mana

Real-life status bar tracks game character's health

When trying to survive a harrowing near-death situation in a video game, it's likely that looking away from the action -- even just for a moment to check your health -- could mean certain doom. To avoid this gaming conundrum, Reddit user Bfayer created his own real-life video game status bar in the form of a 3-foot transparent tube filled with water and color-changing lights that shift based on his character's health (or mana, etc).

Bfayer calls his device the "Liquid Lifebar," which currently only works with the side-scrolling exploration game Terraria. The demo video shows the creation of the Lifebar and how the water rises, falls, and changes color according to his character's status as he fights monsters. … Read more

WiiWare and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week brings us a gooey puzzle game for WiiWare along with a classic arcade-fighter.

WiiWare World of Goo (2D Boy, 1,500 Wii points): World of Goo is a physics-based puzzle game that allows you to construct your own goo-based buildings and bridges for the World of Goo Corporation. Art Style: Cubello (Nintendo, 600 Wii points): Cubello has you matching like-colored cube shapes. Enjoy two game modes: endless play or stage-based action. Virtual Console Secret of Mana (1993, Super Nitendo, 800 Wii points): Secret of Mana has you searching the land for Mana seeds, the only thing that can … Read more

The secret to winning WoW every time

Just when we thought that we'd probably seen the worst game novelty item for awhile, along comes one from a category even more repulsive: magic elixirs.

The "Mana Energy Potion" has been created for World of Warcraft aficionados, not unlike the mystical potable distilled by Suntory to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII. The Mana drink promises to provide "5 to 8 hours of non-stop energy," according to TechFresh, "to experience repeated ecstacies without being exhausted."

It almost sounds illegal. Call us yeller, but we'd be reluctant to ingest anything … Read more

Turn your backpack into a solar hub

The unnamed blogger at "Yosemite Outside" would probably be interested in this. Months after going through pains to assemble a DIY backpack solar charger, this rugged and creative individualist can now buy a remarkably similar item that doesn't even require any unsightly duct tape.

The adjustable "Mana Solar Claw" can apply the sun's energy to a backpack of practically any reasonable size, keeping one's phone and gadgets charged at all times with an array of six-watt solar panels, according to ProductDose. It does cost $230, but that's a lot less than you'… Read more