Gizmodo Australia » handheld

Mattel Football: 1979’s King Of Timewasters

Dan Nosowitz — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:00:00 +0000

Mattel’s Football (just “Football”) was one of the most popular standalone handheld games of the late ’70s, in the same ultra-addicting category as Tetris and Pac-Man. It was the beginning of the end for the attention span of American youth.

Even though I was -9 years old in 1977, when Football was first released, and can’t specifically remember ever playing it, the handheld itself, as well as those tiny red dots, is immediately recognisable to me. It’s been featured in films like Bottle Rocket and Wet Hot American Summer, and chances are a lot of you readers have one or two of them in the bottom of a box somewhere in your basement. It was an incredibly, powerfully popular game, the first major handheld videogame smash, and judging by the Amazon reviews, people are still playing and loving it today. [Handheld Museum]

Revive Those Repressed Sega Genesis Memories With 16-bit Blaze Portable Game Player

Jack Loftus — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:00:00 +0000

If you weren’t lucky enough to have an SNES back in the 90’s, and were instead stuck with a Sega Megadrive (Genesis), the Blaze 16-bit handheld will bring a flood of those memories back to the surface and them some. The controller set up is even the same, complete with the Start button switching that made fighters like Street Fighter 2 impossible to play. Blaze is a fraction of the size of the original Genesis, and comes preloaded with 20 games. Some of them are actually pretty good.

The Blaze is loaded with Sonic and Knuckles, Golden Axe, Shinobi, Ecco the Dolphin, Alex Kidd – Enchanted Castle, Alien Storm Altered Beast, Arrow Flash, Crackdown, Decap Attack, Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Ecco Junior, Flicky, Gain Ground, Jewel Master, Kid Chameleon, Sonic Spinball and Shadow Dancer. I said some. [Crowded Brain]

Pico Projector Coming by Mid 2008

Sean Fallon — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:20:12 +0000

Awesome. Young Optics Inc. has announced that it will release a Pico projector by the end of this quarter or the beginning of the next, which would make it the first such product to hit the market. The device will be based on Texas Instruments technology and utilise a DPL chip and RGB LED light module that will display up to 7 ANSI lumens brightness using only 1 watt of energy. No product name or pricing information has been made available. [Digitimes via AboutProjectors]

BlingNation Blinger Handheld ATM Confuses Us

Jason Chen — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:15:57 +0000

At first glance we thought this BlingNation Blinger was a handheld ATM device that would let you purchase stuff directly from a salesperson (like in Apple stores), but on closer examination it’s actually quite weirder.

It’s actually a handheld ATM in that it’s an actual ATM, which means that you can do everything that you can at a normal ATM but on the go (except withdraw cash). Why you would want to pay your bills, transfer money between accounts, or “request money from other people” on a handheld ATM is anyone’s guess, but we suppose BlingNation has some plans for it that we don’t quite understand. Couple that with the cost of US$100 and monthly fees, it’s unlikely that anyone would want to use this at home (where they have a computer already to handle banking needs) or on the go. [Inventorspot]

Lenovo’s MID Handheld Internet/Media Device Looks Like a Giant PSP, Has Touch Gestures

Jason Chen — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:47:08 +0000

UMPCPortal found this video of Lenovo’s unannounced MID, or Mobile Internet Device, that shows off some touch gestures and a bit of its functionality. It has a horizontal PSP Xross Media Bar-like navigation, a wide PSP-like body, and touch gestures (which the PSP doesn’t have). Not only can it play back video and audio, it’s supposed to have some fancy image drawing or editing and PDF viewing and internet browsing. We’re not sure what it fully does, but I think we’ll find out in the next few days. [UMPCPortal]

Microvision Handheld Pico Projector Can Drive a 100-inch Image

Jason Chen — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:04:22 +0000

If you really must have a way to watch those four seasons of Futurama DVDs anywhere you go, this Microvision SHOW handheld projector is the way to go. Not only is it about the size of a first or second-gen iPod, it can shoot out a 848×480 image (DVD quality) that’s anywhere from 12-inches to 100-inches in size. It will have a 2.5-hour battery life, and runs off of their PicoP display engine. We’ll have to see just how good this thing is at CES, but anyone who’s interested in pulling out a projection show anywhere should be hot to trot over this bad boy. [BusinessWire]

Two Special Edition DS Lite Bundles Coming this Holiday Season

Adam Frucci — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:55:00 +0000

According to a leaked Black Friday ad from Sears, Nintendo has a couple of special-edition DS Lite’s coming this holiday season. First is a gold, Triforce-embossed version that comes bundled with Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass which should appeal to our general readership. Next is a metallic pink version with a paw print on it that comes bundled with the two-year-old Nintendogs: Best Friends, which should appeal to your younger sister or perhaps you, but you’d never admit to it. Both will rock in at $US150 if you’re willing to stomp some skulls at 4am the day after Thanksgiving. [DS Fanboy]

Best. Stylus. Ever. (a.k.a. Ninja > Pirates)

Jason Chen — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:20:13 +0000

The pirate over at Kotaku has just discovered what he’s calling the “Best Damn Swag on the Planet,” and we’re calling “the best stylus ever.” It’s a stylus for Ninja Gaiden DS, but it’s not just any stylus, it’s a friggin sword. It even has a little sheath to stick it into! Can you imagine playing Pokemon with that thing? Or whipping it and using it as a stylus in your Windows Mobile phone? “Hey John, give me a sec to check my calendar with my fucking NINJA KATANA.” And then you throw the stylus into his eye, officially ending your lunch meeting. [Kotaku]

First Impressions of the New Sony PSP (Verdict: Not That Big of an Improvement)

jenneth — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:04:41 +0000

Wired has got a quickie review of the new Sony PSP, and as expected, not a lot has changed from the original console. It’s a bit lighter and thinner, limited colour choices and component TV out. Hands On With Sony’s New Slim PSP 2 [Wired] -Jenneth Orantia

New Official Nintendo DS Pencil Stylus

Seamus Byrne — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:08:48 +0000

Nintendo is giving you another way to play with their pencil-shaped stylus. For stylus aficionados, the design will feel familiar to HORI’s DS Stationery Set released previously. This new stylus, however, comes straight from Nintendo at a slightly lower price.Only available in Japan (or through an importer), the official NDS Pencil Stylus is basically your regular DS/DS Lite stylus, but thicker. The stylus lacks lead and therefore has no need for an eraser. If you think holding a pencil will improve your game (but won’t help on your homework), you can grab one for a costly $10 import, around $5 less than what you might pay for the added frills of the HORI package. – Kevin Hall

Buy it [videogame.brando.com.hk via technabob]