Kotaku: custom

Custom Figures Have Lotsa Gut(s)

Owen Good — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:00:00 MDT

Homebrew action figure designer Donald "KodyKoala" Kennedy is working on a theme here - guts. As in Guts-Dozer, of Mega Man 2. And as in King Hippo's dunlop spare tire.

On his Flickr stream, KodyKoala describes his Guts-Dozer as kit-bashed from the parts of a "Mech Hulk Top" and a "GI Joe vehicle that I used to have as a kid." I think that's the "Wolverine," the missile launcher that Cover Girl used to drive. Once again, I can't remember the formula for circumference of a circle, but I can recall that. And that's probably why I write about video games now.

As for HRH Hippo, I thought that 200-pounds-of-suet physique looked familiar. "I used a BLOB build [from the X-Men continuity] figure as the base, and unfortunately I had to make the legs not movable to make it look right."

Custom Guts-Dozer figure by Donald "KodyKoala" Kennedy [TinyCartridge via Go Nintendo]

The Many Shapes of Stylus To Come

Brian Crecente — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:40:00 MDT

Tired of your boring old DS stylus? Is the Transformer's stylus a bit too much? Maybe you should look into a custom stylus from Shapeways.

The company has a service that lets people customize a number of pre-designed styluses, including ones shaped like a Wii remote, a Pokemon and Link's shield, by selecting the material and any image or text you wanted added to them. The result is an unwieldy and slightly over-priced stylus.

While I don't get the draw of such things, there clearly is one. The styli run for $10 to $30 a pop.

Stylus Creator [Shapeways]

Dream Arcades Offers Street Fighter IV Arcade Solution

Mike Fahey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:00:00 MST

Custom arcade game cabinet makers Dream Arcade present the ideal solution for those of you who'd rather shun your big-screen televisions for a more authentic arcade experience for Capcom's upcoming Street Fighter IV.

The Dreamcade Impact is Dream Arcade's answer to Street Fighter purist's prayers. It's a special edition custom arcade cabinet specifically tailored for those who would rather play the console versions of Street Fighter IV in a more genuine arcade fashion. Simply purchase the Dreamcade Impact, wait patiently for it to arrive, and then hook up your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 and start playing.

The cabinet comes complete with two sets of authentic controls for head-to-head action, as well as a trackball for those of you who...really want a trackball? It also comes with a selection of Street Fighter titles, including Hyper Street Fighter II - Anniversary Edition, Street Fighter III - 3rd Strike and Street Fighter IV. Now how much would you pay?

Try a lot. The arcade experience never comes cheap, though this time around Dream Arcades is offering two different monitor sizes - the 19 inch starting at $1699, and the 29 inch which will run you $2499 and up.

You'd have to either have a ton of money to throw away or be one hell of a hardcore Street Fighter fan, but if you do fall into one of those two groups, then here's the custom cabinet for you.

Limited Edition Dreamcade Impact [Dream Arcades]

Custom Castle Crashers You Will Never Own

Stuart Houghton — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:20:00 MDT

Teddy Troops are typical examples of that strain of kidult 'collectible' not-really-a-toy that they sell in those shops that also sell skateboarding clothes to people who don't own boards, and never will.

Soon, the economic downturn will mean that such frivolous purchases will be beyond the spending power of anyone not likely to be on MTV Cribs but until that fateful day, people will keep buying the grumpy military-themed bears and - with luck - customizing them into awesome Castle Crasher merch like this.

Custom Castle Crashers Teddy Troops [Albotas - thanks to BrownKidd for the tip]

My Little Master Chief Pony

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:40:00 MDT

We're not sure that you're ready to enter the world of custom, one of a kind My Little Pony creations, but perhaps the bitter pill of fandom tucked within a meaty treat will help the medicine go down. This unique pony, decked out in Master Chief's Mjolnir armor, is almost exactly how we pictured it in the many fanfics we've read on the My Little Pony-Halo crossover forums and certainly not too rich for our blood.

Just think, your little Master Pony will always be there right by your side. He'll be there right by your side. Definitely worth dropping $100-plus on to get the promised hand-sculpted assault rifle. Bid early and often, folks.

