There have been many awesome video game shirts, hats, and shoes. Even some stylish, hybrid nerd/trendy hoodies. But never has geekdom received such a generous gift. You can look like a true hipster nerd.
Starting now, you can buy a hand-knit Super Mario sweater online (it's in Japanese, good luck).
Prices and details below. (Warning: the price-tag isn't as pretty as the product.)
Modeler and gaming aficionado Ryan Palser has created what is easily one of the slickest pieces of fan art we've seen in a while: a hyper-accurate model of Fallout 3's plasma rifle.
Palser has a really extensive Flickr set devoted to his replica, and we've got a couple shots of the finished product below, as well as a link to the rest of the set.
In honor of today's announcement of Plants vs. Zombies for Nintendo DS, we present to you Plants vs. Zombies in Real Life!
Sure, the video below is a year old, but we just found it today during our daily news search. But hey, just because it's old doesn't mean that it isn't amusing.
The video below originally appeared on Gamervision.com and next made its way to Gametrailers.com. And now it's here. You'll always have a home with us, goofy fan-made video game stuff! We love you.
Marvel Vs. Capcom still has surreal moments, pitting, say, Iron Man against Ryu or Magneto against Dhalism. Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe is an odd yet addictive crossover, too, because Scorpion can incinerate Batman, Supes, and Wonder Woman.
But the weirdest fighting game crossovers aren't sanctioned. Not at all. They come from the fantasies of game designers using MUGEN, a freeware game engine. Consider it the root cause of all this beautiful randomness. Here are 10 completely strange, completely unofficial fighting game crossovers that are worth checking out (and downloading if you're savvy).
Are you a Belieber? Yeah, me neither. But I heard that 8x slower Beiber song on Gawker, and was impressed. Really impressed. If Brian Eno heard it, he'd be impressed.
Now, there's this famous Portal track, called Still Alive, and it is awesome even at regular pace. Slowed down eight times? Yeah, it's still awesome. It is that humming, droning style, a la Godspeed You Black Emperor or Stars of the Lid.
I have the song for you embedded on the other side of this link. You'll enjoy it.
You kids today with your iPhone and Androids and PlayStation phones with their cell-hoozits and giga-whatnots. Back in MY day, our portable video game systems just played games, and that's the way we liked it.
Of course, we might have liked it even better if we'd had one of these Game Boy and Famicom phones that have been mocked up by enterprising internet photoshopsters. Just look at that slick design. Oooh, video game consoles had STYLE back then, let me tell you sonny.
These sure would have beat the cell phones we actually had back in those days. I still remember my first one... it cost a cool $5,000 and was the size of a small minivan. Took almost an hour to crank it up enough to get a decent signal, and forget about making a call it you were near a TV antenna. Whaddya mean you don't know what a TV antenna is? You whippersnappers!
See the full size images after the break then GET OFFA MY LAWN!
Then there's Nintendo's Fight Club. They're probably better known as the Super Smash Bros.
Deviant Art creator "Robot Pencil" mashed up the iconic Fight Club screenshot at right with Nintendo's best-known brawlers, and you can see the results below.
I don't think I've ever seen Mario look meaner. Maybe the artist is onto something here. There could be an audience for a tougher, more adult Mario game.
Before pixel artist Paul Robertson and chiptune aficionado Anamanaguchi got involved with the Scott Pilgrim game that hit PSN yesterday, the general idea for the game had to be sold to publisher Ubisoft. Hence this video, which Comics Alliance claims says was used to pitch the idea of the game when it was nothing more than just that... an idea (though they don't say where they got the "exclusive" video or who actually made it, so we're a tiny bit skeptical to its provenance).
While the rough art is a little more 8-bit than 16-bit, the general gameplay and aesthetic from this supposed pitch seems to have made it into the final game. What we're a little sad didn't make it is the awesome chiptune versions of everything from the Smashing Pumpkins to The White Stripes, and the sly references to Mega Man and Ninja Gaiden (not that the final game is lacking in gaming references or anything, but still).
See the alleged ur-Pilgrim game after the break. And, as an added bonus, check out the now-familiar Scott Pilgrim movie trailer replaced with images from the original comics.
Get some Pinesol and a mop, because this track is dirty.
Okay, so video game covers are really, really, really common. But, surprisingly, a lot of them are impressive. Much like what we have for you here.
