Hasta La Gadget!

Last weekend, game developer Don Nguyen removed his hit free mobile game Flappy Bird from Apple’s and Google’s app stores. He said he felt guilty that he created an addiction. Meanwhile, last week Coffee Stain Studios – developer of the tower defense hybrid Sanctum – released a video of an unfinished game that it made for fun. It’s called Goat Simulator, and it’s as stupid as it sounds. And now you can pre-order it. For $10 (USD).

Here is the first video that Coffee Stain Studios shared online. The developers revealed that they originally made the game for a game jam – an event where game developers convene to try and create games in a short span of time. In the case of Goat Simulator, Coffee Stain Studios said that they made it in just “a couple of weeks.”

The video quickly became popular and folks clamored for the game to be released. This being the Internet, the line between sarcasm and sincerity is hard to trace. So here we are.

Gamers are crazy. I see people complaining about the value of Humble Bundle’s offerings all the time, even though some bundles are essentially hundred dollar discounts. The aversion of mobile gamers to paying even just a couple of bucks for quality games drove us to the ridiculous in-app purchase hell we’re currently in. But now we’re willing to pay for what is essentially an intentionally buggy physics engine with a goat in it. Is the video funny? Sure. But would you pay $10 for it?

In fairness to Coffee Stain Studios, it promised that to polish the game and make it so players can create levels through Steam Workshop. More importantly, the developer is transparent about what it’s offering:

“Goat Simulator is a small, broken and stupid game. It was made in a couple of weeks so don’t expect a game in the size and scope of GTA with goats. In fact, you’re better off not expecting anything at all actually. To be completely honest, it would be best if you’d spend your $10 on a hula hoop, a pile of bricks, or maybe a real-life goat.”

To anyone who goes ahead and pre-orders the game, relish the moment that you enter your payment details. Shoot a video of that moment and upload it on YouTube. Be sure to name the video “Let’s Play Goat Simulator.”

[Goat Simulator via Joystiq]

Some dads get their kids toy cars or iPads to play with, while others go the extra mile and make something that their kids will remember for their entire lifetime. Laurent Aigon is one of the awesome dads who went for the latter.

For the past five years, Laurent has been building this highly-detailed 737 cockpit simulator in his son’s room. He ordered the parts online and enlisted the help of Jean-Paul Dupuy, another enthusiast, to build it with him.

You might assume that Laurent is a pilot, but he’s actually a waiter with a passion for flying. It was always his dream to be a pilot, so while that didn’t happen in real life, he can sort of pretend to be one in the amazing simulator that he put together.

[Sud Ouest via Oddity Central via Gizmodo via C|NET]

It was not too long ago this year that the Firefox OS Simulator 3.0 was available for preview to the masses, and here we are with word from Mozilla themselves that the Firefox OS Simulator 3.0 is raring to go. New features that are made available on this version would include Push to Device, rotation simulation, basic geolocation API simulation, manifest validation, and stability fixes for installation and updates to apps. Of course, newer versions of the Firefox rendering engine and Gaia (the UI for Firefox OS) are also thrown into the mix for good measure.

There are also other notable improvements that are part of the deal, where the keyboard shortcut would drastically improve workflow speed, especially when it comes to packaged apps, while there is a significant reduction of the download/installation size of the Firefox OS Simulator. Not only that, boot up time is faster which could be partly attributed to the smaller size, alongside the mandatory slew of general bug fixes that make it a whole lot more functional and reliable. In a nutshell, this simulator would install as an extension in Firefox, hence you will need to have Mozilla’s browser to make use of it. After installation, it can be accessed in Firefox under the Tools => Web Developer menu.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Acer Aspire P3 Hands On Review, Acer Aspire R7 Hands On Review,

No, the robot invasion hasn’t begun. This six-legged robotic simulator is being used to train rugby players as a part of the management-transition training program at Thales. It is called the Thales Scrum Simulator. It was developed to analyze accidents in order to help avoid spinal cord injuries to players and now it is also used for coaching and match preparations.

This beast uses a six-axis motion system which responds to the player’s strength input using sensors on the back side beam and shoulder pads. Each player has his own weaknesses and it adjusts the resulting pressure. The pre-programmed control then makes sure that the reaction is as real as possible which enhances the training, making it more real.

The coach can also control it with a joystick and apply pressure to any area he wants. Right now, As of now this crazy thing is a part of the French national rugby training center in Marcoussis, near Paris.

It may make Rugby players tougher for now, but what happens when it gains sentience? I don’t want to be anywhere near it when that happens.

[via Humanoides.fr via Damn Geeky]

The latest in a long line of completely unnecessary gadgets from Japan lets you pretend you’re carrying around a lit piece of fire wood. Why, because it’s something that hasn’t been done before, that’s why.

TakaraTomy Arts’ FireWood Pocket is a keychain gadget that simulates the crackling sound and shimmering light of a real fire. And in case that wasn’t enough, blowing on this fake fire will actually make it glow more brightly – as if you’re giving added oxygen to your virtual flame. It also simulates a chunk of wood, for those of you who don’t have any real wood lying around.

There’s also a desktop version of the FireWood, which simulates an entire miniature bonfire. It also has a “music mode” which will respond to sounds from your MP3 player or smartphone. I found a video of the larger model in action over at Amazon Japan that’s so cheesy that I’m surprised it wasn’t shot with Vaseline on the camera lens.

You can find the FireWood Pocket for ¥1,080 (~$13 USD), and the desktop model for ¥5,800 (~$74 USD) over at Nigishow (JP). Chances are you’ll be able to find them soon over at worldwide exporter Strapya-World, since they are affiliated.