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Orcs & Elves & a John Carmack autograph
As if having the words "Orcs & Elves" emblazoned on your DS isn't enough to get you made fun of at school/the office by fantasy-hating jocks/co-workers, id Software went the extra mile and slapped on some dragon artwork onto this customized system to multiply its dorkiness rating tenfold. Oh, and the John Carmack autograph on the lid is sure to bring in a few putdowns, too: "Who is this John guy supposed to be? Your boyfriend?" So what if he is?Thankfully, we won't ever have to worry about Alisha heckling us for carrying one of these around, as only two were made, and they've both already been given away as part of a recent GamePro contest. We just might end up printing out a similar decal for our own DS, however -- the idea of designing our handheld to match the dragon posters we've put up in our cubicle is too tempting.
Bringing the mohawk to Azeroth
Mr. T hacked the game and put in a Night Elf mohawk of his own, but will we be able to do the same with the next expansion? Could be-- Bornakk says that he hopes every class gets a mohawk to choose from when the new hairstyles come down in Wrath of the Lich King, but the actual model from the commercial was custom-made for Mr. T.A mohawk might not be your first choice, but it will be nice to have some new customization choices out there-- I was showing off all of my alts to a friend the other day, and it occurred to me that I must have created an alt for almost every look out there. Not every combination of looks, surely (there's got to be tons of those), but at least every look that appealed to me. Just like many players, I'm definitely ready for new looks, whether they look like Mr. T or not-- if we've got the mohawk coming, does that mean we'll get a mullet for Blood Elves?
Now you too can own a shiny Wii
Remember that crazy blinged-out Zelda Wii? If you were speculating over how much it might cost, your question is answered: the modded system is now available on eBay for just under ten thousand dollars. And hey, the seller is even offering cheap shipping. After all, when you pay ten grand for a game system, you don't really want to drop a few extra dollars on shipping, do you?We definitely recommend insurance, however.
Custom Wii on eBay LIKE NEW, except not [update]
Why lay down a fat stack of cash for a new Wii on eBay when you can get one that is like new ... if, by "like new," you mean "has been modded and messed with and some dude played Fergie songs and Naruto on it." At the moment, iliksprite's modded, region-free Wii is a whopping penny, but with a brightly-lit controller and five extra real games, not minigames, thrown in (read: probably copies of real games), we expect this one may garner some bids. After all, with Wiis in such high demand, we've seen even the ugliest of skinned systems roll out for upwards of $500, and this one isn't ugly. Just warranty-free and not particularly new.[Update: As one of our commenters noticed, it seems this listing is gone from eBay. A shame, too -- we were hoping to snag something like this just in time for "chrostmas." It's our favorite time of year!]
Pair of Pokemon Lites pop up on eBay
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Custom_painted_Pokemon_DS_Lites_you_probably_don_t_want_3'; eBay seller viper640_0 (who hails from POWER SELLER VILLAGE, apparently, which is near A+++ town), has posted two custom DS Lite paint jobs featuring those wily Pokémon. Rather than going on at length about these hot little numbers, we'll let viper640_0 tell you all about them:Dont pay 350.00 or more for Pokémon Diamond & Pearl DS-Lite when you can have this one and save 100.00 or more. (Well, tell us more!)Note: there are some small imperfections in the clear coat. but this is still an awsome work of art!!! (Hmm, the number of exclamation points raise suspicion.)I took a Crimson Red & Black ds -lite and made it 200% better (Well, it's certainly de-seniored, at least.)This DS-Lite is awsome in every way. (But will it wash the car? That would be pretty awesome.)There's another custom job up for auction as well -- another retooled Crimson and Black Lite -- that is Poké-free. At least, we think so. It's hard to tell exactly what that is. We are, however, sure that it would be just perfect for that "birthday Girl or Boy."Read - Diamond & Pearl LiteRead - Pink Pikachu Lite
DS Daily: Favorite Mod?
Many of you expressed your horror at this vandalized DS (because really, there's no other way to describe it). But, for every horrible "mod" like this one, there are ten good ones in its place. Which DS mod over the years has been your favorite? You can use this tag to refresh your memory, if need be. There are so many beauties out there, so if you feel you can't limit yourself to just one, let us know some honorable mentions as well.
Skinning, from sports to little green pups
DS and Wii owners seem split on the subject of skins, but one thing seems universal -- if you're gonna do it, you want to be able to remove it later. Etsy seller NoveltyGallery offers just that feature in this array of Wii skins. What's more? These skins are customizable. Prefer DS skins, or maybe something for your phone? No problem. Just contact the seller with your choice.
