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Super Mario Bros. almost didn't have goombas
Goombas aren't just iconic staples of Nintendo's Mario universe, they're the first enemy players came up against in Super Mario Bros. That wasn't always the case, though. According to the first-ever Know Your Enemy video from GameXplain, goombas weren't originally planned for the game at all. The famous mushroom-heads were conceived of as a teaching tool so that players could organically discover that the key to defeating enemies was jumping on their heads without having to deal with the "tricky" koopas. There's plenty of other interesting details about the history of goombas in this video, so if you ever want to study up for a game of video game Trivial Pursuit, here is a good place to start. The more you know!
Paper Mario: Sticker Star sticks to the basics
The hardest thing about Paper Mario: Sticker Star is just remembering it's an RPG. Even in his cute little 2D-in-a-3D world form, Mario's running and jumping on enemies, an act so comfortable that you do it automatically whenever you see a Goomba or a Koopa Troopa walking by. Usually, that move results in a satisfying crunch and a coin or two, but in Sticker Star it sends you into a turn-based battle scene. There are quite a few new mechanics in both the battle system and the game's overworld, and fans with fond memories of the other Mario RPGs will likely relish the chance to level up the Italian plumber yet again.
Take a trip through Prototype 2's super deadly 'Red Zone'
Don't be fooled by the beginning of this new video for Prototype 2 -- birds have not replaced Alex as the protagonist and they can't shapeshift into deadly, oozing weaponry. But really, would that be so bad? Also, the things at the end remind us of mutated goombas, which supports the bird thing.
Show and Tell: Lunch in a box
We've spent a little time admiring amazing lunches before, but we haven't yet donated our weekly time in the community spotlight to the fine art of bento-making ... until today. Yes, friends, today we're going to make you hungry with these fantastic Nintendo-themed boxed lunches. Slice up some carrot and mold your rice into a ball, then head into our gallery and check out some amazing gamer bento.%Gallery-38877% Show and Tell is all about fan stuff, so long as it's Nintendo-related. We love to see your collections, your crafts, your frosted creations, your t-shirts and swag of all sorts.Just snap a few pictures, tell us what's up, and send it all to showmeit [at] dsfanboy [dot] com. We'll take care of the rest. Not a handy type, but found something neat? Send us a link instead.
Show and Tell: For the love of a character
A big part of Nintendo (and gaming) fandom seems to be linked to the appreciation -- nay, love -- of certain characters, and that's what we're exploring in this week's edition of Show and Tell. It's all about characters and the things we do in honor of them. Take the guided tour, or jump all willy-nilly into the gallery below.%Gallery-31978% Show and Tell is all about fan stuff, so long as it's Nintendo-related. We love to see your collections, your crafts, your frosted creations, your t-shirts and swag of all sorts.Just snap a few pictures, tell us what's up, and send it all to showmeit [at] dsfanboy [dot] com. We'll take care of the rest. Not a handy type, but found something neat? Send us a link instead.
