Glad to see those ESRB ratings are working out. Click through the link below for a few more.
lifemetercomics: 6th Grade Submissions! [Live Journal via GameSetWatch]

All photos from Kiddy Land, a toy store in Tokyo's Harajuku district.

Lefcourt explores the gorier side of traditionally non-violent video game characters, including Pac-Man, Mario and Kirby, giving us a peek at the "offal" reality of the medium's icons.

"The idea behind the project stems from growing up at an arcade, and my eventual love affair with Mortal Kombat," Lefcourt explains on his Flickr photostream. "Before Mortal Kombat, violence in video games was largely unheard of or ignored because of its extreme pixelized simplicity."

"Just because you didn't see Pac-man violently tearing into the ghosts with his jaws, or Mario smashing in the brains of a goomba, that's what I knew was happening," Lefcourt writes, indicating that the differences in violence between a game like Mortal Kombat and, say, Kid Icarus are just reflective of differences in perception.

Check out the full set at Flickr.

8-Bit Fatalities [Flickr via GameSetWatch]

With attendance almost as light as the wispy foam creations that were being wafted skywards, the Kirby Superstar Ultra events were a bit of a damp squib.

Nevertheless, we cannot fail to be impressed that there exists a company who managed to get venture capital funding for a machine that makes foam logos (sure, they probably have the Marshmallow Fluff contract in the bag but still..) and so for that reason - and to satisfy the curiosity of the legions of Kirby fans who don't live near any place called 'Kirby' - we present this video of the main event at Kirby Middle School, Birmingham, Alabama.

The transformations from pleased as punch to enraged were most noticeable in Kirby's journeys to America, going from happy go lucky to in a lather in games like Kirby Squeak Squad. Kirby Super Star Ultra changes all that, as Kirby's gay old times are back, with nary a furrowed brow to be seen.

If you'd like to fondly remember Kirby's more bitter box art outings, hit the jump.

Or it's a cake for reader Blue Cheez's birthday, and his friends were too self conscious to provide the Safeway with art samples, so they did the decoration themselves Lifeinthefridge sent the photo of the yummy-looking carrot cake, describing it as a "combination of Olimar & pikmin (Brawl) and Portal," but admitting the visuals didn't go very well.

Either way, I want a slice. But only if it's 100 percent lard icing.

[Thanks to Lifeinthefridge!]

So, yeah, Kirby's about the same.
Ninty Retro [Image Shack via Digg via Infendo]

Kirby enthusiasts will also take comfort in that the third Nintendo DS game, Hoshi no Kirby: Ultra Super Deluxe, is similarly tentatively scheduled for a 2008 release. The remake of the SNES classic Kirby Super Star will hopefully make it before the end of the year.

Both dates are, of course, subject to change, as is that bad-ass attitude of the pink, shoe-wearing sphere.

WII-KLY UPDATE: THREE NEW CLASSIC GAMES ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL

July 23, 2007

Ah, the three classic summer leisure activities: golf, pinball and battling hordes of evil creatures. Luckily, it's Monday and once again Nintendo has you covered. Players can hit the crazy links with the spherical Kirby, become a pinball wizard or just enjoy an afternoon of helping good triumph over evil. So pour yourself a tall glass of lemonade and settle in for some classic gaming fun.

Three new classic games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop Channel every Monday. Wii™ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week's new games are:

Kirby's Dream Course™ (Super NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Step up to the tee for the wackiest golf game of your life. This one- or two-player game features a floating golf course in the sky. High above Dream Land, players can pitch and putt the ever-popular puff ball, Kirby, through a maze of three-dimensional obstacles on a zany checkerboard course. Players must aim for the multitude of enemies that are spread throughout each fairway. Kirby must hit all the enemies to make them disappear, and the last one becomes the hole. Sink Kirby into the hole to advance to the next stage and clear all 8 courses - 64 holes in all.

Devil's Crush (TurboGrafx16, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone - Animated Blood, Mild Fantasy Violence, 600 Wii Points): Devil's Crush is the exciting sequel to the hit pinball game Alien Crush and features even smoother ball movement and enhanced special effects. Shoot the ball onto the board with the Devil Shooter, then use flippers and nudging to keep it in play and rack up a high score. Complete certain conditions to play up to six different bonus stages. Get a "Perfect Clear" on those to earn a huge amount of points. The game's ominous theme is enhanced by its enemies: wandering skeleton knights, sorcerers and even a giant face that changes from a goddess to a sinister serpent.

Shining Force™ (Sega Genesis, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone - Mild Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): In ages long forgotten, Light fought Darkness for control of the world. Finally, the Ancients defeated the evil ruler of the dark forces known as Dark Dragon and cast him into another dimension, though he vowed to return in 1,000 years. As time passed, all memory of Dark Dragon was buried, and the land of Rune enjoyed 10 centuries of peace. Yet, as promised, the dark ruler returned, along with hordes of evil creatures that ravaged the land. As chaos erupted, several strongholds of Good still held out, awaiting a hero who could wield the Powers of Light.

