Now, some twisted internet japester has reinvented Bowser in a similar fashion. Gone is the happy-go-lucky Bowser, the ultimately lovable, pantomime-esque villain with an addiction to kidnapping royalty. And in his place? Teeth. Scales. Leathery flesh. Claws that could rip through a plumber's torso like a warm knife through butter. Please, won't somebody think of the childrenus?
Creep apprehensively past the break for the full image.
When I ripped open the FedEx package today in a whirling dervish of nails and teeth, I found what I had been expecting: a copy of Smash Bros. Brawl. Nintendo, the wonderful and kind souls they are, decided this crummy little blog was good enough to get a copy of the game along with the press. A single tear poured down my cheek, kind of like that recycling commercial. It was a magical moment.
I then realized I had to work today and couldn't get my game on. As the day progressed and I tapped away at my keyboard, putting up news items and other stories that all 12 of you readers care about, the game sat there in front of my monitor, mocking me. It was almost like some kind of evil temptation, as I thought about just ducking away from my responsibilities to play. I then realized that it is my responsibility to play! I've got to review the damn thing, don't I?
And when I heard that Joystiq's own Kyle Orland got a copy of the game too, I decided a few mutliplayer matches were in order. And in the interest of those who don't want anything spoiled for them, stop reading here. The rest of you can head past the break where the real action is.
We've been loving these fake Super Mario videos that have become all the rage with the kids on the net. It's like someone was reading our diary, reaching into our brain and sifting through the garbled mess of fanboyish dreams that we think about on a daily basis. It may be kind of violating to have someone so accurately recreate our inner-most desires, but it's a small price to pay for the minutes of joy we got out of the video above.
We're lifting our spoiler barrier for today's dojo update, simply because there's a complete lack of stuff to spoil. Bowser's special moves -- the Flying Slam and the Bowser Bomb -- have long been available on his dojo character profile.
The former replaces Koopa Klaw from Melee, and sees Bowser grab his opponents (either on the ground or in mid-air) and slam them back down to earth, providing the victim doesn't reverse the move and clamber on top of Bowser (damage will play a part in how strong any resistance is). The Bowser Bomb, meanwhile, is much the same as it was in Melee.
Elsewhere, Sakurai discusses Meteor Smashes, maneuvers that let you spike already stricken opponents, sometimes with devastating effect.
Turns out, there might be a glitch in that copy of Super Mario Galaxy you've been playing. During an encounter with Bowser in the game, one person found that they could knock Bowser off of the planet they were engaging him on, freaking out the camera and causing the game to halt all progress. Hopefully, this won't happen to us, because reloading the game during a fight with Bowser would be all kinds of annoying.
Having a wife that indulges you in your obsession with gaming is nice, but one that participates in said obsession is even better. Hence, we have these two lovely pumpkins, carved by reader Colleen and her husband (unless his name is Colleen, which we've never heard before), they're some of the most awesome pumpkins our little eyes have ever seen.
If you have a Nintendo-related pumpkin of your own, be sure to link it in the comments below. And, if you didn't know, Joystiq is running a contest right now looking for these kind of creations.
This fanart is so powerful that it seems to have crushed the Warp Pipe forums under the weight of its own pile of Diggs. We can understand why-- we've certainly been enjoying staring at it for a few hours.
The full image is after the break, but even in the detail shown above, you can see the insane shading and dynamic movement that make Neo-Geo Forums user hermegildo's drawing so compelling. Faced with a dead Peach and a slavering, hulking Bowser, the usually-jovial Mario abandons his "Okey-dokey"s and flies into battle, fireballs blazing. It completely, awesomely rejects the mood of the Mario series.
Continuing the focus on Bowser, the Dojo has updated, showing off Bowser's Final Smash. Unlike Link's and Pikachu's, Bowser's Final Smash sees him transforming into the monstrosity you see above. In this form, Bowser hands out beatings like the Santa at the mall hands out candy canes during Christmas.
The other update over at the Dojo sees the explanation of attacks, and how they're performed using each of the available control schemes. There, each attack, from standard to Smash, are now dictated by how strongly you press the analog stick. This should allow players to control their attacks and fight more effectively.
