Hasta La Gadget!

PopCap’s tower defense game Plants vs. Zombies is available on pretty much every modern gaming device, from PCs to smartphones. And it’s also on at least one classic console: the Sega Genesis aka the Mega Drive. The Penny-Arcade Report’s Ben Kuchera stumbled upon this 16-bit curio at PAX Australia.

Image by Ben Kuchera

Unsurprisingly, the port is an unofficial and illegal game. Dave Cudrev of Retrospekt bought a copy of the game on eBay for around $30 (USD) from a Russian coder. YouTuber Stepan V, whose video of the game appears below, was also able to snag one from an “underground retro video game market” in Russia. The game’s graphics have taken a considerable hit, plus it’s in Russian, but otherwise it seems to be the same as the original game.

It would be hilarious if it got DLC via the Mega-CD.

[via The PA Report]

Whenever I go take the dog for a walk on a rainy or snowy day, it’s challenging to carry around an umbrella to keep from getting wet, so I usually just end up soaked by the time I’m done. But if I had a Nubrella, all of my problems would be solved.

Current Nubrella Design

Though I’d create a new issue for myself – embarrassment. I’m just not sure I’d be able to walk down the street wearing one of these silly looking things, even though I like the concept of a truly hands-free umbrella. The Nubrella was originally launched back in 2009, but the original design was too constraining, and bubble like, which made it uncomfortable to wear and use. Its designers are now readying a new version which solves many of the problems of the original.

Improved 2013 Nubrella Design

The new Nubrella (say that 10 times fast) is worn like a backpack, but when it’s wet outside, it can be opened up to cover your head and upper body – like a giant hood. It’s got a see-through front and top, which provides greater visibility than with umbrellas too. The updated design also allows for an open front which improves the ability to communicate and see while wearing it.

It’s really a pretty ingenious design, but I still don’t think I can get past the way it looks. Am I just too vain? If you’re not self-conscious, you can get on the list to own a new backpack-style Nubrella over on Kickstarter with prices starting around $50(USD) – about half of the planned retail price.

[via LikeCool]

If George Lucas were born in the Elizabethan era along with William Shakespeare, what would Star Wars have been like? I’d like to think the story would have the same characters and elements, although it’d clearly be written in very different prose.

Ian Doescher had similar ideas, and it was those ideas that pushed him to rewrite the script of ”A New Hope” in iambic pentameter.

It reads like William Shakespeare’s typical work, although there’s nothing typical about this. It’s especially amusing to read R2-D2′s “beeps” and “meeps” amid all those “thous” and “arts” throughout the script.

Even the Sith Lord himself wasn’t spared, as the cover features Darth Vader decked out in Elizabethan-themed armor.

William Shakespeare’s Star Wars is available from ThinkGeek for $14.95(USD) and in the UK from Firebox for £11.99. Check out a 16-page excerpt here (PDF).

[via Geekologie]

Your teenage child is too big – and cool – for the Kid’s Walker, but you don’t trust her with the Kuratas mech just yet. How are you going to retain your title of World’s Greatest Parent? Simple. With Sagawa Electronics’ Powered Jacket MK3 walking exoskeleton.

There’s only one problem: like the Kuratas, the Powered Jacket is either a promotional tool or an insanely expensive commercial product.

Allegedly, the exoskeleton is over 7ft. tall and weighs a mere 55lb. as it is primarily made of carbon fiber and aluminum. Its arms are controlled simply by moving the corresponding lever, while its legs are strapped to the wearer’s own legs. Apparently its fingers can also be controlled precisely. It also has a transparent canopy to protect the wearer against pedophiles. Now watch its demo video:

That was the best video I’ve in seen my entire life. Science fiction, comedy, drama and horror all in one. You can doubt the extent of Sagawa Electronics’ contribution to robotics, but its contribution to humor is the stuff of legends. As claimed in the video, Sagawa Electronics will supposedly make only five Powered Jacket MK3 units for the foreseeable future, with each one priced at ¥12,500,000 (~$124,000 USD). If that’s how much is needed for them to make another video, then folks I’m telling you that’s a freakin’ bargain.

[via Sagawa Electronics via Laughing Squid]

I don’t care much for people who wear fur because I think there are many different and much more humane ways to keep warm when the weather’s being particularly unforgiving.

I have no such objections to this ‘fur’ coat commissioned by dairy company Arla, because the ‘fur’ part actually stops at its name. Though I still can’t endorse this coat for other reasons.

Instead of animal pelts, these coats are actually made from men’s chest hairs. Yes. Men’s. Chest. Hairs.

It doesn’t look that bad at first glance, but the more I think about it, the more queasy I get. You’ve got to hand it to the models who kept their breakfasts and lunches in their stomachs as they posed in the too-hairy coat.

So why would a dairy company commission a coat made from chest hair? Well, Arla’s using it as part of their advertising campaign for a new milk product that was made for men.

The product is described as a “chocolate milk drink with added protein directed at men in their 30s and 40s.”

I don’t know what hair has to do with milk (does milk help men grow thicker and fuller chests of hair?), but a lot of work definitely went into the making of the coats, which reportedly took over 200 hours.

I can’t say much about the milk drink, although I can say that the coat has generated a lot of buzz for Arla.

[METRO via The World’s Best Ever via Laughing Squid]