This dude you're about to listen to, named Levar Allen, possesses a flow much like Pharell and a deep respect for everyone's favorite sidescroller.
When those two elements are mixed and poured over a dumpy 8-bit beat, the outcome is a fun, super catchy piece of rap called "Game Over". And it is rap at its nerdiest, which is something to behold.
Enough out of me, the video is posted just after the jump. You'll hit repeat, I promise. Visit Levar Allen's website to support a musician and fellow gamer. Please enjoy responsibly.
We're not sure what's spurned therecentdeluge of pixelated, retro-inspired "demakes" of modern games, but hey, we're not complaining, especially when it results in projects as cool as the NES-ified Pixelforce: DJ Hero.
Even though the game is being developed as a PC download, the feel is pure NES, from the limited color palette and resolution to the surprisingly identifiable bleeps and bloops that make up the remix. The turntable moves and buttons of the original DJ Hero are replaced with NES pad-style input, as well.
Surprisingly, this project is not from the same people that brought us playable Guitar Hero demake D-Pad Hero last year. Instead, it comes from self-taught bedroom programmer Eric Ruth, who you might remember from the his previous demakes, including Pixelforce: Left 4 Dead and Mega Man Rocks!
While the below trailer is all we've got for now, Ruth promises the full game will be available for free download "within the next five weeks," possibly even as soon as next weekend.
Nuclear Coleslaw captures the gritty world of the Fallout games
A while back filmmaker Tim Pape, his brother and some friends made a live-action short film called "Desert Story" that used the grim world of the Fallout games as inspiration. The film was a pretty big hit online, and the movie has been expanded into a series of unofficial Fallout films called "Nuclear Coleslaw."
The fourth episode of Nuclear Coleslaw went online late last week, so it seemed like a good time to catch up on the series so far. All four of the films are embedded below. They're pretty dark and grim, so be ready for that. But hey, that can be said about the Fallout games in general, right?
It is a beautiful thing when a bunch of dorks pick up some instruments and cover a video game song. It is even better when they infuse Nintendo themes and sounds with all their songs.
This group I have for you here is called I Fight Dragons, and they are an NES-rock band from Chicago. They decided to wow a likely nerd-based audience by expressing their love of the Legend of Zelda games through amplified song at one of their shows. Their choice? The main theme, which they have renamed "I Fight Ganon".
Luckily, someone in the front had a camera. For a live show, the fidelity is excellent and the harmonies are pretty damn good. I would probably go see them if they toured to Seattle. Which they might, because apparently they are kind of a big deal -- they recently played on the Warped Tour.
Anyway, enough about me. Let's get to the music. Hit the link for the video.
Originally made for Swedish gaming magazine Level, these "demakes" were recently posted by the artist on the Way of the Pixel forums and quickly spread across the net. It's easy to see why -- each tiny image is instantly recognizable not just to fans of the modern games they represent, but also to those who remember the precise pixelated look of those old systems. In fact, a careful viewer can probably identify exactly which classic piece of hardware is being emulated just by looking at the resolution and color palette.
The Halo series has always been on the cutting edge of video game console technology.
Until now.
The Halo francise has taken a significant step backwards in time with Halo 2600, a new flash game that recreates Halo as an Atari 2600 game.
And, believe it or not, it was created by Ed Fries, former VP of Publishing at Microsoft. Back in the day, he was one of the top guys in Microsoft's Xbox Division.
Halo 2600 made its public debut at the Classic Gaming Expo, where it was sold in authentic Atari 2600 cart form. If you weren't there (or weren't lucky enough to grab one of the 500 limited edition carts), then you can play the game online here.
If a LEGO Starcraft game were possible, this is what it would look like
No, there's not really a LEGO Starcraft game on the way.
But this fan-made video from Kooberz Studios proves that if there was one, it would be pretty awesome.
The clip below captures Starcraft pretty perfectly in brick form, which just goes to show you that LEGO can be used to recreate almost anything and make it awesome.
There may never be a real LEGO Starcraft, but if there was ever a LEGO RTS, I'd play it. Check out the video below.
A stage musical version of the Super Mario Bros. story might sound like the kind of disposable Internet video that College Humor would put together on a slow day. Rest assured, though, Super Claudio Brothers is a bona fide stage musical, currently being shown as part of the 2010 Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, DC.
