After a very long weekend of installation, the mammoth Santa Claw is ready to go at Gizmodo Gallery. Beginning immediately, you can play the mother of all claw games online and win prizes for yourself and visitors to the gallery.
Update 12/6 1:45pm—So we're changing the way prizes work a little bit. We've introduced wrapped boxes into the mix. Check below for more details.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's been a long ride to this moment. We first told you the Santa Claw was coming to Gizmodo Gallery a month ago. Gizmodo Gallery technically doesn't open to the public until tomorrow, but we're just so excited that the Santa Claw is here, we couldn't resist the urge to start the fun early. We knew the Santa Claw was going to be impressive, but in real life the 2000-pound beast is unreal. It's huge. It's delightful. The hardworking folks at Real Art Design Group are geniuses. It was a pleasure to install alongside them all weekend, and we're infinitely grateful for their handwork, and honored that they were as enthusiastic about showing up to Gizmodo Gallery as we are about having them.
Check out full details on how to play with Santa Claw—and win stuff— below.
Here's how it works:
• Where is the Santa Claw?
The Santa Claw is ALIVE in Gizmodo Gallery. Huzzah!
• How do I play the Santa Claw?
You operate the Santa Claw using controls on the graphic interface following this link. Just hop in the virtual line, and when it's your turn, you'll get to control the claw for one turn. A webcam mounted on claw shows you its position. You're aiming at the huge pit of inflated balls and wrapped gifts. Your game will be seen by visitors in the gallery and broadcast to anyone who feels like watching. The game runs 24 hours a day until the gallery closes on Sunday.
• Is it fun?
Yes.
• Can I win anything?
Yes.
• What's the deal with prizes?
If you manage to snatch up one of the balls or a wrapped gifts. Certain prizes are only for people in the gallery, so if you nab a pink or yellow ball, whoever picks it up get the prize. We've also got a heap of special prizes available to people playing online. Grab one of the wrapped boxes and you get the prize that corresponds to the box's colored ribbon. The Santa Claw will capture your contact info and we'll ship the prize to you.
Gallery prizes:
These prizes are for visitors only.
• Yellow ball: Whoever picks this one up wins a Gizmodo t-shirt or a set of Buckyballs.
• Pink ball: Nerd prize. Whoever picks this one up scores two tickets to the American Museum of Natural History, which as you might know, is one of our favorite places in New York.
Online prizes: Will be mailed to the player who grabs the box online:
• Green ribbon: We're giving away an array of Samsung phones and tablets. Grab this box, and you get one. We'll add a few more everyday.
• Red ribbon: This gets you a brand new Roku box. Same deal, we'll add a few new boxes every day.
• SUPER-SPECIAL LEGO GREEN: As we mentioned before, we're giving away a life size Santa Yoda Minifig built entirely of Lego. Only one person will be lucky to win the Force-enhancing presence of Lego Santa Yoda. It would be you. When are we putting this one into the mix? When the time is right.
We'd like to thank the companies that so generously donated prizes for us to give away in the Santa Claw. We only asked them because members of our staff enjoy their products, and it's awfully kind of them to play along with our scheme.
That's it! And if you're in New York please stop by and see the Santa Claw in action. The rest of you—what are you waiting for? Go play! Have fun!
Gizmodo Gallery 2011 @ White Box
329 Broome Street. New York, NY, 10002
Read more about the Gizmodo Gallery here and follow @gizgallery on Twitter. Special thanks to Land Rover - without them, there would be no Gizmodo Gallery.