Autom, the fat-fighting robot, is coming in 2010
Donkey Kong plus Star Wars equals the nerdiest shirt I’ve seen in a long time
Cabling as art form
It’ll linger for a week: Japanese security system sprays stinky smell on thieves
Wham: FlipShare video is handled by Mossberg

This does seem like a good idea, though — not the shirt, the idea of a Han/Luke game where both guys are playable. Luke would be the close-up damage dealer, Han would have his blaster… like Mercs or Commando. Or Cookie and Cream! That would be amazing.

[via Super Punch and The Daily What]

Interrupting your Thanksgiving Day weekend (and my Team Fortress 2 Sniper marathon) with a quick deal that will appeal to many of you (I should hope). You know Steam, right, Valve’s digital distribution deal? There’s a crazy, multi-day Black Friday sale going on right now that includes Left 4 Dead 2 at $37.99 (25 percent off the regular price) and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for $2.49 (75 percent off the regular price). A vanilla bullshit at Starbucks costs more than that.

Keep in mind that this is a multi-day sale. It started yesterday, and will continue for a few more days. My advice is to check the Steam site every morning for the next couple of days lest they sell, I don’t know, Half-Life Source for 75 cents or something.

There’s probably a million and one such deals online. I recommend you keep your eyes on a site like cheapassgamer.com for Black Friday/Cyber Sunday/Cyber Monday deals.

Back to sniping.

[via Apartment Therapy]

Tokyo-based Cube Works, whose products regularly find their way outside Japan (example: the humping USB dog), has announced a mini Yoda figure (the little green guy from Star Wars) that you connect to your computer’s USB port. The power is needed to make Yoda’s cheeks blush and illuminate his light saber.

The mini Yoda requires Windows (XP or Vista), comes with an installation CD for some reason and runs only on computers with a 1GHZ Intel Pentium processor or better.

The figure is Japan-only, but you can pre-order it over at Geek Stuff 4 U for $65.52 plus shipping (leading time: end of next month).

Via Akihabara News

GameStop will be opening at 6AM on Black Friday, a good 10 hours before most hardcore gamers normally wake up. The good news is that you can basically just stay up an extra couple hours, make your purchases, and then go home and go to bed.

Here’s a list of the goodies that’ll be on sale. Doorbusters are marked with an asterisk and will be available until 11AM.

