Have you ever seen such a unique article of footwear? I sure as hell haven’t.

These are called FiveFingers. They’re shoes produced by a company called Vibram. You can get them in four different styles, with some more equipped for hiking and others for water sports. Multiple color choices are available, so if you don’t dig the tye-dye job above, you can go with black or something more reserved. It’s said to feel as if you’re running barefoot and exercising every muscle in your feet. And I bet you’re thinking they cost around the $200 mark, right? Nah. FiveFingers range from $75-$100, making them quite affordable if you’re in the market for a new pair of shoes. I’d like to try a pair on before buying them but hell, I’m tempted to get a pair regardless.

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If you have a pulse, you’ve played Pac-Man at some point in your life and most likely enjoyed the experience. Indeed, you might not be a compulsive Pac-Man competitor, but if there is one title which represents the world of gaming, right up there with Pong and Super Mario Bros., it’s gotta be Pac-Man. Along with his four edible friends; Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde, of course. All for $60 a set.

The women in your life will respect the fact that you’ve taken a sudden interest in interior design. Hell, the ladies might even find Pac-Man, dare we say, cute? But deep down inside, you’ll know that the cuteness is just a coy cover-up for your gaming obsession. And isn’t that what really matters? (more…)

I love sushi. Whether I’m eating it or sleeping on it, it’s all good. These ThinkGeek pillows modeled after popular Japanese cuisine run anywhere from $45 to $60 dollars and come in a variety of different styles/flavors. Tuna, salmon, shrimp, salmon roe and even edamame have all been turned into stylish plush pillows. I’ve gotten a hold of the salmon roll pillow because what kind of a Jew would I be on Hanukkah if I wasn’t sleeping on top of a large piece of salmon? Exactly.

Currently all models are out of stock, but if you’re interested in obtaining one keep checking back. They’re bound to get more in eventually. Until then, use your R2D2 soy sauce bottle on some real sushi to hold yourself over.

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My buddy Peter Wang made this path finding robot using a PIC16F876 chip. The interface is done with WinPic software uploaded via serial port. The robot detects obstacles in its path, moves towards them and then avoids them by going around them or by going in the opposite direction. It’s run by four AA batteries which power three motors and a 9V battery to power the chip. A motion sensor attached to a servo allows the sensor to scan both 90 degrees left and right. Bumpers made from switches allow the bot to detect collisions and thus avoid disastrous crashes. We’re using it to chase my dog around the house as I write this.

Noby Noby Boy is the latest upcoming title from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi. It’ll be hitting the Playstation Network in early 2009 and most of us will buy it. Why? You’ll be stretching a colorful rainbow penis around in 3-D space for hours. Twirl it around, make it into a pretzel, whatever. Compete against people online to see who can stretch their penis the longest. Something like that. Either way, 1UP has a hands on preview you’ll want to read about for a better understanding.

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The Internet is a glory hole of custom PC cases like this hideous Volkswagen case and this case with a face. It’s also a great place to find what DIYers (like Japan’s Akiba PC) are up to next.

Having finished their SEGA Saturn case mod, the crew of Akiba PC turned their attention towards the late, great SEGA Dreamcast. What resulted is the dreamiest Dreamcast ever. With a Sony Blu-ray drive, an AMD mini-ITX mainboard with 780G Chipset, an ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics, HDMI output, 4GB RAM and 160GB storage; this computer is lookin’ cooler than any Alienware. The controller ports have even been replaced with USB ports. Neat, huh? So much for playing Shenmue on it, though.

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It appears Google is advertising its Maps service on the New York City subway. I found these pictures on my buddy Nick’s Tumblr, thus leading me to believe that Google would prefer you to use the Maps service over Hopstop. Too bad it’s stuck on the shuttle train.

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For those not familiar with the 1979 Atari classic Asteroids, let me be the first to inform you: it’s about as hardcore as classic gaming gets. It’s an increasingly difficult game that tests the player’s reflexes, reaction time and nerves. The most difficult aspect of the game is either controlling the momentum of the player’s spaceship so you don’t crash into asteroids, or defending against little flying saucers. I hate those little flying saucers.
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CrunchGear’s intrepid pedophile Peter Ha spent some time with EA’s latest survival horror title Dead Space. While I’m sure Ha was on a junket getting pumped full of cocktail shrimp and Budweiser, he actually managed to put the seafood down long enough to review the game. The verdict?

So, should you buy this game? You’re going to need something to keep yourself occupied before Gears of War 2 comes out. Heh. Honestly, I enjoyed Dead Space and it lived up to my expectations. If Bioshock creeped you out then you better wear a diaper when you load this game into your console. Pick it up today for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Yes! Dead Space manages to keep the spirit of the press junket alive!

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We saw Matt Daughtrey’s terrifying Halloween project on Make and before you know it, it had us shaking in our boots. OK, that’s a blatant lie; on the other hand the LMDriver platform he uses is neat. It works with LEDs to display eyes that look around and blink. It’s a project that’s begging to be put into a pumpkin, it’s just not that scary. Privates eyes, they’re watching you. Now, that’s scary.

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