Am I the only one looking at this with an OCD urge to rip back the controller and go hit the first coinbox? Come on, this is World 1-1. And it's painted on a concrete wall, although Mr. Juandrful over at Kezins doesn't say exactly where.

I wanted it to be a self-esteem project painted by a group of at-risk Goombas, but no, it's the handiwork of an artist who goes by BPAK. It's a "Quikrete infused" mural that took three weeks to complete.

Super Mario Outdoor Wall o' Art [Kezins.com]

Game Marathons: Fad, or Going the Distance?

Two weeks ago saw an extraordinarily successful, more-than-72 hour Super Mario Marathon that raised more than $11,000 for a gamers' charity for kids. This week, four Mega Man enthusiasts are finding out how hard of an act that is to follow — as a fund drive anyway. A new web site indicates that game marathons are a mushrooming craze, capitalizing partly on gamers who enjoy watching others fail at classic console titles. The question is, how long will it last?

Five Games That Matter In Hideo Kojima's Life

Five games that made an impact on the life of Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima? According to the famed game designer:

• Super Mario Bros.

• Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken

• Xevious

• Another World

• Metal Gear Solid

This list comes from a Yomiuri Newspaper article called "All About Kojima Hideo" dated June 11th. We haven't seen the full article (only that picture we found on a Yomiuri blog), and the English translation of Yomiuri article glosses over these five games and what they mean to him. From the pic we found, it certainly appears as though Kojima explained how they affected him.

Hide-and-seek with Hideo Kojima [Yoimuri]

Make Your Own Edible 1UP Mushroom (Burger)

Hey, America, this one's for you, especially if you're vegetarian, a Super Mario Bros. die hard, and are looking to wow (or maybe disgust) attendees of your Independence Day cook out. Instructables has posted a very handy recipe for one-upping your burger this holiday weekend, taking the beef out and putting the green food coloring in. That's not tasty pesto, unfortunately, just some bizarre chemical that makes burger buns green.

Think I'll be passing, but you may find this a delicious prelude to your 4th of July game cake. Thanks to Nate for the tip.

"1UP Mushroom" Mushroom Burger [Instructables]

Mario Marathon Raises More than $10,000 [Updated]

Ever Re-Name A Video Game?

Several feet to my left in the MTV Newsroom the camera crew is setting up for a shoot. One guy is trying to describe Spore to another guy. "You start as a little thing and then become a bigger thing...." He's struggling. The other guy wants to know if you can be a planet. Clearly they need to read my blog more.

Ah, the confusions of non-hardcore gamers. I'm reminded that a few weeks ago a friend approaches me asking about another game. He wants to buy it. He can't remember the name and calls it "that game with the walking man and the shapes and stuff." It took me a while to figure out which game he was talking about.

People just can't remember the names of games, it seems. Not if they're regular folks who don't eat and drink this stuff. I know someone who calls the Burnout games Crash 'Em Up and refers to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney as Ace Wright: Phoenix Attorney — which I think sounds better.

Isolated phenomenon? Or is this re-naming and mis-describing of games something you've encountered too?

Nintendo of America took June off. Today we've learned they're taking July off too. But in August the publisher will once again release new Wii and DS games from sea to shining sea.

Announced today are:

• 8/25 - Mario Super Sluggers - Mario and friends playing baseball via the Wii (developed by Namco Bandai)
• 9/8 - Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir — A DS edition of the popular PC hidden picture series from Big Fish Games
• 9/29 - Wario Land: Shake It! — A side-scroller for the Wii (Developed by I-don't-know-who)
• 9/29 - Kirby Super Star Ultra — A DS remake of the 1996 SNES platformer, with touch-based mini-games added

Someone please console me that the DS sequel to Rhythm Tengoku, a rhythm game made by the makers of WarioWare, that's set for summer release in Japan, was not announced as part of this line-up.

Also note, Nintendo owners, that the baseball game is from Namco Bandai, one of these games is a remake and another is possibly being made by Big Fish. It certainly appears that Nintendo's internal teams, whose most recent work was May's Wii Fit, should be on deck for a lot of games in the fall.

Full press release after the jump

Spore Creature Creator Bowser Compatible

Maker of high quality wall decals Blik has partnered with Nintendo to bring adhesive fun into the lives of kids, adult adolescents and good ol' regular adolescents everywhere with a new trio of officially licensed decorative stickers. Want to make your home office have a Donkey Kong inspired backdrop? You can! Blik is also offering premium decal sets based on Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros., transforming your den or bedroom into a magical Mushroom Kingdom wonderland—while pissing off your wife!

