Life shouldn’t be all about work, we
all need time to relax and play a little, but for most people their
lives revolve around working, me included, and we just don’t get much
time to play and relax anymore… We should, we all should just stop
and take some time to have fun, even if it’s just for a few minutes per
day while we’re working. Taking time to relax and have fun not only
reduces stress but can also help to clear the mind and actually help
you work better…
It’s been a while since we’ve reviewed
any kind of toys, and what I have today might be considered a toy or
not. It’s an interesting little gadget from USBGeek called the USB Basketball Fidget and essentially what it is is a
small basketball shaped button on a base that attaches via USB to
your computer. There’s software included with the fidget and once
installed you’ve got a cool little mini game right on your desktop to
help you waste a bit of time and have fun, it’s an easy game to play,
you just tap the button to stop the ball from leaving your desktop as
it bounces around your screen. There’s not much to it, and there
doesn’t really need to be, it’s just something to have fun with and
waste a bit of time…
USB
Basketball Fidget
Author: Kristofer
Brozio
Sponsor:
USBGeek
Tech
Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Features:
-“Fidget”,
the office/home anti frustration gadget!
-Stop taping your pen, smoking,
or even gigging your leg … you know who your are!
-Always running, on demand
desktop mini game.
-3 game modes with sounds to
challenge your skill and ability.
-Press the ball button
repeatedly to control the shooting power!
-Don’t let things stress you
out… practice and improve your skills.
-Powered by USB with 4 feet of
cable.
-Compatible with Windows
Vista/XP/2000
-Dimensions: 59.8mm dia x
29.5mm height
-Weight: 58g
Price:
US$ 15.00
A
Better Look at Things:
The USB Basketball Fidget doesn’t
come in any fancy package, just a plastic bag with a mini CD on the
side.
The product mainly consists of the
Basketball button on a base that has a USB cable attached to it, the
base does have rubber feet to help it stay in place.
{mospagebreak title= Installation, Testing and Movie}
Installation,
Testing and Movie:
Installation is easy, just plug it
in, pop the disc in and install the software.
The program basically consists of
a score board with a couple buttons on it for ‘Practice’, ‘Game, and
‘Insane’. The buttons are sort of self-explanatory, practice is just
to practice playing, Game is the actual game that gets progressively
harder as you continue playing, the ball just starts to move faster
and faster, and ‘Insane’ mode is where the ball moves very fast from
the start.
Here’s a few screenshots of it
running on my computer:
Here’s a brief movie of me playing
the game, there are sounds, just a beep when it bounces and a buzzer
when you miss, but the program I was using, CamStudio isn’t working
correctly and didn’t record the sounds.. the idea of the game is to keep the ball on your desktop, it will bounce off of the right, left and bottom sides but you have to push the basketball button at the right time to stop it from leaving the top of you desktop.
–
–
That’s about it, I did notice that
it did crash a couple times, but it was only when I was using my
screen capture software so it could have been something to do with
that and the two programs not being compatible.. other that that it
worked fine on Windows Vista.
As a side note my kids really like
it, I’ve let them have it on their computer and they have quite a bit
of fun with it, I figure it’s more than just a game as it can help
with hand-eye coordination as well for them..
Summary
and Comments:
There’s nothing really bad about
the USB Basketball Fidget from USBGeek, it’s basically just a time
waster or toy so you can’t be too critical of it really…
It really is fun though just to
sit and waste a few minutes trying to keep the ball on the screen,
you won’t be playing for hours, but I don’t think it’s intended that
way, it’s just something to waste a bit of time and relax a bit, and
it does that well…
DragonSteelMods gives the USB
Basketball Fidget a 4.5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-Small, portable
-Easy to install and use
-Kids love it
-Seems well made
-Nice time waster
Cons:
-Possible conflicts with other
programs…
I
would like to thank USBGeek for the chance to review the USB
Basketball Fidget and for their support of DSM.
review# 488