Light Start – Pokédex phone, Darth Vader VR, BeatBringer, and virtual Rick and Morty
Brett Venter
You’re going to need a Pokédex phone battery case to go along with your new obsession
Okay, so you’re on your way to Pokémon mastery. The problem is that your smartphone doesn’t run on video game logic so you might have to do something about the data and GPS chewing up your battery. If only there was some way to stay true to the Pokémon spirit at the same time… Oh, wait, there is. A person going by the name NPOOLE has posted a method for creating a Pokédex-case for a Galaxy S4 which includes a 2,600mAh battery as well as being Kanto-specifc. If you understood that last bit, you’ve probably got most of your collection already. But you still need this. And so do we. If you’ve got a 3D printer and want to get yourself a Pokédex case then you can head over to Sparkfun right now and download the files you need to make it happen.
Star Wars fanatic? Aren’t we all? Then you’re going to want to be on hand for Industrial Light & Magic and Disney’s newest project, a film dedicated to Darth Vader that will be presented in virtual reality. Not enough for you? It’s also going to be put together by writer David S. Goyer, who has worked on projects like Batman Begins and Man of Steel. The when and where of it all hasn’t been detailed yet, as it’s only just been announced. The tale doesn’t even have a title as yet but Goyer said that “You are the visitor in this story that is happening in and around you, and to a certain extent you might even have some effect on [the story]. You can pick up things, you can open things. You can push things, you can walk. You can touch characters.” Sounds awfully ambitious but if anyone can pull it off, Industrial Light & Magic can.
If you’ve gotten your hands on the July-August issue of Stuff Magazine you’ve probably seen MSI’s backpack PC. This is a little bit like that, except it’s a lot noisier. And not because it’s packed with fans in need of new bearings. This is the BeatBringer. Guess what it does. That’s right, it makes waffles. Or it pumps out large amounts of sound while you wear it around your party like a tech-happy Ninja Turtle. We always confuse the two. The BeatBringer is designed to connect to a smartphone over Bluetooth, hitting up to 110 dB while you roam around annoying the general public for up to 15 hours at a time. It’s got a very large removable battery. We’re a bit unsure about this, as even moderately-sized Bluetooth speakers can be an annoyance, but we’ll give you extra points if you’re running around catching virtual Pokémon while this thing blares out the show’s theme song at top volume. The BeatBringer is set to cost around R9,600, assuming its funding gets off its current slow start. Back it early, though, and you can pick it up for around R7,900.
Listen carefully – Rick and Morty is coming to VR and it looks glorious
There’s nothing that we can say that will make this ultra-brief snippet of what looks to be gameplay from the Rick and Morty virtual reality game that has just been announced seem any better. At all. The title, called Rick and Morty Simulator: Virtual Rick-ality, is launching with the backing of Adult Swim and will be landing on the HTC Vive. It looks… incredible. If you can judge something by a little sliver of the end product, which the internet is supremely capable of doing. A launch date hasn’t been announced but the VR experience will be demoed at the San Diego Comic-Con this week. We’re hoping to see more, soon.
