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AI competition pits Ms. Pac-Man against ghosts in the Manichean struggle of our time (video)
While the world breathlessly awaits the Pac-Man reality TV show, the University of Essex held a programming competition starring that other yellow chomper. The Ms. Pac-Man vs. Ghost Team contest pitted 13 competitors from nine different countries against one another, to see who could create the most elusive Ms. Pac-Man or the wiliest ghost gang. The participants coded routines for the titular hero or Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Sue, with organizers then running the programs against one another on the Java-based playing field. The highest single-game score went to Atif, who racked up 69240 points versus DarkRodry's ghosts, while ghost team Legacy2TheReckoning held RandomMsPacMan to a mere 410 points. Another competition will take place in August, so limber up your coding fingers, Pac-Maniacs. In the meantime, strap on your headgear and cheer on your round yellow hero in the video below.
Visualized: Growing up in arcades
If you're anything like us -- and you are -- you can get quite nostalgic (and often downright teary-eyed) when contemplating your geek past. That's why we know you'll just love our latest favorite Flickr pool, Growing Up In Arcades: 1979-1989. We'd like to stay and chat, but there are well over a hundred pictures featuring stonewashed denim, cheesy mustaches, and coin-op console games that we are dying to check out. Feel like joining us? Hit the source link. [Photo credit: Daves Portfolio]
Painting with fire, thanks to a cybernetic glove (video)
Fire: the most primal element. "It's a living thing," Robert De Niro once said, "It breathes, it eats, and it hates. The only way to beat it is to think like it." Unless you're an artist – then you rig up a series of tubes, pump in some kerosene, and connect it to a Power Glove-like control device. Next thing you know, you're "fire painting," making that hateful beast dance and strut for your amusement. "Its burning can be handled by subtle movements of the sensory data glove for tactile formulation of the fiery image," the artist explains, "Thus, the image can be manipulated, yet it constantly escapes control." To know what it's like to summon flame with a flick of your wrist – while sporting a creepy smiley-face welding mask, no less – see the video above.
The World's Biggest Pac-Man game takes over the internet, your life
It's officially the weekend, which means you've got two choices: one, mimic iTr3vor and toss up a YouTube video of yourself dancing in an Apple Store, or two, blow your own mind with the magic of HTML5. In between hour-long Pica-Pic sessions, we'd recommend killing time in The World's Biggest Pac-Man game, which can be "played for fun" or linked to your Facebook account for those who savvy statistics. We'd bother telling you more, but we're fairly sure you're already firmly occupied with the source link. You're welcome. Or, we're sorry.
Canada to introduce recyclable, polymer-based 'plastic cash,' dragons and PC users rejoice
See that guy right there? His world is ending. Dragons are swallowing his neighbors, snatching his peoples up. Rather than make an effort to hide his kids, hide his wife or hide his husband (too), he's celebrating uncontrollably. Why? Because his homeland is preparing to make the shift to plastic cash. You heard right -- Canada is scheduled to introduce a polymer-based $100 bill in November, and in March of 2012, a recyclable $50 bill will follow. From there, smaller notes will be phased in over the next dozen months or so, providing citizens with legal tender that holds up better to Yellowknife's winters. Sure, Australia has been doing something similar for over a decade, but have you ever seen a DinoPark Tycoon rise up and use only non-digestible money? Exactly.
The Awesome button is...
Ever struggled to find the perfect adjective to articulate your admiration for a given article of awesomeness? Matt Richardson over at Make felt exactly the same way, so he perfected himself an Awesome button, designed specifically to spit out synonyms for his favorite descriptive word. To accomplish the task, he had to gut a Staples "easy" button and arrange a Teensy USB microcontroller inside it, before making the resulting mini-thesaurus compatible with his computer. Don't worry, full instructions are contained in the video above. Just mash the play button.
