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It’s only a matter of time before Juilliard starts up a Super Mario studies program. In the meantime, this prodigy is getting the ball rolling with his spectacular rendition of the Super Mario Bros. theme in real time – adjusted for speed boosts, trips into the warp zones, coin grabs, and other sound effects.
When I win the lottery and become a zillionaire, I’m going to have a room with just an NES and this guy in it. It’s gonna be awesome.
Confession time: back in the ’80s, I spent a pretty sizable chunk of time cutting class and playing Super Mario Bros. on that beautiful grey box that was the NES. I also listened to Danzig – until I realized that it was drowning out that hypnotic siren song that is the Super Mario theme.
And I’d say I turned out alright. What’s more, it turns out I’m not the only one who was mentored by Mario. Case in point: Julia Leptit’s Dorkly piece “Everything I Need to Know in Life I Learned From Super Mario,” which is not only brilliant but is also not the craziest thing a kid could learn. Or an adult, for that matter.
Now if you’ll excuse me, Redneck Bob the inbred comic is hosting a History Channel special on the Kennedy-Triceratops treaty of 1812.
Children at the Maria Imaculada School in Porto Alegre, Brazil, put on a Super Mario-themed classical ballet. It was entitled “The Abduction of Princess Peach.” I’m waiting until they do Grand Theft Auto.
Link (Google Translate) via Kotaku | Photo: Reino do Cogumelo
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Donald, an electrical engineer in El Paso, Texas, made this mech inspired by Yoshi from Super Mario Bros. You can see more pictures at the link, as well as similar past projects at his website.
Link via DVICE | Artist’s Website
Martin Spitznagel performed this ragtime medley of music from Super Mario Bros., Harry Potter movies, and Star Wars. Andrew Barrett and Tom Warner accompanied him on washboards. This performance took place at the West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento in 2008.
via reddit | Spitznagel’s Website
YouTube user yankeyan altered his Kinect gaming interface so that he could play Super Mario Bros. by mimicking Mario’s movements:
I programmed it to recognize my motions and passed the virtual button presses to the NES emulator. I could have placed a simulated keypad right in front of me that I can press with my hands, but I thought full body gestures were more in the spirit of Kinect. Of course, Mario isn’t designed to be played like this, so this is really really hard.
via Technabob
A housing development in Zaragoza, Spain, will name its streets after classic video games. Last Saturday, residents dubbed one road “Avenida de Super Mario Bros.”:
Other planned roads in the neighborhood include streets named for “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Space Invaders” and “The Legend of Zelda.”
Video games won out over more traditional options in an online poll that residents used to pick their street names, said Antonio Almudi Miranda, president of the Arcosur neighborhood association.
“We are people who grew up living with video games. We know them very well,” he said. “I’m 25. I’m the same age as Mario.”
Link via Nerd Bastards | Photo: CNN
Artist Jude Buffum made butchering charts for Koopas, Ganon, Chocobos, and Yoshi. They’ll be on display at the upcoming Pixel Pushers show at SCION Installation in Culver City, California.
Link via Popped Culture | Gallery Website (warning: sound)
Previously by Jude Buffum
Rainbow Brite: Finish Her!
1980s Movies in 8-Bit
Joseph Karam, a fan of Koji Kondo’s musical score for Super Mario Bros., discovered that there is no complete body of sheet music for the game. So he decided to create a professional-level transcription:
[...] I pulled out my professional engraving software and embarked on a meticulous and uncompromising transcription project that involved (i) transcribing every pitch and rhythm while listening to the original 8-bit NES recordings hundreds of times, voice by voice, note by note, in a loop, (ii) rigorously cross-checking my work with several of the best transcription attempts out there, (iii) arranging the visual layout and pagination for clear readability, and (iv) optimizing the piano fingering by learning the pieces myself and playing them every day for several months.
Link via Geekosystem | Image: Joseph Karam
Twenty-five years ago today, the first Super Mario Bros. game was released in Japan. Keith Stuart of The Guardian has a round-up of 25 bits of Mario history trivia, including one on the origin of the titular character’s name:
Mario was originally known as Jumpman. However, when Nintendo’s US office were trying to think of a better name in time for the American release of the game, they were interrupted by their landlord Mario Segale, after whom they christened the character.
Link via Geekosystem | Image by deviantART user LabrenzInk
Students at the Columbus College of Art & Design (Columbus, Ohio) made an interactive mural that lets you put yourself into Super Mario Bros. Twelve students spent eight days making it. The mural measures sixteen feet tall and thirty-eight feet wide. You can view several full-size pictures at the link.
