Power Glove 20th Anniversary Edition — Build Video from Matt Mechtley on Vimeo. Writes Matt:

It's been 20 years now since Mattel released the Power Glove, in 1989. Especially in the last few years, the availability of sophisticated sensing equipment to hardware hackers has grown by leaps and bounds. Technology like programmable microcontrollers, accelerometers, and Bluetooth are readily available - and cheap. In short, the time is ripe to re-make the Power Glove - and make it right.

Of course, he shows his work over on mod forum Instructables, but you're also going to need some code he makes available if you're going to rig up any games to be Power Glove 2.0-compatible.

The Power Glove - 20th Anniversary Edition [biphenyl via Fusion Mods

What may have seemed like a 90-minute commercial written by Nintendo suits may have actually been a different story. Seems that the Big N was at the movie studio's beck and call, hopping to whenever the director needed Super Mario Bros. 3 footage or a backup Power Glove. Also, I didn't know Tobey Maguire made an appearance!

You really do learn something new everyday. Unfortunately, today it's about The Wizard.

Monki talks with Todd Holland, director of The Wizard! [AICN]

[Thanks, cooper]

Screw Attack's Handsome Tom and Stuttering Craig, the kings of the top ten list, are back with a look at the best and worst gaming periopherals. The list is split in two this time with the first half devoted to the worst and the second half, the five best. Entries in to the worst category include Rob the Robot and the Power glove while the best list is filled with such goodies as the Guitar Hero controller and that highly suspicious, girl friendly peripheral, the Trance Vibrator.

Personally, I'm always a little wary of add ons that only work for one game and one game only. Samba de Amigo anyone? Flynn De Marco

There will be some noodle-armed whiners out there complaining that their Wii-wand waving makes it hard to play Twilight Princess for more than 30 minutes. But look how good we have it now, compared to then. The Power Glove, a watershed moment in sucky, half-assed controllers.

Warning: Like all Angry Nintendo Nerd videos, this is packed to the brim with bad, bad language. Not for virgin ears. Michael McWhertor

Today, the movie that changed Florian's life and made her take up piano lessons hits store shelves. Yep, The Wizard is released in the US. (Cue tired Power Glove joke.) Unless you've already pre-ordered the flick via Amazon, what are you are still doing reading this post? Shouldn't you be out buying this movie or playing Mario 3 or something? Like right now? Brian Ashcraft

Thanks for the reminder, Matthew

The Wizard Hits DVD [Kotaku]

Ed's note: While I sympathize with Ashcraft's confusion, Florian is in fact a little boy dog, not a little girl dog.

Mattel, the folks behind Nintendo's Power Glove and the Intellivision game console of yore, is back in the gaming saddle. The company is releasing a new game console called the Hyper Scan, which aimed at the "tween" (between 8 and 12 years old) market. Apparently, this bracket isn't quite ready for real hardware and needs training consoles. Um, okay. Sure.

The 32-bit system is CD based and merges paper card games with scanning technology. The discs go in the left side, while the cards are scanned over the red light on the right side. Players scan cards during play to update characters or save data. The system combines rewritable intellicards tech with "the fast-paced, button-mashing action of video games." It's about time! Because what's button-mashing with out writable cards? Nothing!

The game machine is packaged with an X-Men fighter and six game cards. The console boasts two controller ports, but includes only one joypad. Cough up that lunch money for an extra game cards and controller, kiddos. (Come this October, the Hyper Scan ships for US $70.) Me, I love the Hyper Scan. It's so bad! Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Insert Credit]

What happens when some genius Hollywood exec decides to take the story of 'Rain Man' and apply it to video games? Ah, The Wizard. It's just so bad. And we don't mean that as an 80's style slang term for 'good'.

Up until now, it's only been available on crusty VHS tapes in the damp, smelly backs of Goodwill stores. But come August 22, 2006, it'll be unleashed on DVD. Let's just pray for a Fred Savage commentary track. "Ha, this right here is about the time I first got to third base with Jenny Lewis! Ah! Memories!"

Amazon.com's offering a pre-order for $11.19. It's probably not worth even that, but rounding down for inflation, that's practically free. Florian Eckhardt

The Wizard [Amazon]

For your Thursday lunchtime perusal, Next Generation's Eric-Jon Rossel Waugh has posted a decent read for whilst you're otherwise employeed stuffing a sandwich into your craw: "How the Console 'Losers' Really Won."

A curious thing about videogames is that, underneath the bluster, you'll nearly always find that the "losing" platforms - from the Sega Saturn to the Turbografx-16 - are in many ways either objectively superior to or subjectively more intriguing than what "won"; what they typically lack is balance. Like root beers or politicians, typically the top candidates rise to the top not out of pure excellence; they rise because they serve the basic desires of the greatest audience while offending the fewest.

Like many articles with an overarcing thesis, the author (a man with both two first names and two last names) tries a bit too hard at points. Still, he's right that many features inherent in failed consoles were then polished by competition until they shined on their own. Florian Eckhardt

How the Console 'Losers' Really Won [Next Generation]

This had never, ever occurred to me before seeing this bit of wishful thinking Nintendo fan art: the Wii's motion sensor technology would actually make an updated Powerglove usable. Some 'wouldn't-it-be-awesome' concept art from zaiten over on the Zogdog forums. Florian Eckhardt

Wii - Peripheral CONCEPTUAL AD, Power glove reborn. [Zogdog.com] (via Go Nintendo)

Wherever pallid middle-aged nerds gather in Vancouver's basements to strap on Powergloves ("It's just so bad.") and exercise their rapmaster incompetence, we're there. Loading-Ready-Run's flowless rap tribute to gamin culture, l337. Florian Eckhardt

Hey radical dudes! Dust off those Powergloves. 1Up brings news of the most important DVD release of our era. The Wizard will be released on August 29th on digital disc. The campy classic starred a young Fred Savage (he'll always be young in my book) as he, his half-brother and a run-away hitchhike to a game tourney in California. Along the way, they encounter a very special peripheral that merits its own catch phrase: "I love the Powerglove. It's so bad."—Brian Ashcraft

More Here [1Up]

Nintendo fared slightly better with a device they introduced with the help of Mattel called the Power Glove. This device strapped onto the arms of young gamers and allowed them to program a number of motions through this glove. Nintendo had a lot of confidence in the device, and even briefly included a mention for it in their promotional Fred Savage movie The Wizard.

Going Through the Motions: Motion Detecting in Games [GameDaily]

The Playbomber has declared war. On Friday, one of our readers threw down the gauntlet by sending in his own tribute to Nintendo V.P. Reggie "Mama Said Knock You Out" Fils-Aime. Not one to be out done, the Playbomber responded with another doozy, "Reggie Kruger." Geek Photoshop flame wars. Gotta love it.

Nightmare On Nintendo Street [Playbomb] Thanks Thought Epiphany!