Storyboard: Archetype discussion -- the Strawman
We've saved the best for last in our archetype discussions, because this character is the best. Without a doubt. He is pure, unadulterated awesome distilled into walking, talking form, and you could only hope to be half as great as he is. He saves princesses, slays dragons, and wins kingdoms, even if the game doesn't feature any of the above, because he is just that great. Whatever you do, he knows about it, and whatever you think you've mastered, he's even better. Don't hate him just because he's outdoing you at everything you try. The Strawman is our last archetype out of the initial round, and he's without a doubt better than any of the other loser types that we've covered up until now. After all, they all had one crippling flaw or another, and the Strawman neatly sidesteps all of those problems. He's the man with the plan, the dude with a justified attitude, and the solution rather than cause of all the problems your group of fellow players will encounter.
Full-on electric drum kit shoved within a pair of jeans, subway musicians celebrate (video)
It's a natural progression, really. Way back in the heyday that was 2008, we saw a fully-functional keyboard worked into a pair of jeans. Three years later, those characters have morphed into something far more raucous. The University of Hull's own Aseem Mishra has just nabbed an prized engineering award for his recent musical work -- specifically, for integrating eight sensors into an otherwise ordinary set of trousers. For now, the wearer has to connect their legs into a speaker-filled backpack in order to be heard, but he's working on a wireless version that'll transmit to far larger sound systems. There's also hope that version 2.0 will include more sensors for more sounds, and if a manufacturer decides to start shoving these into your local Hot Topic, we're guessing they'll be available in a rainbow's worth of hues. Vid's below for those who'd fancy having a listen themselves.
Mesmerizing Touch Wood SH-08C ad showcases Japan's beauty, mankind's ingenuity (video)
Sharp isn't apt to sell but 15,000 of its Touch Wood SH-08C handsets, but after watching the ad below, you can bet there will be demand for more. It's a bit baffling to think of the trouble Drill, Inc. went through in order to assemble the pieces necessary for a wooden ball to trickle down a homegrown marimba, particularly in the midst of Kyushu, Japan's woodlands. Kenjiro Matsuo was responsible for the creation of the instrument, while Morihiro Harano is being handed credit for the idea itself; in fact, he confirmed to The New York Times that no artificial music was added whatsoever, with only the background levels being adjusted up for effect. You may have never listened to a piece of classical music in your life, but you're sorely missing out if you ignore Bach's Cantata 147, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." Or, at least the version in that video below.
Visualized: awesome, non-functioning 'robot' made from worthless computer parts
It might not actually do anything, and it's certainly in no danger of crawling into (or out of, however that metaphor works) uncanny valley, but Mike Schropp's latest creation sure put a smile on our face. All this thing needs is a pair of Pentium Nikes and it'll be truly styling! Get a closer look after the break, and then hit the source link for plenty of glamor shots at the Total Geekdom blog.
Pica-Pic brings retro handheld games back to life, purpose to the internet
Brace yourself. You're about to be guided to the best website in the history of the universe, and if you dare doubt it, your universe may very well be ripped to shreds. Every so often, a new and improved reason for surviving emerges on the world wide web, and it's safe to say that Pica-Pic fits the bill. For all intents and purposes, it's a drop-dead gorgeous portal for accessing retro handheld games -- the very vessels that carried you through your childhood. Simply toggle through the myriad options with your left / right arrow keys, and then mouse over each game to learn of the keyboard controls. Venture on down to the source link if you're looking to occupy yourself for the next week month. Now, if only they'd build an app for porting this to the mobile side...
Super Mario reimagined as a first-person game, conquers the castle of our hearts (video)
You've seen Super Mario evolve from a modest 2D sprite into a 3D world-exploring superhero mechanic, but have you ever seen life through his eyes? Here's your opportunity, as a fanmade animation treats us to a first-person view of the intrepid Italian's adventures through the familiar World 1-1. There are kill streaks, achievements like "headbanger" and "pole dancer," and some extremely realistic sound effects to set the mood. The priceless video follows after the break.
