Mario's mad mushroom man

Have you ever wondered how all of the power-ups that dot the Mushroom Kingdom landscape got to be placed within question blocks?

Artist Dan Taub (aka 1oddgent) has, and the result of his daydreaming is the decidedly creepy t-shirt design seen below (and here).

If you're a daring sort, check out oneoddgentleman.com to take a closer look and this mad mushroom man's Pac-Man-like eyes razor-sharp teeth.

Sadly, the t-shirt Taub is wearing in the photo above isn't yet available via his etsy shop. If you're itching to buy something of his, though, may I suggest picking up one of his "Arsenal of Power-Ups" prints?

See also: More of 1oddgent's art

This photo has me feeling conflicted

I found the photo below while searching for an image that could be included in the "Who cares what I'm playing, which games are *you* currently playing?" post I published over the weekend.



Anyway, you're probably wondering why I suggest in the headline above that it has me feeling conflicted. Well, on the one hand, the big-headed, doe-eyed "Dal" doll kind of--OK, more than kind of--creeps me out. (No offense to the person who made or owns her, of course.) On the other, the "candy pink" DS system she's playing makes me a bit weak in the knees.

In regards to the latter: Is it wrong that I now want a "candy pink" DS at least as much as I want a "misty pink" 3DS?

What Mario might see if he ate the wrong kind of mushroom

There's something enticingly Michael John Kricfalusi-esque about the Mario-focused illustration below, which likely is why I was so drawn to it while combing through Flickr earlier today. (I've long been a fan of The Ren & Stimpy Show, which Kricfalusi created back in 1991.)

What in the hell is going on in this piece (click on it to get a better look at it, or click on this link), you ask? I have no idea. Thankfully, Huddersfield, England-based artist/designer/illustrator James Burlinson--the man responsible for this creepy/wacky image--seems just as clueless.

"I'm not really sure what's going on in this piece," he admits on Flickr. "Maybe it has some hidden meaning? Something to do with the fact that Mario kills for coins, which in turn help Mario to kill for even more coins? Endless cycle of death by plumber? Either that or this is just what Mario would see if he ate the wrong mushrooms."

Check out Burlinson's Flickr photostream to see more of his bizarre-yet-captivating creations, by the way. (I'm especially fond of this piece of Alex Kidd fan art, which seems to be titled, "Predictable!")

The art of Dragon's Crown kind of scares me (or, it's obvious Vanillaware's George Kamitani is a thigh man, isn't it?)

I've been a fan of George Kamitani--and his games--ever since I laid eyes on the gorgeous Sega Saturn title he designed, Princess Crown.

As such, I'm going to give the Vanillaware founder the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the rather creepy art he's created for his company's upcoming four-player ARPG for PS3 and PS Vita, Dragon's Crown.

What do I mean when I say Kamitani's art is creepy? Well, take a gander at the following illustration (of one of the game's Amazon characters):

To see more of the thigh-rific characters that are set to appear in Dragon's Crown, which is due to be released in spring 2012, check out this article at siliconera.com.

Also, be sure to read this post and this post at andriasang.com if you're at all interested in this otherwise beautiful brawler.

But will the characters in Animal Crossing 3DS still look creepy?

While seemingly every other Nintendo fan the world over is looking forward to next month's E3 so he or she can finally get a glimpse of the company's next console (currently codenamed Project Café), I'm looking forward to the event, to be held June 7-9 in Los Angeles, so I can see if the characters in its upcoming Animal Crossing 3DS still look creepy.



I can't be the only person who thinks the game's more properly proportional--with the exception of their big ol' noggins--characters look a bit odd, can I? (Please share your thoughts on the matter in the comments section of this post.) For whatever reason, I find the shorter, stubbier characters seen in the series' previous iterations much more aesthetically pleasing.