Hasta La Gadget!

We finally have more details on the extremely faithful Portal turret replica that Valve showed off last week. It turns out that it was commissioned by Valve from Weta Workshop, the award-winning special effects, design and prop makers known for their work in The Lord of the Rings.

The replica even came in a crate marked with Aperture Science Labs’ logo, adding to its slick presentation and pants-wetting geekiness. Aside from the light-up eye, sound effects and the protracting guns, Valve also mentioned that the turret is indeed life-sized and has a motion sensor.

Some of you may remember that this is not the first time that Weta Workshop made a replica for Valve; they also made the replica of the Team Fortress 2 Sentry Gun that now guards the entrance to Valve’s headquarters. While you may never have a chance to own these one-offs, Weta is selling licensed Valve collectibles based on DOTA 2.

[via The Verge]

Damn. We see plenty of amazing things here at Technabob, but this has to be the best LEGO ship in the universe. This amazing reproduction of Serenity in LEGO bricks measures 7 feet-long. It’s also 135 pounds, is made of 70,000 bricks, and it took 475 hours (spread over 21 months) to complete.

Adrian Drake, its builder, is my new LEGO God. I will build an altar with LEGO bricks and worship him. Seriously. I’ll try to do it tonight if I have time. Drake used the Serenity Blueprints Reference Pack from QMx as a starting point. He converted it to LEGO and tried to make it as accurate as possible. It looks pretty darn great to me.

Inara’s shuttle even detaches so she can go meet her clients. And the wings actually swing and move. The cargo bay and drive both light up. Shall I go on? There are also custom minifigs of the crew. I can’t stop WANTING this. Check out many more images of the LEGO Serenity over on Flickr.

[via io9 via Nerd Approved]

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]

If an enthusiast-built Portal 2 turret piques your interest, Gaming Heads’ Valve-licensed miniature replica may very well force your wallet open. Modeled using Portal 2‘s in-game assets and cast in “high quality poly-stone,” these mini-turrets aim to intimidate intruders with a motion activated light-up eye. In addition to the stoically silent basic model, the company’s offering an exclusive edition, which plays sounds and voice samples from the game. Only 1,100 of these hand painted facsimiles will be produced (350 with sound, 750 without), but the company notes that other figures based on the adorable death machines are in the works. Pre-orders have already begun, so collectors will want to act fast — provided they’re ready to pony up $300-325, of course.

Licensed Portal 2 turret replica to arrive later this year, leave ammo at home originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 04:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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