Someone made this hilarious animated graphic that shows Mario easily climbing up a series of stacked crates of increasing size. A man then follows, but has a lot more trouble with the crates.
Leaving a Koopa trapped between pipes may be a cruel and unusual punishment. An article here says the Super Mario franchise is patently offensive to the shelled community. Take a look:
Conan Responds to Allegations His Set Resembles Super Mario
A blog called Serious Lunch speculated that the backdrop on Conan O'Brien's set resembles the Super Mario game. The speculation was false but Conan's reaction to it was pretty funny. Take a look:
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Trailer
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is a new Wii and DS game being devloped by Sega under the guidance of Shigeru Miyamoto. The game will take players to Olympic venues where they can choose from a cast of playable characters. The Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games video game sold over 10 million copies worldwide so Sega is hoping this Winter Games sequel will be another big hit. Alpine Skiing and Speed Skating are a couple of the events that will be part of Winter Games with more events to be announced throughout the year. The game is due out by the end of 2009. MTV has more details. Here's the trailer:
President-Elect Barack Obama is sitting in for Mario in the online game called Super Obama World. The game will remind you of things that happened during the election. The BBC says the creators of the game plan to add more levels throughout Obama's presidency. Watch out for those pit bulls with lipstick - they actually look more like pigs.
Nintendo has revealed plans for Mario Super Sluggers for Wii. The game features Mario
"Mario is truly a one-of-a-kind character; clearly fans can't get enough of him and his friends," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "We're giving Wii users brilliant new ways to enjoy him while expanding our series of active-play games."
In the same spirit as other sports-themed Mario games on Wii like Mario Strikers Charged and Mario Kart Wii, Mario Super Sluggers blends richly interactive baseball action with eccentric characters and elements from across the popular Mario universe. Players can swing the wireless Wii Remote just like a real bat or wave it toward the plate to deliver a masterful pitch, enjoying the same intuitive, easy-to-learn controls that helped make Wii Sports a living room hit. With Mario and his unpredictable pals filling out the roster, imagination and active-play innovation are sure to dominate the diamond in this lively title, scheduled for release later this year.
It was just a matter of time before game makers combined sports games with the popular series stars. Most adults prefer the serious games populated with "real" baseball stars but kids are happy to have the lovable Mario and friends around. Wikipedia has a list of the Mario characters that will appear in the baseball game.
Reuters reports that a strange new study found that video game skills may correlate with some surgical skills.
There was a strong correlation between video game skills and a surgeon's capabilities performing laparoscopic surgery in the study published in the February issue of Archives of Surgery.
Laparoscopy and related surgeries involve manipulating instruments through a small incision or body opening where the surgeon's movements are guided by watching a television screen.
Video game skills translated into higher scores on a day-and-half-long surgical skills test, and the correlation was much higher than the surgeon's length of training or prior experience in laparoscopic surgery, the study said.
Out of 33 surgeons from Beth Israel Medical Center in New York that participated in the study, the nine doctors who had at some point played video games at least three hours per week made 37 percent fewer errors, performed 27 percent faster, and scored 42 percent better in the test of surgical skills than the 15 surgeons who had never played video games before.
33 is a very small study group but it is interesting that the surgeons with video game skills performed so much better. (via Engadget)
Visteon Running Contest to Promote Dockable Game Boy System
Visteon Corporation is running a summer contest to promote the Visteon Game Boy Advance DVD/video game system that docks into a vehicle's headliner. You can see Mario playing in the photograph on the right. Visteon says the game system can easily be undocked and used in other locations. Here is some scoop about the Best Summer Road Trips contest, which runs May 15 through Sept. 8, 2006, and is open to the first 1,000 eligible entrants.
To enter the free Visteon contest, vacationers ages -- 18 and older -- must document their 2006 summer driving vacations through creative photography and written journal entries. Eligible entrants will receive a Nintendo "Mario" action figure and journal materials for use during their trips. Photography submitted as the participants' final entries must include the "Mario" action figure in front of vacation landmarks.
Visteon will award a premium Dockable Entertainment featuring Game Boy(R) Advance DVD/video game system (total estimated retail value ["e.r.v."] $1,299 plus installation; installation value varies by region) as a Grand-Prize to each of the top three (3) vacation entries based on sites visited, driving distance, creative use of the "Mario" action figure in photos, and quality of written journal entries.
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In addition to the Grand-Prize award program, Visteon will award Children's Prize Packages consisting of a 10-pack of assorted Nintendo(R) Game Boy(R) Advance video game titles (prize package e.r.v. $200) to ten (10) children ages six through 17 based on journals documenting their 2006 vacation road trip experiences (with parental consent and participation).
You can find out more about Visteon's Dockable Entertainment system here. That giant Mario is big but he isn't nearly as large as the one seen hanging out with Ronald McDonald last year.
Some teenage girls face criminal charges for trying to recreate the Super Mario Brothers game in real life. The recreation included "question mark" boxes which were confused for bombs. The local Bomb Detection Unit was even called in to inspect the boxes according to a Akron Beacon Journalarticle.
The Portage County Hazardous Materials Unit and Bomb Detection Unit were called in to downtown Ravenna on Friday morning after seventeen suspicious packages -- boxes wrapped in gold wrapping paper with question marks spray painted on them -- had alarmed residents.
Boxes were found at the Immaculate Conception Church on West Main Street, the Portage County Courthouse, Deluxe Pastries, the corner of Cherry Way and Main Street, Reed Memorial Library, Ravenna High School and a residence at Sanford and Main streets.
Five girls -- age 16 and 17 -- claimed responsibility for making and placing the packages. The girls said they found an Internet site that included step-by-step instructions for creating replicas of blocks featured in the game.
Now we find out that the girls won't be prosecuted for tring to recreate the popular video game. There are now some very relieved girls and their parents in Ohio. This site has some pictures of power-up boxes people have maded. (via Joystiq)
Nintendo has revealed plans for Mario Super Sluggers for Wii. The game features Mario
Visteon Corporation is running a summer contest to promote the Visteon Game Boy Advance DVD/video game system that docks into a vehicle's headliner. You can see Mario playing in the photograph on the right. Visteon says the game system can easily be undocked and used in other locations. Here is some scoop about the 