Digital Media Cards

SanDisk Memory Stick Pro Duo 2GB (PSP) – $14.99

SanDisk Memory Stick Pro Duo 4GB (PSP) – $19.99

SanDisk Wii/DSi 2GB SD Card (Wii) – $7.49

SanDisk Wii/DSi 4GB SDHC Card (Wii) – $14.99

Video Games

AC/DC Track Pack w/Rock Band Purchase – Free

Assassin’s Creed II (Xbox 360) – $59.99

Bakugan Battle Brawlers (DS) – $29.99

Band Hero (Game Only) (Wii) – $59.99 

Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3) – $39.99 *

Batman Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360) – $39.99 *

Beatles Rockband (Xbox 360) – $49.99

Ben 10 Alien Force (DS) – $9.99

Ben 10 Alien Force (Wii) – $9.99

Borderlands (PS3) – $49.99

Borderlands (Xbox 360) – $49.99

Buy 2 Get 1 Free On All Pre-Owned Games and Accessories – B2G1 Free

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (PS3) – $59.99

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360) – $59.99

Call of Duty World at War (PS3) – $39.99 *

Call of Duty World at War (Xbox 360) – $39.99 *

Call of Juarez Bound in Blood (Xbox 360) – $19.99

Chicken Blaster w/Wii Rifle (Wii) – $29.99

Crisis Core – Final Fantasty VII (PSP) – $9.99

Dead Space (Wii) – $19.99 *

Dirt 2 (Xbox 360) – $49.99

Drawn to Life (DS) – $19.99

Drawn to Life (Wii) – $39.99

DS Duo Game Case & Stylus – $4.99

DS Lite Traveler Case – $4.99

Dynasty Warriors 6 (Xbox 360) – $19.99

Fallout 3 (PS3) – $49.99

Fallout 3 (Xbox 360) – $49.99

Family Game Night (Xbox 360) – $39.99

Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360) – $39.99

Fossil Fighters (DS) – $34.99

Game Boy Advance SP Pre-owned System – $29.99

Gears of War (Used) (Xbox 360) – $9.99

God of War II (PS2) – $19.99

God of War II (PS3) – $39.99

Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) – $19.99

Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) – $19.99

Gran Turismo 3 (Used) (PS2) – $1.99

Gran Turismo 5 (PS3) – $29.99

Gran Turismo (PSP) – $39.99

Guild Wars Trilogy (PC) – $24.99

Guitar Hero 5 (PS3) – $39.99

Guitar Hero 5 (Xbox 360) – $39.99

Guitar Hero Aerosmith (Used) (PS3) – $7.49

Guitar Hero Aerosmith (Used) (Xbox 360) – $7.49

Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock (Used) (PS3) – $4.99

Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock (Used) (Xbox 360) – $4.99

