Gizmodo: banpresto

Railroad Crossing Sign: The Latest Alarm Clock For You to Toss Across a Room

Sean Fallon — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:10:00 EDT

The latest wacky creation from Japanese manufacturer Banpresto comes to us in a form that looks very much like a railroad crossing sign. Truth be told, it is actually an alarm clock that lights up and mimics the sound of a train approach warning when it's time to get up. Fortunately, the giant button on the base will silence the alarm—allowing to you to return to sleep and peacefully avoid your responsibilities. The clock will most likely be a Japan-only release when it arrives in January of 2009. [Akihabara News via Crunchgear]

Banpresto Skyrium Lamp Brings Northern Lights, Psychedelia to Your Living Room

Kit Eaton — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:05:20 EST

Banpresto's new Skyrium lamp might be just the ticket for those who like to enhance their trips to psychedelic dreamland with some whacky ambient lighting. Its diffusing lens and nine multicolored LEDs project ethereal cloud patterns onto walls and ceilings, with selectable themes to match your ~~drug of choice~~ mood. The whole thing can be run either from the mains or batteries, and it even has a battery-saver mode in case you get too zoned out to care. Available from April. [Kilian-Nakamura]

Panoramic Mecha Simulator Arcade Game is Networked, Awesome

AddyDugdale — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:40:38 EDT

It may look like a decompression chamber, but Senjo No Kizuna is a networked arcade game in which you pilot a Mecha against other players. The game, developed by Banpresto, is, according to notre ami de Akihabara who gave it a spin, pretty damn good. Regular players can log their gaming history (scores, weapons, etc) on a card, so they can play in whichever arcade they fancy without starting from zero each time. Regardez le video below for a closer look.

My favorite moment is when Monsieur Akihabara says rather plaintively, "I'm not very good." Well, honey, you're a whole lot better than I would have been. [Akihabara News]

Banpresto Aquapict Jellyfish Aquarium

Mark Wilson — Sat, 05 May 2007 19:00:05 EDT

FACT: Every bedroom needs multicolored mood lighting. Why not let the Aquapict Jellyfish Aquarium take care of that for you?

Three silicon jellyfish float randomly, their soft flesh illuminated by LED bulb. One of 12 colors will tantalize the ~~senses~~ eyes as you go Deep...Sea Mode blue.

After two hours of intense pleasure, the Aquapict will be turned off...not by you...but by an automated timer. Though your cologne is really overdoing it. Because any gadget with mood lighting is pretty much "a sure thing". $156 – Mark Wilson

Product Page [via bornrich]

Banpresto Moon Projector: Bring Out the Wolf

Mark Wilson — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 16:00:58 EDT

Don't you hate it when the Big Dance is coming up, but the phase of the moon isn't right for you to surf on ice cream trucks and steal the show? Fret not, since Banpresto has a solution with their new Moon Projector.

Emanating a moon that's 2 feet in diameter from a distance of 6 feet, the Moon Projector cycles through all lunar phases in an hour. It's the perfect addition to your HomeStar projector, and only runs a reasonable $31...if you can actually find one anywhere. – Mark Wilson

projector lets you moon yourself [via gizmowatch]

Aurora Palette—The Magical Curtain

Noah R — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 10:43:42 EST

Japan's Banpresto is selling several types of room and bath atmospheric light gadgets, including this one called the Aurora Palette. It is a relaxing, interior light, that projects an aurora borealis-like light on the ceiling or wall at home. Along with the colors, it also wavers as if it were a real aurora. It includes a timer function for 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes and sells for about $30.

Product Page

Jellyfish Cocktail: Japanese Pet

Noah R — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 15:30:09 EST

For all of you who sit at your desks thinking, 'You know what this desk needs? Some goddamn jellyfish, that's what,' comes Japanese company Banpresto with some goddamn jellyfish thing. Banpresto's "Sea Cocktail" (great name for a product which you should under no circumstances drink) takes the form of a 11.7-inch tall monolith-like fish tank, illuminated by a series of colour-changing LED lights. With real jellyfish floating around inside.

This is yet another in the recent spate of low-maintenance pets that are becoming a kind of mini craze in Japan, such as the Scarlet Shrimp tank that I have on my desk. The Sea Cocktail however, is aimed firmly at the higher end of the market what with it's 14,000-yen ($120) price tag, making it more of an executive toy or interior design piece and certainly has the power to transform any office into an underwater-themed war-room, oozing with a kind of vintage 1960s sexual charisma.

Banpresto Sea Cocktail [Product Page]