What's even more surprising than this Mario-based musical's mere existence, though, is the fact that reviewers seem to think it's actually good. Take the Washington Post review, which called it "surprisingly polished," and "extraordinarily clever." Or the Washington City Paper review, which raved that it's "a fully imagined, well-realized piece of work about love, death and stomping on fungi." It's nice to know that what could have been a cheap attempt to exploit nostalgia instead seems to be a serious attempt at building a serious work on top of the source material.
But don't take the reviewers' words for it. If you're in the DC area you can judge for yourself by checking out a performance at the Warehouse Theatre this weekend. If you're not in the DC area, hit the jump to check out a video of Luigi singing about coping with being Player No. 2. Or check out the official page for many more musical samples.
In some alternate universe, the Nintendo 3DS isn't the hot 3D portable of the moment. In that universe, right now the Nintendo Virtual Boy is celebrating its 15th anniversary not as Nintendo's greatest hardware failure, but as the successful portable system that first brought stereoscopic 3D gaming to the masses. In that universe, countless web sites are right now working on fond reminiscences of their favorite red-and-black entries in franchises like Metroid, Mega Man, Monkey Island and even others that don't start with M.
Unfortunately, we don't live in that universe. But we can get a brief glimpse into what it must be like via Pixel Joint's latest artwork challenge, which asked entrants to create game-ish scenes using the Virtual Boy's limited palette and resolution. The 16 entries run the gamut from bland to brilliant, but our absolute favorite just might be this animated Aliens 3D re-imagining that actually shows up in stereoscopic 3D if you cross your eyes just right. Makes you wish the system had held out just a bit longer, doesn't it?
Well I for one am sick of it! I am officially boycotting any and all of the cheap, exploitative attempts to revive tired, aging franchises by simply throwing in some rotting flesh, shambling moans, and a desire for brains. I refuse to be a part of this played out trend any longer!
That's all effective right after I post about these zombified Mario photos from flickr user mrksaari, of course. I mean, just look at these photos. It's Mario characters... but they're zombies! That's just so cool!
Hit the jump to see more, and bigger, and Mario, and ZOMBIES!
Video Game Tattoo: Like wearing an 'I'm an idiot' sticker!
You know how tattoo parlors aren't allowed to serve drunk customers? Well, they shouldn't be allowed to serve gamers, either.
At least not these gamers.
Everyone, at some time or another, will want a giant, colorful tattoo of their favorite character or emblem somewhere on their body. Maybe a Mario here, a Samus there, or a Triforce somewhere else. Most of the time, the reasonable human brain will file that into the 'not a good idea' section -- but not always.
This is a picture collection of those people that aren't capable of making good choices. And the permanent, awful results that follow.
If you have any particularly heinous pictures of tattoos, please share them with everyone on our comment board!
Sunday Night Starcraft: Because the underdog always wins!
A fallen champion returns to the competition that he swore he'd never compete in again after a tragic loss.
You've probably seen a few dozen movies just like that before, and the creators of Sunday Night Starcraft are well aware of that. The creators of this fake gaming movie used the tropes of the sports movie genre to make a trailer for a non-existent film that looks like it could actually work on screen.
"Dead Panda Comedy" have done some nice work on their Sunday Night Starcraft trailer, and wouldn't you know it, you can check it out right here!
Eric Powerup, the gentleman behind the Zelda on Paper video we shared with you, is back with a vengeance! And by that we mean he's got a new video. But this one's about MortalKombat, which is one of the most vengeance-fueled franchises ever, so we're not totally full of crap, right?
Actually, Mr. Powerup has two new videos on the subject: one with a bunch of his thoughts on the Mortal Kombat franchise, and one with just his trademark stop-motion animation of the original game's Fatalities. The longer video is worth watching, but we've got both embedded for your viewing pleasure below. The shorter video is first and the longer is second.
Beatboxing is sometimes amazing. Video game themes are sometimes amazing. What happens which you mix them together? A percussive performance that's thoroughly entertaining.
The beatboxer in the picture over there is Hikakin. He's Japanese. He looks like a positive dude.
He has a big following on the internet, mostly on youtube.com, because of his creative, funky interpretations of everything from Daft Punk to Tetris.
Hikakin has decided to record his mad beatboxing skills for the world to enjoy, and we've decided to share them with you. The theme he'll be dropping? Super Mario.
There have been a lot of Mario theme remakes over the years, but his version is pretty out of this world. The last minute of music defies comprehension.
Hit the link for a video of some nerdy video game awesomeness.
