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Yo-Yo Factory brings Hyper Scanner yo-yo gaming to Toy Fair, we go hands-on
We'll forgive you if you've never heard of Hyper Scanner. The carnival style arcade game is apparently all the rage in Japan, though. Kids line up to battle it for king of the yo-yo hill. Yo-Yo Factory came out to Toy Fair to show off its customizable yo-yo system, designed for the serious aficionado. Everything from the weight, to the bearings, to the colors can be tailored to your taste and to greatly improve the performance for particular tasks. The Hyper Scanner measures how fast the toy spins in RPMs and rates your performance -- not unlike a high striker. Brand manager and member of the development team Ben McPhee demoed how much better his company's products are over a standard yo-yo by ratcheting it up to near 7,000RPM. This Engadget editor was also given a chance to prove his yo-yo mettle, but couldn't break the 3,000 mark. Of course, the game has plenty of blinking lights and loud noises to entice you to play -- including repeatedly shouting "hyper" at you in a thick Japanese accent. Check out the video after the break to see it in action.
Yo-Yo wireless mouse concept charges with the flick of a wrist, saves your back
We've seen plenty of round mice, including Apple's infamous puck, and many devices that derive power from a yo-yo-like pull string mechanism. So we're not quite sure why we've never seen those two concepts married before. In retrospect, a wireless mouse charged by the kinetic energy of using it as a yo-yo seems like a painfully obvious idea. As an added bonus, this tiny pointer with an LCD battery gauge makes you get up every so often and get your limbs moving -- thus saving you from chromic back pain. Huzzah! Of course, there's no guarantee you'll ever actually see one of these on shelves. Check out the source for a few more pics.
The weirdest booth attractions of Gamescom 2010
While most booths at Gamescom relied on the games themselves to attract visitor attention, there were plenty of booths that went to some ridiculous lengths to stand out from the crowd. Take the above picture, which was set up to promote some sort of tractor simulation that's apparently popular in Germany. And that was actually one of the more game-related booths we captured for the odd gallery below. And you thought Gamescom was all about the games. You're so silly.%Gallery-100139%
iYo Yo-Yo almost certainly doesn't work
Seriously? I have to say: I don't buy it. I really don't believe that you could pull enough power to charge an iPhone out of an inducting yo-yo, but that is apparently exactly what the iYo Yo-Yo claims to be. It's not actually in production yet (or even produced, singular -- there's a demo of a rendered unit running on the site), so I'm as skeptical as James Randi at an astrologists' convention.Not to mention that nothing developer Peter Thuvander would actually be able to release could have that logo on it -- even if it did work, Apple would just release their own anyway, and then pay Pete twenty years later, right? But some people will do anything for alternative energy these days, including believing that a yo-yo could power your iPhone. Someone call the Mythbusters![via Engadget]
iYo YOYO Induction Charger lets you enjoy your tunes sans AC
For any iPhone or iPod user brimming with energy that might otherwise go wasted on aimless fidgeting, Swedish designer Peter Thuvander has devised the perfect way for you to marry your hyperactivity and your love for your Apple device: the iYo YOYO Induction Charger. While playing with the charger as you would an ordinary yo-yo, a small lithium-ion battery is charged inside, which in turn powers your device. The idea sounds great, and if it ever gets out of the concept stage we look forward to having our idle hands finally used as something other than the Devil's playthings. Check out a video of the device in rendered action after the break.[Via Engadget German]
Famitsu reveals Captain Rainbow details
As our extreme fondness for Seaman clearly shows, we absolutely adore bizarre games. Sure, Nintendo's upcoming Wii title Captain Rainbow may have a severe lack of Nimoy and man-faced fish, but it more than makes up for it with trippy visuals and an all-star (well, half-star) cast of Nintendo's supporting characters. We're definitely intrigued by what we've seen from the game, though we weren't sure exactly how we were going to interact with the lonely Birdo and a morbidly obese Little Mac -- until a recent Famitsu article revealed a few details about the title's gameplay.As our Wiimote-toting brethren at Wii Fanboy succinctly observed -- Captain Rainbow appears to be one part Animal Crossing, and one part action. The titular yo-yo wielder will make his way about Mimin island, helping its inhabitants and playing certain minigames, the rewards for which are crystals known as "kirarin". Collecting 20 kirarin will open up one of the game's action portions, in which the Captain will traverse a side-scrolling level to collect a falling star, which will grant the wish of one of the island's inhabitants. That seems just bizarre enough to ensure the game won't be coming to America, but our fingers are crossed nonetheless.
OLPC's pull-string power system going commercial
While some of the parts of the OLPC's XO laptop are still coming together (like the UI), other parts are ready to rock, commercial-style. As we previously saw in a slide showing NickNeg's pull-string power generator (pictured), the theory is that kids will be able to juice up their lappies with the tug of a string, ideally 10 minutes of use for every one minute of pulling. While no laptop with this generator is available yet, that hasn't stopped new startup Potenco from commercializing the power supply, even before the XO is ready to hit the global streets. The company recently claimed at the NEXT2006 conference in Copenhagen that a minute of pulling will yield an hour of light, 25 minutes of talk time on a cellphone, 230 minutes of iPod shuffle use, or 45 minutes on a Nintendo DS. But, as OLPC News points out, no one's really sure how many minutes of XO use that will translate into. We'll let you know how much they cost and when you can get one to charge every gadget in your life once Potenco actually starts selling 'em. Until then, you might want to start practicing with your nearest yo-yo or salad spinner. [Via OLPC News]Read - We Make Money Not ArtRead - Potenco
