This statue of Mario must have been fed a Super Mushroom, because he’s big enough to run and jump around in our world. According to its seller, the statue is 150 cm. or about 5 ft. tall. I’m not sure if that’s Mario’s official height, but it seems about right.
You can get the statue from Amazon Japan for ¥ 285,000 (~$2,900 USD). If you’re not a Mario fan, the seller also has other life-sized statues, including one of Spider-Man, Mazinger Z and Tetsujin 28 aka Gigantor.
[via Newlaunches]
The original Paperboy was ahead of its time. While other arcade games in the 80s featured spaceships or medieval warriors, Paperboy only had, well, a paperboy. So it’s fitting that this homage to the game uses cutting edge technology. PaperDude VR harnesses the powers of the Oculus Rift, the Kinect and the Kickr power trainer, even though you can achieve a more realistic experience with, I don’t know, a bicycle and rolls of paper.
PaperDude VR is a pet project of Globacore, a company that specializes in interactive installations. Globacore is making the game using Unity and Photoshop. The game requires you to throw virtual newspapers at mailboxes to score points. As with Paperboy, you have to do this without crashing your bicycle, only this time you’re actually pedaling on a bike. The Kickr detects your speed and can adjust the bike to make it easier or harder to pedal. The Oculus Rift provides 360º visibility and the Kinect tracks your hands and arms.
Globacore said they’re planning to improve PaperDude VR by adding features like obstacles and other nuisances to avoid, an online leaderboard and even a replica of the training course at the end of levels in Paperboy.
[via Prosthetic Knowledge]
I haven’t played The Last of Us yet – RIP, PS3, you served me well! – but from what I’ve heard about it anyone who’s played the game needs a massive dose of sunshine and rainbows afterwards. These plush dolls of Joel and Ellie should help.
These adorable post-apocalyptic survivors were made by deviantART member viciouspretty. She said that The Last of Us was the reason she bought a PS3. She’s made a lot of chibi-style dolls, but she got burnt out and took a break. Then her husband suggested that she make a doll of Joel, knowing that she loved The Last of Us’ male protagonist.
Look at those cute little bricks. They’re perfect for tossing at plush clickers. Of course, once she made a Joel doll she had to make one of Ellie. They go together like fungus-infected peanut butter & jelly.
I’m sad that I don’t get that comic book reference. Grab your supplies and head to deviantART to see more of viciouspretty’s work. Her Mass Effect dolls are good enough to be official merch.
[via ALBOTAS]
This is the Catpanion Cube, a feline residence made by Instructables member/Aperture Science vet/cat slave Rachael Whitaker. I hear that when you place your cat inside, she’ll be simultaneously dead and alive, stuck inside the dimension that the Portal gun uses to generate shortcuts. When you place your dog inside, he’ll just poop in it.
Rachael made the Catpanion Cube out of foam padding and some fabric. She held the Cube’s walls together using pins and thread. The Cube doesn’t sing though.
Open a portal to Instructables to find out how to make your own Catpanion Cube. Your cat will know that you’ll incinerate her in her sleep if she ever misbehaves.
deviantART member/miner/crafter AwesomeTikiWiki made this Minecraft sword plushie as “a present of sorts.” I think she gave it to someone she hated, because this sword won’t help anyone defeat even a pixelated chicken.
AwesomeTikiWiki says she painstakingly sewed this huggable weapon by hand to make sure that she got the pixelated look right. Head to her deviantART page to check her crafting recipe.
[via Sprite Stitch]
Super Sentai shows like Bioman, Fiveman and of course the American adaptation Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers were a staple of my childhood. If you’re like me and you’ve always dreamed of assembling your own team of live-action superheroes, Chroma Squad might be the game for you. Sort of.
Chroma Squad is an upcoming game for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android (Sorry Windows Phone!). It’s currently being developed by Behold Studios, the developer behind Knights of Pen & Paper. If you played KoP&P, Chroma Squad’s premise and gameplay won’t surprise you: it’s a game about a group of stuntmen who decided to strike out on their own and make a TV studio. You’ll then help the stuntmen buy props, shoot TV episodes – including the neverending battles – and influence the show’s storyline, all to achieve your ultimate goal: to save Earth to attract audiences.
Put your costume on, swing your arms wildly in the air while nodding vigorously then finally punch the air and summon your MegaBrowserZord. Pledge at least $15 (USD) on Kickstarter to earn a desktop version of Chroma Squad as a reward.
[via Pocket Tactics]
If you liked Benjamin Berg’s glitch art throw pillows, check out Phillip Stearn’s Glitch Textiles. With the help of professional knitters and weavers, Stearns turns patterns generated from broken digital cameras and binary files into blankets and tapestries.
According to Fast Co. Design, Stearns makes the patterns by rewiring digital cameras and by “custom-made data visualization software, which translates raw binary data into images.”
This must be extremely embarrassing for computers. You can buy knitted and woven blankets and tapestries from Glitch Textiles for $250-$350 (USD). And when the robot uprising commences, you will be one of the first to go.
[via Fast Co. Design]
Always be prepared for a fight cosplay convention with this Legend of Zelda-inspired hoodie. Aside from being green, the hoodie also has a handsewn replica of the Hylian Shield and the Master Sword attached on its back. It also has a couple of faux leather belts connected by a buckle up front.
You can order the hoodie from Geeky U’s online shop or from its Etsy outlet for $100 (USD). It’s a shame Geeky U didn’t upload a shot of the hoodie from the front. Or maybe that’s the front. Whoa. A maskie?
[via Fashionably Geek]
The Oculus Rift will most likely lead to a new genre of first-person games, but it could also make drones a lot more fun to use. For his master’s thesis, Jonathan of Intuitive Aerial is working on Oculus FPV, a drone camera system that streams 3D video that can be viewed with the Rift.
The system uses a Black Armored Drone carrying a laptop and two cameras. The laptop compresses the feed from the two cameras and sends them to a second computer on the ground via Wi-Fi. It’s a crude setup, but it works. According to Intuitive Aerial the current rig has a range of about 160′ to 320′ when using Wi-Fi cards. The video latency is 120ms, good enough for the viewer to pilot the drone at the same time.
That shot of the pilot wearing the Rift reminds me of Ghost in the Shell. Intuitive Aerial said it will improve Oculus FPV if it receives enough interest from potential clients. They should incorporate the MYO armband to Oculus FPV make it more fun to use.
[via Intuitive Aerial via Walyou]
PopCap’s tower defense game Plants vs. Zombies is available on pretty much every modern gaming device, from PCs to smartphones. And it’s also on at least one classic console: the Sega Genesis aka the Mega Drive. The Penny-Arcade Report’s Ben Kuchera stumbled upon this 16-bit curio at PAX Australia.
Image by Ben Kuchera
Unsurprisingly, the port is an unofficial and illegal game. Dave Cudrev of Retrospekt bought a copy of the game on eBay for around $30 (USD) from a Russian coder. YouTuber Stepan V, whose video of the game appears below, was also able to snag one from an “underground retro video game market” in Russia. The game’s graphics have taken a considerable hit, plus it’s in Russian, but otherwise it seems to be the same as the original game.
It would be hilarious if it got DLC via the Mega-CD.
[via The PA Report]
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