Grand Prize Winner
Original Nintendo Mini Collage by Chris Lange

Posted by Jack: “My brother and I used to play 2-player Super Mario Brothers when we were growing up. I would get frustrated when he was playing for too long, so I convinced him the pits in one the water levels were warp zones. He fell for it and died. Then it was my turn again, but not before he threw his controller at me and made my nose bleed. Also, I would beat him in the head with my Gameboy if he beat me in 2-player linked Tetris.”

Runner Up Prize Winners (5)
Nintendo Collage Digital Print by Chris Lange

Posted by Jenny G: “I was introduced to the Nintendo system rather late in life (not until college in the late 90s). Super Mario Brothers, however, I used to play on the Commodore 64 with my older brother.

My favorite Nintendo memory spans a decade. When I first started playing the SMB games, I always had trouble getting by the flying turtles. My roommate (whose systems we were playing on) always played Mario and I got to play Luigi. One day when we were first playing, I ran right into a flying turtle and died. Without thinking about it, I burst out with “That d*mn duck!” (yes, I know they are actually turtles, but in my defense the graphics weren’t what they are now…) My roommate was so surprised that he started laughing so hard that he didn’t realize that he had walked into a spike pit until the game over sign showed up.

Last year, my husband bought SMB3 for the gameboy since I kept insisting that it was the only game that I knew how to fly. Unfortunately, my game playing had not improved over the last decade and within my first hour of gameplay, the flying turtles and I were duking it out. My husband (who was playing the Wii while I was sitting there playing the gameboy) fell off the couch laughing when once again I shouted “That d*mn duck!”

Alas, neither my former roommate nor my husband will let me forget those comments…”

Posted by Sarah: “When my brother and I were kids there was a rule that our friends couldn’t come into the house when mom wasn’t home. Well we wanted to play Nintendo with our friends so we put the tv up against the front window, faced it outside and ran the controllers out the door! Lol!”

Posted by Lucky: “When I was a much younger, more innocent geek, I entered one of those supermarket coloring contests. All I had to was color in a pre-drawn picture of Mario and Princess Toadstool for the chance at a super secret grand prize! I got a call one day that I was the winner of… free accordion lessons. Man did they have my geekiness pegged. I went for a couple lessons and in honor of my dubious win, I learned how to play the Super Mario Bros. theme on the piano accordion. I quit my lessons after I realized the actual game was way more fun.”

Posted by The Charles: “It’s December 25, 1987 and I am 5 years old eagerly waiting to unwrap my presents. I haven’t slept all night because I know I’m going to unwrap the coolest present ever: a NES gaming system (or as this native, Texan boy says, “a Nin-‘tin-da!”). To my dismay, I had no presents left and I hadn’t unwrapped my NES yet. I was disheartened when my mom gave me an envelope. I thought to myself, “Great, it’s going to be money or something.” The note inside the envelope said, “Santa left another gift in the bed of the truck in the garage.” I slowly walked into the garage and immediately my attitude went from sad to running around my house like a madman when I saw the NES box! To this day, my mom always tells me this story and wishes she would’ve had a video camera to record it.”

Posted by Lee: “My fondest Nintendo memory was buying SNES just after my 7th birthday. I went to the window with my mom to pick up the system, and the guy working said, “You know it doesn’t come with a game, right?” I must’ve looked pretty sad when I said I knew, and I’d have to get one later, because he slipped Mario Kart into my bag and said “Don’t ask any questions.” At the time, Mario Kart was the hottest game in the world. Playing it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.”

Random Prize Winner
$50 Amazon Gift Certificate

Posted by Carol: “My fondest memory of Nintendo is of my son, now 23, who was 5 years old when he saved the princess on Mario Brothers. The entire family gathered around the tv in absolute awe, as we watched this little kid beat the game, which none of us could do. To this day, he’s got extremely good hand-eye coordination, and in fact, is a professional athlete. Thanks Nintendo!”

Thanks again for all the great stories and congratulations to those who won! All prize winners will be notified by e-mail shortly to arrange for delivery of prizes. Stay tuned for more Technabob reader contests in the near future.