It's hard to find a working NES these days. This one is pretty much guaranteed never to play games, but that doesn't mean it's not a thing of beauty.
Ebay user "stocky2.0" listed this wooden sculpture of the classic Nintendo console for sale, although it looks like it didn't sell. Here's what he has to say about it:
"This is a sculpture of a replica of the original Nintendo NES system completely made almost entirely out of wood. Craftsmanship is so precise it appears to be a functional Nintendo at first glance. It has two controllers with intricate detail along with is
I will also include a replica flatscreen tv made of wood with a glass front-screen and black plexi behind it. The screen appears almost exactly like a normal television when powered off. They have been in gallery shows, e-mail for more pictures this is one of a kind."
Great work, stocky2.0! We love your dedication to your craft.
We've got more pictures of the console for you below!
Got a gamer girl in your life in need of some bling? How about some video game jewelry?
The new Left 4 Dead-inspired jewelry by Etsy artist "Deadly Pretty Designs" just came through my Google Reader, and I new I just had to share it with you good folks.
Along with the aforementioned Left 4 Dead items (see another one below), DPD is also offering up pieces inspired by Gears of War, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil and more.
Naturally, there's only one thing to do: share some heavy metal versions of video game theme songs!
There are plenty of quality covers of video game theme songs, and these are some of our favorites metal reinterpretations of some iconic gaming music. If you see any other heavy metal video game covers that we need to be made aware of, please send them our way.
Until then, enjoy the videos below, because it's never too early to start rocking!
It's summer time, so that means it's time for all kinds of crazy crap, such as competing in Red Bull's ridiculous flying machine contest, the Red Bull Flugtag.
A group of college students in the Miami area are about to give their local Flugtag event of video game awesomeness. Team Shell Shocked will take to the skies in a working glider inspired my the Mushroom Kingdom's iconic flying turtles, the Koopa Troopas.
We've got a picture of their actual ride below, as well as a link to the a profile on these nerds done good. You know what to do.
You've helped save the Princess from Bowser several times before, but you've never done it like this.
YouTube user "DrCoolSex" presents an interactive video adventure in which you decide what Mario should do on his quest to save Peach yet again. To see every possible outcome you'll have to play through it several times, so what are you waiting for? You'd better get to it.
Naturally, we've got the first part in the video adventure below. No need to thank us. It's what we're here for.
Zelda on Paper: Proof that having too much time can be awesome.
A gentleman calling himself "Eric Powerup" has created several short stories from The Legend of Zelda series in stop-motion animated videos, and I wouldn't be sharing them with you if they weren't awesome.
The first five short "Zelda on Paper" movies are included in this video, and as the name suggests, they are animated entirely out of construction paper, a la the early episodes of South Park.
Also like South Park, there's a dark streak of humor in these videos that portray our hero Link as a bit of a jerk. But don't take our word for it, watch the video below!
It seems that Super Mario Bros. will never cease to inspire people.
This latest act of gaming-inspired coolness has transposed entire levels of the game onto a sidewalk curb. It's not simple graffiti - these levels animate and move just like the real thing.
How is this possible, you ask? Some kind of sorcery? I guess that depends on whether or not you consider After Effects a form of magic. This video was created by French madman "Surfap" and you can see it below.
On July 10, a new art exhibit is opening in the pehrspace gallery in Los Angeles. Entitled "Tetricide", this exhibit features a "multimedia exploration on the many facets of video game culture", with a special emphasis on works inspired by old school games.
The Tetricide show features works from a dozen game-inspired artists, as well as live music during the opening night gala. Events like these make me a little sad that I don't live in LA - until I remember the many, many reasons that I don't live in LA.
Check out one of the videos from the exhibit below, a baffling clip by artist JR Baldwin. It's definitely gaming inspired, but that's about all I can confidently say about it.
You either love Twilight or you hate it, but either way you should get a kick out of 8-Bit Twilight Eclipse Interactive. Created by The Fine Brothers with help from partners "Doc Octoroc" and "The Station", the video recreates the world of Twilight in glorious 8-bit style.
But that's not all! 8-Bit Twilight Eclipse Interactive not only looks like a game, it is a game! Using YouTube annotations, the Fine Brothers and friends were able to create a "choose your own adventure" type experience in which you're able to control how the story unfolds.
There are 13 8-Bit Twilight Eclipse Interactive videos in all, so to see them all you'll have to play the game several times. Get started with the first video, which you can see below.
