Michael Crow of Mike’s Mosaics created these Mario and Mega Man mosaics using glazed terracotta and ceramic tiles, and they look awesome. I love that Mario is wearing his Tanooki look, though I think he’d have trouble getting off the ground with all the added weight of the tile and concrete backing board.

Mega Man looks mighty fine too, sporting his classic blue costume.

Mario is really substantial, measuring in at 27.5″ x 23.25″, while Mega Man is a bit smaller at 12.5″ x 15.5″. Since both have been sealed, they’re okay for indoor or outdoor use. I’d be so thrilled with these guys in my garden instead of gnomes (hint-hint). Mario is priced at $250 (USD), and Mega Man is going for $200. Both can be found over at Mike’s Mosaics Etsy Shop. Mike will also make custom mosaics of your favorite character on request.

Justin D. Russo is the artist, and I’m sure he’d appreciate it if you’d take a look at some of his other wonderful geeky works. Mario’s usually lighthearted “here we go!” has been given a relatively somber tone. It’s less like the man is stomping Goombas to rescue the princess, and more like he’s about to breach a door with a pack of explosives. “C-4 is armed!” *Mario holds the detonator* Here we go… *blows open the door and starts slaughtering super battle droids*

Link’s phrase is not one that I ever recall him saying, since I’m fairly sure that he has developed just the most basic forms of communication, and is only capable of grunting his approval. If only we could all woo the beautiful princess with our simpleton grunting. So, Link: you’re embarking on a treacherous journey? *Grunt* Oh, and you need to buy a shield? *Grunt* No, we don’t have any swirl ice cream left in the freezer. *Frenzied grunting* Watch your tone with me, you little punk! *Link chops the merchant in half* If only we could actually do that in the Zelda games – Saint’s Row plus Zelda equals way more fun? Also, we need some really fast cars just to balance out the gameplay.

If you’d like these posters to hang on your own walls, head on over to Justin’s society6 shop, where you can also order them on canvas, or as iPhone or iPod skins. And if you’re looking for more great video game art from other artists, you might want to check out 8-Bit Dreams and the Pixelated Game Console Posters.

Contributor Jack Kieffer owns Cool Gizmo Toys, a blog that rants about random geeky products.

He calls his Transformer Plasmashock. The man has a way with names. Much better than “Crappy gun used only for Duck Hunt.”

If you want to build one yourself, just check out the instructions provided by von Brunk.

His next project should be even neater. He plans to do a similar project involving an actual NES, that would “transforms into a giant robot, much akin to Metroplex and/or Fortress Maximus!” Sounds pretty awesome. Why doesn’t LEGO sell more stuff like this themselves? Oh well, their loss.

[via Kotaku]

This 8-bit inspired clock is awesomely retro. I know that Mario is supposed to be jumping over a Goomba, but all I see is a Goomba swinging from his junk. Since that’s stuck in my head, I guess this clock isn’t for me, even though I still find it awesome.

It comes from Etsy seller ClockworkOregon and it can be yours for just $60(USD). As for me, I’ll just admire it from a distance.

[via Nerd Approved]

The 3Ds system is a special “Snake Camouflage” 3DS that of course looks like black snake skin. Sadly for those of us in the U.S., this is a Japanese exclusive, only available at Konami Style (JP), the company’s online shop, for ¥22,980 (appx. $298 USD.)

If you live in Japan you can pre-order before February 3, but it is so limited that you will only be able to buy one if you enter a raffle. The winners will get an e-mail from Konami by February 10, with the package itself coming on March 8 if you win.

[via TechCrunch]

The massive controller measures approximately 12ft (w) x 5 ft (d) 3 in x 1ft 8 in (h), and weighs in at a whopping 265 pounds. It was built by Ben Allen, along with Stephen van ‘t Hof and Michel Verhulst.

The controller cost over $6,000 (USD) to construct, and yes – it does play games. The thing is so big that it takes at least two people to play a game with it, as the armspan required to use the D-Pad at the same time as the A/B buttons is too wide for even the likes of Yao Ming. Hence, my comment about Co-Op mode in the title above.