In the mean time, be sure to swing by Chris Lange’s Etsy shop or eBay page to thank him for his generous prize donations!

We’re looking for you to share the best, brightest, funniest, and generally most creative Nintendo-inspired memories. The grand prize winner will receive a super-cool original Nintendo collage by artist Chris Lange, while five runners up will get a high-quality digital print of one of Chris’ collages. And if we get at least 100 entries (we’re getting close now), a random entrant will win fifty bucks to spend on a Nintendo game of their choice over at Amazon.

To enter the contest, just submit a comment on the original contest page.

Nintendo fanboys and fangirls, here’s a chance for you guys to win some awesome prizes. Just share your fondest Nintendo-related memories (by posting a comment below) and you could win an original custom Nintendo collage by fan favorite artist Chris Lange.

Chris has generously donated the following prizes for the best entries that we receive:

• 1 Grand Prize winner
  Custom handmade ‘mini’ collage of any Nintendo character you want
• 5 Runner Up winners
  Signed 8×10 digital print of Mario, Yoshi, Waluigi, or Peach

Plus, if we get at least 100 contest entries, we’ll throw in a random drawing for $50 Amazon certificate which you can use to buy a new Nintendo game with. So even if your story doesn’t win, you’ve still got a chance to go home with a prize.

Contest Rules

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment at the end of this article, telling us your fondest Nintendo-related memory (in 150 words or less). Share any Nintendo story you’d like, but we’ll be awarding the prizes to the ones we think are the most creative, entertaining, outlandish, sentimental, humorous or just downright enjoyable.

To get your creative juices flowing, Chris has contributed this story which best describes his fondness for the “Big N”:

From the time I first picked up an NES controller, to now where I have to force myself to put the Wii controller down, there have been a lot of great Nintendo memories to choose from.

Most important to me is the game that took my fondness for video games and turned it into a passion; Ocarina of Time.

There isn’t really a singular moment I recall best, I just remember the feeling I got when playing through it the first time. I could sit on my family room floor and play for hours, happy to simply ride around the fields of Hyrule. For me, that was the game that made me realize I wanted video games to be a part of my life for years to come.

All entries must be received prior to 11:59pm Central Time on Monday, March 31, 2008 to be eligible. You must post using a valid e-mail address, and only one entry will be accepted per e-mail account. Winners will be selected by Technabob editorial staff and the artist to determine one Grand Prize winner and five Runners Up. We reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments and comment spam.

About the Artist

Chris Lange is an up and coming artist based in the Washington DC area. He is best known for his Nintendo themed collages, which are made entirely of old Nintendo Power magazines. Fittingly enough, these collages have been featured in Nintendo Power magazine, and one is even displayed in the Nintendo of America headquarters on the west coast.

Mr. Lange, an avid gamer and die-hard Nintendo fan, has attracted significant international attention for his work. In addition to his collages, his portfolio includes black and white and color photography, and computer illustrations.

If you’d like to find out more about Chris Lange or request a custom collage visit his personal website. If you are interested in purchasing one of Chris’ originals or even one of his prints you can do so at his Etsy or eBay pages.

Responding to the strong demand for his work, artist Chris Lange has decided to produce high-quality digital prints of his collages for just $20 each. While they’re only about the size of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper (about 1/3 of the size of the originals), you’ll be able to grab an entire set of his Nintendo creations for a song.

(P.S. Gotta give props to Chris for his latest creation, Mario, pictured above.)

Washington DC artist and die-hard Nintendo fanboy Chris Lange handcrafts these colorful gaming collages from old Nintendo Power magazines, so he’s not lying when he states that they’re “100% Nintendo”.

Pictured here are several works which Lange has previously completed, but each piece is custom made based on subject matter of your choice. So whether you’re a fan of Link, Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, or even Starfox, you’re set. Banjo and Kazooie might be questionable, though, given their recent move to the dark side over in Redmond.

Chris takes orders for these custom pieces over on his Etsy shop. It’ll set you back about $250 for a 30″ x 20″ collage, but he’ll make other sizes on a custom quoted basis too.