Hasta La Gadget!

Despite its age and relatively primitive graphics, Okami is still one of the most beautiful, creative and artful games ever created. If you recall, the games protagonist is a wolf named Amaterasu. One of the other wolves in the game was Shiranui, who tragically dies in battle with the beastly Orochi. Artist Piquipauparro pays tribute to this beautiful and noble creature with what could be the most amazing bit of needle-felting I’ve ever laid eyes on.

This 12″ long, 8″ tall version of the white wolf was handmade from wool and a little bit of wire for structure. It’s incredibly detailed, and includes all of those whispy red streaks and a “fire cloud” mane to make it even more dynamic.

Check out bigger pics of this amazing bit of geek craft over on Piquipauparro’s DeviantArt page, along with some other cool creations as well.

[via Ian Brooks]

R/C toys are fun. Whether it’s driving, flying or navigating the the waterways, it’s all good. It’s even cooler if you are capable of customizing your R/C craft. R/C hobbyist Chris Allen knows a thing or two about that, having built this awesome 70MM EDF JET powered Batwing from scratch.


It not only looks awesome, it also really flies and flies fast too while flipping around in the air. Chris has been building and designing R/C planes for the past 10 years and right now he is into scratch-building anything to do with Batman. My kind of builder.

Now he just needs to build a Joker plane and take the fight to the skies for the ultimate flying duel. Make sure you watch the videos. This thing is amazing in flight. I’m sure would have your Batman action figure pulling massive Gs in the cockpit.

[via Obvious Winner]

Looking for a cool and unusual gadget to add to your media room? This unique VU meter combines old-school Nixie tube technology with modern electronic circuitry to display sound levels in a dramatic way.

The Nixie VU meter users a pair of neon gas-filled bargraph tubes, connected to a special circuit that’s designed to display the sound levels on the long, narrow glass tubes. You can either connect the meter to your audio system by daisy-chaining its 1/8″ analog stereo jacks, or you can simply set it in your room and the built-in microphone will do the work for you – though I don’t think the microphone works in stereo. Here’s a video of the meter in action – accompanied by German narration – but it’s pretty self-explanatory even if you don’t speak the language.

The thing comes in kit form, and does require soldering skills and a multimeter to assemble it. The guy who makes it says it should take about an hour to build if you know your way around electronic kits. You can get your hands on the Nixie VU meter over on eBay for $159(USD).

Now before you get all mad at me for saying that I was kind of disappointed in the big noisy mess that was The Avengers, I must mention that I was battling the brain-bending side effects of a new medicine, combined with the headache inducing 3D glasses and an IMAX screen on the day I saw it, so maybe I need to give it another chance when it comes out on Blu-ray. But for now, here’s a film that I’d most definitely go see in the mean time.

Yes, those are cats – dressed up as Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and The Hulk. Well The Hulk isn’t exactly dressed – hes’ more like a big naked green cat. But that doesn’t make the Cat Avengers any less awesome. I love how Captain (or is it Cattail?) America looks kind of spooked by Thor’s electric hammer. Though I was hoping to see a rat dressed as Loki.

This hilarious digital painting comes from the mind of Alana McCarthy of GeekyPet, and is available as a 10″ x 8″ digital print over on Etsy for about $15(USD). While you’re over there, be sure to check out Alana’s other geeky animal creations, including Batcat, Jabba the Cat and Captain Jean-Mewc Piccat (I made that name up but I thought it fit.)

Looking for the perfect thing to greet guests in your foyer? Screw the potted plants and wall art and go for something a bit more dramatic. If I had the money kicking around (and my wife wouldn’t throw me out of the house for doing it,) I’d totally want this full-size Bioshock Big Daddy and Little Sister in my entryway.

The guys at Studio Oxmox made these amazingly accurate sculptures of Big Daddy and Little Sister that you can actually buy for yourself (assuming you can skip the mortgage payment for a couple of months.) Big Daddy measures a whopping 7-feet, 2-inches-tall and is sporting his imposing pressure suit and arm drill. The 41-inch-tall Little Sister will stare down guests with her empty eyeballs and shoot them up with a syringe of EVE. (while Gordon Freeman looks on from the background).

Both statues are made from fiberglass, and can be shipped to your home within 5 to 10 days. The pair is available over on eBay for $6490(USD), plus it’ll cost you another $1449 to pack and ship them safely from their current location in France. Sure, that’s probably as much as an actual vacation package to Rapture, but the look on the faces of your houseguests when they see these things will be priceless.