Tag: Weirdness - Page 6
Weirdness The VideoTendo 2000 is a VHS Tape Converted into a NES
Rewind the clock with this fully functional modification
We've seen our fair share of weird and wonderful console modifications during our time at Nintendo Life, but this latest project from modder Shinobicycle could well be the weirdest one yet. In what looks to be a wholesome celebration of the 1980s, this brave modder has taken a NES clone and -...
Feature The Weird and Wonderful World of Nintendo Patents
Because gaming needs more wackiness
Nintendo is well known for pushing new ideas, often utilising established technology to broaden our horizons and shake up gaming experiences. The Wii Remote may have used well-worn technology in innovative ways to prompt a motion-control craze, yet it wasn't received with universal rapture before the Wii launched...
Weirdness This is How Monster Hunter Beasts Spring to Life at Universal Studios Japan
Monstrous monsters on the prowl
We recently reported on Monster Hunter Real 2014, a Monster Hunter-themed extravaganza at the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka, Japan. The exhibit, which is open until 11th May, features Monster Hunter themed food and drink, elaborate models of gear from the game and quests that visitors can go on. One of the...
Weirdness New Scientific Research Reveals The Horrifying Impact Of Texting On Mario Kart Drivers
Don't text and handle red shells, kids
As we all know, texting behind the wheel isn't a wise move — it has caused countless accidents on roads all over the world, and you should never, ever do it. Ever. However, less is known about the effect texting has on road safety in Mario Kart. Thankfully, some pioneering scientists (in reality nine adults...
Weirdness An Album You Can Remix On Your Game Boy Advance
Making music with an old friend
The charming blips and scratching synth of chiptune soundtracks has never really lost its appeal among gamers and musicians alike, with many examples of retro sounds being used in new projects even today. From Anamanaguchi to I Fight Dragons, there's plenty out there to discover, and now electronic pop maestro Doctor...
Weirdness These Tombstones for Fallen Characters Show The Horrors of Nintendo Gaming
RIP Goomba, Koopa Troopa... oh no, Link!
Death is everywhere in video games. Mario ruthlessly stomps on turtles — or turtle-like things — Link falls in his efforts to save Hyrule, and heroic Knights suffer the indignity of dying in their underpants. It's a cruel, cruel world. Sometimes the heroes die with a bit of sad music to accompany them,...
Weirdness Alex Kidd Infiltrates The Legend Of Zelda, With Disastrous Results
Crossover chaos
Before Sonic the Hedgehog sped onto the scene, Alex Kidd was Sega's undisputed mascot, appearing in a host of Master System adventures — as well as a single 16-bit outing — and attempting to challenge Nintendo's Mario in the sphere of platforming goodness. Since being ousted by the blue hedgehog, Alex Kidd has wandered in the...
Weirdness Puzzle & Dragons Z Yogurt Will Unlock A Scrumptious Special Dungeon
Part of a balanced breakfast
You may have seen our recent coverage on the 3DS sensation Puzzle & Dragons Z here at Nintendo Life, a game which hopefully see the light of day in the West at some point this year. What you haven't seen is a delicious new way to unlock some bonus content for the game — and we do mean delicious. After crossovers...
Weirdness Japanese Gamer Clears Ocarina Of Time Using Only His Feet
Saving Hyrule is by no means an easy feet
Ocarina of Time needs no introduction. It's a title that has been explored through speedrun after speedrun, exploited and researched tirelessly for different ways to complete it, and today it will even be featured on Awesome Games Done Quick's fantastic charity streaming event. This particular playthrough,...
Weirdness Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder Has a Virtual Butt Removed in North America
Won't somebody think of the children!
Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder is out now on the 3DS eShop in North America, and is certainly a title full of charm and potential. It utilises the device's camera for a quirky object finding quest, bringing back the franchise that began on GameCube and had two DS releases, one of which was Japan-only. As has proven...
Weirdness Try Not To Squirm As This Doomed Miiverse Romance Turns Sour
"I really did like u"
Miiverse is a powerful social tool which has won a lot of fans since it launched on the Wii U back in 2012. The recent expansion of the service to the 3DS has allowed it to become bigger than ever, with millions of users interacting with one another, sharing thoughts on games and generally connecting in a safe and friendly...
Weirdness Show Your Loved One You Care This Christmas With Phantasy Star
Tyler "Christmas Sega Kid" Esposito provides some sound advice
Tyler Esposito — the lucky scamp you saw in that heart-warming compilation of Sega-released Christmas footage — is of course all grown up now, but that doesn't mean he has lost his adoration for the Japanese video game veteran. Esposito dropped us a line to let us know about another...