Guitar Hero World Tour (Used) (PS3) – $14.99

Guitar Hero World Tour (Used) (Xbox 360) – $14.99

Halo 3 ODST (Xbox 360) – $39.99

Jewelry Design (DS) – $19.99

Left 4 Dead 2 (PC) – $29.99

Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360) – $39.99

LEGO Rock Band (Xbox 360) w/Free Lego Keychain – $49.99

Little Big Planet (PSP) – $39.99

Littlest Pet Shop Starter Kit (DS) – $14.99

Madden NFL ‘08 (Used) (PS3) – $2.99

Mario and Sonic Olympic Winter Games (Wii) – $49.99

Mario Kart (DS) – $34.99

Mario Kart Super Circuit (Used) (GBA) – $19.99

Mario Kart (Wii) – $49.99

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (DS) – $34.99

Mario Party (DS) – $34.99

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (PSP) – $19.99

MySims Agents (Wii) – $19.99 *

My Sims Racing (DS) – $29.99

Naruto Shippuden Ninja Destiny 2 (DS) – $19.99

NCAA Football ‘10 (Xbox 360) – $49.99

Need for Speed: Nitro (Wii) – $19.99 *

Need for Speed Shift (Xbox 360) – $39.99

Nerf w/Controller (Wii) – $59.99

Nintendo DSi Limited Edition Brain Age Bundle – $169.99

Nintendo DSi Limited Edition Mario Bundle – $169.99

Nintendo DSi System – $169.99

Nintendo DS Lite Pre-owned System – $59.99

Nintendo DS Original Pre-owned System – $49.99

Nintendo Wii Console – $199.99

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers Sky (DS) – $34.99

Pokemon Platinum Version (DS) – $34.99

Pokemon Ranger (Used) (DS) – $12.99

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS) – $34.99

Prototype (PS3) – $29.99

Prototype (Xbox 360) – $29.99

PS2 Console – $99.99

PS2 Pre-owned Console – $39.99

PS2 Slim Pre-owned Console – $49.99

PS3 120GB Console – $299.99

PS3 120GB Holiday Bundle with 3 Games – $299.99 *

PS3 DualShock 3 Wireless Controller – $54.99

PS3 Energizer Controller Charger – $19.99

PSP 3000 Core Pack – $169.99

PSP Assassin’s Creed Bloodline Bundle – $199.99

PSP Go In-Ear Headset – $19.99

PSP Go System – $249.99

PSP Go Traveler Case – $19.99

PSP Original Pre-owned System – $79.99

PSP Road Gear Kit – $9.99

Rainbox Six Vegas (PSP) – $9.99

Rock Band Unplugged (PSP) – $29.99

Scribblenauts (DS) – $29.99

Sims 3 (PC) – $29.99

Sing It w/ Microphone (Wii) – $49.99

Smackdown Vs Raw 2010 (Xbox 360) – $49.99

SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals (Used) (PSP) – $9.99

Spider Man (Xbox 360) – $19.99

Spore Hero Arena (DS) – $29.99

Spore Hero (Wii) – $19.99 *

Style Lab Makeover (DS) – $19.99

Style Savvy (DS) – $34.99

Super Mario Bros. (DS) – $34.99

Super Mario Bros. (Wii) – $49.99

Super Mario Galaxy (Used) (Wii) – $39.99

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up (Wii) – $29.99

Tekken 6 (Xbox 360) – $39.99

The Price is Right (Wii) – $19.99

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) – $59.99

Various Charm Girls Club Games (Prom, Show, Mall) (DS) – $29.99

Various Littlest Pet Shop Games (DS) – $29.99

Wii Active – $29.99

Wii Energizer Power & Play Station – $19.99

Wii Fit Plus (Game Only) – $19.99

Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board – $99.99

Wii Motion Plus – $24.99

Wii Music (Used) (Wii) – $39.99

Wii Nunchuck – $19.99

Wii Play – $49.99

Wii Play (Used) (Wii) – $9.99

Wii Remote – $39.99

Wii Remote Controller Red – $29.99

Wii Sports Pack – $9.99

Wii Sports Resort – $49.99

Wii Sports Resort w/Free 2nd MotionPlus Controller – $49.99 *

Wii Zapper w/Link’s Crossbow Training – $24.99

Wireless Controller and Charger (Xbox 360) – $69.99

World of Warcraft Battlechest (PC) – $19.99

World of Warcraft (PC) – $4.99

World of Zoo (Wii) – $29.99

Xbox 360 Arcade Console – $199.99

Xbox 360 Elite Holiday Bundle with 3 Games – $299.99 *

Xbox 360 Energizer Controller Charger – $19.99

Xbox Live 3 Month Gold Card – $19.99

Zelda (Used) (DS) – $19.99

GameStop Black Friday Ad [BlackFriday.info]

Read more Black Friday posts…

Anyway, it will cost $99 and there is a limit of two Tauntauns per customer. Apparently you can wear it around like a Snuggie.

Product Page

Well, well, well. If it isn’t Target’s Black Friday ad? Let’s see what’s inside, shall we? Oh my, hello there 32-inch HDTV for $246. How do you do?

Stores open at 5AM on Black Friday. Doorbusters are marked with an asterisk and are good “while supplies last,” according to the circular.

