Hasta La Gadget!

Minecraft players are experts at pulling off what I call the Reverse Field of Dreams: “If you come, they will build it.” Thus the existence of WesterosCraft – a Minecraft server that contains a replica of the fictional continent Westeros – should surprise no one. But it should delight every Game of Thrones fan.

That is of course, the Wall, home and hell to the Night’s Watch. Take a tour of some of the other places in the video below:

I know what you’re thinking. Here you go:

You’re welcome. There are more videos at the WesterosCraft playlist on YouTube. The making-of time lapse videos are particularly impressive.

[WesterosCraft via Nerdcore]

I imagine physicists all over the world must have been titillated by the news that broke out yesterday: scientists at the CERN laboratory have discovered what they think is the Higgs Boson particle. If you want to join in their merrymaking, Jorge Cham, the creator of PhD Comics has created a – wait for it – comic that explains in pretty simple terms what the fuss is all about.

Cham gives us a primer not just of the Higgs boson particle itself but about quantum physics and the purpose of the Large Hadron Collider in general. The strip itself – or rather the time lapse of Cham creating the strip – starts at 0:40 into the video.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now you know. I for one definitely still don’t. But the drawings were pretty.

[via Laughing Squid]

That’s right folks, this is an arcade style controller for a real time strategy game. Now you can pull off that 54-hit Zergling combo and trace a HCF route for your Marines. My ignorance in StarCraft II aside, control your fanboy rage and approach this mod as curio, not as an attack to your way of life pastime.

The controller was made by Mauricio Romano, a Master League StarCraft II player. It’s the winning entry in a contest held by fighting game website Shoryuken. So hate the contest organizer, not the contestant. Because it’s impossible to control SC II with just 6 buttons, Romano opted to go with 29 buttons, including two control buttons – one on either side – plus a space and a shift button. The hemisphere on the left looks like a trackball mouse, but it’s actually a joystick with a really large cap. The arcade influence also shows in the decal, which features Kerrigan, Raynor and a couple of Marines. There’s also a string of LEDs along the fringes of the case. The controller is recognized by a PC as a USB keyboard, so there’s no need to map keys or configure anything.

Here’s Romano and his short shorts demoing the controller:

Check out Romano’s Imgur gallery for more pictures and a breakdown of his build process.

[via Shoryuken via Joystiq]

Educational videogames are nothing new, but they’re often nothing to write about either. But an upcoming DSiWare game lets players harness the awesome power of algebra, even if they don’t know what algebra is. The game is called Ace Mathician! No, Phoenix Wright isn’t in it, but a koala is.

Developed by Goodbye Galaxy Games, Ace Mathician! won’t actually ask players to solve math equations. You’ll indirectly use mathematical concepts to help a koala named Ace grab some fruit. If that’s not a good use of math then I don’t know what is. At the very least, I’ll always remember this game for being the first to feature the sine function.

Players are presented with four symbols that they can use to form an equation. The graph of that resulting equation will then change the layout of Ace’s surroundings.

As you can see, knowledge about algebra is a big advantage in solving the puzzles, but it’s also something that can be learned while playing the game. Ace Mathician! will be released in North America on July 12.

[via Ace Mathician! via Circle Ent. via Tiny Cartridge]

Remember the fan made LEGO Portal 2 figures? Remember how your insides hurt for days from wanting those toys so bad? Round up that desire and channel it into one mouse click. A group of fans have submitted a proposal to LEGO for three sets based on the hit puzzle game.

The concept was submitted by Team Jigsaw, four LEGO enthusiasts who banded together in 2011 to compete in LEGO competitions. Now they need our help to make their concept come true. Although after you see what they have in mind I bet you’ll need no convincing. The three sets are GLaDOS’ Chamber, a Modular Testing Chamber and a Puzzle Board Game. All the major characters are represented here: Chell, Wheatley, the Companion Cube, the turrets and of course the adorable and murderous GLaDOS. And the potato.

As with all LEGO pieces, you can mix and match these sets with each other, not to mention other LEGO sets, like the Minecraft set. But before that can happen, you and about 8,800 other people need to vote for the concept on LEGO Cuusoo. Go on, make your dreams come true.

[via Brothers Brick]