Video: GoT: Super Mario World

"Video Game of Thrones: Super Mario World" by NicksplosionFX

Three years ago, Game of Thrones blew viewers away with one of the most iconic openings in television history.  The opening matched the tone of HBO’s show flawlessly.  Paired with an epic score, the show's weekly  introduction to Westeros is a slick infodump so beautiful that many viewers overlook its informative purpose.

Now, feast your eyes on a chiptune version of the Game of Thrones intro set to Super Mario World, thanks to YouTube member NicksplosionFX. It’s absolutely brilliant.   With the help of an 8-bit remix of the ubiquitous theme, NicksplosionFX has recreated the opening scene inside of the Super Nintendo classic, Super Mario World.  Trees grow, castles are erected, and crowns are adorned with Yoshi and his quick-grab tongue.   From Yoshi’s Island to Bowser’s Castle, the Mushroom Kingdom isn’t quite as vast as Westeros, but the parody is spot on.

Paintings: Super Mario World Series

Super Mario World Series

"P Balloon" by Ronan Lynam

Prints available for purchase from Society6. US$19

Music Video: Phanto of the Mushroom

"Phanto of the Mushroom Kingdom" by Random Encounters

A Phantom of the Opera Parody

Crafts: Mini Amigurumi

"Louie’s Loops" by Louis Mensinger

Prints available for purchase from Etsy. US$9.99 - $16.99

Louis Mensinger specializes in making teeny-tiny amigurumi that would look good on a keychain.

Street Art: Donkey Kong

"DK Arcade" by Guilhem Lascaux

Posters: This Is The End

"This Is The End" by Hungarian graphic designer László Kónya

Posters: Bowser Never Loved Me.

"Bowser Never Loved Me." by Beast Wreck

Prints available for purchase from Society6. US$15

Crafts: Tanooki Mario & Toad

Tanooki Mario & Toad by Lauren Andrews

Currently up for auction as part of the Press Start charity show.

"Inspired by the 2013 Rare Candy: Pokémon Charity Gallery, the San Jose State University ShrunkenHeadMan Club's Charity Committee has arranged Press Start: Nintendo Charity Gallery. The gallery features characters from a variety of Nintendo games, such as The Legend of Zelda, Earthbound, Animal Crossing, Mario, and many more!

Proceeds from the gallery auction will go to the Morgan Autism Center, an organization devoted to helping autistic individuals. You can find more information about Morgan Autism Center here: http://www.morgancenter.org/"

Video: Mario is Destroying my House

"Mario is Destroying my House" by Jhoofnail

What do video games do when you're not looking? Nothing. Luckily for us, John Huffnagle has a richer imagination than most, and he's invested some time into imagining a world where games do come to life while our backs are turned.

Huffnagle did a fantastic job with all of the filming, editing, music, VFX, and animation for this fun short film that imagines the world of Super Mario breaking out of his television and into the real world. The countless destructive objects and creatures would surely wreak havoc on the world if they escaped from your TV. And the first casualty would certainly be your house.

Video: Bowser Wants a Gun

"Bowser Wants a Gun" by Dorkly

Bowser pays a visit to the gun factory to have a little talk with Jerry the Turtle. While he is there he decides to ‘demonstrate’ the problem with Jerry’s work and voice his displeasure. No more slow-ass cannons; Bowser wants a real gun, cuz it's time to show Mario what's up. Guns don't kill -- Mario does.

Video: Mario meets Walking Dead

"Telltale Games' Super Mario Bros." by Dorkly

Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead games are episodic adventures with difficult choices and unforeseen consequences. Dorkly imagines what the developer’s take on Super Mario Bros. would be. Luigi will no longer remember that.

Video: Super Smash Wars

"SUPER SMASH WARS: A Link To The Hope" by James Farr

James Farr's Super Smash Wars trilogy is now a complete and fully operational!  If you haven't been following the series, now is your chance to watch the whole thing from beginning to end.  The series  mashes up the Star Wars and Nintendo universes in a cheeky parody of both franchises.  I hope he eventually gets around to doing the prequels, because I Yoshi would be a fantastic Jar Jar.