Digital Cameras

Kodak ZD15 Digital Camera – $129.00

Nikon CoolPix S203 Digital Camera – $88.00

Polaroid V130 2″ Color LCD Camcorder – $39.00

Digital Media Cards

Lexar Media 4GB microSDHC Card With 50 Free Song Downloads – $10.00 *

Lexar Media 4GB SDHC Card With 50 Free Song Downloads – $10.00 *

DVD Players

Memorex Compact DVD Player With Progressive Scan – $19.99

RCA 7 Inch Dual Screen Portable DVD Player With Car Adapter – $88.00

RCA 7 Inch Portable DVD Player – $47.00

Sony Blu-Ray Player With Free $20 Gift Card – $149.99

Electronics

Casio Keyboard With Stand And Song Book – $49.99

Digital Decor Color LCD Key Chain Holds 48 Pictures – $10.00 *

First Act Electronic Drum Set – $35.00

GE 6 Foot HDMI Cable – $9.99 *

Memorex Home Audio System For iPod – $49.99

GPS Systems

Garmin Nuvi 1350T GPS System – $179.00

TomTom XL340S GPS With Case – $97.00

Hard Drives

Western Digital Elements 1TB Desktop Hard Drive – $59.98

Western Digital Elements 500GB Portable Hard Drive – $59.98

Miscellaneous

$10 Gift Card With Any $100 In Store Purchase – $0.00 *

3-Slot Charging Station – $14.99

MP3 Players

$15 Gift Card With Any Apple 8GB iPod Nano Purchase – $0.00

$30 Gift Card With Any Apple 32GB iPod Touch Purchase – $0.00

Apple 32GB iPod Touch With Free $30 Gift Card – $295.00

Apple 8GB iPod Nano With Free $15 Gift Card – $145.00

Photos

Digital Decor 7 Inch Digital Photo Frame – $29.00

Portable USB Storage

Lexar Media 4GB Twist And Turn USB Drive With 50 Free Song Downloads – $10.00 *

Televisions

Apex 40″ Full HD LCD TV – $449.00 *

Haier 7 Inch Portable Digital TV – $79.99

Westinghouse 32″ LCD HDTV – $246.00

Video Games

$10 Gift Card With Select Video Game Purchases – $0.00

$20 Gift Card With Any DSi System Purchase – $0.00 *

$50 Gift Card With Any Call Of Duty Super Elite XBOX 360 System Bundle – $0.00

$50 Gift Card With Any XBOX 360 120GB Elite Game System Bundle Purchase – $0.00

Animal Crossing Wii Video Game – $27.00

Assassins Creed II PS3 Video Game With $10 Gift Card – $59.99

Assassins Creed II XBOX 360 Video Game With $10 Gift Card – $59.99

Batman PS3 Video Game – $37.00

Batman XBOX 360 Video Game – $37.00

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare PS3 Video Game With $10 Gift Card – $59.99

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare XBOX 360 Video Game With $10 Gift Card – $59.99

Call Of Duty Super Elite XBOX 360 System Bundle With $50 Gift Card – $399.99

Call Of Duty Wii Video Game – $27.00

Cooking Mama DSi Video Game – $17.00

DSi Game System With Free $20 Gift Card – $169.99 *

Guitar Hero 5 Wii Video Game – $37.00

Halo 3 ODST XBOX 360 Video Game – $37.00

Hannah Montana DSi Video Game – $17.00

iCarly DSi Video Game – $17.00

Littlest Pet Shop DSi Video Game – $17.00

Need For Speed Nitro Wii Video Game – $27.00

Personal Trainer Cooking Game For DSi Video Game – $7.00

PS3 Black DualShock Controller – $39.00 *

Rock Band PS3 Video Game – $7.00

Shaun White PS3 Video Game – $7.00

Shaun White XBOX 360 Video Game – $7.00

Shift PS3 Video Game – $37.00

Shift XBOX 360 Video Game – $37.00

Sim Animals Wii Video Game – $27.00

Star Wars Clone Wars PS3 Video Game – $37.00

Star Wars Clone Wars XBOX 360 Video Game – $37.00

Super Squad DSi Video Game – $17.00

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Wii Video Game – $27.00

Ultimate Alliance 2 PS3 Video Game – $37.00

Ultimate Alliance 2 Wii Video Game – $37.00

Ultimate Alliance 2 XBOX 360 Video Game – $37.00

Video Rocker Extreme 2 Chair – $29.98

Wii Mario And Sonic Olympics Video Game With $10 Gift Card – $59.99

Wii Music Wii Video Game – $27.00

Wii Nerf Video Game With $10 Gift Card – $59.99

Wii Play Remote Bundle – $39.00 *

Wii Sports Resort Video Game With $10 Gift Card – $59.99

XBOX 360 120GB Elite Game System Bundle With $50 Gift Card – $299.99

XBOX 360 Black Controller – $39.00 *

Target Black Friday Ad [BlackFriday.info]

More Black Friday deals…

We present to you the Star Wars Rap, a rap about the film Star Wars. This is the apex of our culture and will be remember as the high water mark for Western thought, a sort of Jungian tipping point.

I want to be able to tell my children when this happened – if we survive the coming Dark Ages that this must inevitably produce.

via NowhereElse

Damn, xkcd comics. I got up early this morning – with a little help from the time change – with good intentions. That was until I saw the new xkcd comic that charts character grouping throughout some of the most epic movies. I wasted my morning looking at this damn thing and you probably will too. Don’t blame me though. I warned you.

