Blog Posts by Mike Smith

Twister DanceTwister -- the elaborate adolescent courtship ritual that's all about contorting yourself into bizarre shapes -- is about to be revamped.

And instead of the familiar floor mat and spinner, the new version will be all about dance. You know, the elaborate adolescent courtship ritual that's all about contorting yourself into bizarre shapes TO MUSIC.

When the Lego designers came up with kit number 3367, a stubby model of the Space Shuttle from the Lego City series, they probably didn't intend it to actually fly.

But they didn't count on the efforts of Romanian tinkerer Raul Oaida, who tied one to a weather balloon and sent it to the very edge of space. With a camera attached, naturally.

The Lego shuttle reached an altitude of 35,000 meters -- over 20 miles -- and withstood temperatures as low as -58F. Not nearly as rough as the conditions real Shuttles have to endure, to be sure, but still way out of the design envelope for a Lego toy.

[ Related: Gingrich Space Plan Promises the Moon, Literally ]

Oaida's rig included a GoPro Hero

Temple Run (Imangi)Temple Run, an App Store release made on a meager budget by a husband-and-wife team, is giving iOS offerings from massive companies like EA and Zynga a serious run for their money.

In total, it's racked up over 40 million downloads since releasing last August, according to New York Times tech blog Bits, and is now played by nearly as many people as all Zynga mobile games combined.

The game sees players sprinting through an Aztec maze while being chased by hordes of evil monkeys. It's a sort of mashup of Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, and Run, Lola, Run -- miss a jump, hit an obstacle, or plummet off the side, and you're done. Simple, adrenaline-pounding, and over in just a few minutes, it's the perfect recipe for a portable game.

Think today's video games are expensive?

(Photo credit: Kotaku)They've got nothing on this ordinary-looking mid-90s Neo Geo game. It just sold for a staggering $30,000, reports Kotaku, making it quite possibly the most valuable game on the platform.

The recipient of the $30,000 (or thereabouts; he's understandably reticent with the precise amount) was one Michael DiCioccio, a serious Neo Geo collector, and the game in question is Aero Fighters 3, the American-market version of Sonic Wings 3, a Japanese shooter released in 1995 in arcades and on the Neo Geo.

Now that hit video game Minecraft is about to become a Lego set, what's next for the growing world of Lego-game crossovers?

Here are a few awesome possibilities, courtesy of stop-motion animator and Lego enthusiast Alex Cobbs, who created this incredibly cool short film to open a video game industry awards presentation held a few weeks ago.

Zynga toys around.We've seen Legend of Zelda action figures. We've seen Cut the Rope plushes. We've even seen Angry Birds board games.

Next up: Farmville toys, games, and action figures, courtesy of a just-announced deal between social game maker Zynga and toy-world behemoth Hasbro.

The deal sees Hasbro picking up a license to produce toys and games based on Zynga's numerous properties, which include popular social network games Farmville, Cityville, and Words with Friends. Hasbro's products should start showing up in stores this fall, and with Zynga boasting a total active userbase well north of 200 million, it's safe to say they'll be hot property...even though your average Farmviller is probably far too

Double Fine founder Tim SchaferWhen he couldn't find a publisher to front the cash for his next game, Double Fine Studios' Tim Schafer (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend) came up with a different approach.

He asked his fans.

Posting an appeal on crowd-sourced microfunding site Kickstarter last night, Schafer asked gamers to contribute as little as $15 to his next work. In return, they'd get a copy of the finished game, plus other incentives. He set a lofty fundraising target of $400,000, enough to finish the job and produce an accompanying behind-the-scenes documentary.

No doubt you've played loads of Scrabble over the years. By now, you've probably played it on a computer or even an iPad, too. But we're guessing you've never played it quite like this.

Available from curio retailer Hammacher Schlemmer, this wall-mounted Scrabble board is five times the size of the classic game, covering some 49 square feet.

And the cost? An eye-popping $12,000, making it quite possibly the world's most expensive Scrabble game to boot.