Steampunk USB cufflinks are as awesome as they are pricey
You wouldn't think something classifiable as "wearable storage" would look so darn dapper, but here we are, staring at just about the finest cufflinks we ever did see. Not only are these handmade shirt cuffs beautiful in the most steampunk of ways, they're also pretty useful as each features an 8GB flash storage chip with the utterly ubiquitous USB connector attached. Basically, they're what James Bond would wear if James Bond wore really awesome cufflinks. The general idea behind them might not exactly be original anymore, but we can't really fault the execution here. What we could probably find fault with is our lack of $225 of disposable coin, the price one will have to pay to sport this unique pair of hand-carved, walnut-enclosed memory sticks. [Thanks, Amelia]
URL Hunter game takes place entirely in your browser's address bar, courtesy of HTML5
That's right, kids: the tyranny of the browser window is over! Thanks to Corey from ProbablyInteractive (as well as clever use of HTML5 and the Canvas tag), we now have URL Hunter. Using the left and right arrows keys, the player controls an ASCII "O" that has nothing better to do all day but kill the letter "a." When you find yourself on top of the "a" key, hit the space bar to earn a point. Simple? In theory, yes. But trust us -- It's harder than it sounds! Hit the source link to try for yourself.
N64Boy Advance is one fine lookin' Nintendo 64 handheld
If you head on over to the Modded By Bacteria message boards you'll find that forum member Hailrazer has put together a little somethin' that he likes to call the N64Boy Advance. And like all successful mods, not only does the thing look good, it also boasts tweaks suited to the builder's tastes: he uses a Gamecube joystick instead of one from a Nintendo 64 controller, he's decreased the smaller trigger buttons (which our man hardly ever uses), and done away with the d-pad altogether (ditto). The case itself is an old Game Boy Advance carrying case (with the N64 board cut down to fit) and speakers, a 4.3-inch display, and a couple camcorder batteries thrown in for good measure. Of all the modes we've seen from Hailrazer, this might be out favorite yet! See for yourself after the break. [Thanks, Jonathan]
Conan O'Brien produces a more honest iPad 2 promotional video
Feeling a little underwhelmed by this week's iPad 2 launch? This promotional video recently unearthed by Conan O'Brien goes some distance in explaining why this might be... and why you're probably not alone. But just in case you did buy into the hype, don't feel bad: it's easy to get suckered by a smooth talker with "a non-specific ethnic accent." See for yourself after the break.
Visualized: 37 years of Roland synths in one awesome animated GIF
You know how much we love our vintage MIDI gear, and apparently our friend Ronny from Das Kraftfuttermischwerk is every bit as big a fan as we are. To that end, he's taken Music Radar's recent guide to all-things Roland and turned it into an awesome (and headache-inducing) animated GIF. Apparently the collection lacks the TR and TB series instruments, otherwise everything the company has produced between 1973 and 2010 should be there. What are you waiting for? Check it out after the break.
Google's Androidify app lets you create your very own bot avatar (video)
While we're probably still years or decades away from getting our very own animatronic clones, Google's released the next best thing for the time being. Available on the Android Market is this Androidify app, which, as the name says for itself, lets us mere mortals craft our Android mascot lookalikes. Hell, you can even slap on some facial hair or a baby droid while you're at it. We'll say no more -- see the app in action after the break, if you're not already busy dishing out your new avatar across the web.
Marvel Versus Fighting Pad features micro-switch thumb pad, art direction courtesy of a 12 year old boy
PDP, known in the gaming biz for everything from PlayStation Move accessories to heart-shaped guitar-ish (and garish) controllers, has really pulled out all the stops with its latest. The Marvel Versus Fighting Pad is a wired joypad that sports micro-switches for the thumb stick and six front-facing buttons, which is what you get on most arcade consoles (and what you don't get on cheaper controllers, so theoretically this should be rather nice). Available February 14, this bad boy will set you back $40. Right now only an Xbox 360 model is planned, but if it sells well they will also be bringing it to the PS3. And yes, that is a panel from an actual Marvel comic slathered all over the thing. PR, Video after the break.
Incipio shows off Game Boy-themed iPhone case and no, you can't have it
Do you want this Game Boy-themed iPhone 4 case? Well, how does it feel to want? Not all that hot from where we're sitting, that's for damn sure. Spotted at Incipio's CES booth, the company put the case together to demo the company's production capabilities. Sadly, for us, the thing won't be coming to market at any time in the near future (unless someone in Shenzhen decides to take on the cause, that is). We must say, this is a big improvement over the company's iPod nano watch bands -- and an immense improvement over the guy who shoved an HTC Aria inside his old Game Boy (throwing in a fake iPhone 4 for good measure). Get another look after the break.
