Right on the heels of releasing the new DSi XL, Nintendo made a surprising move: they made the product almost immediately obsolete by announcing the tentatively-named Nintendo 3DS, a portable game console with 3D capabilities– glassesless, no less. The possibilities for such a device are endless, but of course it’s always easier to bring out a new game in an established franchise to launch a console…so here are ten games that absolutely belong on the Nintendo 3DS. Read more…
On Sunday the fun will end for Lost fans, although it’s still not too late to enjoy silly fan videos! I have to say that I’ve been very impressed with this show on a number of levels, but what I find interesting is that it shows that broadcast TV isn’t quite dead yet. I’m also love the fact that a show that isn’t a reality TV show could have made it so big.
Even though he’s reffered to a walking rug there’s always been something so charming about Chewie: I think it’s because Wookies remind us a bit of doggies (it’s the nose I tell you!). So you’d think that by making him a cyclops that Chewbacca wouldn’t have any appeal — yet this adorable Chewbacca the Timid Monster proves otherwise. Standing at only 1.5” tall this little guy designed by TrishCzech won me over. Read more…
Posted by Christian Liendo on May 20, 2010 in Fandom
Cosplay Party 2.0 was a special event held at the Japan Society in New York City last Saturday, May 15th, The event included a screening of Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone. Here are some photographic highlights of the gala: Read more…
This is yet another example of why I love The Empire Strikes Back so much. I’d point out how Shakespearean the film was — being a tragedy and all — but plot aside, it’s inspired so many awesome products. Take this amazing backpack for example. Sure it was sad to see C-3PO strapped to Chewbacca’s back, but whoever thought to turn him into a portable storage device was a genius. The backpack actually comes with light up eyes and the ability to reassemble the droid, should you feel the need. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 20, 2010 in Cinema, Fandom
I’m not one for flash mobs, but when it comes to paying cinematic homage to a classic like 1984’s Ghostbusters, then I think I can make an exception. The guys over at Improv Everywhere recently decided to cause a bit of a scene in the New York Public Library on 42nd street, near Bryant Park. As some of you may recall, the library itself was used during the opening sequence of the film. Dressed in bed sheets and off-color Ghostbuster uniforms, the actors managed to score plenty of laughs and a decent applause, though you can tell from the video that a few people weren’t too pleased. I, for one, thought it was pretty funny. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 19, 2010 in Fandom, Star Wars
This fan video stars Luke Starkiller in a faux fifties styled trailer for a 3D version of The Empire Strikes Back. Of course this is very fitting as Lucas owed a great deal of his inspiration to the chapter films of a previous era, although those films were from the 30s and 40s. I like the fact that the editor of this fan video made it a point to go the extra mile and use footage from films from that era instead of just using the Star Wars footage on black and white. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 19, 2010 in Animation, Tech
Why is it that Japan gets all the cool phones? I’m serious. Sure we all have our Blackberries and our iPhones, but none of those come with model Gundams, or high resolution cameras. Well, Softbank’s upcoming Gundam Cellphone 945SH G certainly does. In addition to being a Sharp 945SH with a built in OLED display, and 12.1 mega pixel anti-shake autofocus camera — yes, their phones have better cameras than ours — the limited edition phone will be packaged along with a model RX-78-2 Gundam and charger stand. Read more…
Get a load of these upcoming Mojibakeru kanji transformers from Bandai. Each one’s an animal such as a tiger, dragon or dog, that’s capable of transforming into its kanji, the Chinese and Japanese character for which it belongs. I’m not sure why I’ve always loved transformable toys so much, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy them all. I should probably note that these are just trading figures, so they’re not made of fancy PVC or anything and they’re certainly not an Autobot or anything, but for $1 how can you go wrong? I haven’t been able to locate a vendor for pre-orders, but you’ll probably be able to pick them up from AmiAmi. Read more…
This is teaser video for the Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing exhibition which will be staged at the Computer Museum in Mountain View, California in January, 2011. For me it’s a special treat to see the likes of Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt in the same video — but it shows you the geek love for those who came before. From what I can see the exhibition will offer a chance to see many gems in one location. Read more…
It’s probably not as warm as the insides of a Tauntaun, but now you can own your very own Wampa rug straight from the icy caverns of Hoth. Sure, it might be synthetic fur, and have claws of vinyl, but what would you expect for a fictional beast? Besides, it’s not like your friends have ever encountered one in person and lived to tell about it. The rugs will start to ship out this August, retailing for $99.99 each. I’m not really sure how fast they’ll sell, but if you want, StarWarsShop.com is currently taking pre-orders — now, if only they’d toss in Leia. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 18, 2010 in Videogames
Have you spent the last few years wondering what the big deal was about Portal, but didn’t want to spend your hard-earned cash? Perhaps you just own a Mac, and haven’t been able to join in on the fun. Well, for a limited time, none of that shouldn’t be an issue. In order to celebrate the recent release of Portal for the Mac, Valve has made both the PC and Mac versions of the game available as a free download via Steam. What’s the catch? Well, there is none really. You’ll need a free Steam account, and the offer only runs through May 24th, but that’s about it. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 17, 2010 in Animation
Above: Lady Gaga conquers Japan — love her or hate her, you can’t ignore somebody who has a hit.
