The walls of our home won't be complete until one of them sports a pixelated portrait of Ellen Ripley from Konami's Aliens arcade game

I've had a bit of a "thing" for the Alien and Aliens films since I watched them for the first time as a teenager.

You'd think that would mean I've long had a similar thing for games inspired by those flicks, but it doesn't.

There have been a few exceptions, of course. Sega's Alien Syndrome and Alien Storm are two examples. Xenophobe is another.

None of the above compete with Konami's Aliens quarter-muncher from 1990, however. OK, so it takes some liberties with the source material. It's such a blast to play, though, that I don't have any problems overlooking those "creative differences."

It's also gorgeous, of course, with wonderfully detailed backdrops and sprites that evoke the 1986 movie that spawned it.

Apparently Atlanta-based artist Ashley Anderson agrees with that last tidbit. After all, he recently referenced the above-mentioned Aliens arcade game in the acrylic painting that can be seen below.

Before you go and think this is just some paint-by-numbers copycat, consider what Anderson said about it on Instagram:

"I limited my palette this time to traditional portrait colors, prussian blue (to mix with umber to make chromatic blacks), titanium white (for opacity), and zinc white (for warmth and translucence)."

As much as I like this piece, I like this next one, which Anderson calls "Ellen (Withering Heights)," even more.

For the curious: Anderson made "Ellen (Withering Heights)" using color pencil on toned paper.

I'm also quite fond of the similar "Sigourney Weaver," below, from 2010:

Anderson produced it using graphite on paper.

As for what prompted him to go down this particular path eight or so years ago, the artist shared the following explanation on Flickr:

"In keeping with my interest in pixellation's relationship with painting and its mechanics [and] traditions, I have begun collecting images of recognizable personalities as they are depicted in games and drawing them as one might create a portrait drawing from a photograph or a live sitter."

Want to see more of Anderson's pixelated depictions of the Aliens protagonist? Check out "Ellen (Ms X #1)" and "Ellen as April as Ellen."

Consider scouring his Instagram and Flickr photostreams, too. Both are filled with fascinating, game-inspired works of art.

WonderSwan doodle

I decided a couple of days ago to start prettying up my workspace. Specifically, I decided I'd produce at least one doodle (on a sticky note, of course) each day and then pin the resulting creation to the padded wall of my cubicle.

The doodle I came up with on Friday focused on a subject that's been bouncing around in my brain for the last few days: Bandai's Japan-only competitor to Nintendo's GameBoy, the uniquely named WonderSwan.

I'm sure many more game-inspired doodles will follow this one in the coming weeks and months, and I'm also sure that I'll share snapshots of at least some of them via Instagram. (Don't worry, future photos should look far better than the washed-out one that follows.)

Speaking of which, my Instagram handle is "rainbow_blight," just in case any of you want to follow me there. 

I regularly use all sorts of other social-media sites and apps, too, by the way--including Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Tumblr and Twitter--so please follow me there (and chat me up now and then) as well if you're into such things.

Other than that, do any of you also have the WonderSwan on the brain at the moment? Or are you otherwise fans of this quirky handheld? If so, please show your love in the comments section below.

See also: previous posts about the WonderSwan

A couple of Katamari Damacy + Solitiba doodles for anyone who cares

So, I recently started doodling again.

Not that I ever meant to stop, mind you--or not that I made some sort of specific pact with myself to stop, at least.

In fact, I can't remember when my "doodling" trailed off, although I'm pretty sure it was more than a year ago.

As for why this happened, I can only guess at this point, but I have a feeling I simply ran out of ideas. 

My brain recently became flooded with ideas, though, thanks to a project I'm working on for the technical writing certificate program I'm taking through the Seattle branch of the University of Washington. 

Specifically, I'm working on a "quick-reference guide" for the weird Game Freak-developed and -published 3DS (and iOS) title that has gotten so much attention here in the last six months or so, Solitiba. 

Although the focus of this document is its text--which is supposed to help people understand and remember the nuances of the various "phases" associated with Solitiba's racing segments--I want to make it visually appealing, too, so I decided a couple of weekends ago to whip up a few drawings that could be snuggled within all of the letters and punctuation.

My first creation wasn't a total success. (Check it out here, if you're feeling adventurous.) Later efforts were a lot better, though, if I do say so myself.

I don't know if I'd say this is an example of the latter, but I also wouldn't call it a complete turd. Granted, it was a quick-and-dirty sketch produced as a sort of placeholder image for my guide's cover. (In the end, I decided to go with something else.)

I like the doodle, above, a lot more. Of course, what's not to like about a cute little horse with a sparkly mane and stubby legs that's attempting (not very successfully, mind you) to play solitaire?

This drawing, on the other hand, is supposed to depict a similarly stylized undulate teetering atop a house of cards (or, "Horse of Cards," which is the name I gave to this image when I published it on deviantart a couple of days ago).

Had enough of my Solitiba-inspired illustrations (if they can even be called that)? How about a Katamari Damacy-inspired illustration? I concocted it after one of my new colleagues wore a Katamari-branded t-shirt to work last Friday.

I have a feeling Katamari Damacy's denizens usually don't alter their antennae like this one has, but what can you do?

Anyway, if you like any or all of the doodles shared here, you may want to head over to my deviantart gallery and take a gander the handful of others I've generated in the last few years.