Back before I started playing World of Warcraft (because of something that was work-related, incidentally), I used to tease my then-roommate about playing it well into the night, every night. I was a freshman at a certain horrendously expensive school, and my gaming started and stopped with my Xbox; I had no time for time-sink PC games. Not my roommate, no sir. The day the game came out—he had also been part of the beta—he plopped into his small, uncomfortable chair, Sunkist in hand (man alive did he love Sunkist for some reason), and quested well into the night away.

That was five years ago, and, correct me if I’m wrong, but no other game has even come close to de-throning Blizzard’s little engine that… still does.

Look at the game’s subscription numbers. The current estimate is that some 13.1 million people subscribe to the game in one shape or fashion. Lump all these people together in the same geographic area, and it would be the third biggest city in the world, after Mumbai and Shanghai. (Or, to put it in American terms, that’s nearly twice the population of New York City proper.) That, and the game is still growing… Wrath of the Lich King isn’t even available in China yet! When that hits, bam! Hello, even more money.

So we’ve established that WoW is big; that’s not exactly breaking news. Its closest competitors, I think, at least in the West, are Warhammer Online and AION. Apparently AION has had some technical issues that has driven players away, and Warhammer Online sorta came and went. And it’s not that these games aren’t good, but that, well, if all my friends play WoW, why would I abandon them?

That’s why WoW is where it is, and why it’s not going anywhere any time soon: too many people are playing for someone to come along and not it off its perch. That’s not to say that another game won’t come along and find a successful niche of its own—my money’s on Star Wars: The Old Republic, whenever that comes out!—but you’re crazy if you think another game is going to “kill” WoW.

And what will kill WoW? WoW 2, provided Blizzard wants to rock the boat, so to speak.

The gist is, WoW seems to be pretty much unbeatable right now. It launched at just the right time, with just the right lore, with just the right number of updates, with just the right fanbase.

If that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t know.

Nicholas here, fresh off freaking out over Shogun Rua’s loss last night. (I hate to use the word “robbed,” but Mr. Rua was 100 percent robbed last night. Later today: watching Dream 12!) I just wanted to draw your attention to a New York Times essay I just stumbled upon. It’s about the Internet, and our increased dependence upon it. It’s pretty short, so it won’t kill you to read the whole thing.

The basic thesis, nearest I can tell, is that the Internet has taken over our lives; that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Is it harmful to spend 20+ hours playing an online video game at the expense of “real life” contact, or at the expense of school or work? Yeah, probably. But, as the Internet, and computers in general, move away from a work/school-only phenomenon and converge with our lesser activities (entertainment and the like) we become susceptible to, well, losing ourselves in it. That is, “Man alive, I’m been here three hours, and all I’ve been doing is looking up old Ric Flair promos on YouTube, and then doing the related Wikipedia shuffle. I went from looking up Starrcade to the concept of sovereignty in just a few clicks! And I have articles to write, (and Dream 12 to watch)!”

Yes, the essay is a little hinky.

The question becomes how to properly allocate your time online between the pointless and the slightly less pointless. Do you download an application that kicks you offline, and keeps you there? Do you study/work from a place that has zero Internet access? Or do you embrace the fact that, well, this is how we do things from now on: working right alongside 18 tabs about the history of Nintendo and the Monday Night Wars?

As laser pointers go, you could do far worse than this little keychain Lightsaber. I mean think about it; if your job requires you to use a laser pointer, then you might as well have a cool one. And at $15, it’s not like this is a huge monetary investment. As an investment in your social standing amongst your peers, though, this thing ought to pay off in spades.

Choose from Darth Vader or Darth Maul versions, available at ThinkGeek.

Features include:

• Working red dot laser pointer
• The force
• Highly detailed scaled replicas
• Batteries included
• Pew pew pew!

Those are the actual features listed on the product page. Very nice.

Star Wars Lightsaber Laser Pointer [ThinkGeek]

What are you doing reading the text?! Look at the picture! It’s a frakkin’ Mega Man drum kit! Those rings light up and everything!

This thing is almost as cool as those Star Wars guitars back in 2002.