Yesterday, our good buddies at Topless Robot posted a video of a guy singing every part of the Pokemon theme song A Capella. It takes a special devotion to undertake this type of project, so naturally, we're impressed!
Inspired by this courageous act of nerdery, we decided to find more fantastic vocal performances of video game theme songs.
The following five videos are our picks for our favorite A Capella video game theme songs. The Pokemon guy made the list. Find out who else did below!
We love the creativity of gamers. It seems like gamers are always coming up with fun new ways to show their devotion to their hobby. Sometimes game fan art is complicated, and sometimes its simple yet brilliant, like these seven Marios made out of common household objects.
This parody video from producers The Fine Brothers landed in my inbox over the evening. I got a kick out of it and thought that you good people might as well. It explores one possible reason why Andy stopped playing with Woody, Buzz and the other toys. I think you can figure out what that reason might be based on the title of this post.
Keep in mind that despite the subject, the video is mildly NSFW.
Another day, another awesome example of video game fan art. This video recreates Super Mario Bros. on the walls of a Japanese school, and was apparently created on a budget of around $55 bucks. Very impressive work, creative Japanese person!
This new Pac-Man-inspired design hit the Threadless store this week from designer Aled Lewis. We like we're he's coming from, so naturally we had to give it a shout out. Click the link above to part with some hard-earned money and buy this design on a shirt.
Topless Robot posted this video earlier today, but it's too good not to share. In this gorgeous animated short, Mario learns a secret that will change his worldview forever.
Katamari Damacy is a pretty old game at this point, but I love how it's still inspiring new works of fan creativity. Artist Kate Elizabeth has created this stunning "Art Nouveau" tribute to the game, which I would totally hang on my wall. Check out a slideshow of her process here, or just visit her site here. She also posted her original concept sketch, which I almost like more than the finished piece. You can see it below.
Artist David Stonecipher is back with another gallery of conceptual video game artwork. This time, he ponders what game characters would look like if they aged like we did. If they aged like me, then they'd only grow more handsome with time!
It seems like every day now that I'm posting an awesome example of some fan-made homage to a classic game, and for the record I have no problem with that. I love the creativity that gamers display in showing their devotion, and this stop-motion video is one of my favorite pieces yet. And technically it's not an homage to a favorite game - it's an homage to the whole NES 8-Bit Era.
YouTube user "bornforthis43" spent over 120 hours and took over 7000 photos to create this video, which reimagines scenes from Kirby's Adventure, Contra, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man
2, and Super Mario Bros. The first segment is a little rough, but I guarantee that it's worth sticking with for the later segments - my favorite was the Metroid clip. Check it out below.
Artist David Stonecipher, who already shared his versions of game characters in the old west and as the opposite gender, has another art gallery today: The characters from Lost as video game characters. I particularly like John Locke as the new God of War above, but you can also see a couple more good selections below.
Holy crap, this is awesome. Halo cosplayer "MozTS" has created a replica of the Halo Assault Rifle that not only looks spot-on, but is actually a fully-functional Nerf gun. The gun fires darts, has several clips, a mounted light and an ammo counter. Hats off to you, good sir! See the gun in action below.
Man, I love stuff like this. It just goes to show you how creative (and weird) gamers can be. Over at Newgrounds, user Jake Clark has created "Link's Barrel Beat," a beatbox track using Link's grunts from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. It's just a loop that repeats until you get tired of it, but if you're a Zelda fan you'll probably get a chuckle out of it. I did.
In honor of Red Dead Redemption, let's take a look at what some classic game characters would have looked like in the Old West. That's the idea of this latest gallery from artist David Stonecipher, whose Video Game Character Gender Swap we also covered recently. I think I like this latest series even better- there are some pretty fun ideas on display here. Check out a few more below.
Man, game fans have been active lately. I've already posted a couple hip-hop game songs in the last week or so, and here's another one that's worth your time. British rapper Dan Bull has recounted 20 years of gaming in a single song, complete with the fun video you see above. Check it out.
Via Kotaku.
I remember building some stuff out of Legos that I was proud of as a kid, but nothing comes close to this. Lego builder Shawn Snyder has created a Spartan based on the upcoming Halo: Reach out of the bricks, and not only does it stand nearly two feet tall, it features multiple points of articulation and accessories like pistols that fit into the holsters. As appreciators of fine fine art, we had to post it. Check out more images below.
