Hasta La Gadget!

I’m taking a break from getting my ass handed to me playing Titanfall, and I just had to post this. This mech is the best possible way to display your smartphone.

It was made by MechWorld, using a variety of random metal bits and bobs, many of which look like the leftover parts from an IKEA cabinet I once put together. When there’s no cellphone docked as its pilot, I wonder if it has an auto-pilot follow mode where it fires RPGs at other phone stands it doesn’t like.

Want it? Drop whatever you’re doing, gather up 97 bucks and call for a dropship to kick you out over Etsy now.

[via ThisIsWhyI’mBroke]

If you find yourself near the Berlin Central Station today, you may have noticed a gigantic robot there before you decided to run for your life and hide in some corner. Nothing to fear. It’s just Betty the Titan, and this is just one stop on a four stop tour around Germany to promote Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall in a big way.

Believe it or not Respawn and EA have been moving this and one other Titanfall prop all around the world. So far Betty has made appearances at Gamescom, GDC, E3, and a couple of other venues. Both Titans were created to represent the true scale of the mech compared to puny humans and they do that well. They would be amazing to see in person.

The Titans were created by Daniel’s Wood Land, based out of Paso Robles, CA. They are made almost completely out of foam, which is carved using 3D carving machines, then painted and sealed. So they aren’t as hard to move around as you would think. One day soon maybe we have have real mechs this size to crush us and kill us.

[via Geek]

There is something about the colors in the older comic books that today’s comics just don’t have. They were bright and vibrant and just jumped off the page in a way that today’s do not. Maybe it was the ink that they used. Anyway, this amazing Batman tattoo captures this spot on.

This super detailed, full-color tattoo by British artist Ian Hopkins truly brings the classic Batman comic books to life. This is pre-Dark Knight Batman, when the colors were alive and stunning.

This tattoo won him a prize at the Titanic Ink Tattoo Convention in Southampton, UK and took him 40 hours of work to complete. Amazing job, Ian!

[Ian Hopkins via Neatorama]

Despite having a tiny black and white screen and not even a hard drive in its first incarnation, the original Macintosh was one of the most transformative and iconic computers of all time. I’ve always wanted to have one on display in my office, but when I stumbled on this wooden version, I’d much rather have this on my bookshelf.

This wooden Macintosh sculpture was created by artist Lee Stoetzel a dog’s age ago back in 2007, and it’s just as timeless as the computer on which it’s based. It’s even got a wooden mouse and matching keyboard.

The only thing better would be if it had a slot that you could slide an iPad into and a functional wooden Bluetooth keyboard – both of which I’m sure could be done. Oh, and even better than that would be if Lee made one for me.

Be sure to check out Stoetzel’s other incredible wood creations, which include a VW bus.

Before its Diablo III art contest, DeviantART also held a competition for another major video game – Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The contest called for the art community’s members to show their own take on the heroine Lightning. The entries were judged by none other than Square Enix’ artist, designer and director Tetsuya Nomura.

The contest was held last month, from February 11 to February 20. Out of the 4,655 submissions, Nomura – known for his character designs for Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, X and XIII and the Kingdom Hearts series – chose three grand prize winners.

Below is Nicolas Barge’s winning piece, of which Nomura said, “At first glance it looks like a CG, and it has a level of quality that makes it look like it was captured as a screenshot.  While there were many heroic costumes for Lightning, I was drawn to the femininity of this costume and her hairstyle.”

Nomura was also impressed by Randis Albion’s piece, saying, “It’s wonderful as an illustration, but in addition to that, the artist drew in both the front and back views, so I felt the artist’s clear intent when they created this piece. The red and blue color scheme was very beautiful, too.”

Marga Donaire’s submission is one of my favorites among all of the entries, and it sounded like Nomura felt the same way too: “With one look I was hooked. The costume itself is sophisticated, and it’s also very well done as an illustration. The background that reminded me of the Japanese flag (Hinomaru) matched well with the piece and was beautiful.  As an artist, when I look at different works of art, I think to myself “If it were up to me, I would do it differently,” but that thought didn’t cross my mind once when I saw this picture.”

As if earning praise from such an accomplished artist wasn’t enough, Nicolas, Randis and Marga also won an original sketch from Tetsuya Nomura, a custom Xbox 360 and controller, $1000, a keychain, a shirt, and copies of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. They were also featured on the front page of deviantART. Congrats guys! Switch to your browser costume and head to deviantART to check out all of the entries.