Toys auto news

Video: Disney launches Cars Land microsite ahead of June 15 opening [w/video]

The curtain is rolling back on Cars Land, which opens at Disney's California Adventure next month. Mater himself makes appearances in a network commercial and the new microsite, and on the latter he'll be happy to take you on a tour of some of the attractions at the live-action Radiator Springs, including a Racer's test drive and Luigi's Flying Tires.

You can watch the commercial below and click here to check out the microsite.

Continue reading Disney launches Cars Land microsite ahead of June 15 opening [w/video]

Official: Forza Horizon coming this fall with hot Viper action on the open road

There are driving simulators and there are racing simulators. They tend to cross over, but what divides them are the types of cars and the types of roads used in the game. Drive racing cars on digitally recreated racing circuits and you're looking at a racing sim. Street cars on public roads (whether simulated or replicated) and you're playing a driving game. The Forza Motorsport franchise has always been more of a racing simulator than a driving game, but the minority of open roads that have appeared in the four iterations of the series so far are about to jump into their own game altogether with the launch of Forza Horizon.

Having made the initial announced back in March, Microsoft hand Turn 10 Studios have now released the box cover art and a single frame of in-game footage, both depicting the new SRT Viper on the open road. The cover, as you can see, shows a yellow Viper with black stripes speeding out of a mountain town, while the screenshot shows us a metallic Viper - like the one we saw at its unveiling in New York - on a desert highway in what looks like Carburator County from Pixar's Cars.

About a year and a half (if you can believe it) since the launch of Forza 4, the arrival of Forza Horizon will surely come as welcome and eagerly anticipated by the legions of racing and gaming fans that have enjoyed the various iterations of the franchise until now. All we know about its release is that it's coming sometime in the fall, but with the E3 gaming convention just a couple of weeks away, we should have more to bring you soon, so watch this space.

Lego Land Rover Defender 110 is plasticized perfection [w/video]

It's official. You really can build anything from Lego blocks. Behold a fully-functional 1:8.5 scale version of a Land Rover Defender 110. This radio-controlled machine features a five-speed transmission with reverse, a two-speed transfer case that offers both four-wheel and two-wheel drive modes and functional disc brakes on all four corners. It's cool. We'll wait while you pick your jaw up off the floor. The machine was also built with fully functional steering that uses the same number of turns-to-lock as the real deal. All told, there are nearly 2,800 parts in the build, including seven motors.

There's a full solid-axle suspension underneath with long-travel springs. Top speed is around 2.5 mph. What's more, the whole body can be removed with just four pins to see the workings underneath.

If that's not cool enough, the machine has been picked up over at Lego CUUSOO. If it gets 10,000 votes, Lego will produce a kit based off of this creation. That's right - this masterwork isn't a kit - an independent Lego maniac by the name of Sheepo came up with it. Head over to the site for more information, and be sure to scroll down to check out a video of the machine.

Continue reading Lego Land Rover Defender 110 is plasticized perfection [w/video]

Report: Toyota turning Nintendo DS into navigation system

Video games are already an easy target for politicians, what with their amazing ability to turn both brains and muscles to jelly while also promoting violence and other sociopathic behaviors. So we can only wonder at the political grandstanding that might accompany this development: The Nintendo DS can now be used to control a Toyota navigation system.

Yes, that's right, if you can pull yourself away from drawing evil kittens on your DS - and you live in Japan - you can pair it via Bluetooth, and use it to input destinations and display a speedometer on the DS, according to Kotaku. The Kuruma de DS game card also gives your handheld gaming device the ability to broadcast its audio through the car's stereo system.

The software is designed to be used by passengers - of course - but we're sure it's only a matter of time before Japan experiences its first I-was-just-using-my-DS-to-program-my-nav crash. Kotaku says the game card is being sold by Toyota dealers for about $92.

Video: Japanese man makes the best Transformers model we've ever seen

Michael Bay's Transformers were true enough (for a Bay production, at least) to the original articles in their car and robot states, but their transforming sequences were epilepsy-inducing explosions of cranks and gears that made no sense at all. Admittedly, it didn't stop us from enjoying the first movie.

But the work of a Japanese modeler is what we've been looking for: his Transformer takes us all the way back to the original eightes series when Bumblebee was a Volkswagen Beetle. This is version eight, fitted with 22 servo motors - it even throws punches and does a jig - and we're told that version nine is on the way. We'd like to humbly request that all research on flying cars stops, and every resource be poured into a production version of this right now. Scroll down to check out the video.

Continue reading Japanese man makes the best Transformers model we've ever seen

Official: Buy a Scion iQ, get a free PlayStation Vita

If you've been sniffing around the PlayStation Vita debating whether to pull the trigger, Scion has an offer for you: buy an iQ and you'll get the Vita free. This isn't the first tie-up with the little car and the little console: the iQ was one of the available vehicles in the MotorStorm RC game.

