Mario Block Party

Yeah, I know this is an ad for the DS, but I have a weakness for all things Mario.



If the kids in my neighborhood put on a skit like this, I'd buy 'em all a DS.

OK. That's a lie. I wouldn't buy them anything. But I'd still like to see the show.

Classic Nintendo Is Still Totally Radical

I ran across the above t-shirt at Sharkrobot.com and now I really, really want it. Also, I dig that URL.

We had an original Nintendo (in fact, my mom might still have it) and had all kinds of neighborhood kids over all the time to play games. My brother and I would have to fight over times to play since we didn't share well. I still think that Super Mario 3 is one of the best video games of all time.

If you're like me and are feeling nostalgic for some classic Nintendo, then do I have the thing for you. Some mad geniuses made an online mashup of the original Super Mario game. You can choose one of a number of classic Nintendo characters (Mario, Link (from Zelda), Samus (from Metroid), etc.) and play Super Mario Bros.

It's seriously fun. And it's also sad that I remembered where more than one of the shortcuts were. I can't remember what I had for breakfast, but I can tell you where to find the level jump warp pipe that I found in 1985.

Oh, if you have a Wii, they have Super Mario 3 for sale on their arcade store. Totally worth the $5.

It's Mario Time!

As a child of the '80s, I grew up on slouch socks and banana clips, after-school specials, Tab and (of course) Nintendo.

I didn't have my own system, but every Friday night my mother would drive me to the video store so I could rent one for the weekend. I'd set it all up, plug in the gun and shoot some ducks for a while before getting down to business, Super Mario style.

I ate, breathed and slept Super Mario Bros. When I wasn't playing in real life, I was jumping on Goomba's and fighting Bowser to rescue the princess in my mind. It's an obsession a love that I've passed that on to my kids – they love the new version, almost as much as my husband and I do.