Shoryuken!
Sound and Vision and the kitchen sink
Beck performs the classic David Bowie song Sound and Vision, standing on a rotating stage, surrounded by an audience rotating around him, surrounded by more than 160 musicians and singers. The performance, directed by Chris Milk, was filmed with 360 degree cameras and binaural microphones. The interactive version of the video includes multiple lenses and audio origins, and uses utilizes facial tracking to automatically shift focus based on where you look. It is part of a series of re-imagined/rediscovered pieces of art called Hello, Again in support of a Lincoln motor co.
non-interactive (aka fast) version
by Hello, Again
Euler’s Disk exhibits and amplifies the dynamic system of a spinning disk. It is the same physics as a coin spun on a table, but the disk utilizes an optimized aspect ratio to maximize spinning time. This video demonstrates the disk in use, notice the change in rotational frequency as the disk gets closer and closer to a horizontal spin.
available at Educational Innovations, Inc. (via GAS)
Custom Duck Hunt Pinball
Skit-8 Pinball appears to be a home-brew pinball shop. One of their recent projects is a Duck Hunt pinball table. A lot of thought went into the design to integrate core pinball mechanics to the original gameplay design of Duck Hunt. Here is a video of Duck Hunt Pinball in action.
by Skit-8 Pinball (via Obvious Winner)
Duck Tales for the NES felt like one of those games that my family owned and loved, but wasn’t overwhelmingly popular. I guess I was wrong. The fact they are re-releasing a game that only holds nostalgic appeal is awesome (at least, I don’t remember hearing about some new Duck Tales movie coming out). Hopefully they maintain the difficulty.
George
I know that George is no longer a popular baby name. It has fallen out of favor. But as of today, I officially became Scandinavian.
April 1
While a treasure map skin on Google Maps is not exactly a prank, it is at least a novelty I can enjoy. April Fools day on the internet has largely become a day of promoting and encouraging everyone to employ a healthy dose of skepticism. Personally, after being burned by Games Magazine in 1997 (oh how I wanted an Orion’s Crystal), I’ve been wary of news and announcements in the late March/early April timeframe. I would bet many other people also anticipate and expect the pranks. One could argue the treasure map is an example of how far this shift has come. This does not seek to fool anyone. It is simply a clever and interesting toy to play with today, like most Google theme logos, or like YouTube’s ASCII skin from April Fool’s 2010. In most respect’s, I like this change. I can browse the internet a little bit more assuredly. On the other hand, April Fool’s day is really about pranks, even when we don’t like them played on us.