Master Chief From Halo OOAK My Little Pony Custom [eBay]

Neon Xbox 360 Arcade Controller

Brian Crecente — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:00:50 MDT

If you're going to go to the trouble of getting an old-school arcade controller for your Xbox 360 it might as well have neon in it right? Right? ShaolinDrunkard, built just such a beast. His hand-built arcade controller uses parts from Sanwa and Seimitsu and then knocks things straight back to 1977 with LED backlighting behind each button and the knob. The whole thing is housed in a chunky oak box that screams arcade culture.

the ultimate xbox 360 arcade controller [Technabob, via Gizmodo]

The Patapon BearBrick Vinyl Toy

fdemarco — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:00:00 MST

Artist Rolito, the man behind the stylish graphics of Patapon has produced this vinyl toy based on the upcoming PSP game. The toy, which is part of the custom BearBrick series, will be available in stores on Feb. 26th. There's no word on the price, but given the size and what I've seen of other BearBrick prices it should be around $5.99 or so. But, don't quote me on that.

[via A Little Bit of Awesome on the Side]

Custom Agent 47 Figure

fdemarco — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:00:00 MST

Kotakuite CyK sent in this shot of his amazingly well done Agent 47 custom figure. According to Cyk, Agent 47 stands 12" tall and has multiple points of articulation. The head is incredibly well sculpted and quite impressive. He comes with two silverballers, a custom made Walther WA2000 sniper rifle and an "accurate" barcode on the back of his head. And to make things extra detailed, Cyk also includes a tiny lockable briefcase and four one sixth scale spent 7.62mm shell casings. If you'd like Agent 47 and all his little accouterments, you can bid for him on eBay.

Thrift Store Treasures: The Ugliest Dreamcast You Will Ever See

fdemarco — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:00:00 MST

Thrift stores are a constant source of amazement to me. How can so many horrible things all end up in one place? Yet, if you do some digging you can find some really cool stuff. Some if it is cool and you buy it and some of it is so hideous it's cool. You laugh at it and then put it back on the shelf. This Dreamcast is one of those finds. Had I not already owned one I probably would have picked it up seeing as it had four controllers , two light guns and memory cards. Instead I just snapped a picture so I could share the horror with all of you. Behold the ugliest Dreamcast ever decorated. I challenge you to find an uglier one! In fact, if you can find another one, send a picture in. Whoever submits the most hideous one will get a game from my personal collection. And no, you don't get to pick it.

PS: It can't be a picture you found on the internet...

The Kill Bill GH Guitar

fdemarco — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 13:00:00 MST

Inspired by yesterday's Evil Dead guitar, artist Jonathan Nagle sent in this pic of his sweet customized Kill Bill guitar. Whenever I see these custom controllers I always think "Hey, I could do that!" I've even gotten as far as pulling the paints out and putting newspaper down but them I chicken out . Knowing my luck I would render the thing completely hideous and unusable. I suppose I could do a test run on one of these old PS2 GH guitars. It's not like I'll ever be able to use them on my PS3... (and before you comment in saying there is an adapter, I tried it and it's shite)

The Evil Dead GH Guitar

fdemarco — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 13:00:00 MST

From artist Frank C., the creator of the No More Heroes Wii, comes this custom Evil Dead Wii GH Guitar controller. Who doesn't need a little more Bruce Campbell in their life? Great work Frank, can you teach me how to to that? I'm feeling the need for some kind of customized system or peripheral. Better yet, I'll just send you a check and you can do it for me. I'm too ~~lazy~~ busy writing.

The Kotaku PS3 Theme

fdemarco — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:00:00 MST

Do you love Kotaku? Do you love it so much that you must customize everything you have with our pink and green color scheme and fancy lettering? Well thanks to Playstation Universe poster Shawn, you can make your PS3 Kotaku-tastic with this custom theme. So far twelve users have ~~risked the pointing and laughing and~~ downloaded the custom theme and are presumably showing their love to the world at this very moment. Will you be lucky number thirteen?

Thanks Shawn, we are most flattered.

Kotaku PS3 theme [PlaystationUniverse]
[Thanks, Justin]

Guitar Hero 3 Skins

Brian Crecente — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:00:41 MDT

HeroGear.Net, maker of custom Guitar Hero skins, announced today that they are releasing 15 sticker sets for the Guitar Hero 3 controller.

The prices aren't listed on the site yet, but GH2 sets sell for $16, while the pick guards sell for $11 and the Fret Boards sell for $8.

Custom Yoshi Wii for Sale

Mark Wilson — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:00:22 MDT

A customized Yoshi Wii is up for sale on ebay. Warranty voided for the paint job, current bidding is at $400 including an extra Wiimote, Wii Play and Mario Party 8. And for that value, our more anal side could overlook what appears to be streaks of unpainted white around where the case intersects with more case. No, it couldn't. We're that nitpicky regarding the accomplishments of others. Seriously, huge pricks. Children cry just looking at us.