If we've been covering a lot of Street Fighter-related stuff lately, it's because so many fans are doing interesting things with the franchise. Here's the latest example: producer and gamer "Akira the Don" has produced a nearly hour-long remix of Street Fighter music, which you can here below. You can also download the track for free at his site. Full track breakdown after the jump.
Ever wonder what your favorite game characters would be like if they were the opposite gender? David Stonecipher did. The artist and writer created a gallery of gender-swapped gaming characters, including both classic characters like Samus Aran and new guys (now gals) like Assassin's Creed II's Ezio. Check out some more of the art below!
I don't remember Wendy being so... endowed. Created by DeviantArt member "Lysol Jones," this piece depicts the character selection screen from a fast food mascot fighting game that doesn't exist, but probably should. I'd love to play as The King and put the smack down on KFC's Colonel. The Double Down is a crime against nature, man.
I've seen Donkey Kong toys before, but never before have I seen one where he looks so... tough. This custom action figure was created by eBay seller "fugayze" and is part of a set that includes Mario and Pauline. See the full diorama and read the seller's description below.
Note: This collection of horrors was originally presented as "Weekly Fan
Art: The Halo Edition Part 2." It is presented again here for your
"enjoyment."
Last week, I inflicted Part 1 of the Weekly Fan Art: Halo Edition upon the internet. Are you ready for Part 2? I sure am, but that's mostly because I've been drinking heavily since last night. Damn the academy and their Space Chimps snub! As bad as that was, it's still not as bad as what I have in store for you, thanks primarily to the misguided belief that Halo is somehow sexy. Ugh. If you're ready, read on.
Note: This collection of horrors was originally presented as "Weekly Fan Art: The Halo Edition Part 1." It is presented again here for your "enjoyment."
I'm going to make a confession. Over the last couple of weeks, I was starting to worry that Weekly Fan Art was unsustainable. Surely there isn't a never-ending supply of hilariously bad video game art out there, I thought. I've already had to throw out some of the characters I thought would be perfect fits for this feature due to lack of material. The well, I feared, might be running dry already.
But then came Halo. Hoo boy. And I thought Dragon Ball fans were messed up.
You see, there are two kinds of bad Halo fan art: Regular and Red vs. Blue. Red vs. Blue, as you may know, is a video series created with the Halo engine. It's a funny series about a war between two factions of Halo's Spartans. But there is a small, dedicated group of people out there who think it's actually about a bunch of hot guys fucking each other. In armor. Yeah.
There's so much material based on Halo that I'll actually be spreading it across two editions of Weekly Fan Art. I'll be saving most of the erotic Red vs. Blue material for next week for your safety. You've been warned.
Note: This collection of nightmarish horrors originally ran as "Weekly Fan Art: The Resident Evil Edition. It is presented again here for your "enjoyment."
In honor of today's release of the Resident Evil 5 demo, this week's Fan Art column is devoted to the Resident Evil series and its characters. Unlike some franchises, Resident Evil doesn't star one central character, instead featuring a wide cast and some truly memorable supporting characters and monsters. In other words, you won't see an individual desecrated after the jump. No, you'll see shameful, shameful versions of an entire in-game universe.
Inspired by the work of Team Teamwork and their Vinyl Fantasy project, hip hop-based music producer Alex Kresovich has combined the music of the N64 classic GoldenEye with vocals from current rappers like T.I. and Tech N9ne. The "Gold N' Fly" project is available in its entirety on his website Goldnfly.com, or you can just check out one of the first two singles below. It's pretty fun stuff, so I suggest you give it a listen.
Note: Games for Lunch has the day off, and it's a slow news day, so I decided to dig back into the archives for the first "JD Classic" post - which is a nice way of saying that it's old content I'm running again out of laziness. There was a call from a reader recently to bring back our Weekly Fan Art column, so it seemed like a natural pick for this little experiment.
After debuting this column with Mario, it's only fitting that the second edition go to his longtime rival, Sonic the Hedgehog. What I quickly learned while scanning the interwebs for funny Sonic art is that Sonic fans seem to take the character seriously - way too seriously. Much of the art is simply copied from official art, making it neither funny or interesting. That being said, I did manage to find some choice examples to share, at great personal cost to my sanity and soul.