The controller was shown off at London, England’s Liverpool Street Station in celebration of the release of Guiness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2012. And no, you can’t have it in your living room.

[via EGM]

The console offers up a stunning automotive grade, clear-coated finish, with gold, silver and red accents, clearly reminiscent of the original Legend of Zelda gold cartridge. Ryan says they allowed the paint to cure for a full month between steps to ensure a perfect finish. I certainly would never have that kind of patience. But paintjob aside, the very best part of the design though is the intricate pixelated Link on top.

You might assume that it was laser cut, but it was entirely done by hand, which makes it way more impressive in its level of detail and clean construction. Utilmately, it took Ryan over 50 hours of cutting, sanding and soldering to work out the light up multi-colored Link character.

The icing on the cake for this mod is the accompanying launch video clip Ryan and his pals made, working with Avid Productions 479 on the video, and Will Chiles on the original Zelda-inspired score. It’s really a loving tribute to Zelda, and shows off the console in all its glory:

Now wasn’t that special? Seems to me that all casemods should come along with such a magical launch video, don’cha think?

[Thanks for the tip, Will & Ryan!]

The lamp is made of poplar, colored translucent acrylic and colored paper and it measures 16.5 x 5.5 x 5.5 inches. The top part is detachable for easy access to the 60w bulb inside.

If I read the description correctly, the lamp’s switch is attached to its cord. Maybe you can hack or move it just like with this DIY coin block to make it punchable.

Jump to The Back Pack Shoppe on Etsy to order your own Mario Question Block Lamp for $60 (USD). The power-up bulb will not be included for orders outside of US and Canada.

[via it8bit]

They also stated that the 3DS has been a faster seller than the Nintendo Wii was in the first 9 months since its launch. I’d call that a success. Even Nintendo’s old stuff is selling well. A total of 3.4 million units of the Nintendo DS were sold in the US in 2011.

But will they be able to increase the sales of the 3DS in 2012? The PS Vita is coming soon, plus there are the gamers using smartphones and tablets to play games. It will be interesting to see what happens now.

He took some telephone wires and wired them up to a Radio Shack 2.5mm plug. Then, he fed it through a hole that he made through the rubber strain relief of the Nunchuk and soldered it where the shoulder button connected to the main board. C aut0-adjusts and Z fires the shutter. None of the other controls do anything at this point, though it would have been cool if the joystick could be used for  zooming and focusing remotely.

I always like the idea of reusing tech that you might throw away or no longer use. What spare gadget do you have lying around, and what would you like to rebuild it into if you could?

[via Ubergizmo]

By the time the console arrives sometime in 2012, hopefully this app store will be up and running. So far, Nintendo has no comment, but if they are going to compete, I think they need to just do it and run with the idea.

[via Ubergizmo]

What’s really cool about the Envision is how truly portable it is. Unlike most Gamecube “handheld” mods, this one skips the bulky optical drive, and requires that games be copied off to an SD card, but that’s what really helps it slim down. It’s capable of running every Gamecube game out there, except for Luigi’s Mansion, which apparently still needs some hacking to make that happen. It can also play all SNES and NES titles, as well as some N64 titles, so it’s a real dream system for Nintendo fans.

The Envision was created by Jonathan Shine (aka “Tchay777″,) and is compact enough to carry around without any problem. Dimensions are just 6.5″(w) x 4.1255″ (h) x 1.375″ (d), and it weights about a pound. It’s so impressive that it actually looks like something Nintendo themselves would have released.

It runs completely on battery power, running for about 2 hours on a full charge. It lives in a custom molded case, and has built-in controllers and speakers too. Check it out in action in the video clip below:

It took about 7 months from start to finish for Tchay to complete this excellent build, and you can check out more details and pics over on the ModRetro Forums.

[via Awesome Robo]

Nintendo needs to take heed of this awesome mod. If they released something like this themselves they could have mega-sales – especially if they updated it with modern hardware. I know I would buy one.

