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Wii U External HDD Cases Part 2: Metroid
Enlisting the Save Station platform from the Metroid Prime series seems like a fun way to designate an external drive if I may say so. Metroid has one of the more ‘showy’ saves in all video games, ideal for a device that stores games and save files.
When a save or data transfer occurs, the LED lights on the platform would pulse (sorry no GIF this time). Samus could also have an LED in her visor, but that might be tricky to do with her being so small.
I feel the Samus figure could be sold separately. Some people might prefer different eras of the character or different colors even.
Other variants: the drive case could also the Gunship which Samus could stand on. Samus could also stand in a glass capsule a la Super Metroid. The HDD could be jettisoned altogether, so you could have a Metroid figure on a stand that intercepts a USB feed to the external drive.
Wii U External HDD Cases Part 1: Super Mario
I haven’t been following the Wii U too much these past several months, I figured I knew all there was to know about Nintendo’s new console. But then recently I learned the system is allowing for external storage (either SD Cards or external hard drives) to help with capacity. How great is that? No proprietary hardware and easy-to-maintain data. Kudos to Nintendo.
What got me excited about this storage system are the possible external hard drive enclosures we could be seeing, be it from Nintendo or a third party (like Mad Catz). I think we could be seeing some pretty cool cases to park our hard drives in, because they’d enlist video game themes as opposed to looking like drab bricks.
First up is this really simple Mario block design. I have a few more designs in the pipeline, but I wanted to start with this one because it would compliment the Wii U console in appearance.
It features a Mario question block that operates as the power button (illuminates when powered-on). Above it are coins that animate in a light sequence to denote data is being transferred or a write is taking place (like saving a game). It would play the coin chime sound when the device is turned on, in sync with a single coin animation.
I’m 99.99% sure we’ll see a few fun HDD cases like this, because they’d appeal to both Wii owners and those who would want a geeky external case for their desktop computer. And that kind of market reach would be difficult to ignore from electronics companies.
Terminator USB Flash Drive
This USB Flash Drive design is based on the T-800′s chip processor, seen primarily in Terminator 2 Judgement Day. I opted for the intact version of the chip, which can be seen in the special edition version of the film (the scene where Sarah and John remove it from the T-800 to repair him).
This would’ve been more ideal as a memory card for a video game console, but those are going extinct now. So I opted for a basic USB flash drive.
I just noticed I made a mistake with this design: the cover should fold back even more, allowing for the USB plug to have complete clearance for plugging-in — my bad! I was also tempted to add a Cyberdine Systems or Skynet logo, but the chip in the film didn’t have any markings so I kept it authentic, making it look almost like a life-size replica prop.
Voltron 8-Bit T-Shirt Now Available
This 8-bit T-Shirt I designed for the folks at WEP a few months back is now available at 80′s Tees. Go here or click the image to head to the listing.
The art was altered from the original design to keep the color count down, but it does look pretty good all the same! Makes me with there was such thing as an 8-bit Voltron game.
Films That Can Be Salvaged Part 9: The Last Starfighter
Salvageable Films is a series where I stop finger-painting for a few minutes and armchair quarterback a feature film that fell just shy of greatness.
The Rundown: The Last Starfighter is a film that bowed in 1984, doing moderately well but not setting the world on fire at the time, certainly not enough to warrant a sequel (until somewhat recently, but those plans have stalled). It trumpeted cutting-edge CG at the time of its release, but nowadays the film is more renowned for its story and usage of video games to propel said story, endearing the film to geeks of all ages. Given the film’s success and notoriety, it would be difficult to call it a cult film, but given its age it has an impressive following that is every bit as strong as most cult films.
What made it great: While the FX blew my socks off when I was a kid, I’ve come to realize that what made it great was Robert Preston’s memorable turn as Centauri. I cannot recall another instance in the history of cinema where a character had the showmanship that beckoned the audience to step right up and see what’s behind the curtain. If you’re a kid, that suckered you in. If you’re an adult, darnit if you didn’t feel like a kid again. Yes Centauri’s role was brief but he can still bring an audience back again and again. Imagine if we were only stuck with the whiny protagonist for the first half of the film? Read the rest of this entry
Racing Game Proposal: Head-On Combat Zones
The last post which featured Mario Karters running amok all over the track got me thinking: wouldn’t it be cool if you could combat other racers head-on for brief stretches?
How it works: The racers are split into 2 groups. They race on two tracks (that are mirror opposites) which are conjoined in small stretches (“Chaos Zones”, see above image), allowing racers to combat each other head-on. The start/finish line is placed on a conjoined section. Read the rest of this entry