As usual, we've included images of the attack breakdown and Giga Bowser in the gallery below.
Today's Dojo update brings us images and the character profile for the game's resident tank character Bowser. If there's one thing we can say after seeing today's update, it's that Bowser looks amazing. Seriously, look at that character model above. Do you not cower in fear? We do, oh how we do.
Check out the new images of Bowser in the gallery below.
Just as we were talking about the difficulty of scoring Nintendo merchandise, this auction pops up on eBay. With bobblehead figurines of Luigi, Mario, Bowser and Yoshi, we find ourselves wishing we had quicker reflexes, as the auction has already closed. All figurines ended up going to one lucky individual who chose the option to buy it now for the fair price of 39.99 GBP.
If you know of any cool eBay auctions, be sure to send us a tip!
A Livejournal group called "Bento Challenge," which is devoted to making festive Japanese-style lunches in recognizable shapes, is doing a "game characters" theme this week. And, as you may expect, that means a lot of Nintendo. In Soviet Russia Japan, you eat Kirby!
We posted the Kirby because it's so adorable-- he's just SO HAPPY about being your lunch! But there is other stuff in the competition that must be seen to be believed, like a Paper Mario-style Bowser that is basically perfect. Forget waggling, devouring is the real Revolution.
We spend too much time on unimportant aspects of our food, like flavor. We should really be paying more attention to how much like a Nintendo character our meals look.
Reader Jason wrote in to show us a pair of tattoos he has gracing his body, on each of his ankle's to be precise. He told us he had read another story showcasing another sweet gaming tattoo and felt his would be appreciated. Oh, they are! We've never seen such sweet Mario and Bowser tattoos before. They're so sweet, in fact, we were sure they were photochopped fakes.
Posted May 7th 2007 11:55AM by James Konik Filed under: News
With only a few months to go before the release of Super Mario Galaxy, expectations couldn't be higher for Nintendo's flagship hero. The title was recently confirmed for release this year, leaving our Nunchuk thumbs quivering in anticipation.
Mario is carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders, however. The groundbreaking titles, from the original Super Mario Brothers through to Super Mario 64 (sorry, Mario Sunshine), were more than great games; they also defined their platforms, setting new standards both technically and in terms of design.
It's no surprise then, that bloggers are starting to make demands for what they want to see in the new release. Check the link to see what people want this time around, and let us know what you want included.
There's a new microsite for Mario Strikers Charged. There is little more than a promo video and some boxart at present, but more is apparently on the way. We got a quick look at the game last month, and thought it seemed pretty fun, particularly in multiplayer. The game will feature online play, the first to do so in Europe and Australia, with ranked matches limited to players in the same region. You'll also be able to swap friend codes for unranked matches - friend codes will be assigned to your Mii rather than your console, so if you happen to share a console with someone whose friends you hate, you won't have to play them.
We're also looking forward to trying the Mega Strikes: where the ball splits into five shots, which your opponent has to block with the Wiimote. Taking multiple shots at the keeper always used to get us in trouble at school, but here it's positively encouraged - you'll get a goal for each one that hits the back of the net.
Mario Strikers Charged kicks and screams its way into Europe on May 25th, with other regions to follow.
Subscribers to Nintendo's mailing list received a classy invitation to Bowser and Peach's wedding early this morning. Posing for a photo to promote Super Paper Mario's release, the groom looks none too happy about the event. If the crossed arms and eye-contact avoidance aren't indication enough of his displeasure, then the literal and metaphorical distance between the couple gives it away.
Years from now, the Koopa King will look back on his glory days of battling plumbers and racing karts, regretting that he ever gave into the princess' pressures, trapping himself in this loveless marriage. He'll sigh and wonder how old age crept up on him. After finishing his cigarette on the driveway -- Peach hates it when he smokes inside -- he'll saunter back into the house that's never felt like home, pushing the memories of what once was out of his mind.
Back in March, this realistic depiction of Mario made us hide beneath our beds, though that was nothing compared with the horrors of what followed.
