a free game out of this birthday celebration.

Carcassone, the awesomely fun strategy board game, will be available for FREE, but only between 12:01 AM today and 11:59 PM tomorrow! Be sure to act quickly or forever join the people who regret missing the chance to get Texas Hold-Em for free during last year's download event. Of course, f you've already bought Carcassone and have subscribed to Live for less than five years, well, I'm sorry to say that you're screwed. You can still go get free Aegis Wing if you haven't downloaded that yet...(as long as you're in North America, that is...)

Japan's 'Melody Road' Makes Your Car Sing

A new road recently designed and developed in Japan brings a whole new meaning to "tuning up your car." Two years ago, worker Mr. Shinoda of Japan accidentally cut a few grooves into a road outside of Gunma, Japan. When he backed his digger back out over the ridges, he discovered that with some
meticulous planning, he might be able to create a road which played a song when driven over.

Today, his aspiration had been realized; members of the Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute hit the pavement, carving thousands of tiny, precise grooves in the road at just the right lengths apart.

South Korea Announces Pair of Robot Theme Parks

Here in the US we theme our parks around cartoon characters, country music singers, movie studios and Jam, South Korea on the other hand has decided that the best theme park attraction will be the burgeoning field of robotics.

The South Korean Commerce Ministry has allocated a whopping $1.6 Billion to build two state of the art theme parks by 2013, which will feature interaction with robots in the park and the ability to test new products.

Sounds more like my free weekend trip to Best Buy, but there'll probably be be an ASIMO or A.W.E.S.O.M.E-O wandering around the grounds for visitors to ogle.

Astronauts Get the Munchies, Too

When I was a kid, I thought being an astronaut was the coolest occupation in the world. Not for the travel into outer space or the cool uniform, but because near as I could tell from the gift shop at the Museum of Science, all astronauts ever ate was ice cream.

So maybe Astronaut Ice Cream had the consistency of Styrofoam and was equally as flavorful, but the point was that astronauts apparently ate it with impunity. Apparently the high caloric content and sugar weren't nutritional sound so our neighbors to the north, Agriculture Canada created Canasnacks, bite-sized cookies which are comprised of two oat biscuits sandwiching blueberry, raspberry or maple filling.

Super Mario Galaxy PR Goes Over the Top

Nintendo is backing the release of Super Mario Galaxy with an out-of-this-world budget for promotion, and some truly over the top publicity stunts. It’s not every video game caricature that gets to dance weightless with Apollo 11 astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin.   

Should Nintendo be looking for more outrageous ways to spend money pushing the latest Playstation title, we offer the following original marketing strategy suggestions:

 
1) Innovative Promotional Tactics

During The Simpsons Movie promotion, a number of 7-11 stores were remade into Kwik-E Marts, complete with Squishees and Buzz Cola. How about renaming some constellations to promote Super Mario Galaxy? “Cassiopia, the Queen” could become “Princess Peach,” Change “Orion , the Hunter” to “The Plumber, and “Libra” to “Luigi.”

2) 'Mobile' Outdoor Advertising

Take the concept of mobile outdoor advertising to another level: rolling barrel boards. Picture a wooden keg rigged with those red LED strips that spell messages as they spin. Now imagine the attention drawn to the Nintendo brand when their logo is hurtling down the freeway toward your windshield.

Putting the Marketing Cart Before the Gaming Horse - Pro Evo 2008

As games and licenses get bigger and better, we're treating to ever increasing levels of spectacle and wonder: vast virtual environments that make the Sistine chapel roof look like ten minutes with a spraycan, colossal set pieces that make the Pyramids look small-minded, and Normandy beach landings reminiscent of, well, the goddamn Normandy beach landings.

The only price we have to pay for these wonders is the death of creativity and originality.  A game that costs a bajillion dollars and four years to develop (the PS3 cell processor requires a team of ten MIT doctorates simply to turn on for development), nobody will risk that investment on anything but the most guaranteed return.  Think of the last five major releases you played - were there any that didn't have numbers in the title, sequel number substitutes like "Galaxy" or "Corruption", or that veered from the formula of "Tough guy shoots beautifully rendered things"?

Whether this shift to marketing over making is good, bad or unavoidable is an open question.

Novint Falcon Adds a Fine Touch To Gaming

True virtual reality gaming has yet to arrive, but a recently developed 3D touch game controller is certainly moving us that way. The Novint Falcon is hardly breaking news in gaming and gadget circles with an early prototype debuting at E3 of 2006.  However, what is of note is the fact you can actually buy one now, albeit with a paucity of games and a hefty price point of $239.

