We get a lot of video game proposals and weddings over the weekends - YouTube user bradsmith182 shows how to do it right. (Which is good, he only gets one shot, after all.) Simple level design, easy-to-read message, hidden cam to get her reaction and, of course, the dog. Man, the dog. I hope the little guy's a part of the wedding, although he looks like he might pee on a ringbearer out of excitement.

Congratulations bradsmith182 and Mrs. bradsmith182!

Custom Mario Proposal [Pushing Play]

Snow's blog on Capcom-Unity showcased the six jumpers, ironed on with Dark Void, a zombie from Dead Rising, Mega Man, Salamander from Lost Planet 2, and the adorable Street Fighter babies (although I don't think they're from this piece of work.)

You know, the guy is single, but, I should talk to Seth Killian. I literally haven't seen him in nine months ...

Capcom Baby Swag = Cuteness Overload [Capcom-Unity via Go Nintendo]

The video is of the entire level, eight minutes long, but to summarize - the guy gets a radio signal from a damsel held by slavers. He then busts into the fortress where she's held, shrugging off gunfire and mowing down raiders run-and-gun style (no VATS!) with a laser gatling, before reaching her cell. The slaver proposes that the player to buy her freedom - in a synthesized voice, it sounds like - but no dice. Down he goes, and then down she goes, on bended knee, to propose to her man.

Nontraditional? Absolutely. But for Fallout 3 fans, imagine being this guy. The process, going by the Bethesda studios forum threads, took nearly three months, start to finish, but it got the job done. Hubby-to-be said yes. Because love, love never changes.

The Fallout 3 Marriage Proposal [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Materials: "His gloves are made of plastic vinyl, his clothes cotton, his body is canvas and linen, his rooster hat is fleece and the star is foam."

There are many more pictures at the link below. Travale says, yes, he is for sale - $150. So this qualifies as a big free ad, but the work is so well done, it also qualifies as art.

Scribblenauts Plush [Rosemary Travale]

Unfortunately, UpKnitCreek's not making this available for general sale, as are most homespun game/geek items like this that we usually post. But look at the craftsmanship - and the fact it's accompanied by a Triforce baby blanket, to be packaged up and delivered in a wooden treasure chest. Whichever newborn gets this, he or she is the luckiest baby of 2009. Or ever.

Baby Link [Craftster.org via Geekologie]

This came from Kotaku reader Daniel, who is friends with Chad H., a librarian at the U. of North Carolina. Chad and his girlfriend, Melissa, recently constructed an arcade cocktail table using IKEA furniture and an old laptop. Building on that success, and his girl's love for Ms. Pac-Man, Chad set out to make an in-game proposal.

First he intended to create a custom level, with the dots spelling out the question. "I quickly realized this was essentially impossible - I'd have to learn how to hex edit a level by hand, from the ground up. So I turned to altering the graphics somewhere in the game."

But his searching turned up an old ROM editing program called Turaco, which hadn't been updated since 2000 and only runs in MS-DOS (and not at all in Vista.) Using that, he edited the "Act 1" scene board to spell out the proposal.

Chad writes that, for all the work, the message itself was only on the screen briefly and could easily be missed. So he talked Melissa into playing the game, and told her to pay special attention during the first intermission. Good news, it worked! And you can see it animated here.

Congratulations Chad and the future Mrs. Chad! Now, just remember what happened in Act. 3 ...

Ms. Pac-Man Engagement [Hidden Peanuts, thanks Daniel]