Throughout the 1980s, Nintendo's Game & Watch series of handhelds provided the soundtrack to innumerable school playgrounds across the globe. A pre-Game Boy attempt to capture the portable games market, Game & Watch titles were relatively cheap but sturdily built toys which came with a single game and, as the name suggests, a watch. For the best part of eleven years, Nintendo kept manufacturing these forerunners to its other handheld devices, only for the Game Boy and Tetris to emerge in 1989 and squash the whole enterprise flat.
Nevertheless, the spirit of Game & Watch lives on through the hundreds of individuals who collect the games. For this one-off piece, DS Fanboy decided to interview two hardcore collectors in a bid to understand their love of Nintendo's first portable phenomenon.
Both 35-year-old Michael Panayiotakis (founder of Mike's Nintendo Game & Watch forum and the author of a quite superb FAQ on the subject) and 38-year-old Andy Cole possess the kind of retrolicious Game & Watch collections that we would maim (and possibly kill) for. To find out what they love about this charming series, why they collect Game & Watch, and why they dedicate so much time and money to their hobby, hit the break for our full interview. Once you've done that, don't forget to browse our gallery for a pictorial history of the Game & Watch phenomenon!
Well, okay, you can do that by just playing Donkey Kong, but there's also another way. You can take these Nintendo wall decals from Blik and create a Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros. or New Super Mario Bros. mural right on your wall. We won't tell you how we're getting some for our office, as you should have already figured that out by now.
What's really cool about these, though, is that the user has some level of creativity. It's not just one standard piece you slap on the wall. It comes in many pieces, meaning you can create a design all your own. Want it to look like an exact level from the game? Want it to be completely unrealistic? It's all up to you.
Of course, there is a catch. Each set costs $75, which means you'll need to spend a bunch of Mario's coins if you expect to send your walls back to the 8-bit era.
Sure, it's from a PSP game, but we can all admit that, aside from that small flaw, this video is pretty sweet. Apparently, this PSP game lets you create and download custom stages. From the looks of this recreation of 1-1 in Super Mario Bros., we're sure there are plenty of other sweet homages to other iconic gaming levels available for it, as well. Of course, the only problem with this user-created stage is that it lacks the music from the original Super Mario Bros. game. But, that's to be expected.
Someone let us know when there's a user-created stage that is modeled after the introductory level in Castlevania.
If there is one thing we can appreciate, it's talent. And these folk have it, as the students from Hermann Wesselink College manage to bust out into a pair of great Nintendo themes a capella style. They handle a choice selection from The Legend of Zelda, as well as Super Mario Bros. in the video above.
If our school had stuff like this back when we were in our developing stages, maybe we would've paid attention and not grown up to become blogging scum.
Update: Some readers point out that this isn't a capella. Sorry folks, we're not a music blog!
We like this new trend of people crafting game-related afghans. First it was with Tetris, and now with a scene depicting one of our favorite plumbers (Mario, obviously). This particular blanket was made by ThomcatDesigns, who have earned our complete respect for their (his? her?) mad crafting skills. The detail in this makes it look like it came right out of one of our favorite NES classics.
Check the gallery to see the chronological progression of the afghan as it was created. It's pretty amazing to watch it turn from a mess of yarn into a masterpiece.
Gallery: ThomcatDesigns' Mario Afghan
[Via Technabob; pictures via thomcatdesgins' Flickr account]
Taking a break from porting visual novel demos like Fate/hollow ataraxia Prologue and Snatcher Pilot, developer Multiple: Option has posted its first original project, a neat homebrew application that teaches you how to play simple video game melodies with a virtual piano. If only there was a similar program for 90s gangsta rap songs -- we would love to learn 2Pac's "I Ain't Mad at Cha!"
Multiple: Option's software, Game Melody Oratorio, includes lessons for songs Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Tetris, Bubble Bobble, and The Legend of Zelda. Each melody has two modes, one for practicing the tune with visual cues, the other for playing the melody without any help once you've mastered it. Don't see your favorite video game song on the list? There's also a "Free Play" mode that allows you to experiment and play whatever you want.
Quick, call your mom, your sister, whomever has the baking skills in your life. Tell them that they have a difficult task ahead. You desire some cupcakes that compare to the look and, we're fairly certain, the delicious taste of these treats presented above.
Well, maybe we just desire some, but what's good for us is good for you, right?
We usually don't feel warm and fuzzy when thinking about piranha plants, but we suppose it can't be helped when one actually is warm and fuzzy. Still, years of training (read: playing Mario games) have conditioned us to keep our fingers away from these beasts, even if they look harmless.
This precious pincushion was made by a Toronto artist named FoulFowl, and was wet and needle felted. Since we're domestically challenged, we're not exactly sure what that entails, but it sounds impressive -- at least, we hope so, since the craft is set at $25.
Marcelo Perfetti and Martin Urrutia's production is an imaginative display of how a stylus-supported version of Super Mario Bros. would play on the Nintendo DS. This paper-powered approximation of the NES classic's first level even comes complete with a tinny version of the Overworld theme! That creative bit with the flag at the end is extra charming, snuck in with a wink.
Why can't more kids use up their near-limitless amounts of free time to entertain us with these homemade picture shows? Now, if only they had gone the extra mile and flicked a lighter underneath the screen to burn in some fireworks ...
In some deeply weird alternative universe, perhaps one in which Japanese people actually bought Microsoft consoles and England's footballers weren't quite so irredeemably rubbish, we might never have experienced Super Mario Bros. as we know it. Instead, we could have been playing Super MarioSisters.
Alas, Nintendo of America never did follow through on a trademark application it filed in February, 1990 for a game called "SUPER MARIO SISTERS." The application was abandoned almost two years later, depriving us all of an estrogen-fuelled version of the world's favorite platformer.
Some awesome soul has taken it about himself to make visually enhanced game tunes, and the result is nothing short of spectacular. Using a program called Music Animation Machine MIDI Player, which converts the musical notes of MIDI songs into art, the creator of these videos has managed to blow our minds. Sure, we always enjoy it when musical sounds are synthesized with visual imagery, but when some of our favorite songs are involved, it just makes it that much better.
We decided to put the Mega Man 2 "Dr. Wily Stage 1" song up top to celebrate Rock Man's 20th anniversary, and well, because it's our favorite. If you don't look after the break to check out the equally awesome Final Fantasy IV, Kirby, Mario, and other tunes, though, you officially fail at the internet.
Okay, during Zelda week, we said that after we had seen the ultimate in gaming cakes, we would never post another one again. Well, first of all, we lied, blatantly and outrageously. Still love us? Good. Second of all, this one has the whole first Super Mario Bros. level! C'mon, how could we resist? Short answer: we could not.
We just hope none of the guests got the urge to smash any bricks ....
So long as we're spending a whole week assailing you with links about Link, we thought we'd share with you one of the best fan-made art pieces we've seen for the green-capped adventurer. Jainai Jeffries created this amazing realistic envisioning of Link last year, posing him on a tree porcupined with red-fletched arrows. Past the post break, you can check out an uncolored version of the above image and several other video game reinterpretations Jainai has illustrated.
Well, okay, you can do that by just playing Donkey Kong, but there's also another way. You can take these Nintendo wall decals from Blik and create a 
Taking a break from porting visual novel demos like Fate/hollow ataraxia Prologue and 
In some deeply weird alternative universe, perhaps one in which Japanese people actually bought Microsoft consoles and England's footballers weren't quite so irredeemably rubbish, we might never have experienced Super Mario Bros. as we know it. Instead, we could have been playing Super Mario Sisters.
