Hasta La Gadget!

Now who would have thought that we’d see Tetris make its big comeback on a pumpkin? With Halloween upon us, I suppose that this themed ‘console’ is totally appropriate.

It’s definitely a step up from all the usual jack’o’lanterns that people usually put out this time of the year. Nathan from HaHa Bird got the idea to grow Tetris-shaped pumpkins last year, but never got around to doing it.

So instead of growing pumpkins shaped like Tetris pieces, he decided to install an actual Tetris game into a hollowed out pumpkin. Hence, the Pumpktris.

The stem of the pumpkin acts as the controller, with about 128 LEDs illuminating the game ‘screen’ with puzzle pieces. Happy Halloween, Tetris style!

[HaHa Bird via Geekologie]

What happens when you gut a pumpkin and replace its insides with heat-shrink tubing, solder, 128 LEDs, eight AA batteries, an Arduino board and clever programming? You get what self-proclaimed tinkerer Nathan Pryor calls “Pumpktris.” Over the years we’ve seen the classic puzzle game Tetris ported to some amazing things, but a piece of fruit? Just in time for Halloween, this high-tech spin on the jack-o’-lantern features a fully playable Tetris game controlled from the pumpkin’s joystick stem. Whether you’re a hardcore do-it-yourselfer, or a diehard Tetris fan hoping to top the system’s high score (9,800 points), you can build your very own Pumpktris. Of course, its creator estimates it’ll take around 12 hours or longer to build the custom LED matrix and joystem and carve up the gourd of your choice. If you’re up to the challenge, you can find a complete walkthrough of the project at the source link below. However, if you’d just like to see this quasi-organic gaming rig in action, check out the groovy video after the break.

Continue reading Holy Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Tetris ported to a jack-o’-lantern (video)

Filed under: Misc, Gaming

Holy Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Tetris ported to a jack-o’-lantern (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Do you love all things that have to do with the world of video games? I am quite sure that the brick laying title, Tetris, has shaped up your perspective on gaming over the years, and it might even be the game that had you hooked in the first place, although Pac-Man could come in first for other folks. Here is one way for the geeky caffeine lover in your life to kick start their day on the right side of the office desk – with the Tetris Heat Change Mug.

Yes sir, the name itself gives the game (pardon the pun) away, where it comes with a screenshot of Tetris blocks, paying tribute to the retro game that many have come to know and love. Since the Tetris Heat Change Mug is heat sensitive, whenever you pour in something hot (preferably coffee, of course), then the bricks in the game will change. It begins with an an almost blank game, and the more you fill it up with something hot, additional pieces will form at the bottom, and more tetrominoes will drop from above. Sharing a similar display and scoreboard from the game, this is as close as you can get to the real deal without any electronics involved.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Tetris lights: add color to your room, Tetris movie trailer gets you stoned,

We’ve featured a Tetris alarm clock before, but that was an unofficial build and was designed to compel users to wake up. The officially licensed Tetris alarm clock on the other hand is more forgiving and focuses on fan service. You can’t actually play the game on it though.

As you can see the clock not only has tetromino buttons, tetromino blocks fall and form the hour and minute numbers when the time changes:

The final hat tip? The alarm sound is the Tetris theme song. Sold? MenKind sells the Tetris alarm clock for £24.99 (~$39 USD).

[via Coolest Gadgets]

Now here is something interesting that you might want to consider the next time you are thinking of going about remodeling your home – the £29.99 Tetris Light would be just the thing. After all, we do know that there are plenty of options when it comes to lighting up your home, and with the game of Tetris, there are seven different Tetrominoes for you to choose from. It is really interesting to see how phenomenal the game of Tetris had ended up ever since it was released from Soviet Russia all the way back in the early 1980s, ending up as one of the world’s favorite computer games to date. Heck, it even has a multiplayer version on the social network Facebook today.

Well, introduce a little bit of Tetris magic into your living room with the Tetris Lights that you see here. It does not matter where you place it, as it will light up in just the way your video game mind might work. If you collect all the different Tetrominoes, then you can play a very short game of Tetris on your very own – although there is no way you are able to obtain a perfect line clear with all the parts. At least this is one instance where money can get you just the right Tetromino.

[ Tetris Light copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]