mario

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently began calling the new Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS insensitive to the hunting and killing of real-life tanuki racoon dogs for fur. I guess PETA never had an issue with everyone's favorite plumber stomping on turtles and using their shells as weapons all these years.

From the "Mario Kills Tanooki" section of PETA's site: "Tanooki may be just a 'suit' in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur." … Read more

It's no secret that the Nintendo 3DS has suffered from a dearth of compelling software to play on its unique 3D glasses-less screen. While we were shocked to see the system debut without the company's leading plumber, Nintendo calmed gamers' fears with the announcement of Super Mario 3D Land at this past summer's E3 2011 expo.

Just in time for the holiday season, Mario is back in his first-ever portable 3D adventure. He's got an enormous gaming void to fill, so how does the latest game stack up?… Read more

Geek love manifests itself in many ways. You can have a computer conduct the ceremony or beam a bridesmaid in on an iPad. Or you can choose a romantic Super Mario Brothers theme for your special day.

Mario's dedicated quest to find his princess has emerged as a metaphor for real-life nerd love before. We know of at least one guy who proposed to his lady through Super Mario.

More recently, designer and artist Larry Quach was pressed into service for his friends' video game-inspired wedding. Bride Esther Tanouye specifically wanted to kick it old school with an 8-bit Super Mario theme. … Read more

Parents have a new reason to be concerned about little Johnny spending hours blasting through Super Mario and Call of Duty. It now seems that playing video games is just a gateway to becoming a classical music fan.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is unleashing "The Greatest Video Game Music" album on November 8 featuring classically reimagined tunes from Grand Theft Auto, World of Warcraft, Tetris, BioShock, Angry Birds, and many others.

Yes, the same orchestra that brought us hit albums such as "Mozart: The Violin Concertos" and "Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 9," is now tackling Splinter Cell and Legend of Zelda.… Read more

On your marks, gamers. Nintendo is applying a lick of Sonic-blue paint to its Wii console as part of a new bundle celebrating Mario and Sonic's latest outing at the London Olympics.

The Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (snappy title) limited-edition pack is out on November 18, and we hear it comes with a copy of the game, a blue Wii, Wii Remote and nunchuck, and some stickers. Yep, stickers.

Read more of "Blue Wii with Mario and Sonic brightens up Olympics" at Crave UK.… Read more

Super Smash Land is a classic and faithful imagination of a "what if" scenario that undoubtedly plagued the minds of the original series' fans. What if Nintendo had ported one of its most successful franchises to its most successful handheld? Would we have seen more Smash brawls than Pokemon battles on the playground?

Regardless, Dan Fornace has brewed up a simple and nostalgic tribute to the Super Smash series. SSL features four stock characters, with two unlockables. Controls have been simplified to two attack buttons to emulate the original Game Boy experience.

 In addition to pixelated renditions … Read more

As of November 2011, the Nintendo Wii will be 5 years old. That's a long time in game years; in fact, it's nearly a console generation. To no great surprise, then, Nintendo has already announced the Wii's successor, the Wii U, with a likely release date of 2012. Until then, the Wii still survives, but as a lame duck console. That doesn't mean it should be overlooked. Nintendo's latest Wii console bundle--the fourth since the Wii's debut--is the lowest price ever, at $150, although the components in the bundle since last year's $200 have changed.

Gone is Wii Sports, the perennial Wii console pack-in. Gone, too, is Wii Sports Resort. Instead, the new Mario Kart bundle includes a Wii Remote Plus, nunchuck, a copy of Mario Kart Wii, and a Wii Steering Wheel plastic accessory. Mario Kart's a fun casual racer, but Nintendo has taken its most popular motion-control game, Wii Sports, out of the equation, forcing people to buy it separately. It doesn't make much sense, especially considering the game's 5 years old. Those interested in multiplayer games will also have to buy an extra Wii Remote Plus and nunchuck, $40 and $20, respectively.

Europe has announced an even less expensive redesigned Wii bundle, but the $150 Mario Kart version remains the least expensive Wii console in the U.S. We'd love to see this system drop down to $99, but that's just wishful thinking for now. That said, it can be found for under $135 at such major retailers as Wal-Mart and Amazon.

So the question remains: at those prices--about half that of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360--is the Wii worth the investment for first-time buyers?… Read more

It takes a lot of patience to make a stop-motion flick. But animator Eric Power makes it look easy with this amazing Super Mario short made entirely out of construction paper.

And to think, the first few episodes of "South Park" were made like this.

The YouTuber has posted several stop-motion paper videos, including a Star Wars homage and a spot-on Mortal Kombat fighting sequence.

He's also launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his first full-length feature made entirely out of cut-paper animation.… Read more

Nearly 26 years ago, Super Mario Bros. hit retail shelves and put millions of gamers in control of a wacky plumber determined to defeat Bowser and save Princess Toadstool. The NES classic is a cherished first experience in video games for many people, but there's something you may have missed on the original box art: Mario is about to die.

In one of those "How did I not see that?" moments, Reddit poster Deluxo pointed out last week that the iconic character appears to be near death on the cover of one of his most famous games. He's clearly hovering right over a lava pit in Bowser's castle, having just missed a critical jump and soon destined to be crispy. Just looking at the image makes me cringe and is a reminder of how many times I had to restart a level because I couldn't time a jump right. … Read more