Hasta La Gadget!

I haven’t considered myself anything approaching a Star Wars fanboy, at least since high school–maybe junior high. That said, I really, really want these. Really, really badly. Adidas has teamed with LucasArts to create these limited edition Originals ZX 800 Boba Fett S.W. kicks.

Perhaps the shoes strongest selling point (other than the bounty hunter that inspired them, duh) is the relative subtlety with which they execute their homage. A little less subtle is the action figure blister pack they ship in, but that’ll be between you and your shoe merchant. More difficult will be deciding whether to wear the things or to leave them in their original packaging.

From the looks of it, you should be able to score a pair online for roughly $130. And while you’re at it, why not pick up one of these to complete the ensemble?

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Continue reading Droid 2 R2-D2 boot animation, live wallpapers leak out at light speed

Droid 2 R2-D2 boot animation, live wallpapers leak out at light speed originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hardly a day goes by that I don’t read a blog post that makes me utter the words “this isn’t going to end well” aloud. A headline on Slashdot this morning quickly launched itself to the top of that list, followed almost immediately by mental images of one-armed robed nerds wandering the streets in seek of medical attention.

The headline in question is “How to Make Authentic Lightsabers.” I guess the use of the phrase “authentic” should have immediately sent up a red flag–“authentic” like movie accurate? Or “authentic” like, I hope you’re not too attached to that hand, guy dressed like Anakin Skywalker?

While I’m sure that plenty of debates regarding the possibility of constructing a real-world lightsaber have ended in stalemates, I haven’t really seen anything to convince me that we’re not destined for an eternity of Star Wars fans swinging retractable plastic swords and neon lights at one another.

Authentic in this case, naturally, means movie accurate. Bradley W. Lewis, the game developer behind the aforementioned how tos featured on his site SlothFurnace.com, pledges, “where I can, I will use the same vintage parts used in the movies, or replicas machined as close as possible.” The results are lightsabers that are, “similar to the hasbro Force FX sabers, but brighter, louder, and more accurate to the films.”

All of that and you get to keep all of your fingers!

I’m sure if I entirely believe any post about the accuracy of sci-fi films that begins with the phrase, “I’m not aware of any intense rivalry between Star Trek and Star Wars fans.” Of course, it’s still morning, so it could be that my sarcasm detector is warming up.

That said, a new blog post over on Shadowlocked claims to lend some fodder for the Star Wars side of the fight over science realism (which, let’s face it, seems to afford itself a lot of liberties based on the whole “galaxy far, far away” thing). The post cites a book from 2002 by astronomer Phil Plait, which examined an explosion from Star Wars alongside one from Star Trek.

According to the book, the re-imagined explosion of the Death Star in the 1997 re-release of A New Hope is actually a bit more accurate than the explodiness (that’s a word, right?) of the Klingon moon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Says Shadowlocked,

Since explosions in space tend toward spherical shape unless impeded, Plait concludes that the blast pattern resulting from the explosion of the Klingon mining operation has no credible reason to resolve into a ring form, even if everyone thinks the effect is far cooler here than in 1997’s revised New Hope.

So, I guess that settles that. Now, does anyone know a good neurologist who wants to tackle Jar Jar Binks?

As rumored, all six Star Wars movies will be released together on Blu-ray in 2011 for the 35th anniversary of the release of A New Hope. George Lucas personally announced the set on stage at the Celebration V event, and showed off a deleted scene from Return of the Jedi that will be included (embedded after the break.) While the “highest picture and audio quality” and extensive special features are promised, what won’t make it to Blu-ray are the original versions of the movies; Lucas told the New York Times that only the special editions will be included, since restoring the original versions in high enough quality would cost too much. No word on price, release date or any plans to release the films individually, but if you can stand living in a world where Greedo shot first then this will certainly be on next year’s shopping list.

[Thanks, @thunsaker]

Continue reading George Lucas officially announces Star Wars on Blu-ray in 2011

George Lucas officially announces Star Wars on Blu-ray in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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