Hasta La Gadget!

Better keep an eye out, Mr. Heckendorn — we know that the modding community is pretty cut throat — just like the Ice Pirates in that movie, uh, Ice Pirates — and now it looks like there’s another young hotshot on the scene. Fifteen year old modista Xteaphn (that’s pronounced Steven, folks) has a little sideline going on custom-made portable hardware, with several mods to his name — including this pint-sized, battery-powered Wii. The thing is tiny — it’s dwarfed by a 13-inch notebook — and a full charge will give it about an hour of play. Stunning video after the break.

Continue reading Portable Wii mod renders this Wii portable, modded

Filed under: Gaming

Portable Wii mod renders this Wii portable, modded originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you thought your flying Wiimotes weren’t harmful enough stock, perhaps you’d like to add a little more inertia into the mix? Additional danger is probably not the idea behind Riiflex, snap-on weights for your controller that will come in 2- and 5-pound increments, but we think that will probably be the net result in many cases. After all, if a flimsy plastic Wiimote can pierce a television or mortally wound a small dog, what kind of damage could a 5-pound version inflict? We look forward to seeing pictures of the aftermath if and when these ever ship.

Filed under: Gaming

Riiflex Wiimote weights add extra mass, extra momentum originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though only a small fraction of Wii owners will ever mod their console, there’s something strangely comforting to our status as a species that it’s imminently doable. The latest in this long line of Wii hacks is the WiiZii, which is termed a “plug and play” no-solder method of playing Wii backups and other fun modchip-style stuff. WiiZii has an upgradable firmware, and is being touted as “future proof” against any forthcoming attempts by Nintendo to block it, but what’s really exciting is the external SATA connector for extra-speedy ISO loads off of your favorite SATA hard drive — no more dinky USB keys. Right now WiiZii is in prototype stage, but we’re sure somebody will be hitting us up for cash for the mod in the near future — if you’re feeling a little stingy, just remember: hacking consoles that we’ve already paid money for to be able to do what we want with them is the only thing separating us from the apes. That and Hulu.

Filed under: Gaming, Storage

Matrix WiiZii mod hooks to external SATA HDD for speedy ISO loads originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inside a mild-mannered toy golf cup, the kind that pop the ball back at you when you sink a putt (and make you go walk for it when you miss), lurks a lethal weapon — a tiny rail gun just waiting to serve. Modder Jay took one of those induction coils to build himself a small but fierce turret, also using a little inspiration from the Serv O’Beer, an ioBridge module, two ballpoint pens, two wooden spoons, a coffee mug, and — the pièce de résistance — a Wiimote liberated from someone’s console. By twisting the controller left or right the weapon rotates accordingly, honing in on threatening textbooks and launching a screwdriver bit with deadly force. Alas, you can’t fire the turret by pressing a button on the controller, but that’s said to be entirely for safety reasons — we wouldn’t want some poor kid trying to play a little My Horse & Me and accidentally shooting themselves in the back.

[Via Make]

Continue reading Wiimote + pens + coffee cup + office putting toy = deadly coil gun turret

Filed under: Gaming, Household

Wiimote + pens + coffee cup + office putting toy = deadly coil gun turret originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey gamers, ready for some new products for the Nintendo Wii? Nyko Technologies debuted its full line of new products today at CES.

The Nyko Wand (above) has the same functions as your old Wii Remote, but with new features, such as Nyko’s Trans-Port technology: This allows faster and more accurate control and vibration feedback to be transported to an attachable accessory–something that the Wii Remote doesn’t do. The Wand also has enlarged 1 and 2 buttons, which makes it an ideal controller for classic gaming when turned sideways. The Wand will be available in April.

More Nyko products after the jump.