Posts Written by Paul Strauss

Red Dead Redemption is no mere shooter; Weapons & Death not only discusses guns but shows off gunshot physics, character behaviors, and the awesome dead-eye targeting system.

Its the chair that never ends: made from sheesham wood, the Jigsaw Puzzle Stool’s die-cut design can be chain-linked infinitely, ensuring you’ll never be able to buy just one.

Buy the one 1978 animated film to rule them all with Lord of the Rings: Remastered Deluxe Edition; it includes remastered audio and video plus a 30 minute interview with director Ralph Bakshi.

Don’t let its name fool you: TravelTeq’s Trash Briefcase is definitely more than meets its Italian leather shell with 8 compartments (4 open, 3 zipped, 1 cigar) plus room for a 15″ laptop.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 moves from the dusty streets of Panama to snowy Port Valdez; the map pits US versus Russian forces in an attempt to secure the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline.

Inspired by Vietnam War sparking units, TAD Gear’s Survival Spark keeps the solid brass construction and reusability of the originals, while adding a basic sewing kit into the shaft.

Lost Planet 2 doesn’t just arrive digitally in May 2010 but also physically with two bad-ass PVC mecha figures via Kotobukiya; each stands 5.5″-6″ tall with over 20 points of articulation.

Not content to conquer space, Sir Richard Branson turns his eye toward ruling the oceans with the Necker Nymph; it’s an open-cockpit winged sub that’ll dive up to 130 feet.

Officine Panerai’s Marina Militare 8 Giorni may look old-school, but it’s all high-tech: the case is made of a ceramized aluminum composite that’s both harder and lighter than titanium.

This Amity Island Boat Hire t-shirt may give visitors a sinking feeling, but any fish dumb enough to tangle with Roy will bite off more than they can chew; still, they’re gonna need a bigger boat.

You may need a nuclear reactor to power it, but this 80-port USB Charging Board is pure gadgety awesome; it doesn’t transfer data, but your army of gadgets will never go thirsty again.

San Francisco gets a nose job courtesy the not-so-friendly skies in this debut trailer for Vanquish; details are scarce, but the game is helmed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.

Sinister and starless, Vath’s V63RS is a tuned Mercedes E63 AMG with 605 hp and 509 lb-ft. of torque (0-62 in 4.1s), a starless grille, 20″ forged rims, and carbon fiber inside and out.

Retro Thing’s Clear Classic USB Joystick is a true retro blast with Atari 2600 emulator w/80 games and MAME support; also: connect it to an arcade joystick plus 8 additional controls.

Whether or not you believe that this Bad Apple video was made without photo-editing, it’s still a pretty badass stop-motion piece; it was created with 6,566 printouts captured on a webcam.

It’s just a rendering at present, but Carlsson’s C25 Super-GT is the real deal: it’s a tuned SL65 AMG Black Series whose twin-turbo 6.0L V12 belts out 753 hp and 848 lb-ft. of torque.

You shall not pass until 1/29/10 at 10 am PST for this Exclusive Gandalf premium format figure, which features a switch-out hatless portrait; also available is a regular, non-switchable version.

Assassin’s Creed 2’s first DLC literally takes flight with the Battle of Forli ($4); it takes us into Sequence 12 with more joy rides aboard Leonardo’s fantastically infernal flying machine.

Boldly styled, Titan’s Backstage luggage collection should really take center stage; available in 18″, 24″, an 28″ trolleys, each includes a folding system that lets you pack without wrinkles.

Still confused over yesterday’s LOST song parody? io9’s brilliant J.J. Abram’s Board Game is packed with missed turns and other setbacks; in other words, get ready to feel really LOST.

Glashutte’s PanoMaticLunar XL watch is classy yet minimalist; it features a matte gray face in a 42mm stainless steel case with off-center dials, a silver lunar display, and white gold markers.

Benoit Millot’s A Day in Paris is a live-action/CG short that takes the everyday parts of what it means to be a Parisian and merges them into something equal parts wonderful and WALL-E.

Incase’s Maple Leaf Slider Cases are pretty slick, even for non-Canucks; made for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, the hardshell sliders are only available in Canadian Apple Stores.