This is simply exquisite! Matt Marchini has four selections of concept art for a Star Wars game modeled after The Oregon Trail.

Link via Boing Boing | Previously: Oregon Trail: The Movie

Click on the link to view a larger size.

I remember this circa 2002 chart from years ago. I'd say that it's still pretty accurate, except that it's probably necessary to expand cosplay culture and add online gaming.

But yeah -- the people at the very bottom of the hierarchy need to stay down there.

Link via Great White Snark | Image: Brunching Shuttlecocks

(YouTube Link)

YouTube user Peatman played the voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger over that of James Earl Jones in scenes from Star Wars. He makes a rather menacing Vader. Except, of course, for the dialogue from Kindergarten Cop. Warning: foul language.

via Nerd Bastards

Chris Sims of Comics Alliance imagined what his favorite superheroes would look like if they were put into classic Nintendo games. Pictured above is Frank Castle, the Punisher, in the 1989 game River City Ransom.

Link

Five years ago, Alex blogged about the trippy artwork of Eric Joyner. But it's new to me, and probably to a lot of readers, so it's worth mentioning again. Eric Joyner paints robots. And doughnuts. Together.

They make me giggle.

Artist Website and Interview via Nerdcore

(YouTube Link)

YouTube user Landstrider, in six hours of work, compiled every scene of a lightsaber being turned on or off.

The first one always bothered me a little. I mean, Luke almost bisects Obi Wan the first time that he picks up a lightsaber. The Jedi need something like Jeff Cooper's four rules of gun safety.

via Geekologie

This image was snapped inside a restroom at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

While we're on the subject, Captain Kirk's pre-refit chair on the old 1701 always looked like it would be uncomfortable.

Link via Gizmodo

I've previously featured das chupa's mashup of Up and Star Wars. Here's one of his more recent works. I don't understand the multiple tentacles reference, but it has been a long time since I've read Peanuts. I guess that it was weirder than I remembered.

Link via Super Punch

The US and Japan are about to mark the 50th anniversary of their defense pact. In order to strengthen an endangered relationship, the US military is publishing a multi-issue manga designed to promote good relations between the two nations:

The story features an American boy called Usa-kun -- a word play on USA and "usagi", Japanese for rabbit -- who wears a hooded jacket with bunny ears and befriends a Japanese girl, Anzu Arai.

In the first issue of "Our Alliance -- A Lasting Partnership", to be published online Wednesday, the boy tells Anzu that he has come to defend her home because they are "important friends".[...]

In the four-part comic series, the two main characters "explore and learn about the US military in Japan and its role in the US-Japan alliance," according to a statement from the US forces.

The US military chose the manga format because it is "a very common way of communicating in Japan," Major Neal Fisher, deputy director of the US forces' public affairs office in Japan, told AFP by telephone.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jP3LgTrhlK2O7_pgtq4XpD6UksQQ via Digg | Image: AP

I like it; it's clever. Kind of classy for tramp stamp.

Don't add anything on the back -- leave it up to the viewers' imaginations which movie they're watching.

Link (NSFWish) via Great White Snark

(YouTube Link)

Waterloo Labs states that different parts of the human eye have different electrical charges. Align electrodes with those movements and you can measure them with an electro-oculogram. These signals can then be translated into commands in a NES. Then it's a simple matter of inserting the Super Mario Bros. cartridge.

via Popular Science | Official Website

(Video Link)

Malte Jehmlich and Matthes Mikysec made an analog version of a racing arcade game. They built a cardboard tunnel and set up a remote controlled car with a camera. Then they built an arcade cabinet for the screen and controls. The track is designed to look like the 1995 game Wipeout.

via technabob

Cartoonist Eric Feurstein lampooned John Marston's adventures in Red Dead Redemption by chronicling 24 hours of his life. This is 9:12 AM.

Well, sometimes you have to move the plot along, even if it means that the PC's actions don't make sense.

Link via Kotaku

Artist Brian McLachlan made a set of comic book covers for cult movies including Shaft, The Warriors, Mad Max, Heathers, and The Goonies. Pictured above is a scene from a Red Dawn remake that I would love to see.

Link via Geekosystem

More Kinect Videos

(Video Link)

Xbox's new Kinect gaming platform may seem nifty and high-tech, but as this video shows, it can't do all of the things that Connect Four can. It's four times as advanced -- or else, they would have called it "Connect" instead of "Connect Four, right?. Comedy courtesy of IGN.

via Nerd Bastards