"NEXT UP IN ANOTHER DIMENSION: When Phantom Lord Ganon-Darth unveils his latest weapon, it will be up to Link Skywaker to learn the ways of the TRIFORCE, and lead a rag-tag rebellion against the Empire."

Music Video: Super Mario Bros Theme

"Super Mario Bros Theme" by Dan Newbie

Dan Newbie has made a name for himself by performing music using only kitchen equipment.  Here, he plays the Super Mario Bros. theme song with a pair of pencils, 48 wine glasses filled with tap water, and a frying pan.

Sweets: Mario Bros. Wedding Cake

Super Mario Bros. Wedding Cake by Love Candy Cakes

Photographed by S6 Photography

Via: RockNRoll Bride

Video: Mario Warfare

"MARIO WARFARE - Part 1" by Beatdownboogie

Beatdownboogie has released a new KickStarter-funded web series called "Mario Warfare" that pays tribute to a lot of great action movies, using classic Nintendo game characters.  Keep an eye out to see if you can spot them all! 

"Bowser's airships rain destruction on the Mushroom Kingdom.  The King is missing, presumed dead.  The Princess is on the run.  A couple plumbers answer the call of duty and sign up to fight.  Now Mario, Luigi (and a team of old school video game characters) are thrown into the gritty new world of first person shooters like COD and Battlefield.

Imagine "Super Mario Brothers meets Blackhawk Down." With a healthy dose of humor.  That's our new web series, Mario Warfare!  It's a loving parody of classic video games and epic action-films."

Crafts: Crochet Mario Blanket

Crochet Mario Blanket by Gege_Crochet

Read more about the blanket and check out build photos.

Gege-Crochet is what you might call a fanatic where Super Mario Bros. is concerned.  For his birthday, he received this astounding handcrafted blanket.  Keep in mind, this guy is six feet two inches tall, for scale.  That is one gigantic crocheted Mario blanket.  What's really impressive is that no pattern was used in its creation.  It was entirely improvised.  What's a shame is that someone probably spent hundreds of hours creating this, but no one bothered to take the five minutes necessary to photograph it properly.  Still, it's a sight to behold, even misframed and poorly lit.

"There is no pattern that I followed. I searched the internet for screen shots of SMB and then used them for the map I had in my head. There is no ‘master graph’ for any of the panels, much less for the entire project. The most involved panel was the battle scene and is the only one I drew out. I have absolutely no intention of creating a graph of my entire work; however, there may be a time when I decide to make a graph of a panel or two…..dunno when/if that will happen, though."

Gaming Round-Up: March 4, 2014

"Mario 25th Anniversary Commission" by David Velásquez

Emma Vossen does a bit of personal history, thinking through how her modes of interaction with female characters as a child has formed her.  "I don’t think we really realized we had options, and we didn’t always know what was out there until we got the internet. I think the main reason I didn’t realize that games weren’t really for me was  because I had the benefit of living with a male sibling who liked both sharing, and more importantly, playing games together."

Eriq Martin takes a look at what IGN contributors and community members think Makes the Perfect Video Game. "The perfect video game is not the one that has the best story, the best graphics or the best gameplay."

Gaming Round-Up: March 3, 2014

"Star Power" by Joshua Ketchen

10 Video Game Sequels That Need To Happen


American Lawmakers Attack Violent Video Game Developers: The Washington Examiner reports that the GOP tax plan singles out violent video game makers on the upcoming tax reform bill. How they do this is by removing the proposed research and development tax break. As reported by Colin Moriarty of IGN, this came about through the Ways & Means Committee which is controlled by the majority of the House of Representative, being the GOP or Republican Party. The Washington Examiner also has the story.  The R&D tax benefit allows companies to successfully conduct research and development to further their businesses. This includes access to customer bases for marketing purposes, access to talent and (key to the games industry) stable information technology infrastructure.  This bill would exclude companies who make violent games from access to these credits, preventing developers from even qualifying for them. However, at this stage, it is not fully known what would constitute as “violent."

Mash-Up: Akira / Legend of Zelda

"Attack on titan Bowser" by Caterina Corsini

A mash-up of Super Mario Bros. and Attack on Titan

Quick Pic: Super Mario Desk

Super Mario Vinyl Graphic Desk

Source: Reddit.com

"I work for a vinyl graphics company, did this to my desk today."