Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

If you don’t get it, I don’t recommend looking up why this t-shirt is clever. Trust me on this one. And if you do get it, you can order your own from Shark Robot for $17.95.

[ "Two Girls, One-Up" Tee ] VIA [ GoNintendo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Flud claims their Cartridge line of watches are “inspired by the video games of Old” but I’m afraid I’m just not seeing it. The watches feature a waterproof, polycarbonate case with a glossy rubber strap as well as a “killer” display with vertically oriented numbers and movements. Again, not really seeing how that ties in to old school cartridge games, unless the watch periodically stops working until you blow in it, clean a set of metal contacts on one side or cram a folded piece of paper between it and your wrist. $80 each in 3 different color combos from Flud.

[ Flud - The Cartridge ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Yep, for just $24.95 from Vat19 you can split a single USB 2.0 port on your PC into 4 ports using this retro cassette tape USB hub. Unfortunately like real cassettes, flipping it over doesn’t give you an additional 4 more USB ports, so why would you opt for something like this? As one of the commenters on BBGadgets points out, it’s all explained in the FAQ:

Question: How is this different than a regular (boring) USB Hub?

Answer: The Cassette Tape USB Hub looks like a cassette tape. So, it’s awesome and not boring.

Can’t argue with that.

[ Cassette Tape 4-port USB 2.0 Hub ] VIA [ CrunchGear & BBGadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Don’t fret too much if you missed out on that complete Nintendo Game & Watch collection auction we posted last week. Not only did you save yourself 11 grand, but it turns out Nintendo has actually re-released some of the more popular G&W titles, but smaller! These Mini Classics include Mario’s Cement Factory, Donkey Kong Junior and Super Mario Bros. but are now small enough to fit on a keychain. They also include basic clock and alarm functions and have a retractable stand in the back allowing them to be used as a desktop clock if for some reason your PC/cellphone/watch have all stopped telling the time. $16 each from Firebox.com.

[ Nintendo Mini Classics ] VIA [ Newlaunches.com ]

By Chris Scott Barr

I miss playing my old NES games sometimes. I’ve still got a drawer full of gems like Zelda, Micro Machines, Metroid and Contra. I’ve been tempted to pony up the cash for one of those devices that’ll play both SNES and NES games, but here is another to vie for my hard-earned cash.

The Retro Mini X Handheld NES System not only lets you play your old NES games, but it lets you do it on the go. Just pop in 4xAA batteries and you’re good to go with a 2.5-inch screen. You’ll also get a couple of wireless controllers that look strangely like those of an SNES. The X and Y buttons are labeled AA and BB, so I’m guessing that’s your turbo fire or something. There’s also a zapper, but you’ll need to hook the system up to an old CRT monitor if you want to use it. An power adapter is included for those times that you want to hook it up to a big TV and re-live the glory days of console gaming. $50 and this awesome retro handheld can be yours.

[ ThinkGeek ] VIA [ UberGizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If there are any young’ns reading OhGizmo! I want you to take a close look at these photos. What you see here is how Devastator from the Transformers is supposed to look like, not that monstrosity that appeared in the Transformers sequel and in toy sections across the country. But I can understand how you’ve been misled. While Takara and Hasbro have re-released a decent collection of the original Transformers toys over the past few years, Devastator hasn’t been one of them, so there’s been little opportunity for you kids to be educated on the real Constructicons. But thankfully eBay seller ‘malsmasterpieces’ took it upon themselves to create this custom 25th Anniversary version of Devastator which I’d like you to study thoroughly. (There might be a quiz later.)

All six construction vehicles are represented, complete with their original accessories, and they each transform into their robotic alter-egos including Mixmaster, Bonecrusher, Scrapper, Hook, Scavenger and Long Haul. As far as I’m concerned this thing belongs in an art gallery given all the work and detail put into it, but you’re welcome to add it to your own collection if you’re willing to top the current bid of $1,025. Four days left!

[ eBay - Transformers Custom: 25th Anniversary DEVASTATOR 2.0 ] VIA [ TechEBlog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Damn! Rob over at Boing Boing Gadgets posted a review of the ‘new’ GP2X Wiz (pictured on the right) and unfortunately it turns out to be the best portable device for retro video game fans in his opinion. On one hand I’m happy to hear that the AMOLED screen is bright and colorful and that the 533/800MHz processor with hardware-accelerated OpenGL is capable of running most emulators at a near perfect frame rate. (Including Amiga games.) But on the other hand I’ve been hesitant to shell out the $180 for a portable console that will probably never see an official release for a popular modern title, but it looks like I don’t have a choice now.

[ BBGadgets - Review: GPX2 Wiz runs retrogaming rings around mainstream rivals ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Before the Game Boy and handhelds from Tiger came along, I was obsessed with Nintendo’s Game & Watch devices. But I had no idea the collection spanned some 59 different games! Were it not for the ridiculous $10,999 asking price (and the fact that it appears the auction has ended) this lot might actually be tempting.

[ eBay - Rare: Full Nintendo Game & Watch Collection !!! ] VIA [ TechEBlog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Given the number of people still using old audio formats like cassette tapes, compact discs and MiniDiscs is shrinking every day, it makes sense that JVC would create the RC-A2 which is kind of like a catch-all device for those dying formats. It basically lets them target every group who’ve deemed MP3s an inferior audio format. From what I can tell, the RC-A2 can be used to transfer or ‘dub’ music between the recordable formats like audio tape and MiniDiscs, and the JVC site even boasts about a feature called ‘Sound Lifter’ which seems to direct the audio depending on if the listener is sitting or standing near the stereo.

[ JVC RC-A2 ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]