The good folks over at Capcom Unity have posted this gallery of artwork that mashes up Street Fighter and Resident Evil for a result that can only be called "Totally Badass." Check out the rest of the illustrations by artist "Manuhell" below.
Being a huge Zelda fan myself, I instantly fell into a dream-like trance upon seeing these screens. Fortunately a co-worker came along and shook the shit out of me until I regained full consciousness before any permanent damage occured (I think). Although it does appear that my shirt has gone missing...hmmm. Anyway, before you get overly excited as I did, these shots are fan-made by Zelda Universe user Ryu-Gi, using Valve's GMod (Garry's Mod). Sadly I don't think we will be seeing a Zelda title looking this good anytime soon, if ever, but a man is allowed to dream is he not?
The complete gallery is available for you to drool over after the jump.
Due to artists' complaints, we've had to remove all the images in this post. Sorry if you were sent here with promises of cake and the hopes of seeing some cool Mario fan art. If you'd like to see our other fan art posts, click here.
Ever wonder what it would be like if you could retroactively apply the violence of Mortal Kombat to the games that came before it? One Flickr user did, and the result is the gloriously violent "8-Bit Fatalities" series. Nothing like adding a bit of ridiculous ultra-violence to the family-friendly games of our childhood. Check out the rest of this awesome collection here.
Obviously, Lara Croft has a following. Obviously, a lot of those followers are dirty, dirty pervs. Finding X-rated pictures of Lara on the internet would be about as hard as... well, finding X-rated pictures on the internet. So I've decided to challenge myself to find non-porn pics of the Tomb Raider star that were still horrible enough to qualify for Weekly Fan Art. Could I do it? Well, duh. You wouldn't be reading this if I couldn't. I'm just that good! Or at least, the art is just that bad. I mean, just look at the pic above. She's got ass-crotch, for god's sake!
Before Anton left for the week, he left his keys under the Joystick Division Headquarters doormat along with the following note:
Gary,
Just a few reminders:
1) Water my fern, and sing it a lullaby on Tuesday and Thursday. I don't care if you think it's dumb, I read a study.
2) None of your "parties". On that note: leave the petty cash alone. We don't have a category in the chart of accounts for "A little bit of p" for your "d".
3) Post the weekly Fan Art column.
Otherwise: there's beer in the fridge, don't worry about the cat's litterbox, and just know I might've installed nannycams anywhere.
A. Gordon
Admittedly reasonable, modest expectations overall. Alas, I blew the first two almost immediately... so I figure I should at least get #3 done, or I'll never hear the end of it.
Click on through for a selection of the lamest, weirdest, worst and most sexually disturbing Street Fighter fan art around!
In last week's Prince of Persia edition of Weekly Fan Art, I ended with a call for suggestions on what series I should tackle in the future. Smash Bros. was the first thing shouted out, and man, what a subject it turned out to be. You see, the recipe for a quality WFA is a combination of shitty drawings (obviously), "chibi" versions of characters, crossovers with Sonic the Hegdehog for some reason, and a healthy dose of homoeroticism. The Smash Bros. fan community delievered on all fronts, with the exception of the Sonic crossover nonsense, because he's already in the game. I could probably use Smash Bros. for a subject for weeks, and the giant fire-shitting Bowser above only scratches the surface of what you're about to see.
Aww yeah. What's the best way to start your week off right? Coffee and donuts? Hookers and an eight ball? If you answered "Weekly Fan Art, of course!" then you have serious problems. I don't know about you, but this column makes me cry every time. Then again, I do have to clear my search history every time I put one of these together, so my wife doesn't inadvertently discover that I was looking at pictures of Scorpion sucking Sub-Zero's dick. I wish I was kidding. Anyway, this week's entry on the Prince of Persia is mercifully fellatio-free!
In doing the research for Joystick Division's semi-beloved Weekly Fan Art Column, I tend to accumulate more crappy video game drawings than I can actually use. Much of it gets deleted, but some of it survives, cluttering my computer with garbage-y fan wankery that would make anyone who searched my hard drive think I'm a creepy, maladjusted shut-in. Which is, of course, true. Anyway, here are some of the remnants of previous editions, plus a few bits from a few aborted columns that never saw the light of day, like Mr. Marcus Fenix from Gears of War above and a big-handed Dante from Devil May Cry below.