Link via Geekosystem | Photo: NBC4
The bike lane in North Williams Avenue in Portland, Oregon now sports power-ups from the video game Mario Kart. Presumably driving over them will make the bicyclist variously very fast, spin out of control, or become invincible.
via Comics Alliance
Previously:
Mario Kart in Real Life
Mario Kart Love Song
Photo: Supernomnom [Flickr]
With a Flickr username like Supernomnom, it’s no wonder that the Super Mario Bros. themed picnic food dishes look supper yummy! (Served with Princess Peaches Schnapps, of course).
Here’s the Flickr photoset: Link
[YouTube - Link]
Super Mario Bros is no doubt the most popular beatboxing song because of its universal appeal, but this rendition is undeniably impressive. I especially enjoyed the second half, when he hits the darker music of the underground levels.
Link via CollegeHumor
Back in 1985 when Super Mario Bros. was born, the intuitive simplicity of game meant that anyone could pick up an NES controller and start playing, figuring out the rules as they went along. This classic videogame, considered primitive by today’s standards, went on to sell more than 40 million copies.
But have you ever wondered how Mario and Luigi would appear if the game were invented today?
Professional games developer Zach Hiwiller had fun imagining just such a scenario, assuming the game were made with today’s sensibilities (i.e. , dumbed down).
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.
Comments Off Jaime Margary (DeviantArt user kalapusa) created this realistic Super Mario Bros. Piranha Plant sculpture a couple of years ago, but I just found out about it today … and was blown away by its sheer awesomeness!
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]
From the NeatoShop: Super Mario Bros. stuff
Aha! I knew these guys would eventually open a restaurant, but I always imagined it would be a joint venture, not next-door competing eateries. Found at Google Street View, ever the source for coincidence, not irony. This is in Manchester, United Kingdom, where reports of plumbing failures have peppered the news there.
Mario
Question Block Coin Candy - $3.95
You never know what you'll get from a question block in the video game Super Mario Bros., but there's no question here. You'll get awesome coin-shaped candies from Boston America's Mario Question Block Coin Candy.
The candy, licensed from Nintendo, comes in a collectible metal tin and is now available from the Neatorama Shop: Link
More Super Mario Bros. themed stuff from the Neatorama Shop:
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Super
Mario Bros. Mushroom Tin - $3.45 |
Mario
Bros. Super Star Candy - $2.95 |
When microbiologists aren’t curing diseases, they create works of art in petri dishes. In fact, they have an annual competition at the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) conference. This entry, inspired by Super Mario Bros., was submitted by the nanobiology laboratory at the University of Osaka. You can view a gallery of petri dish art at the link.
via Popular Science
UPDATE 12.20.09: Apparently we’re having virus problems, so I deleted the link. I would not have guessed that New Scientist would be a bad risk.
deviantART user William Chua of Singapore created this remix of Super Mario Bros. and classical Japanese illustration. He claims inspiration by both Super Mario Bros. and the game Monster Hunter.
Link via Geekologie | deviantART Gallery
This video shows four different levels of Super Mario Bros. in which the sound effects were synchronized to play four different musical parts in the Queen song “Don’t Stop Me Now.” If that explanation doesn’t make sense, it will about a minute into the video. Its origin is a little unclear, as the information is in Japanese. I’ll update as I learn more.
via Geekologie
Animator Jeremie Duval remixed Super Mario Bros. with the tone and sound of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Content warning: not for mushroom lovers.
Via Geekologie
So. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, I’m sure you’ve heard that President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize (surprise!)
The blogosphere was immediately abuzz with … confusion. What has Obama done to deserve to win? Isn’t it a bit premature? Are Norwegians just Obamafans? And does this mean that the Olympics is ditching Rio to come to Chicago? You’d expect this kind of reaction from his political opponents, but it seems that *everyone* was scratching their heads.
I know, I know – no politics on Neatorama. But I’m genuinely puzzled. What do you guys think is going on?
[poll=13]
And yes, I made that Super Obamario Bros. photoshop
Craftster user Montyfull was a fashion major and a gamer, and so naturally combined the two interests with evening wear inspired by the video game Super Mario Bros. The above sequin dress took eighty hours of work and features a NES controller as a garter. There more pictures at the link, including a mushroom dress and a bob-omb dress.
Link via Geekologie
This faux trailer presents Super Mario Bros. as the classic war movie The Inglorious Bastards (or possibly the new Quentin Tarantino remake). It’s called The Inglorious Plumbers and was produced by Nick Murphy.
Via Popped Culture
Craftster member enemyairship created this 7 by 7 foot rug of Mario in raccoon form:
He’s made of 386 granny squares, each one representing 1 pixel (3.5″ each) that makes up Raccoon Mario. I learned to crochet in February by watching youtube videos and recently watched another video for granny squares and got started on this project right away. I had originally thought that it would take me over 1 month to complete if I made about 10 granny squares per day.
Antoinette J. Citizen created this art installation straight out of Super Mario Bros, complete with working question mark boxes with sound effects: Link – via Chunnel
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