TUAW Tutorial: Custom Stack Drawer icons
Many folks commented on our recent post about adding those gorgeous drawer icons to your Stacks. As great as the originals are, however, a lot of you also wanted to know how to customize them. Fortunately, the original author was kind enough to make the blank drawer PNG available, so in this little tutorial I'll show you how to make your own customized drawer icons using nothing more than Preview. Obviously you can get much sophisticated results using a more serious image editing application, but Preview can do enough to get you the results you see above and since everyone has it, I thought it best to focus on using it despite its limitations.
NVIDIA introduces ESA standard for PC components
If you're a PC-builder / modder, you've probably noticed that while you're given options for monitoring and controlling your CPUs, GPUs, fan speeds, and voltages, you're typically left high and dry when it comes to overseeing the functionality of your power supply, casing, and cooling accouterments. Well, NVIDIA is endeavoring to solve your problems with a new set of specifications they hope will tie those disparate elements together, called the ESA (or Enthusiast System Architecture). The hope is that through the cooperation of other manufacturers, and the implementation of USB HID (Human Interface Device), those components will get a needed shot of operability and connectedness; in effect, they'll start "talking" to one another. The hope is that the new standard will make full control over your rig much easier to come by, thus allowing you to frag with the confidence that your system probably won't burn the house down.[Via CRN]
All the World's a Stage: WTF is IC - OOC? WTB RP! OK THX, CU L8R
All the World's a Stage is brought to you by David Bowers every Sunday evening, investigating the mysterious art of roleplaying in the World of Warcraft.While many online gamers are famous for using "leetspeak," there's a certain portion of the community that places a great deal of importance on complete sentences and good spelling. Roleplayers, as a whole, are friendly and communicative, but nonetheless have special ways of interacting that other gamers may not understand. As a new roleplayer, I remember having to figure a lot of these things out, although I was blessed to befriend many people who kindly explained things to me as well. The first and most important concept I had to get a grasp of was the idea of "in-character" versus "out-of-character" communication (usually abbreviated to IC and OOC), and in what situations the use of either sort would be appropriate.It's fair to say that on an RP server where roleplaying is still the rule rather than the exception, anything in the /say or /yell channels should be "in character." That's to say, it should be phrased with good spelling and proper punctuation, and should only refer to happenings within the WoW universe. In situations where one must say something out-of-character in these channels, it is polite to at least couch your OOC words in double parentheses to clarify your meaning.
Get Mario on your 360
Last week, you may recall our sister site DS Fanboy frothing over a Zelda-themed Xbox 360 faceplate, a fine, one-of-a-kind piece of fanwork that eventually sold on eBay for the criminally low price of $31. At the bottom of said auction, creator 'worldwidewebbs' (who has a bit of a knack for these, it would seem) promised us a Mario version within the week, and has duly delivered. Impressively, this fantastic Super Mario World faceplate (which, as we type, is still only at $21.50) boasts moving parts (the Piranha Plant emerges from its pipe at the touch of a spring-loaded button) and even a sound chip that plays the jaunty Mario theme. Sir, we applaud your talents! While simmering beneath the surface with envy.
Put TUAW on your iPhone or iPod touch home page
If you want to run lots of Apps on your 1.1.1 iPhone or iPod touch but don't want to install SummerBoard, you can download this SpringBoard patcher that provides you with multi-page support. Copy off Springboard, patch it, put it back onto your device and reboot. It's what I'm running on my iPhone and touch right now and it works beautifully. Of course, once you have all that space available to work with, what are you going to do with it? I put together a TUAW webpage launcher using the OpenURL kit I posted about a few weeks ago. Now I just tap to launch TUAW. If you'd like to download your own TUAW launcher, you can grab a copy from the Samples folder in my OpenURL kit. You'll also find instructions there for creating your own website launchers. Over at website "Jon's Thoughts on Everything", you can find a web-based equivalent of OpenURL. I actually found it harder to use. For me, it involved more work than just adding an icon and editing two lines of text but you might enjoy using it.