I just read yet another blog entry on how illegal fan subtitled shows are killing anime, which I think misses the point. Anime is yet another branch of the entertainment business, and despite how much we fans pride ourselves on how different we are the cruel fact is that the only thing that really matters at the end of the day is that only the hits count. Now some economists will all harp about “the long tail” effect, but the harsh reality is that show business is a popularity contest (just like high school). And even in an industry that has been worse hit by piracy like the music industry you still have the likes of a Lady Gaga who is pulling in the moolah — and is thus a success. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 17, 2010 in Science
Not too long ago Stephen Hawking caused quite a stir by stating that contacting aliens was a bad idea as they may not be friendly — I guess you can call that the “It’s a Cookbook!” school of thought. However defending the aliens in this clip is Neuroscientist Gary Lynch who feels that a higher level of intelligence would have a more benevolent view of humans (more of a Spielberg approach with Close Encounters of the Third Kind or E.T.).
This beautifully crafted One Piece human/reindeer hybrid figurine is from a Japanese company called Plex. I’m particularly impressed with the high level of detail of the paint job shown in the photos, it shows a nice level of craftsmanship. The cast of the manga is being released one at a time and Tony Tony Chopper who is shown here is set to come out in June. Read more…
There are a lot of things to enjoy about the recently-released film Robin Hood, including Cate Blanchett threatening to castrate Russell Crowe. But as far as Blanchett’s Marian of Locksley goes, that’s about the extent of what there is to enjoy. Read more…
I knew that Jabba the Hutt was many things — but I’ve never imagined him to be so well read! This overly detailed Star Wars Jabba’s Palace Bookends Statue pretty much has everything except for Jabba: Han Solo on ice, Boba Fett and even a well placed bowl of fruit for visitors who like to eat healthy. Although I’m surprised that slave Princess Leia wasn’t included! Read more…
Posted by Gia Manry on May 15, 2010 in Japanese TV
What do you get when you throw a hot Japanese actress into a costume vaguely reminiscent of a bit player in Xena: Warrior Princess and give her breast beams? The answer, of course, is something like the above video, found by Topless Robot. Read more…
Her name may not be Mary, but one Jennifer Jhonson (if that’s a typo, I can blame it on TechEye) claims to have conceived a child in a fashion that could be called…”immaculate”? Or perhaps just “desperate.”
See, when her hubby Erick came home from a tour in Iraq he found his wife pregnant– but according to her, there was no earthly father. But rather than laying the child at the feet of a holy deity, Jennifer claimed to have been impregnated as the result of watching a 3D porno flick.
Perhaps even more amazingly, Erick has proven as willing to take this explanation was as Joseph a couple thousand years ago. But let’s face it– 3D films have been around longer than the current trend. In fact, many of the following films are old enough that they could theoretically have “fathered” you and me. So without further ado: five 3D flicks that might impregnate a female viewer! Read more…
As any good Pokefan knows, the next Pokemon generation– Pokemon Black and White –has been announced, along with the requisite end of the current anime (presumably to be replaced with a new one), and with images of the new Pokemon. Read more…
The exogorth is one of my favorite silly Star Wars monsters — and now you can go cooking with him! This Space Slug Oven Mitt allows you pretend that you are a silicon-based lifeform that lives in an asteroid who likes to attack incoming cookie trays: Read more…
When I was growing up, I absolutely loved my legos — so much so that I actually fancied myself a structural engineer of sorts. Of course, I never really built anything without a set of instructions but at least I did a good job of it. Needless to say, I was in complete awe of this fantastic creation by lego enthusiast Brickshelf. Using a simple image of a T-800 exoskeleton, he was able to recreate a bust of James Cameron’s metallic killing machine with stunning detail. Maybe it’s not as nostalgic for me as say… a Valkyrie, but its still way too awesome for me to ignore. Check out Brickshelf’s gallery for more photos. Read more…
Okay, well maybe its not faster than a bullet, but it certainly seems that way. Sony’s recently launched its latest memory stick line, the PRO-HG Duo HX — I know, the names are getting ridiculous — supposedly can transfer data at rates as fast as 30MBs per second. So why is that so great? Well, to put it into perspective, we’re talking about the ability to snap 260 digital images in one minute at roughly 14MBs a piece — that’s 160 percent more than their previous Pro Duo sticks were capable of. Currently the memory sicks only range in size from 8GBs to 32GBs with varying sizes between, and retail for $60 and up. Read more…
