Alrighty, this is the first big video game clay project I took on. Obviously it is power ups from most of the Mario games. It is a few years old. I made it probably about six months after the first Mario Galaxy came out. If I am honest, I am unhappy with a lot of aspects of it. The clouds in the back are not placed ideally. Every single one is covered up with some power up. I wasn’t planning correctly. Also, I could make some of the figures look better if I was making them now. The thin blocks the figures sit on bother me a little too. They are good enough but they could be better. I forgot about the carrot from Mario Land as well and that drives me insane. I made it later but there is no place for it on here. You are probably starting to learn that I have the tendency to be a perfectionist. Don’t think I am too hard on myself, I also think some parts are amazing. Usually when I finish a craft I put it up on the shelf then over the next few days take it down for no reason other than to look at it. It always makes me feel like a bit of an asshole but it makes me happy that I made it. Also I google pictures of other people’s similar crafts and think about how much better mine are than the ones I see. I know that’s terrible and a little pathetic but it’s true and so what? I put a lot of work into these and also other justifications. READ MORE
As of 5pm this evening, the folks over at www.themade.org (Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment) have kicked off a potentially weekend long video game playing session in the name of charity and body odor. Their plan is to beat one title for every $1,000 dollars donated and the initial list they’ve come up with should be pretty entertaining. At the moment players are knee deep in Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest for the SNES. But then after that, sights will be set on Super Metroid (SNES), Paper Mario (N64), Streets of Rage 1, 2, and 3 (Dreamcast) and then they’ll finally wash it all down with some Ocarina of Time and Resident Evil 2 for the N64. All of which will be played on the original hardware which personally I feel is a nice touch.
So how about it? Do you have a weekend to kill and some spare cash lying around? Then grab a cold beer (or 12), click right here and watch these guys do what they would normally be doing anyway!
I’ve been watching these limited to 500 Samus Aran action figures come and go on Ebay for about 10 years now. Sure, the sculpting isn’t really all that hot but it comes with a pretty sweet interchangeable head and what can I say? I’ve just always wanted one. There’s an auction currently going with the lowest price I’ve ever seen: A Buy it Now option for $114.99. So uh, if any of you dear readers are feeling…you know, uh…generous or somethin’. Just sayin’.
No you’re not reading your calendar wrong. Earlier today Nintendo unveiled its new online “home” for their famous mascot cleverly dubbed www.Mario.Nintendo.Com. A webpage filled with lazily written summaries for every retail and downloadable 3DS and Wii title featuring the fat plumber (isn’t this already IGN’s thing?). They’ve even added a little scroll at the bottom of each page suggesting other games you might be interested in based on the one you’re currently browsing. What’s that, guys? If I really like Super Mario Bros. 2 then I might also dig Samurai Showdown IV? Um, ok. There are actually a couple of cool little bits to be found on the site including a fun take on “Memory,” featuring familiar faces from the mushroom kingdom and also a quiz to test your Mario knowledge which you should have no trouble burning through if you’re above 6 years old and have ever played a Nintendo game in your life.
Check out the card game by clicking this and have a go at some Mario trivia right here. I’m positive you have nothing better to do.
…or if you’re like me, plug in a controller because you never disconnected that shit from the televison in the first place. Word on the street right now is that a small band of rebels group of developers in California called Super Fighter Team are finishing up work on Nightmare Busters. An according to the programmers “masterful run-and-gun game for the Super Nintendo, Super Famicom and all compatible video game systems….” This will be the first title released in cartridge form for the SNES in over 15 years so you know what that means: Time to scour ebay for a few cases of Crystal Pepsi to celebrate. READ MORE
New dates have been confirmed for Symphony of the Goddesses, the Legend of Zelda concert series touring North America. Before you do like me and get all excited that it might be coming somewhere near you, take a look at the up-to-date concert listing, with the new dates in bold:
March 14 Vancouver
March 26 Seattle
March 28 San Francisco
April 7 Denver
April 20-21 Phoenix
May 12 Atlanta
May 31 Montreal June 6 Los Angeles
June 22 Austin July 7 Houston
July 12 San Diego
July 14 Orlando July 25 Philadelphia
July 26 Vienna (Virginia, not Austria… or sausage)
Sept. 15 Toronto Sept. 22 Minneapolis
So yep, with six new dates on the board, the closest one for me is still an eight hour drive away. It’s cool, I’m totally not bitter. If you can actually go to one of these things, click here for info on buying tickets… and so I can vicariously experience it through you.