The offer is good only until June 31, 2012, so you've got some time to think about it. Sure, this will add (just) $15,700 to the price of your portable gaming station... but at least you'll have some way to carry it. And when you're finished making that deal, can we interest you in a Mercedes for the low low price of $1 million? But first, scroll down for a read of the Scion press release with details.

Continue reading Buy a Scion iQ, get a free PlayStation Vita

Video: How to make a giant paper Bugatti Veyron

Chances are, we'll never be able to park a Bugatti Veyron in our own personal garage. It's sad, we know. Fortunately for us, the crew at Visual Spicer have worked up a little something special to ease the pain: Behold a 2.5-foot long papercraft Veyron. The project soaks up 44 pages of 8.5x11-inch printer paper and encompasses a whopping 159 parts. Needless to say, sticking this thing together is going to take some time. And ink.

The good news is, the templates are entirely free, which means we'll be commandeering the dining room table for construction purposes in sweet little time. You can scroll down below to check out a time-lapse construction video for yourself or download the template over at Visual Spicer. We're sure they wouldn't mind a donation or two, either.

Continue reading How to make a giant paper Bugatti Veyron

Official: Ariel Atom simulator is ready to dominate your living room [w/video]

As much as we love games like Forza and Gran Turismo, these driving simulators are hobbled by one glaring omission: peripheral vision. Driving requires a view from more than just the windshield, and while Forza 4 and Gran Turismo 5 have made steps toward giving players a better a better look at the track around them, the nature of a flat screen is cursed with limitations. Of course, if you have the cash, Motion Simulation has a solution for you. The company's new TL1 simulator was built in cooperation with none other than the minds at Ariel. You know, the folks responsible for the mighty Atom.

The system uses three high-definition projectors to give the view a complete view of the virtual track ahead. What's more, the simulator is compatible with consoles like the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Unfortunately, the kit is prohibitively large and expensive. If you want one, you'll have to fork over $18,600 at current conversion rates, along with a big portion of your living room. Considering that kind of cash will buy you a very nice used sports car, we'll have to take a pass on this one.

Unfortunately, there isn't a video of the actual Atom simulator available just yet, so for the moment, you'll have to content yourself with footage of the company's great-sounding Touring Car simulator. Check it out by scrolling below.

Continue reading Ariel Atom simulator is ready to dominate your living room [w/video]

Official: Forza 4's May Top Gear Car Pack includes Venom GT, Galant VR-4 and Wrangler [w/video]

It's almost DLC time again at Forza Motorsports - Tuesday, May 1 will bring with it the Top Gear pack, a true goulash of automobilia. At one end you have the 2012 Hennessey Venom GT, a car that automotive historians will look back on and say "Wow." At the other end you have the 1977 AMC Pacer X, a car that we look back on and say "Wow." In 'between' are the: 2011 Ford Transit SuperSportVan, 1965 Austin-Healey 3000 MkIII, 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 1966 Lotus Cortina, 1992 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, 2012 Smart ForTwo, 1990 Subaru Legacy RS and 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8.

The bad news is that the TG pack won't be part of the Season Pass, so you'll need 560 MS points, or $7, to make it yours. But if you throw down the fresh amounts you'll be able to enter the new Community Rivals Mode with the Hennessey Venom GT. Set a leaderboard time with it and you could win one of the 100 unicorn cars Forza will be handing out every week.

Scroll down to check out the video and have a look at the wares in the gallery of high-res screenshots.

Continue reading Forza 4's May Top Gear Car Pack includes Venom GT, Galant VR-4 and Wrangler [w/video]

Video: Fifth Avenue Frogger uses real NYC traffic in classic video game action

The classic video game Frogger is 30 years old, and some fans of the game think it deserves a place in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's The Art of Video Games exhibition. Frogger's age means that the public may have forgotten about the road-crossing amphibian, so Tyler DeAngelo, Renee Lee, and Ranjit Bhatnagar have pulled gameplay into the 21st century with a more immersive experience by tracking traffic along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and using that data to generate the vehicles Frogger must dodge.

Passersby can try their luck avoiding the many taxicabs at the arcade cabinet the creators have parked on the sidewalk as a way to increase awareness of Frogger and boost their campaign to get the game into the Smithsonian. Rest assured, when real-life traffic makes the game all but impossible to play, there's a "classic" mode that still allows players to completely escape reality, just like the good old days. Check out the video by scrolling down, and if you like what you see, you can lend your support here.

Continue reading Fifth Avenue Frogger uses real NYC traffic in classic video game action