Zelda modders take on the Xbox 360
You know what the Xbox 360 is missing? The Legend of Zelda, that's what. No worries, though; it looks like one faceplate-maker is here to save the day with this custom job designed to spruce up any 360. Even the greatly-feared RROD has to look a little better when framed by this baby.For our tastes, we'd prefer something with a little less bronze and a little more gold, but overall, this faceplate is pretty nice -- and as of press time, you can pick it up on eBay for a mere $19.99, plus shipping. That's not a bad deal if you feel a driving urge to take your fandom to other systems.Also, whoever is making those shield crests has got to love the modding community -- they're everywhere![Via Hawty McBloggy]
NVousPC lets you ugly up your new laptop however you please
We love a good brand gimmick-pastiche: take one part logo that looks NOTHING like Amp'd's branding, copious amounts of the Spider-man font, mix with skinned / colored laptop lids á la Sony or Dell, and you've got the oh so cleverly named NVousPC, a new portable computer business founded by a former Alienware employee. Out the door NVousPC's pushing what looks to be your run of the mill crappy Chinese 14.1-inch ("Mercury") and 15.4-inch ("Ether") models with 1GB+ RAM, Core 2 Duo, Vista, and custom paint jobs. Just be sure you choose it like you would a tat -- frozen bleeding ice-babies don't exactly scream "boyfriend material".
Enthusiasts bring 3rd party apps to the Helio Ocean, too
The iPhone isn't the only handset whose software innards are getting lovingly torn apart in the name of science this week. It turns out some intrepid users of the Helio Ocean (a device occasionally compared to the iPhone, coincidentally) have been slaving away on a method for adding extra applications outside of the carrier's walled garden. Their first success is a doozy, too: Opera Mini 3, one of the most prized jewels in the world of mobile software. The developers aren't claiming it's bug-free -- landscape mode and the QWERTY keyboard don't work, for example -- but it's a huge step in the right direction and they're continuing to work out the kinks. More custom apps are said to be on the way, and don't worry, Drift and Heat users -- support's said to be on the way for you guys, too.
Wii Warm Up: Skinning
Have you slapped a skin on your Wii, or thought about it? We found ourselves browsing some skinning sites and wondering if we might want to cover up the pure, smooth whiteness of the new console and finally decided against it ... at least, for now. But that's just us. This sweet set of controller skins could get us to change our minds, though -- especially at the low price of five dollars. What about you?
Crafty gamer builds PS2 Guitar Hero axe from scratch
Itching for anything Guitar Hero-related to tide your over until the third iteration hits? If you just so happen to have two unwanted PS1 controllers, a whammy bar, a few screws, a motion sensor, some wood (or similar), cutting instruments, and whole slew of other random tools (seriously, it's a lengthy list), you've got a tremendous challenge ahead. An admittedly stouthearted and presumably resolute individual managed to not only create a fully-functional PS2 Guitar Hero controller from a fairly impressive list of scrap parts, but he actually took the time to assemble a how-to guide for anyone else with enough knowledge and vacation time to do the same. Put simply, this DIY endeavor ranks pretty high up there on the complexity meter, but if you think you've got what it takes, let this be the dare that gets you started. Check out the video of the axe in action after the break.[Via HackNMod, thanks Joe]
WoW board game makers will be at Blizzcon
Fantasy Flight Games, makers of the WoW board game, have announced what they're going to be up to at BlizzCon, just a few days away. The game's creators will be around, and they'll be showing off the game, as well as the Burning Crusade expansion, which apparently adds new heroes and new monsters into the mix. FFG will also be showing off Starcraft: The Board Game, which is set to be released sometime later this year.And, perhaps most exciting, they'll also be giving out a special BlizzCon mini-expansion, with custom sets of armor for each of the nine classes, and even a Murloc suit! No idea what a Murloc suit will do for you in a board game, but it doesn't do much for you in the MMO either, and we all want one of those, right?If you're a fan of the Board Game or just want to be one (I wouldn't mind checking it out for sure), be sure to check out the FFG booth in the Exhibit Hall at Blizzcon.
Video hints at customized iPhone ringtones
Chris Hughes -- the gent who brought us the RoombaWii -- is up to new shenanigans and this time with an iPhone. Apparently using a bit of software that is "... close to being releasable ..." he was able to add the "CTU" ringtone -- yeah, we know, poor choice -- to his iPhone. Of course, this would be dead-easy to dupe -- and we can't verify 100 percent either way -- but his honest demeanor, striking resemblance to Matt Damon, and previous tricks help us to at least hope that there is a shred of truth in this. Check the vid after the break.[Via Wirelessinfo.com]
Awww, it's a cute pink Spartan faceplate
That overly cool gaming chick bs angel purchased and just received one of he most girly Spartan faceplates we've ever seen. Really, this custom faceplate was painted by artist Pavel Dolgov and is a girly girl's dream featuring a pink Spartan, a fluffy teddy bear, a few hearts and a rainbow. We can't think of anything cooler than this and are willing to go as far as to say that it's the uber hotness. You can read about the pink faceplate's entire creation process over at bs angel's blog (part 1, part 2, part 3). Full size faceplate picture viewable after the break.
