TimeWaster
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YouTube easter egg lets you play Snake while clips load (video)
No, not Metal Gear Solid's Snake. We're talking about the Snake that was popular before the smartphone was a twinkle in the industry's eye. Google has imbued YouTube videos with an engaging new easter egg that lets you play the apple-chasing game while your video stream buffers -- simply mash your keyboard's up and down arrow keys during most any clip to increase YouTube's time-wasting potential tenfold. What's that you say -- your internet connection is so ludicrously fast that videos play instantly? Ah, my lucky friend, let us introduce you to YouTube's 4K mode. Or, for a special treat, hijack the footage we've provided after the break to get your meta-giggles going. [Thanks, Alan]
Iconfactory debuts Frenzic for iPhone
Iconfactory and ARTIS Software have released Frenzic for iPhone, a fast-paced puzzle game that matches the piece and color combination skills of Bejeweled with a series of pie-shaped game boards. The game is an ideal timewaster -- my favorite kind of game -- perfect for waiting in line or on the subway. Frenzic starts off easy enough: you're presented with a colored pie slice, and you must move it from the center of the game board to one of six other pies. Simply complete each pie with six pieces of any color, though matching colors wins extra points and bonuses. A video showing how the game is played is available here. As you progress, the time you have available to park the current pie slice decreases. Gameplay gets challenging when you are given a piece for a position you already have six of: then you lose a life.
Personalize your own Zelda "take this" scene
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Personalize_your_own_Zelda_take_this_scene'; No doubt inspired by mega-popular Phoenix Wright personalizer Objection!, the folks over at PhantomHourglass.org have put together a little Flash application that lets you create your own "You got an item" scene from The Legend of Zelda (or Link to the Past). Not only can you personalize what the old man tells you, but you can also change the item Link picks up from a boring old sword to any 35 x 35 pixel image (might we suggest this charming Joystiq logo). Despite the crack about free time in the image above, we can't get enough of these little, customizable internet time wasters. The first flash coder out there to make an "Our princess is in another castle" version of this will have our eternal gratitude (and maybe even a Joystiq T-shirt). And no, this doesn't count.
