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Truly Nerdy Snow Sculptures
The Taj Mahal built in snow? Aizuwakamatsu Castle? Taiwan’s National Palace Museum in ice? Meh! (Okay, all these are pretty cool, but stick with me.) The Sapporo Snow Festival isn’t only frozen famous landmarks, it also showcases some of the geekiest snow sculptures on Earth. When statues aren’t falling on visitors—a rare occurrence—the Sapporo Snow…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2012 -
The Dating Secrets of Your Favorite Video Game Characters
Nathan Drake has recently purchased a new MacBook, after talking to several of his friends about it for several weeks. He has done more discussing the MacBook than he has actually using it, and secretly he enjoys causing the icons to sort of ‘pop’ along the bar at the bottom of the screen more than…
Leigh Alexander Published February 7, 2012 -
Game Characters Embarrassing Themselves on Facebook
Mario is a boozehound. Luigi loves photo bombs. Peach is vain. Some of gaming’s greatest characters get classic (and clever) Facebook pic parodies. It’s not just Nintendo characters getting in on the act. There is Metal Gear Solid’s Snake, whose military pic I saw coming. While not embarrassing, Nathan Drake’s family photo is definitely revealing.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 7, 2012 -
Did Three Japanese Guys in Afro Wigs Just Accidentally Cover the Super Mario Land Theme?
Game music can show up in the most random places. Rarely, however, does it involve rock bands in bad wigs. Japanese rock trio Tsuru recently donned afros and composed the theme to the upcoming live-action adaptation of the the manga Afro Tanaka, a bizarre romantic comedy about a 24 year old dropout sporting an intense…
By Chris Person Published February 6, 2012 -
Turn-a Your Head and Cough-a, Peach
Whoa. That there is a custom toy scene by Donald Kennedy, an artist recently featured in iam8bit’s store. I can’t tell if the subject of the examination is supposed to be Toad or Peach. Either way, Dr. Mario seems set to earn his pornstache. Kennedy is now running a giveaway, if you can put this…
By Owen Good Published February 4, 2012 -
Mario Meets Godzilla in These Awesome Monster Movie Posters
Olly Moss does it again with these great posters for a very different, though still very Japanese take on the Mushroom Kingdom. If you’re wondering what the text says, it’s “Super Mario”. スーパーマリオ [Olly Moss]
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2012 -
Why Mario’s Creator Is Always Threatening Retirement
In Dec. 2011, a report surface claiming that Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said he was retiring. Nintendo quickly commented, saying the report was a “misunderstanding” and “absolutely not true.” See, Shigeru Miyamoto is apparently always saying he’s going to retire. “During one of the interviews he accepted abroad, Mr. Miyamoto commented that he always tells…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 31, 2012 -
Mario’s Fire Flowers are Too Dangerous for Real Humans
Internet magician Freddie Wong shows why the fire flowers of the Mushroom Kingdom are not the fire flowers of Planet Earth. We simply cannot handle that kind of power in three dimensions. Or with our highly flammable clothing.
By Luke Plunkett Published January 29, 2012 -
The Week in Unbelievably Gorgeous Screenshots: Bioshock and Mass Effect 2
Since we ran a feature on Duncan Harris, the groovy “video game photographer” behind the website DeadEndThrills, I’ve been sharing some of his work each week here. This week Harris wrapped up Mass Effect 2 and dug into the original Bioshock, while throwing in a couple of enjoyable one-offs, as well. But first, he did…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 27, 2012 -
Watch a 3DS Make a Kid Puke and Other WTF Craziness in This Nintendo News Video
Nintendo announced a bunch of actual news over the last few days—the release window for the Wii U, the Nintendo Network, a new Mario side-scroller for the 3DS—but Next Media Animation doesn’t care about any of that. Instead, the Taiwanese news animators give us Nintendo president Satoru Iwata popping out of a warp pipe and…
By Evan Narcisse Published January 27, 2012 -
Nintendo Is Releasing a “Totally New” 3DS Mario Sidescroller
In the last few months, Nintendo put out a couple of Mario games—namely, Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. But Nintendo isn’t finished. There’s another Mario title on the horizon; it wasn’t publically known until today. At a recent analyst meeting, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata explained that Nintendo is working on many titles…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 27, 2012 -
The BestsThe 12 Best Games on the Wii
The Wii’s in a weird spot in its life cycle. Nintendo’s announced a successor and fans of the new eagerly await more details of the inbound system. But someone gave you the current system. Maybe that someone was you. What do you do once the parties are all over and Wii Sports has worn out…
By Evan Narcisse Published January 24, 2012 -
Japan’s Ten Biggest Games of 2011 Were…
2011 is over. So let’s look back at last year and suss out what the ten biggest games in Japan were. Japanese sales tracker Media Create tracked the sales for the period between Jan. 3, 2011 and Jan. 1, 2012. Here goes: 10. Wii Sports Resort Wii: 579,220 9. Dragon Quest Mosnters: Joker 2 Professional…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 17, 2012 -
Play Mario as Samus, Simon Belmont and Mega Man. Again!
In 2010, a fan-made game called Super Mario Bros. Crossover was released, which let players tackle the Nintendo classic using not just the standard plumber, but a cast of characters from other 8-bit games as well. It now has a sequel which is kicking things up a notch, taking the 8-bit visuals from the first…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2012 -
Shibuya, the Animated Version
Tokyo hotspot Shibuya means a lot of things to a lot of different people. To me, it means nice sneakers and a Starbucks with a hell of a view. To artist Andrew Wilson, it means Mario crossing the street. Shibuya [Andrew Wilson]
By Luke Plunkett Published January 15, 2012 -
You Cannot Unsee Yoshi. I Promise.
Right now, you may think you are looking at a new zero calorie lychee apple tea drink. You are. But you are also looking at Nintendo’s character, Yoshi. Yes. Don’t believe me? Check the second pic in the above gallery. The photo was originally uploaded to Japanese food blog Darksky::Weblog. 2ch forum users first noticed…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 13, 2012 -
Mario Trades His Pistol for Fireballs in the Updated ‘Real Life Super Mario Bros.‘
Filmmaker Andrew McMurry has posted this updated version of his last “Real Life Super Mario Bros“. In the last version, Mario, played by McMurry’s brother, finds himself up against a group of famous Mario enemies, eventually getting a “power-up” handgun and blowing away a bunch of poor defenseless Goombas. That was a funny joke! This…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 10, 2012