Asteroids wristwatch one-ups the Pong-playing original

John Maushammer enjoyed his 15 minutes in the limelight from the creation of the Pong wristwatch, but as any true superstar will tell you, a quarter of an hour just isn't enough. The DIY Asteroids Watch is a real step above the aforementioned predecessor, with an inbuilt tilt sensor so the wearer can control the action by simply tilting their wrist. We'd gush about it more, but that'd just be doing ya wrong -- instead, we'll point you to the live action vid waiting just past the break.

[Via NerdWithSwag]

[ybd @ Dec 17th 2008 5:59AM]

Am I the only one who has been a gamer for a long time but never found Asteroids fun? Same for Centipede.

[GingerFox @ Dec 17th 2008 6:25AM]

aww man u dont like the game? shame on you:P

[Kurian @ Dec 17th 2008 6:56AM]

Super Stardust Portable is teh new Asteroids.
I'ma playing it right now with my PSP watch. I strapped it onto my arm.

[Anthony @ Dec 17th 2008 7:11AM]

lol its only fun when the arcade was your 2nd home =]

[Magallanes @ Dec 17th 2008 8:13AM]

Second home?. main home for me! :-P (until my father bought me a 8bits microcomputer).

[Tony C @ Dec 17th 2008 8:18AM]

Looks like you're the only one bud! =)

[superhobo @ Dec 17th 2008 9:44AM]

Hated asteroids too. And all the clones, space invader and what not.

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Dec 17th 2008 10:03AM]

Yes you are the only Long Time Gamer that doesn't like this game. I mean how could you not like asteroids? The pinnacle of development for that time frame.

[Thief @ Dec 17th 2008 10:05AM]

I can understand where you're coming from... I've NEVER liked a single Sonic The Hedgehog game. Not even in 2D.

[Hackettman @ Dec 17th 2008 11:18AM]

Eh its about the reminiscing...... Having a computer at home that would only do about 2 colors and that was friggin sweet and being able to do something with a triangle and several other oddly shaped pieces..... Plus its kinda cool on a watch.....

[OneLove @ Dec 17th 2008 11:58AM]

WHERE CAN I BUY ONE?

[fini @ Dec 17th 2008 10:47PM]

i agree with you, i never liked asteroids either, though i do like the watch, especially the pong one, i wish they would mass produce them.

[Grovesy @ Dec 17th 2008 6:00AM]

Very nice. Would like to know how he made that. Any chance of a DIY guide?

[dj-kenpo @ Dec 17th 2008 9:30AM]

he has the plans on his site. good luck trying to build it though, it's not exactly a simple build. lots of tiny surface mounts

[morcheeba @ Dec 17th 2008 11:32AM]

I've been a little lax on my blog, but I've got some info there.
http://www.maushammer.com/systems/watch/Build_Log/Build_Log.html

The pong watch used 0201 resistors (0.02" x 0.01", or 0.6mm x 0.3mm), but I found those were too small to hand solder... the new watch uses 0402 resistors, which are much more friendly. You still pretty much need a microscope, though... :-(

[tha-don @ Dec 17th 2008 6:12AM]

pong, you should call yourself mario cause you just got 1-upped!

[Dexter @ Dec 17th 2008 6:28AM]

WANT

[Strike84 @ Dec 17th 2008 6:37AM]

if it only told the time as well i'd be all over that!!

[KilgoreTrout @ Dec 17th 2008 6:49AM]

Why would you want to be constantly reminded of the time you are wasting playing with playng with your moronic asteroids watch?

Besides what do you thing that the good citizens around you will think when their stern gaze will fall on you wildly twisting and shaking your wrist while loudly grunting and giggling for no apparent reason?

[Anthony @ Dec 17th 2008 7:14AM]

yea yea yea... but does it tell time tho? lol

i guess ill tell people my high score when someone asks for the time ^_^

[Wwhat @ Dec 17th 2008 7:45AM]

I don't see him control it in the vid, yet the spaceship moves about, what's that all about?