Nintendo’s Wii console and its wireless controller has fundamentally changed the landscape of home gaming systems, replacing machine-gunning button pushers with spastic stick swingers.  Also, most FPS and driving titles feel seriously dated without vibration feedback effects of some kind.  While the graphics and sound capabilities of the main platforms have progressed steadily, tactile effects have lagged significantly.   

The Falcon incorporates a “haptic” forced-feed back system to simulate manual actions and reactions for different materials, shapes, and collisions.                      

Assassin's Secrets

Ubisoft shipped the highly anticipated Assassin's Creed for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC today, and some of you are in for a surprise when you fire this game up. If you want in on the secret, read on. If you don't want to hear the massive spoilers - which take place in the first five minutes of the game - then now's the time to scroll along. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Ubi's been pretty tight-lipped about the background of the main character in Assassin's Creed, even though it's been evident for quite a while that there's something beyond the Crusade-era setting of this game. Even in early gameplay videos, there was a distinctly Matrix-like honeycomb pattern that appeared over characters and gave the archaic setting a very modern tinge. Ubisoft hasn't really said anything about why this keeps appearing, only that we'd learn in due time.

Well, that time is here and I'm ready to spill it all.

LEGO of Those Space Marines

Growing up, I always had an appreciation for the intricacy and versatility that a set of LEGO's offered. There were always three stages to any build: The Construction of one massive structure, The Inevitable destruction through an errant projectile or flight off of a shelf or desk, and The Rebirth.

The Rebirth was when all those previously shattered Lego dreams got their chance to be dug out from the the giant Rubbermaid Bin in The Sky and repurposed into a entirely original creation. My builds varied from structures to vehicles and definitely warranted some creativity points, however none of them compare to the intricacy of these constructions.

Brickshelf poster "mryoder" has uploaded these images of his painstaking reproduction of scenes from the 1986 sci-fi/horror classic "Aliens" in all their Lego glory.

Comic Book Guy Rejoice! Marvel Announces Online Archive

"I tried to teach you how to handle comics in sixth grade. But, no! You wanted to play little league."
- Brody Bruce, Mallrats

Comics are a divisive subject even amongst the most dyed in the wool geeks. I think they're like role playing games, MAGIC,  Dungeons & Dragons, Model Rocketry or any of the other fringe enthusiast hobbies, in that you come down in one camp or the other: you're a collector, or you never understood the allure.

For all those who made the ultimate sacrifice to devote your time, money, adolescence (and possibly adulthood) to the pursuit of self-appointed comic librarian, today Marvel set your world on fire. For the first time ever, Marvel has made over 2,500 back issues of it's fanboy canon available online in full  high- resolution. No longer will you have to make sojourns to the Android's Dungeon or Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash to get your palms on those rare first appearances of your favorite superheroes.

Miss Videogame 2007

Over the weekend the Titan Arcadia in Montreal played host to the Miss Videogame (MVG) 2007 championships.  Now the dust has settled, the consoles have been packed away and the winner has been decided: "L337" Lauren Berggren strafing away with the prize.

The MVG championships are intended to raise awareness of female gamers in the stereotypically male-dominated pastime, and they've certainly succeeded in that. 

Unfortunately most of the online article awareness has been in the form of "Check out these gaming girls", "Every gamers dream" and "Don't let looks fool you - these girls can play" comments that reinforce the reasons the MVG was needed in the first place.  It's clear that efforts like MVG and the Frag Dolls have a lot of work ahead of them.

Wake Up with the Stars: Space Projection Alarm Clock

With the holidays around the corner, you've probably noticed that we've been offering up some gift ideas for budding technology fans, Star Trek fanatics, science and astronomy enthusiasts. As much fun as it is making sure you have all the latest grownup tech toys, like $350 flashlights and Call of Duty refreshes to fill your days, sharing is the nature of the season. So, we're here to help you hook up all those sons, daughters, nieces and nephews this year.

For the space-crazed youngster in your life, Discovery Channel Store has this Space Projection Alarm Clock which projects the time and one of three spaced themed images onto the wall or ceiling of their
bedroom.

Just in Time for The Company Holiday Party: Computer Key Cuff Links

There are some occasions in life where you can't wear your favorite t-shirt, but instead must dawn a suit or tuxedo in order to celebrate one formal event or another. And while no one likes being forced into a prescribed dress code, you'd be hard pressed to find more vocal opponents than the IT professionals, programmers, start up chieftains, or any other tech enthusiast who long ago swore off suits and ties in favor of more relaxed environments that allowed for Crocs and jeans.

Thankfully, this year when you're being dragged to your next black tie holiday function you can covertly accent your conformity with a set of Keyboard Cufflinks by Debbie Howe to let your fellow tech brethren know that while you may look the part, the suits will never break you.