 |
It amazes me that Bandai Namco is still able to make money off of Pac-Man. Even though the game has been around for almost 28 years, it still resonates with folks enough that they are willing to purchase Pac-Man related swag. The latest are these mostly plush offerings from clubNAMCO.com. First up and pictured to the left is a set of six plush Pac-Man characters that feature all four ghosts measuring 7.8″ tall, Pooka from Dig-Dug which has a 10″ diameter and Pac-Man himself measuring in with a 12″ diameter. The set of six sells for $100 or you can get an individual plush for $27. They also have moving “power-plush” Pac-Man and the four ghosts for $100 for the set (out of stock) or $35 a piece. Then there is the Pac-Man Plush-Head which sells for $30 for the adult size or $25 for the kiddy size. |
OhGizmo! Referer
Boing-Boing Referer
Engadget Referer
Link
 |
At CES in 1978, Texas Instruments introduced the Speak & Spell. This device was pretty slick to a much younger roclar, though I do think I preferred Speak & Math. There was also a Speak & Read, but I don’t remember us having it. As the kids of my generation have all growed up in physical age and some even have kids of their own, there has been some interest in emulating these teaching toys of yesteryear. Below are a couple of the emulators for the Speak & Spell. The Java based emulator from speaknspell.co.uk didn’t seem to randomize much at all and only had the basic functionality, but it looked and sounded nice. Kevin Stonge’s Flash-based emulator seems pretty close to the complete package. I was unfortunately unable to find one for the Speak & Math. Enjoy! |
digg Referer
Emulator - speaknspell.co.uk
Emulator - kevinstonge.com
 |
I have to admit I have not played many of these levels in DESTRUCTIOD’s Some of the Best Levels of All Time article. I do agree that the Super Mario Brother’s 3 air ships are some extremly challenging levels. Pictured to the left is the most challenging of the air ships in my opinion, the world 8 air force ship. It moves very fast giving you very little time to execute some rather difficult jumps. If you are a console gamer this is probably worth at least a quick glance. |
Fark Referer
digg Referer
Link
 |
I have to concur with the assessment of Gizmodo writer Jonny Hiratsuka that Japanese collectible toys are much cooler then anything we have over here in the US. Case in point, DOTS (abbreviated as .S). Each box contains a 3″-6″ pegboard, base and varying numbers of different color pegs which allow you to form up to six different old school game characters or scenes including Super Mario Brothers, Pacman, Dig Dug, Space Invaders and Zelda. Availability seems scarce here in the states though ThinkGeek does have a couple of these available for $19. |
Gizmodo Referer
Link (Google Translation)