At $75, they aren't on the cheap side, but as I always say, you can't skimp on quality when it comes to wall stickers based on classic Nintendo characters. If you're looking for something less pricey, perhaps the Blik Space Invaders decals (only $45!) will scratch that video game sticker itch.

Nintendo Wall Graphics [blik]

Got this far and realized we've had no hot flashes this weekend. So here's a super-slimmed down Super Mario Kart, done in 11 KB of pure javascript goodness. Pick from Mario, Luigi or Peach and then race on two different maps. It even has a soundtrack.

You'll be beaten off the line easily every time, but if you race the second map and take advantage of the turns, you can get into first pretty quickly.

There's no timer or lap count and your opponents seem to float in the air until you overtake them. Still, I killed a few minutes with this while going off on a reverie, wondering if I'll be 55 and playing a slimmed down javascript Assassin's Creed or something.

Javascript Super Mario Kart [nihilogic]

Mario Tries Some New Ways of Dying

Boy I don't know about you, but when I shuffle off this mortal coil, I hope that I leap into the air waving my arms, and then plunge out of view as a merry oh-shit tune plays. With my loving family around my deathbed of course.

Mario's been dying that way for years, so, here's a video in which he tries on some new demises in search of a better good death. They missed Defender, where he explodes in a fireworks burst and burns white-hot thermite particles through anything on the screen. That would be funny. Certainly funnier than what happened between Luigi and the Koopas.

Deaths That Just Don't Work for Mario [YouTube]

With great apologies to the late Hunter S. Thompson, for the out-of-context riffing.

"Luigi had taken his shirt off and was pouring beer on his chest. ... We had two bags of fire flowers, 75 mushrooms, five invincibility stars ... And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge winged turtles, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car ...

Update: The picture's artist is suzyage4. He says he drew the above image back in 2005. It's still timely — Mario is timeless after all.

Super Mario Las Vegas [The Off Topic Forum]

This was a gimme for Nintendo. After all, Bee Mario was the most adorable thing that fat plumber's done in years, so capitalising on the love-in by releasing a soft, cuddly replica was a no-brainer. It'll be available in July, for around $25. If your collectible tastes for the game run to the more supernatural end of the spectrum, a Boo Mario will be available as well. Same time, same price.

Super Mario Galaxy Plush Doll: Bee Mario [Play-Asia, via Go Nintendo]

Speaking as part of a long, long interview with CVG, Rare design head Gregg Mayles talks in-depth about the freshly-announced Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. First revelation? Banjo's let himself go - "slobbing out," as Mayles says, while poor Grunty starts off as only a head until he hooks himself up with a mechanical body, all the better to help Banjo bounce back from this apparent midlife crisis.

Mayles also is anxious about how Banjo loyalists might receive this overhauled installment, hoping that those surprised by the new flavor will give it a chance. All in all, Mayles says the Rare team is hoping the third installment will act as something of a franchise reboot:

We've kind of taken a step back from that and tried to make it a simpler, cleaner approach, obviously with this new mechanic in place. I guess we're all hoping for a clean start, that's what I think it'll do. It's kind of, 'There's your old Banjo games, let's put those in the past, you can remember how good those were, this is Banjo for the future'.

Mayles also suggests that comparisons to Super Mario Galaxy will be unavoidable:

I don't know which I like more, the scientific description of the pseuderanthemum incendia (fire flower), which can be found wild in many places around worlds 1-2 and 4-2, or the fact that you can actually buys these for $20 to $30 a pop. A vase of these could make a great Mother's Day present, if you're mom is cool.

pseuderanthemum incendia (fire flower) [Etsy, via Tanooki]

This Hands-Free Super Mario World Level Plays Sweet, Sweet Music

The Difficulties of Designing For a Diverse Market

Nintendo luminary Shigeru Miyamoto tops the list of Time Magazine's Most Influential People of 2008, as determined by reader vote, soundly demonstrating that he is more important to the entire universe than Al Gore, Heidi Klum, Stephen Colbert and a Korean pop star named Rain.

55 year-old Miyamoto, who's never been on a Time cover, comes out on top in his very first outing on the list with 1,949,634 votes, an achievement that foretells a future populated with towering statues in his likeness. Here's Time's stats on him: