Things I Think Are Kinda Cool

When geeks get their sweaty little palms on some spray paint, magic happens:

-via theCHIVE

These are the original sketches from the notebook of Toru Iwatani, creator of Pac-Man.  It was from these designs that everyone’s favorite dot-muncher was born in 1980.  (Ms. Pac-Man was made from one of his yellow ribs a year later)

-Link (via @GeekAmI)

We all know what goes down after Mario saves the Princess (again and again and again…)

Before you whip out your you-know-what, impress your geeky girlfriend by whipping out one of these.  Designer Ben Marsh has created these amazing Game Boy condoms – complete with pun-tastic names like “Donkey Shlong” and “Sextris”.

Disclaimer:  These don’t actually exist…but a geek can dream, can’t he?

-via Geekologie

ps.  Sorry about the outdated “Austin Powers” reference in the title of this post.  I should be shot.

I’ll save you the trouble and answer my own question…yup, about 25 years too old.  Damn.

-via Unique Daily

It doesn’t get much geekier than this…a Japanese violinist plays classic video game soundtracks and sound effects while the game is being played.  I especially appreciate that he bows at the end of each video – very respectful.

Super Mario Bros.

Donkey Kong

Super Mario 3

-via Buzzfeed

You know you’re a geek if this music video puts a huge smile on your face.  (Guilty)

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by divisionparis.

-via Walyou

If you have an iPhone, at this point you’ve probably played a labyrinth-style game where you tilt your phone and roll a marble towards a goal while avoiding holes.  The games are fun, but after a few minutes, I find myself getting extremely bored…until now.  The new game “Dark Nebula Episode 1″, by 1337 Gamedesign, pushes this genre to a wild new level and blows every other similar game out of the water – it’s already found a place on my iPhone’s front screen, along with my other A-list applications.

The premise is deceptively simple – it’s basically “Marble Madness” on steroids.  Your mission is to roll a floating disc through 10 futuristic and beautifully designed levels, while avoiding spikes, laser beams, deadly pits, moving platforms, and so much more.  The accelerometer controls are wickedly precise and the best I’ve encountered on any iPhone game.  The levels become progressively harder, and should take the average player between 2 and 3 minutes to complete each one.  At the end of each level, you’re awarded 3 medals (gold, silver, or bronze) based on time elapsed, how many capsules you picked up, and how many lives you lost.  This medal system adds a fairly high replay factor to the game…I’m still diligently (and frustratingly) trying to earn the 3 coveted gold medals on a few levels.

The only drawback I’ve found is that the game is fairly short – I beat it in about 50 minutes.  But the developers have promised this is just the beginning – Episode 2 should arrive in the App Store in a few months.  I can say with 100% confidence that this is absolutely worth the $0.99 price tag.  Check out this trailer video to get a sense of what to expect – and then click here to download the game.  Enjoy.

Confession Time: When I was 16, I worked at a miniature golf course called “Rinky Dink”. At the time, this was a big deal for me because I was obsessed with miniature golf my whole life. The bigger the course, the better…more hills, more waterfalls, more crazy layouts. “Rinky Dink” was a superb course – it was set at the top of a huge and steep hill, and some of the craziest holes went straight down the side – when I wasn’t selling ice cream to screaming kids or yelling at people for running, I was practicing my putting on the course. (Woah, I just googled “Rinky Dink”, and this article came up. It’s completely abandoned now – check out the photos – it looks like a post-apocalyptic amusement park…creepy, and slightly depressing.)

OK, Nerd-Alert Time: Ever since then, I’ve been on a quest to find the best miniature golf video game. I’ve bought them all…for my old PC, for all my old cell phones, for my video game consoles, and now, for the iPhone. There are already a few miniature golf games for the iPhone, and I’ve tried them all. I won’t list them out here – they just aren’t up to par. (unnecessary pun, sorry).

Until now: The new game “Mini Golf Wacky Worlds” is amazing. The graphics are bright and colorful (trippy) The hole design is creative, and ranges from ridiculously easy to wildly complex. Before each hole, you watch a video fly-over of hole’s layout – you can pause, rewind, and fast-forward the video to get a better look at the hole – it’s actually surprisingly fun to manipulate this fly-over video. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.

The characters that you play with are animated with an underlying sense of humor – for example, you start by playing as a redheaded sexpot with an impossible Barbie body. When you finish a hole under par, she does the craziest stripper move I’ve ever seen – it makes me laugh out loud every time I see it. Trust me. This pic doesn’t do it justice.

All in all, this is a fun pick-up-and-play game – it includes 4 nine-hole courses, 3 different gameplay modes, and tons of customization options. Take a look at the video blow, and then download the game here for $2.99.

Once again, I owe Touch Arcade for bringing this game to my attention. Keep up the great work, guys.

Yesterday, I was so immersed in the new game “Isotope” on my iPhone that I missed my subway stop.  This game has exceeded my expectations, and I highly recommend it.  It’s a simple spaceship shooter, loaded with quality graphics, sexy background music and design aesthetic, tons of ship/weapon upgrade potentials, and an easy pick-up-and-play format.

The controls are perfectly intuitive – you use your left thumb to move your spaceship around the level, and your right thumb to aim and fire.  Take a look at this teaser video and then download the Lite version for Free or the Full version for $0.99.