Besides Haruhi, the big anime that has worked all otakudom into a frenzy is Lucky Star. Previously, we posted Mega-Man doing the Lucky Star dance, and now we bring you Kirby's take on it. Utterly delightful! Hit the jump for the original. Brian Ashcraft

Considering I have a quilt and an embroidery project that have been sitting around waiting to be finished for a couple of years at this point, it always amazes me when people take on crafting projects that wind up being a lot harder than anticipated ... and actually finish them! If presented with 304 wood crafting cube, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't make it past the priming stage, never mind the acrylic paint and gluing together stage.

But the final product of this project is a cute Kirby sprite, circa the first GBA game. A very cute, very pink, very 'Wow, that would be sitting half-finished in my closet' Kirby sprite. Maggie Greene

Kirby sprite [Thanks Imaria!]

Not only does flasher The Legend of Zelda and the Lampshade of No Real Significance have Link and a lampshade, but it has has Samus and Kirby. What's more, Samus is eating a burger and Kirby is shooting stuff! Delightful flash game. Brian Ashcraft

Play Here [Chimp Media Thanks, Chilly!]

On Ryan Payton's Kojima Productions podcast, he dishes on how Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima played the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl at creator Masahiro Sakurai's Tokyo studio. According to Payton, Kojima said that:

The game already feels very complete, it's already a lot of fun and that you guys (Sakurai's studio) could put it out now, and it would sell millions of copies.

Kojima was playing as Snake, Sakurai was playing as Mario. Yet, Kojima humorously admitted that he wasn't able to punch of kick the character he's grown up with, Mario — Out of respect. Click over to listen to the rest and hear about MPO Europe extras and about Kojima and Ken Imaizumi (above) playing Guitar Hero. Brian Ashcraft

Payton Report [i-revo]

Brandon Sheffield over at Insert Credit points to a delightful post by Mathew Kumar (pictured happy dude) and his lady friend that lists 52 game similes to describe your relationship. Just dive right in and take a look at some stand outs:

Our relationship is like...

4. Tetris. Shit keeps piling up.

7. Red Steel. I'm just waving my hands in the air and nothing is happening.

31. Ico. You're completely helpless, and I'm sick of dragging you around everywhere.

27. Kirby's Dream Land. No matter how hard I suck, I can't get you all in my mouth.

42. Oregon Trail. It's dying of dysentery.

The whole list is clever and cute as hell. Swing by, take a peek. Brian Ashcraft

The Rest [Mathew Kumar via Insert Credit]

It's amazingly disturbing, while at the same time adorable. It is the very essence of what Valentine's Day is all about. What loved one wouldn't adore being on the receiving end of such heartfelt sentiment? Hit the VG Cats page for more, including the Phoenix Wright one you see top right, and a couple probably safer alternatives to Kirby's insatiable appetite for...love. Michael Fahey

Cards! Though I don't recommend using any of them [VG Cats].

As the intertubes get filled with "best-of's" and "top whatever" lists (look forward to ours!), Michael Zenke at his MMOG Nation blog has a thoughtful round-up of the most innovative games over the past two years. (There's also a list of least innovative games, so swing by, check 'em out.) Here are the best three with choice sound-bytes:

• Half-Life 2

• This, right here, is 'next generation' gaming. Valve beat everybody to the punch, and has set a very very high standard for the rest of the industry to follow.

• Resident Evil 4
• 
  

  
  This game was one of the best titles ever released on the GameCube, a complete reinvigoration of the Resident Evil franchise, and has entirely set the tone for modern shooters. A lot of the goodness from Gears of War came from filing the serial numbers off of RE4.
  

• Kirby: Canvas Curse
• 
  

  
  The control scheme is unlike anything else I've ever played, and is one of the first titles that hit the system where the touch screen was obviously a centerpiece of the design.
  

And in Kotaku-land, whaddaya think? What games have been innovative? What ones haven't? Stand on your soapbox. We're all ears. Brian Ashcraft

Most Innovative Games [MMOG Nation via GameSetWatch]

One of the great things about writing for Kotaku is all of the strange, completely unsolicited stuff we get sent to us via email. Take for instance these two photos. Someone, I have no clue who, decided to send them to me via their cellphone with no explanation. So of course, I can't help but post them with the same amount of explanation. I can't help it, it's like a Pavlovian response. Brian Crecente

Nintendo must be concerned about the tough guy image of their resident bad ass, Kirby, because when he comes stateside, he is going to be pissed. You can tell by the change in artwork from the Japanese release (left), to the North American release (right).

Nevermind that in order to get the game at some locations you'll have to say "May I please have a copy of KIRBY SQUEAK SQUAD, please?" out loud, a phrase that immediately emasculatea the speaker, once people see that pink puffball with the downturned eyebrows, they'll know you too mean business.

That Kirby is one bad mother...

Thanks for the pointer, Nick! Michael McWhertor

Why the Kirby gushing after completing and then whining about Canvas Curse? It's the gameplay videos, stupid! The official site has a very brief, but sugary sweet embedded look at the more traditional Kirby platformer.

The game will surely deal with some very adult issues, like Kirby coming to terms with having a piece of cake stolen, while bringing back old school air-swallowing, Kirby copying abilities, and new touch screen controls. The site doesn't offer too much in the way of goodies (yet), but for those of you wanting a better look at the game who don't mind a little Japanese, I recommend you check it out. Michael McWhertor

Kirby Squeak Squad Official Site (Japanese)