[Bacteria Forums via Ubergizmo]

On one hand, the updated game will be in 3D for the first time, on the other, you will be enjoying the beautiful scenery on a tiny screen. The 3DS version will also have new landscapes and even a RIME Age that was not part of the original PC game.

Myst for the Nintendo 3DS will sell for $29.99 (USD), and will be released on March 27th, 2012. It’s available for pre-order now over on Amazon. If you loved the original, this will likely make you all Myst-y-eyed.

[via Joystiq]

That’s exactly the idea being put forward by Michael Inglis. The pictures show some of Inglis’ designs for a theoretical LEGO Zelda set.

Inglis already makes 3D printed Zelda swords that can be used with official LEGO toys, but he’s well aware that with their resources, LEGO – and Nintendo – can do so much more for fans, not to mention their bank account.

It’s not a dangerous idea, but Inglis can’t do it alone. Build a browser out of bricks and head to Lego Cuusoo to support his concept. Cuusoo is similar to Kickstarter, except it’s LEGO’s way of crowdsourcing ideas and gauging consumer interest in said ideas. Also, you don’t have to spend or pledge any amount of money to support a concept, so go ahead and vote. Just tell LEGO not to bother with a Navi minifig.

[via Gamma Squad]

The museum is getting the gear directly from Nintendo, who is donating 5,000 Nintendo 3DS units. They will begin using them in March 2012, to replace traditional audio guides, which are only being used by 4% of the museum’s 8.5 million annual visitors. The hope is that more people would use a 3DS.

Nintendo will develop the content for the Louvre and they will have editorial control. An iOS app is also in development. Somehow I doubt that visitors will be allowed to switch over and play Mario Kart in between the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.

[via PhysOrg via TechCrunch]

There are several ways of entering the raffle. Members of the PowerUp Rewards and PowerUp Rewards Pro clubs can earn up to two entries daily by going to a GameStop branch to either make a purchase or trade-in transaction. Now here’s the slightly weird bit: it’s actually easier to enter the raffle if you’re not a member of either club. All you have to do is fill out this form. No purchase required. No leaving your house required. You have to be at least 18-years old though, and you can only enter once that way.

The contest ends on December 31, and the raffle will be held on January 15, 2012. Remember, this is for a functional (but obviously not street legal) electric Mario Kart kart, valued at $9,130 (USD). Couple that with the free and easy entry requirement, and the only reason why you wouldn’t enter this raffle is if you’re not a resident of the United States (or its territories). The rest of us will have to stick with the game.

[Gamestop via Joystiq]

The wheels are attached to a little LEGO base. They come from Etsy seller Oskar Robles (aka fuzzyfigureguy) and they are just $10 (USD) each. He has a long list of characters that he can build you, which seems like it might include every Mario Kart character.

You name it, he will build it. He sells all kinds of cool pipe-cleaner creations like Megaman, Samus, Optimus Prime, Nintendo’s R.O.B. and a whole lot more. Currently he has so many requests that you have to allow up to 3 to 6 weeks for delivery. I can see why.

You just popped it into your console with the game, and you had god-like powers, whether it be extra lives, level skips or whatever. Well, the Game Genie is back from Hyperkin.

The first model is compatible with the Nintendo 3DS, DSi, DSi XL, DS Lite and DS, unlocking over 60,000 hidden cheats and tricks across over 300 titles. The device can also be updated via Wi-Fi with new codes, and lets you backup and swap save games with friends. You can find it on Amazon for about $20(USD). More Game Genie products will be on display at CES 2012.

[via PRlog]

Well, you get 3D video recording and DLC features as well as StreetPass improvements, support for the 3DS-to-3DS transfer service and more. There’s even a new Nintendo Zone to interact with when connected to certain Wi-Fi hotspots. It’s worth booting up your console and updating to check it all out.

The update is free of charge and easy to install directly on your 3DS handheld.

[via Joystiq]