Weirdness This Game Combines Hello Kitty With Rhythm Cooking and Arcana Heart
Either awesome, strange or a mix of both?
Quite often games arrive earlier or exclusively in Japan, and those of us elsewhere in the world can only look on with envy or splash the cash on imported systems and games. Occasionally these Japan-only games are intriguing primarily due to the fact that they're peculiar — Hello Kitty & Apron of...
Weirdness Donkey Kong And Other NES Classics Can Now Be Played On Your Wedding Cake
Perfect for a gorilla-suited groom
If you've ever dreamed of smothering the face of your brand new spouse with a giant slice of virtual dirt from the game Dig Dug, now is your chance. An entertainment company out of New Jersey, USA named POSH Entertainment has figured out how to make you lose even more of your hard earned coins by getting married,...
Weirdness UK Store GAME Creates Christmas Dinner In A Can
9 layers of festive food – including turkey and Christmas puddling
We apologise if you've just eaten something prior to reading this particular news story, as the following information may cause you to involuntarily bring up your previously consumed meal — you have been warned. It has been revealed today that UK video game retailer GAME has...
Weirdness Scrub Up With These Nintendo Cartridges
Promotes gamer hygiene
Like professional athletes, Nintendo gamers are commonly known for generating foul odours during long and enduring marathons. It’s part of the whole experience. Whether it involved gaming with friends back in the day with a copy of GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64, or more recently playing through the latest Zelda adventure...
Weirdness This Chinese School Has an Enormous Mario Mural on its Building
The lessons probably aren't as awesome
We often see examples of Nintendo culture and its brands appearing in fairly unlikely places and forms, and this is another example that undoubtedly qualifies. It's an enormous New Super Mario Bros. — it suits the later series in terms of design — mural on the side of a Chinese school building; as you'll be...
Weirdness Hori Creates Strange, Antibacterial Funnel For Wii U Microphone
Probably won't make Christmas-party warblings sound much better, though
Horicorp — which manufactures a variety of licensed accessories for pretty much every console out there — has finally delivered what we've all been waiting for; a sound-reducing, antibacterial guard for the Wii U microphone. Well somebody out there wanted it anyway...
Weirdness Super Mario 64 Corruptions Yield Hilarious and/or Terrifying Results
Where is your Luigi now?
Every now and then, it doesn't hurt to remember that the video game worlds and characters we love are really little more than bits of data, pieced and strung together to compose the beauty and fun we see before us. And there's no better way to appreciate that said data is so well organized than witnessing the abominations...
Weirdness Amazon Plans Drone Air Delivery Service for 2015
We suggest designing them to look like propeller blocks
As technology advances, those slightly silly sci-fi ideas we see in video games start to creep into real life. Following an announcement today it looks like, within a couple of years, you will have a little drone aircraft fly your Amazon deliveries to your house. It's awesome and slightly scary...
Weirdness This is How Teslagrad Would Look on the Game Boy
Kind of awesome, actually
Teslagrad is one of quite a few upcoming Wii U eShop titles that Nintendo's been happy to show off in video sizzle reels. That's not surprising, as the Rain Games project has caught the eye with attractive visuals and clever magnet-based puzzle platforming mechanics. Its attractive visuals certainly play a part in the...
Weirdness Drink Your Troubles Away With This Nintendo Flask
Non alcoholic beverages are an option, of course
Retro gaming and whiskey, does it mix? One inventor on Kickstarter thought so. Matt Cornell describes himself as a passionate gamer and one who is lucky to have been raised alongside the video game industry as it has developed. Now he is repaying it with a throwback to the legends he was raised on...
Weirdness Model Chrissy Teigen Celebrates a Mushroom Kingdom Birthday
Bowser's name reportedly not found on the list
Singer-songwriter John Legend has got to be feeling pretty good right now. Marrying a model is one thing, but marrying a model who later decides to celebrate her 28th birthday with a Super Mario twist is something very special indeed. After tying the knot in September this year, the newly-weds moved on...
Video This Cat Fails to Get Into the Super Mario 3D World Spirit
No cats were harmed in the production of this video, obviously
Super Mario 3D World is packed with great ideas, and one of the most obvious "I can't believe this wasn't done before" examples is the cat suit. Even members of the Nintendo Life team that have little love for actual cats seem to adore the power-up, as it's fun to use and watch in...
Weirdness Nintendo of America Celebrates the Flying 3DS
"FAA FTW"
Nintendo's games, when you assess them with a critical perspective, are weird. The company's main mascot lives in The Mushroom Kingdom and fights an enormous turtle thing with a dog's name, while this year a major Wii U release put players in control of hundreds of colour co-ordinated minions that collect fruit and fight creatures to...