So a little while back a guy named Jay Pavlina (alias Exploding Rabbit) created Super Mario Bros. Crossover, a fan-made replica of the classic sidescroller that lets players plow through the Mushroom Kingdom as Mario… or Mega Man or Samus Aran or Simon Belmont. Earlier this month he launched version 2.0 of Super Mario Bros. Crossover, and it is bigger and better in just about every conceivable way. See for yourself:
Click here to play it, or here to read up on the development of the game from the man himself. In-depth impressions after the jump! READ MORE
Yeah we get it, you like the princess! Don't you have anything better to do?
You can’t have a great hero without a great villain, right? Superman and Lex Luthor, Batman and The Joker, Luke Skywalker and dear old Dad, James Bond and monogamy, Indiana Jones and Nazis, and of course, everybody’s favorite Italian stereotype and a big turtle-dragon-asaurus! It just makes sense.
But… lots of great heroes have more than one villain, too. Superman and Brainiac, Batman and Two-Face, Luke Skywalker and George Lucas, James Bond and not having AIDS , Indiana Jones and George Lucas, Mario and… who? You’d never know it judging by the main games in the Mario series for the last couple decades, but Mario does have a rogues gallery consisting of characters that don’t rhyme with “Schnauzer.” Who are they and what happened to them? Read on! READ MORE
I never owned or played this game back during the 16-bit heyday but recently came across a copy and the other night decided to finally have a go at the little bastard. The idea was to drink a ton of beer and with the help of our old friends over at gamefaqs, actually try to complete the entire game in one sitting. The following post is a brief visual re-enactment of how it all went down: READ MORE
Nintendo has teamed with Jason Michael Paul Productions to create The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses, a concert series paying tribute to the classic music from the beloved game series. Symphony of the Goddesses has already taken Dallas by storm, with a sold out show last week. Find out if you live close enough to some of the arbitrarily chosen venues, and see if you can detect my bitterness that the closest one for me is an eight+ hour drive away, plus a recap on some of the other Zelda 25th Anniversary shenanigans after the jump! READ MORE
Zelda's intervention took a turn for the tragic when it became obvious she was tripping on acid the entire time.
So my second silliest New Year’s Resolution for 2012 is to finally play all the way through The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I’m already nearing the end of the game, partially because I got a bit of head start, but mostly because the game is fantastic. Link to the Past celebrates it’s 20th anniversary in the U.S. this year. So why did it take me so long to finally play this legendary game, and how does the game hold up to new eyes two decades after the fact? Read on! READ MORE
Zelda timeline's done. Now I can finally alphabetize my Dr. Who DVDs!
After years of speculation by fans worldwide, Nintendo has released an official timeline for the entire Legend of Zelda series. The mere existence of an official timeline is surprising, considering the fact that many of the games seem to contradict each other or re-tell the same events in different ways, but not only does an official timeline exist, it’s also batshit crazy.
The timeline is part of a Legend of Zelda encyclopedia recently released in Japan, produced by current series director Eiji Aonuma. Aonuma apparently digs speculating on the same stuff nerds around the world have been trying to piece together for years. You can see the full timeline after the jump, but as a fair warning, it’s about as straight-forward as Inception. READ MORE
Last year, with help from the Nintendorks community I put together VGXMAS, or as it came to be known, A Very Nintendork Christmas. It’s an album that combines my love of video games with my love of the holiday season: an entire collection dedicated to snowy, wintry or even Christmasy music found in video games old and new. Of course, the original album is still available for download, but this year I’ve put together an expansion: A Very Nintendork Christmas DLC Pack 1: Mario’s Mistletoe! Click through for samples, download links and complete track listings! READ MORE
Should I have spelled it Hallowiin? Yeah, no you’re right. Now I know lists like this have been popping up on various websites lately but you’re just gonna have to trust that I’d been planning on compiling mine way before those were published. No, seriously…I swear, ok? The difference here is that all of the games that made my top ten have to be playable on Wii. So that restricts my options to software made for the system, GameCube and anything on the Virtual Console. It’s that last venue that holds the most variety (obviously), allowing this list to be spread out pretty nicely across each generation.