Welcome to another edition of Weekly Fan Art. This week's entry on the Metal Gear Solid is downright restrained compared to last week's Mortal Kombat entry, which is somewhat odd given the downright bonkers nature of the Metal Gear series. If you've never played it, the Metal Gear Solid series is about a super-soldier names Solid Snake - kinda. He actually only stars in two of the four games. I'm not even going to try to explain it. Let's just look at some pictures, 'kay?
Like Halo, there's enough Mortal Kombat art out there that I might end up running more than one week of MK fan art. But for now, I'll just show you some of the best of the best, and maybe we'll come back to revisit the Outworld tournament another time. I'd been thinking that Mortal Kombat was somewhat of a second-tier fighting series, taking a backseat to franchises like Street Fighter and Soul Calibre. Apparently I was wrong, as this edition of Weekly Fan Art has it all: Chibi versions. Terrible MSPaint creations. Crossovers with Sonic the Hedgehog. And, of course, homoeroticism. And I'm not even going to post the Scorpion-on-Sub-Zero hardcore cocksucking drawings I found. I really wish I was kidding about that.
Last week, I inflicted Part 1 of the Weekly Fan Art: Halo Edition upon the internet. Are you ready for Part 2? I sure am, but that's mostly because I've been drinking heavily since last night. Damn the academy and their Space Chimps snub! As bad as that was, it's still not as bad as what I have in store for you, thanks primarily to the misguided belief that Halo is somehow sexy. Ugh. If you're ready, read on.
I'm going to make a confession. Over the last couple of weeks, I was starting to worry that Weekly Fan Art was unsustainable. Surely there isn't a never-ending supply of hilariously bad video game art out there, I thought. I've already had to throw out some of the characters I thought would be perfect fits for this feature due to lack of material. The well, I feared, might be running dry already.
But then came Halo. Hoo boy. And I thought Dragon Ball fans were messed up.
You see, there are two kinds of bad Halo fan art: Regular and Red vs. Blue. Red vs. Blue, as you may know, is a video series created with the Halo engine. It's a funny series about a war between two factions of Halo's Spartans. But there is a small, dedicated group of people out there who think it's actually about a bunch of hot guys fucking each other. In armor. Yeah.
There's so much material based on Halo that I'll actually be spreading it across two editions of Weekly Fan Art. I'll be saving most of the erotic Red vs. Blue material for next week for your safety. You've been warned.
The Weekly Fan Art column has covered the biggest names in video game mascot-dom, like Mario and Sonic. Now it's time to turn our attention to gaming's most prominent also-ran: Crash Bandicoot. Despite being the video game equivalent of The Simpson's Poochy, Crash Bandicoot has, based on my rough estimates, starred in about 17,000 games. Somehow this "edgy" character has survived where equally stale, designed-by-focus-group characters like Bubsy the Bobcat and Blinx the Timesweeper have failed. But with success come bad fan art. And boy oh boy does Crash have some bad fan art!
Slightly behind schedule, here's this week's Fan Art update. We've tackled Mario, Sonic and Resident Evil. Now it's time to take on the series that gave us our trademark Blue Pig Ganon review scale. For better or for worse, this week's fan art roundup is less* homoerotic than the previous entries. So you should feel safe reading on, right?
*Does not guarantee a complete lack of homoerotic material.
In honor of today's release of the Resident Evil 5 demo, this week's Fan Art column is devoted to the Resident Evil series and its characters. Unlike some franchises, Resident Evil doesn't star one central character, instead featuring a wide cast and some truly memorable supporting characters and monsters. In other words, you won't see an individual desecrated after the jump. No, you'll see shameful, shameful versions of an entire in-game universe.
After debuting this column with Mario, it's only fitting that the second edition go to his longtime rival, Sonic the Hedgehog. What I quickly learned while scanning the interwebs for funny Sonic art is that Sonic fans seem to take the character seriously - way too seriously. Much of the art is simply copied from official art, making it neither funny or interesting. That being said, I did manage to find some choice examples to share, at great personal cost to my sanity and soul.
Welcome to the first installment of what promises to be a horrifying regular feature here on Joystick Division! Inspired by our much more frequently-updated sister site Topless Robot and its emotionally scarring Fan Fiction Friday column, I bring you Weekly Fan Art! Celebrating the lamest, weirdest and most vomit-inducing video game fan art, I figured I'd start things off with the biggest game mascot of all time: Mario. There are literally thousands of Mario art pieces out there, including some which are truly very cool. These, however, are not cool at all. Hit the jump to revel in the shittiness!