Weirdness Mario Takes On Link In This Live-Action Smash Bros. Tribute
Nintendo's biggest characters square off
Smash Bros. may have given fans the tools to answer the age-old question of who would win if Mario had to fight Link, but for some, that's not enough. Stunt team Emc Monkeys — famed for its live-action replications of popular video games — has decided to settle the argument once and for all with its...
Weirdness You'll Still Be Able To (Sort Of) Play Watch Dogs This Christmas
Perhaps not in the way you'd expect, though
Ubisoft's Watch_Dogs was one of 2013's most anticipated titles, until it got pushed into 2014, that is. While nothing can really remedy the disappointment of missing out on one of the most exciting new games in recent memory, you can still Watch Dogs — quite literally — thanks to the well-intentioned...
Weirdness Shigeru Miyamoto Meets Mario in Real Life
Sometimes you just can't get away from your parents
The Mario Bros. may be video game icons, recognizable to millions all around the world; yet you still wouldn't expect to see them strolling (or indeed jumping) down the street. Their 'adventures' in Brooklyn with Dennis Hopper aside, we've rarely seen the duo anywhere outside the green hills of the...
Weirdness Nintendo Goes Old School With a Mahjong Set
Though it does cost more than a 3DS
Those familiar with Nintendo history will know that before it moved into the electronic entertainment industry it was founded as a playing card company, producing and marketing its Hanafuda game. Though not quite returning to those roots in a literal sense, the company is releasing an attractive Mahjong set,...
Weirdness This Chart and Range of Tips May Help With Those Confusing Pokémon Weaknesses in X & Y
You'll need a memory like an elephant, er, Phanpy?
The world of Pokémon can be baffling to outsiders, which is perhaps more prevalent now that X & Y have sold millions of copies around the world. There are sure to be some that are new to the franchise, and they may be struggling to keep up with the many types, attacks and weaknesses that need...
Weirdness CollegeHumor Updates The Pokérap With All 718 Pokémon
"Your dream of a new PokéRap is now a nine minute nightmare"
The Pokérap is probably something that older, veteran Pokémon fans cherish, a musical treat that lasted through the first three generations of the franchise. Of course, as the generations have passed and a lot more 'mon have been added, the practicalities have made it a thing of the...
Weirdness You Could Hang This Mini Lego Mario Question Block on Your Christmas Tree
We particularly like the Lego Atari 2600
The Holiday season is a festive, happy time, when many off us happily pile on the pounds and, presumably, play a lot of games. It's a time of backlog busting and, perhaps, silly family games — that Wii or, dare we say Wii U can provide the latter activity in particular. Some of us may also have a Christmas...
Weirdness Shiny Pokémon Finder Takes No-Hands Approach
This will probably void your warranty, though
There is a certain breed of Pokémon player out there who would do just about anything to capture the rare, “shiny” variety of each creature. Their fascination with shinies borders on a raccoon-like intensity — yet unlike most raccoons, many of these humans have access to technology. YouTube user...
Weirdness This Game Boy Color Costume Actually Plays Game Boy Advance Games
Trick or treat yourself to a bit of Pokémon?
A YouTube user who goes by the name of MikeHandidate managed to outdo even the eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein this Halloween by dressing up as none other than a giant, fully functioning Game Boy Color. While the costume does share some similarities to Frankenstein's monster in that it's a tad...
Weirdness You Can Fix Your NES 72-Pin Cartridge Connector By Boiling It
You learn something new every day
The NES was really popular, and that means there are lots of consoles out there right now either sitting unused in cupboards or (preferably) still providing entertainment almost three decades after the western release of the system. However, it's a simple fact that the older a device is, the more chance there is of...
News Male Wii Fit Trainer Revealed as Latest Smash Bros. Challenger
He should Fit right in
Back at E3 2013, it was revealed that the female Wii Fit Trainer would be a playable character in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. It looks like she'll be in good company; series producer Masahiro Sakurai sent a post to Miiverse earlier today, indicating that her male counterpart would indeed be...
Weirdness Worlds Of Power Is To Rise From The Grave In 2014
Nintendo Life's Philip Reed is taking a trip down memory lane
Young gamers growing up in the early 90s no doubt remember Worlds of Power. It was a series of youth-oriented novelisations of classic NES games...and the books have become legendarily awful. They were inaccurate, inept, and very poorly written. While their ostensible mission was to...