Yoshi edition CUSTOMIZED NINTENDO Wii CONSOLE [ebay]

The Kotaku Ferrari 360

fdemarco — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 11:00:00 MDT

Kotakuite SnprSlick has created this great Kotaku themed Ferarri 360 for the new, customizable Forza Motorsport 2. He will be making three of these available to players at the in-game auction house starting on Monday for 24 hours. The bidding starts at 100,000 in game credits and he will also be posting two other cars; a Lamborghini Gallardo for 70,000 points and a Nissan R390 for 150,000. He will also be offering free Scion tC's with a slightly more basic paintjob. If you wuld like to sign up for one, please visit his forums at sprtngaming.com.

Pretty sweet job, SnprSlick! Now go my loyal Kotakuites and show your pride on the racetrack with one of these fine automobiles. You'll be the coolest kid on the block, I swear! Make the jump to see a clip of the car in action. Flynn De Marco

Ben Heck's Mystery Solved

Mike Fahey — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:20:13 MDT

Ben Heckendorn, who's mutant power involves pulling dreams out of my head and making them a reality, has finally unveiled the mystery product McWhertor mentioned back in late April, and I am very pleasantly surprised.

It's not the one-handed controller McWhertor predicted. It's the Audio FX Pro 5+1 Headset, a custom made USB headset that eschews modern sensibilities for the sake of...well, comfort. Look at those poofy ear cups, designed to cup your ears instead of crushing them. Sure it might get hot, but I'll take a little heat over bright-red ear soreness any day of the week. It even features a low-frequency force feedback effect for when that one guy in your WoW guild who still finds it hilarious shouts "Leeeeroy Jenkins" for the millionth time.

The headset will be shipping to retailers in July, and right now you can preorder one from eDimensional here for $79.95. Between Lord of the Rings Online's built-in voice support and Second Life getting it soon (much love to the Sumos couch), I'm definitely picking one up. Finally a Ben Heck custom I can afford. Michael Fahey

The Audio FX Pro 5+1 Headset [benheck.com - Thanks Scott!]

It's Only for the Canadians?!

Kim Phu — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:20:00 MDT

Totally unfair ruling! Not one, not two, not three, but SIX. Six, different custom-designed Wiis by Canadian artists are up for grabs at The Art of Wii.

If you're Canadian, all Nintendo of Canada, together with Magic Pony (a grown-ups' version of Sanrio Surprises) and Udon Entertainment (high-end creative services house for illustrationists and designers), want you to do is go online and sign into My Nintendo to be registered to win.

If you're from somewhere else, Nintendo of Canada wants you to lose your mind on eBay trying to find any one of these for the next three weeks. Kim Phu

The Art of Wii [Nintendo]

The Stained Glass PC Case

Brian Crecente — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:33:26 MST

Cathode Tan located this impressive and very shiny PC case mod over at MAKE. The case, we're told, is made from canary wood, copper, lead and stained glass. That is really amazing, though the choice of stained glass is sorta crap. Brian Crecente

Stained Glass PC [Cathode Tan]

Get Your Mii Sculptures

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 21:40:56 MST

Miis on a Wii-mote. Miis on a t-shirt. They're nothing compared to a 3D recreation of your carefully crafted Mii, one that's custom made to your specifications.

That's what one industrious sculptor is doing, giving the Wii obsessed a chance to see their digital bobbleheaded selves redone in handcrafted form.

Artist Mr. Thiel is apparently going to open up orders for an unknown number of internet users to submit orders for their own mini-Mii creations at an undisclosed price. Interested? Hit the link below to find out how to contact the poor sap willing to whittle you a Mii. Michael McWhertor

Get your Mii Sculpture... [via Joystiq]

Behold The Portable Wii

Mike Fahey — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:40:10 MST

It is a dream of mine to one day have the money to commission Ben Heckendorn to create a custom console all my own, but as it stands I am flying to New York next weekend to party with some of you people and don't own any socks without holes in them. Instead I daydream of owning something as awesome as the custom Wii laptop Ben has created for Engadget. This semi-sleek little number has everything you need to get your Wii on wherever you go. Imagine how much fun it would be to sit down in a crowded plane, whip this baby out and start swinging your arms about like a madman.

Ben will be posting a comprehensive, episodic how to starting next Tuesday over at Engadget, so with any luck I'll be well on my way to completely destroying my console and setting my apartment on fire in no time. Michael Fahey

The Wii Laptop! [Thanks Steven!]