Birdo & Silver & Jet & Donkey Kong at the Olympic Games
As if Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games wasn't already home to enough abysmal characters, a group of hackers have discovered a way to unlock numerous other unused playable characters in the title, including Silver the Hedgehog, Jet the -- ugh -- Hawk, and Donkey Kong (who would have been a welcome addition, actually). Birdo is also available, though comes with some sort of hideous facial deformity, as though the model never had its nose finished. It looks kind of wrong, truth be told. Not as wrong as this, mind.There are plenty of other background characters that can be played with (some of which are fairly obscure), though only in certain events (such as trampolining). These include Shy Guy, Toad, the gut-churning Charmy, Espio, Cream, Boo, Bullet Bill (!), Goomba (!!), "Heroes Enemy 1," "Heroes Enemy 2," "SA1 Monkey," and -- nooo! -- Big the Cat. Sprint through the tape and into our gallery for a couple more screens.%Gallery-4697%
Take a bath with Mario
With our two cruel, merciless lovely, thoughtful, and charismatic leads cracking the whip gently encouraging us to blog, we barely find time nowadays to recline in a long, hot bath. Next time an opportunity arises, however, we plan to share our tub with one of these Super Mario Brothers Bath Bombs.Available at ThinkGeek for $5.99, these release a yellowish, fragrant foam into your bath, before dissolving to leave you with a cute Mario, Luigi, Fire Mario, Bowser Jr., Goomba, or Power Mushroom figurine. DS Fanboy: your one-stop source for Nintendo-themed toiletries.[Via Hawty McBloggy]
Jump on Goombas in your own home
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/nintendo/Jump_on_Goombas_in_your_own_home'; We'd obviously love to order an entire set of these Mario-themed mats, even at $23 apiece, but we're not sure we'd have the heart to stand on them. We like our floors, and particular enjoy, you know, using them to stand, but if you think we're going to tread all over a perfect recreation of the Mushroom Kingdom (which is inevitably what we'd end up doing with these), you can think again.If you do have floors that are devoid of socks, old pizza boxes, and cats, these are available at NCSX now, and come in the five designs you see to the right.[Via Level Select]
Keep sharp objects away from this Nintendo balloon art
When we usually see balloons, we get an urge to kick them. Or squeeze them. Or rub them on our clothes to create static and annoy other people. Or pop them. But that's not the case with these superb examples of balloon art. When we see these, we want to build a special cabinet to display them in, and pray that they never, ever, ever deflate.They're the work of gifted Flickr user TwystNeko, who seems to be quite the expert at manipulating rubber and air. As well as this Mario, s/he's fashioned other Nintendo-themed balloon masterpieces, which you can see after the post break, including an a-maz-ing Mega Man.
A bracelet to coordinate with Kuribo's Shoe
We don't know what self-respecting Kuribo (Goomba) would wear images of itself while bouncing around in a giant boot, but then, Kuribos don't even have wrists. So there. Humans, however, frequently have wrist-bearing arms on which we can place bracelets. We also have hands and fingers with which to do the beadwork for these bracelets. Unfortunately, we don't have access to giant bouncy green wind-up boots. Oh, the irony, sort of!
Metroid + Mario = Metrio?
While the term Metrio might make you think of a metrosexual Mario, we assure you that is not the case and admit we honestly couldn't come up with any better name for the above image. Taking the worlds of Metroid and Mario, and mashing them together, we get a very inspired, very cool mixture of Mario and Samus, Metroids and Goombas. Check out a video of the sketch being done, embedded into the post past the jump.
Full version of Gears of War leaked? [update 1]
Gears of War has been pirated and uploaded to an Xbox 360 binaries group on Usenet. The file clocks in at around 7.2 gigs in 157 parts, and will require someone with patience, bandwidth and no sense of morals to download. Is it real? Nobody knows. While it is hard to imagine this being legit, it definitely represents a problem to the developers. We're surprised the feed didn't get the smackdown immediately, but trying to rollout a significant next-gen title might occupy most of your free time.If people could just be patient, this game will be in your hot little hands very soon. So stop wasting your time downloading useless binaries, and just stare at a calendar. Or you could go to a preview of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, and get hands on with Gears afterwards.[Thank, Bran][Update, took out the link ... we're definitely not encouraging piracy here, folks.]
Have Mario send your mail (via stamps from Japan)
Sure, old Mario has been known to paint, play professional sports, and even do some actual plumbing work on occasion, but he'll soon be able to power your mail through the postal service in the Far East.10-stamp sheets of 80 Yen stamps are now available for pre-order in Japan, where gaming otakus will soon be able to adorn their snail mail with the likes of goombas, magic mushrooms, and mustachioed men. The set will be out next month.Has the government of a country like the US ever done anything this official to honor one of the icons of gaming? Perhaps when we have avid gaming advocates in Congress -- or even, dare we say, in the White House -- things will look a little different with game legislation proposals and the postage of unwanted junk mail.[Via GameBrink]See also: French stamps to feature video game icons (Super) Mario Bros. question mark and POW block speakers
