Hasta La Gadget!

If you didn’t manage to get your hands on a full-sized replica of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, now’s your chance to get a mini-sized one for your desk instead.

Our pals over at ThinkGeek have just outed this darling little version of the Portal 2 ASHPD for just $59.99(USD), and it’s just darling. This mini version of the Portal gun measures about 12″ long, and fits nicely into your hands. It even lights up in either orange or blue, and makes the appropriate sound effects when you toggle between modes. It ships with a handy stand so you can display it proudly on your desk too.

So if you hadn’t figured out what you’re getting that Portal fan on your holiday shopping list yet, you now know. Open up a portal now and stick your hand and your credit card through to ThinkGeek to order yours now.

Now all they need to do is to come up with a Portal gun that actually works.

Chances are you know someone who takes their CoD a little too seriously — well, this peripheral is for them. The Delta Six controller is the latest brainchild of Avenger inventor David Kotkin, made to please hardcore FPS gamers with immersive and responsive input. A built-in accelerometer is used for aiming, while the faux recoil and acting out a reload will put you closer to real combat than an appearance on Stars Earn Stripes. The hardware also features a scattering of pressure sensors — allowing you, for example, to bring up the sights by meeting cheek with gun body, or if you’re feeling lazy, squeezing the side of it instead. Depending on your class bias, you can add and retract plastic from the main frame for an SMG, assault or sniper rifle form factor (see below for the gist). There’s no word on availability, or if it will actually improve your game, but the price is slated as $89 at launch. After the break is a short product demo in video form, although we suggest you skip straight to 1:30 to avoid the awkward live-action CTF scene.

Continue reading Delta Six controller brings fragging to life, worries your friends

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Delta Six controller brings fragging to life, worries your friends originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 04:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Take a look at the gun this woman is wielding. Sure it doesn’t looks like it could fire any ammo, but it still looks pretty badass. What if I told you it wasn’t a gun at all, but it was a custom-bound book? Libertarians Librarians, rejoice!

Yes, this impressive bit of hand book-binding is the work of Montreal’s Strikebooks Bindery. It’s designed to look like a full-size sub-machine gun, but is actually a functional writing journal.

Inside, of the leather covers, you’ll find 84 pages of high-end blank paper, along with black suede endpapers. It’s not exactly the most practical of places to keep your diary, but it’s definitely unique. Of course, all this meticulous craftsmanship comes at a price, with the sub-machine gun book selling for about $523 (USD), and taking about a month to build to order.

They also sell a smaller book that looks like a revolver, and it goes for about $240.

Nerf’s doing it, and so is Hasbro, but there’s plenty of room for other folks in the laser tag market, and Hex3 is a startup looking to get in on the action. Called the AppTag Laser Blaster, it combines old school IR-based laser tag with new school augmented reality. Like its aforementioned competition, the gun uses your Android or iPhone (yes, that includes the 5) and a companion app. The app turns your phone into a HUD when playing with friends or an AR window when you’re shooting solo.

Where AppTag differs is in how the pistol communicates with your phone. It uses a proprietary high frequency audio signal that requires no pairing or other similar procedures — you simply load up the app, clamp it to the gun and you’re good to go. Additionally, AppTag’s removable pistol grip is attached to the gun via a rail mount. That means the system can be attached to existing Nerf weapons and even real firearms should you be so inclined, plus there’s a corded pressure switch that you can affix to the trigger of any gun. For now, there are a handful of games included in the app, but Hex3 is releasing an SDK so that developers can get creative building their own using the blaster’s four buttons, trigger and reload switch. Interested? AppTag’s currently up for pre-order at $59 bucks a pop, with shipping slated to start in 4-6 weeks. Before you part with any hard earned cash, however, check out our video after the break to see in action.

Continue reading Hex3 AppTag Laser Blaster turns iPhones and Androids into augmented reality laser tag gun sights (hands-on)

Filed under: Misc

Hex3 AppTag Laser Blaster turns iPhones and Androids into augmented reality laser tag gun sights (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We often make fun of old flintlock rifles because after each shot it is a real hassle to reload and shoot again. That’s not the case with this bad boy. This unique flintlock was designed by Isaiah Jennings of New York in 1821 and using this weapon, the user didn’t have to reload after each shot.

The gun takes twelve individual, superposed loads of powder and ball, stacked one on top of the other, and has twelve individual touchholes, each with a swivel cover that also helps to position and align the lock as it slides from the forward position toward the rear, in order to align the shots in reverse order. This is pretty impressive stuff for the time.

This particular Jennings 12 shot rifle was auctioned off a few years back, and was estimated to be worth around $10,000 to $15,000 at the time. Aside from being an amazing piece of mechanical engineering, it looks pretty futuristic (for the time period). Too bad it never gained wide use.

[via Say Uncle via Neatorama]