[VIDEO]

We all know that real world officials have used games like World of Warcraft to monitor the spread of infectious diseases, like trout flu. But what’s new to my eyes, broken pieces of junk that they are (I wouldn’t be able see Jupiter even if I were five feet away from it), is that researchers are using them to study economics. It’s simultaneously a bad and good idea.

It’s good in that you’ve got a lot of people to study, all of whom are buying and selling goods on the Auction House (or your preferred game’s equivalent). But the thing is that not everyone is motivated by pure profit, which seems to be the case in the Real World. Someone could be trying to level up a skill (like, say, Leatherworking) just for the sake of leveling it up, and not trying to make any money on the transaction. So they’ll make a piece of armor, and sell it for next to nothing just because. Then you’ve got people who like to disrupt, selling items for way below the “real” value just to ruin the economy. My brother actually did that back in the early days of Star Wars Galaxies.

One thing that researchers have already observed: when a new server opens up, or when it allows transfers to it, the flood of new players, with their new items in their knapsacks, be on the lookout for inflation. If, prior to the server opening up to new players, there was only 10 of Item X on sale, and now all of a sudden 100 items are on sale, say goodbye to your profit margins.

So, yeah… happy Jocktober, everyone.

Despite cutting a impressive figure at 2.02 meters, having the finest weaponry and starfighters Imperial credits can buy, and controlling the Force, it seems that Darth Vader has gotten stuck on the side of the road.

Dave Prowse was the physical form of Darth Vader for the original Star Wars trilogy, with James Earl Jones as the voice. The BBC reports that Lord Vader was en route to the 501st UK Garrison’s (which ironically is dubbed “Vader’s Fist”) reunion at the National Space Center in Leicester when his car broke down. Traffic officers assisted Lord Vader in getting from the M1 in Northamptonshire to the event. Officer Chapman later remarked, “Meeting Darth Vader is definitely one of the strangest situations I’ve been in.”

The car that Lord Vader was driving also has a interesting bit of history to it. The Mercedes was previously owned by actor Kenny Baker. At only 1.12 Imperial standard meters (which are identical to Earth measurement units), Mr Baker was the man inside R2-D2 for the original trilogy. Lord Vader told the BBC, “He used to keep a little ladder inside the boot so he could climb up and put his suitcases inside. When he had finished, he’d put the ladder back and used a cord to shut the boot. I decided to leave the cord there as a reminder of the car’s previous owner.”

Just had a nice little interview with Randall of TechVi and Nate of CNET about 3D TV. My dream 3D kit? Something like the Death Star simulation on board the Rebel ship in Star Wars. My nightmare kit? Watching someone play a 3D video game when there’s only one pair of glasses in the house.

And here we see one of the most useful implementations of an astromech droid to date. Modder Brian De Vitis gutted a novelty R2D2 beverage cooler and somehow managed to stuff eight old-school consoles inside. And – AND! – there’s a built-in projector. Very nice.

From Popular Science:

“To get rid of the mess of wires from his many videogame consoles, PopSci reader Brian De Vitis decided to repurpose his R2-D2-shaped cooler. The engineering student modified its legs and repainted it to look more realistic. Then he stacked the motherboards from the eight consoles on shelves inside, added a sound system, and rearranged the inputs so he could plug in controllers from the outside. To watch all the gaming action, he added a projector in the rig’s dome, just like the real R2’s.”

Judging from the photo, it appears that the consoles used are: NES, Atari, Dreamcast, N64, SNES, Genesis, PS1, and Xbox. That’s a lot of cords to keep untangled, yes, but I think you’ll agree that it’d be totally worth it.

[PopSci via HacknMod]

Okay, who here hasn’t played one of the Jedi Knight games? No one? That sounds ’bout right. Let me just say that the series is one of the best of all time. The story line rich, the graphics always top notch for their time, and it’s Star Wars. What’s not to like? Do you yourself a favor, throw on some trousers and hop onto Steam where you can buy the complete series for $20; most of us are buying it. Sure, a few of the games might be aged, but the latest one, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, doesn’t look terrible by today’s standards.