Weirdness Japanese YouTuber Dresses Up As Mega Man, Powers Up Via Electric Shocks
It's one way to celebrate the Blue Bomber's 25th, we guess
As we all know, Mega Man turns 25 this year. Capcom is doing its bit by re-releasing classic adventures on the Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console services, but what fans really want is an all-new Mega Man outing. They may well be getting it, too — although in the form of Mighty No.9, which is a...
Weirdness If Pokémon Battles Were in First-Person, It'd Be a Lot Less Cute
Ouch
Pokémon fever has been in force for many weeks and months now, culminating in the recent release of Pokémon X & Y. Like many of the most successful and best-loved franchises on Nintendo systems, it's also a rather peculiar premise that's been going strong for many years. As we suggested in our weekend article, playing Pokémon games can...
Weirdness UK Tabloid Reports on Fictional Deus Ex "Eyeball Implant"
Journalistic research triumphs again
British tabloid The Sun has been on our radar at Nintendo Life in the past, most notably for its ludicrous 'medical' coverage of the dangerous effects of the 3DS, in which a journalist played in 3D while walking down the street and then complained of feeling ill. The paper also published articles at the time...
Weirdness A Mario Kart Movie Could be Epic
As epic as the Need for Speed flick, anyway
Some game franchises certainly like to take themselves seriously, particularly those so proud to tag themselves as 'mature' — you know the ones. Need for Speed sort of qualifies, as even though the games are relatively mindless fun it has an upcoming movie that's giving off some pretentious vibes. It's...
Weirdness Uh-Oh, That Guy Who Likes To Microwave Things Got His Hands On A 2DS
Confirms the "single screen" theory in the most brutal way possible
YouTube user dOvetastic likes to microwave consumer products for his own twisted entertainment, and films the results so the wider world can share in his rather disturbing pastime. You might recall his previous videos featuring a 3DS XL and Wii U. He's managed to secure a brand new...
Weirdness Beautiful Master Sword Replica Up for Auction
Must pick up in Lost Woods
Would you like a sword? All right, dumb question. If someone were just handing them out on the street, who wouldn’t take one? Let’s rephrase: are you looking for a nicely made replica of Link’s Master Sword? Because if you are (or just realized you need to be), it’d be hard to go wrong with this beauty currently...
Weirdness If Pokémon Meets King of the Hill, the Results Are Bizarre
Because almost everyone plays Pokémon
Some of you in the Nintendo Life readership may be fans of King of the Hill, the animated series that ran on TV from 1997 to 2010, picking up a number of awards in the process. With over 250 shows behind it, there's little surprise that the series has plenty of fans online that are more than happy to celebrate...
Weirdness Here's a Team Fortress 2 Star Fox Deathmatch Mod
Yes, really
Team Fortress is a phenomenon, as the Valve-developed multiplayer FPS typifies the features that many PC gamers adore — basically, it can be modded and manipulated in a lot of ways. It's a major part of the game's appeal, though the default crazy cartoonish action has a legion of fans, with plenty still playing the ageing game to this...
The error was spotted in Hiroshi Yamauchi's obituary
Writers and journalists, no matter the prestige of their publication, make mistakes. Facts are incorrect or the wording may be wrong, and corrections are made. The New York Times, in an admirable sense of perspective and maintaining standards, has corrected an error from an article published 25...
Feature The Weird World of Video Games
Weirdness makes the World go 'round
Sometimes it feels like this video gaming hobby of ours can be a dreadfully serious business. We worry about the direction of brands we love — in many of our cases, of course, Nintendo — or perhaps we get hot and bothered about what games are coming, those that aren't, or a myriad of other things. There are...
Weirdness Watch Nearly 1000 Mario Players All At Once
Super Mario Boy
For those that have played Super Meat Boy, which unfortunately never made it to a Nintendo system, a highlight can be the replay that follows every completed level — all of your attempts are shown at once. If you can imagine that with a Super Mario Bros. level, but with 974 players on display, then you can imagine what's coming...
Weirdness If Only The Dark Knight Was a Retro Game
"Wanna know how I got these scanlines?"
Just yesterday we shared the fact that there's a retro-styled Game of Thrones game, which draws inspiration from the TV show. To continue that theme we now have a video that recreates The Dark Knight as it would be in a retro game; this is a rather fun recreation of key events as they could work in a game of...
Weirdness There's a Game of Thrones 8-Bit Game
Watch out, HBO
For those that aren't actually aware, Game of Thrones was around long before it arrived as a big-budget behemoth on TV; the original book was called A Game of Thrones and was book one in the series titled A Song of Ice and Fire, which is still going — hats off to you, George R. R. Martin. There's no doubt that the TV series has...
