Hasta La Gadget!

You gotta love videogame marketing. First we got, pre-orders, then DLC, then exclusive DLC based on where your pre-order. Now they’re using pre-orders as viral advertisements. If you thought the $190,000 (USD) pre-order bundle for Grid 2 – which included a street legal race car – was ridiculous, get ready to hit your computer with a penetrator bat.

The upcoming balls-to-the-wall insanity simulator that is Saints Row IV has a pre-order bundle exclusive to the UK store Game. It’s called the Super Dangerous Wad Wad Edition, and it costs $1,000,000. That number becomes a tad sillier considering only people in England and Wales can buy it. They should’ve just priced it an even £645,000. So what does that obscene amount of money get you? Let’s hit the image above with the Inflator Gun:

A Lamborghini Gallardo? Sweet! A trip to space? Whaaat! Plastic surgery? Yeaiiee- wait what? That bit makes me think that this bundle is either a joke or, well, a joke. On the pre-order page, it says that the person who buys this bundle has to accept that the “content of the ‘Super Dangerous Wad Wad Edition’ must be taken as stated and cannot be deferred.” The buyer’s going to get a plastic surgery whether he likes it or not. And after he’s done getting a new nose, he’ll still have to pay $10 to get the game’s DLC because the Season Pass isn’t included in the bundle. That’s how the 3rd Street Saints do.

[via Game via Joystiq]

When you lust after something as exotic as the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, but just aren’t able to spend millions on a hypercar, then I guess you’ll just have to settle for something as mundane as a Gallardo.

The Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Squadra Corse is almost identical to the LP 570-4 Super Trofeo, a single-series race car, but it is street legal. Just like the Super Trofeo, the Squadra Corse shares components with the Gallardo Superleggera.

Its 570 hp V10 engine is complemented with a carbon fiber rear wing and removable hood. Thanks to the ample use of this lightweight material, the Squadra Corse weighs 154 lbs less than the LP 560-4.

Interior components have been made from lightweight materials as well including an ample helping of lush Alcantara and more carbon fiber.

Getting to 60 mph takes only 3.4 seconds, and you will hit 124 mph in 10.4 seconds. Its top speed is 199 mph, which should be plenty, especially for a car you can take off of the track.

[via Autoblog]

A few days ago Mercer, the global human resources consulting firm, published its current list of the most expensive cities in the world. According to their survey, the most expensive place to station an employee isn’t New York or Tokyo. It’s Luanda, Angola.

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The Elements iPad app is one of the best alternatives to the traditional periodic table. But a mobile augmented reality company called DAQRI is working on something more interactive and intuitive. The company calls it Elements 4D, a set of building blocks that make learning about the elements fun and easy.

Elements 4D has a total of six wooden blocks. Each block face is dedicated to a single element. When you view a block face or faces through the Elements 4D iOS app, the block comes to life, showing a virtual representation of the elment. In the image above you see carbon and gold being represented. The app also shows additional information about each element, but its best feature is demonstrating chemical reactions. Simply by putting two block faces side-by-side, you’ll see what chemical compound they become, if any. It’s a virtual chem lab. You’ll need lots of blocks to make meth.

Pledge at least $25 (USD) on Kickstarter to get Elements 4D blocks as a reward. Note that you have to pledge at least $75 to get all six blocks. Aside from being expensive, another significant downside of Elements 4D is that it currently only has six blocks. That’s just 36 faces, but we know of 118 elements. I guess DAQRI can release more blocks in the future, but then that would add up to hundreds of dollars. I’ll stick to The Elements app for now, but Elements 4D is a great example of the educational application of augmented reality.

[via The Next Web]

Tourbillon horological machines are quite spectacular at times, and the Swiss manufacturer Romain Jerome has made some incredible ones. Their latest flying tourbillon watch features a unique design with tremendous depth, and looks gorgeous.

The Moon Orbiter Tourbillon was designed as a tribute to space. In fact, they’ve used melted down parts from the Apollo 11 shuttle and moon dust in the dial. The case measures 49mm wide, 45mm long and 20mm thick. There are lugs mounted on pneumatic cylinders to ensure that it’s comfortable. The case holds the Caliber RJ300-A-Mechanical self-winding movement watch system. Time is displayed on the right and the flying tourbillon on the left.

Unfortunately, you’ll need to mortgage your house to get this watch, because there will only be 25 made and each will sell for approximately $115,000(USD).

[via Luxuryes]