[MarbleMind @ Dec 17th 2008 8:13AM]

Demo mode?

[morcheeba @ Dec 17th 2008 11:37AM]

Yep, it's playing automatically. It'll eventually tell the time by scoring an average of 1000 points per minute... just look at the upper digits of the score, and that's the time. But, right now I'm working on making it smaller - I made a mistake in excel, and that's why the case is asymmetric. After I get that sent out to the PCB fab house, I'll return to improving the software a bit.

[Wwhat @ Dec 17th 2008 1:53PM]

Well I obviously get that it was running some demo mode but I mean what kind of fake 'demonstration' is the video, I was curious how well he could control it by tilting you see and feel cheated now :(

①②③④ Wwhat takes deep breath

I'm OK now.

[Wwhat @ Dec 17th 2008 7:47AM]

There's some funny watches on youtube I notice, here's a flashy one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky1TOVR2_ZM&feature=related

[mlf @ Dec 17th 2008 8:07AM]

amazing, I'd buy it

puts me in the mood for the best asteroids-type game, ever: Mono http://www.binaryzoo.com/games/mono/

[Agent .25i @ Dec 17th 2008 8:07AM]

I see it says "inbuilt tilt sensor", which is fine and dandy, but how the hell do you fire? So either it's totally fake, (like the Holographic I-Phone) or, lame as hell for auto fire spam.
Also he didnt move his wrist at all in the vid.

I phone vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXnzXwKE0Sk

[morcheeba @ Dec 17th 2008 11:41AM]

It's a demo mode. I just added a pair of buttons this weekend, but haven't posted pictures yet.

[Agent .25i @ Dec 17th 2008 12:49PM]

Sweet, a reply from the designer. :)
That's good to know. I was really disappointed to think that this was a fake. Mark me down for 1 Asteroids watch when they are ready plz.

[Agent .25i @ Dec 17th 2008 12:52PM]

Oh yea, one thing I was wondering... are old games like Asteroids free/open source now? Or did you have to buy rights, or ask permission?

[MarbleMind @ Dec 17th 2008 8:24AM]

@KilgoreTrout

Any real geek doesn't give a solid dang or two what thoughts the "good citizens" around him might have circling in their misguided, stereotypical minds.

[Agent .25i @ Dec 17th 2008 10:51AM]

So true, oh so true.
Geek Chic FTW!

[morcheeba @ Dec 17th 2008 11:57AM]

I think I'm up to 45 of internet fame now (= about 3 seconds of real-life fame), because I was also the hacker who did the low-level reverse engineering to make disposable digital and video cameras reusable.
http://www.engadget.com/2005/08/03/ops-the-almost-one-stop-cvs-camcorder-hack-for-windows/
http://www.maushammer.com/systems/

[AnyKey @ Dec 17th 2008 12:18PM]

Sorry, but the pong watch wins because it actually tells time; this just displays a computer playing asteroids...boring!
So no, this does not 1-up the pong watch. It's pretty cool though.

[Christian @ Dec 17th 2008 1:01PM]

Can they do that one game with tanks? I forgot what it's called...

[chansthename @ Dec 17th 2008 4:51PM]

Try Tanks (I think)

[Spikey @ Dec 17th 2008 6:30PM]

Battlezone? It used a vector-based display, like the original Asteroids.

[lance @ Dec 17th 2008 1:31PM]

personally I just strap my ColecoVision to my arm and a 22" monitor to my chest. A bio-diesel generator in my backpack,
and then I'm in Pit Fall heaven and also some bitchin baseball action.
Also the fashion look of it all gets me mega chics!
:)
By the way, when it comes to gaming you don't need a clock because time doesn't exist.

[Mitch @ Dec 18th 2008 12:49AM]

But can it play Crysis?

[Tabajara Labs @ Dec 20th 2008 10:25PM]

In high resolution?