See also: previous posts about Solitiba

Chocobo + Yoshi x Oskunk

I don't know which of the following pair of game-inspired "graffiti" illustrations I like better: the Yoshi one or the Chocobo one.

If I were forced to choose, I'd probably go with the latter, mainly because I've always had a soft spot for the banana-hued Final Fantasy mainstay, but also because I've had Square Enix's classic RPG series (and its spinoffs) on the mind lately due to the impending release of Theathrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call.

Regardless, both of these Oskunk creations are pretty cool, if you ask me. Speaking of Oskunk, if you'd like to see more examples of this French artist's work, I'd highly recommend checking out his blog, Custom Art, at your earliest convenience.

See also: 'An artistic mash-up I'd never considered before now: Kirby x Zelda'

'Sweet dream' indeed ...

I don't know about you, but I haven't run into many examples of NSFW-ish fan art devoted to Nintendo's pugilistic Punch-Out!! series over the years--which, in my humble opinion, is a crying shame.

Sadly, the piece of saucy fan art below (titled "Sweet Dream") doesn't include Little Mac, but it's so appealing even without his presence that I won't spend too much time complaining about the oversight.

This drawing was produced by the hand of artist Pauli Kohberger (aka madamluna), by the way. To see more of her stuff, check out her deviantart gallery (which contains a number of additional Punch-Out!!-inspired pieces) or her site, Electric Stories.

See also: 'Kirby and Meta Knight en fleur'

Say hello to my new Twitter header image

Those of you who frequent Twitter likely are aware that the site recently overhauled the design of its profile pages to make them look a bit more like the ones found on social-media rival Facebook.

I've avoided updating my Twitter profile page until now out of sheer laziness, but all of that changed last night because ... actually, I have no idea why it changed last night. Regardless, something prompted me to get off my butt and update my Twitter profile.

Sadly, my first attempts were kind of hideous (mostly due to my inability to find high-res images of certain Kuso Miso Technique illustrations). So, this morning I decided to make my own profile image. Not a Kuso Miso Technique-inspired one, mind you--I wish I were talented enough to do that, but I'm not.



No, the thing I came up with (above) is more of a doodle. Still, I think it's pretty cute--even if the rainbow flag being carried by the PC Engine on the left is a bit wonky. (The other systems are a Nintendo DS and a Sega Dreamcast, in case it isn't obvious.)

Anyway, head on over to my Twitter profile page if you'd like to see a much larger version of it. Or just go there so you and I can interact with each other in 140 characters or less.

See also: other gaming-related doodles I've whipped up over the years

Manual Stimulation: BurgerTime Deluxe (GameBoy)

Get ready for the return of the creepy BurgerTime Deluxe cover girl.

Thankfully, you're only going to have to look at her once in this post--as opposed to the numerous times readers were forced to look at her in my first write-up about this otherwise adorable GameBoy title.



To anyone who didn't believe me when I suggested a second ago that the rest of the Japanese BurgerTime Deluxe instruction manual was pretty darn cute: please check out the following pair of pages and then try to tell me that the illustrations of the game's protagonist are anything less than awww-inspiring.



The drawings that rest atop the next pair of pages--the first of which is dubbed the "Wonderland of BurgerTime Deluxe" and likely details the game's thrilling backstory--are even cuter, in my opinion.



Sorry, there are no cute illustrations to be found on the next couple of pages.



Don't worry, the designers responsible for this miniature manual are quick to bring back the drawings.



I don't know about you, but I find BurgerTime Deluxe's cast of enemies (shown on the left-hand page above) to be kind of bizarre. I mean, the "wiener" and pickle make sense, but the cracked egg and doughnut are questionable at best.



I'm sad to have to say that I'm not entirely sure what information the pages above and below are supposed to pass on to readers, although I'm pretty sure the left-hand page above explains BurgerTime Deluxe's password system and the pages below discuss its multi-player mode.





Regardless, there are a couple more adorable illustrations on the last few pages, so who really cares what all of the text around them is supposed to tell readers, right?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts

'Dreamy Mushroom Munchers'

Sorry for the art inundation as of late. I guess I've just been in an artsy kind of mood. (Another possibility: the headlong sprint into winter--here in Seattle, at least--has temporarily sapped me of the energy that's usually reserved for writing blog posts.)

Anyway, the focus of this particular art-centric post is the following illustration, created by a deviantartist who calls himself "Luce in the Sky."



The piece's title is "Dreamy Mushroom Munchers," appropriately enough, and it was produced in honor of Luigi's 30th anniversary.

To see more of Luce in the Sky's stuff, check out his deviantart gallery or his brand new (and as such still sparsely populated) tumblr.

Cherry on top

Dublin-based Twitterer (and YouTuber) MechaGamezilla made my night (no, not in that way) last week when he drew Animal Crossing: New Leaf villager portraits for five of his followers.

My favorite of the bunch was his rendition of the punk-ish pup, Cherry:

His Ankha and Snake portraits (below and, er, below-er) are pretty awesome, too.

As for how they were created: MechaGamezilla shared with me that he began with pencil drawings on paper, then scanned them and colored them using Photoshop's pen tool.

To see his takes on Gaston and Muffy, check out the "photos and videos" section of MechGamezilla's Twitter page.

(Gaming) sisters doin' it for themselves

I've said this before, and I'm going to say it again: I want another Super Princess Peach game, damn it!

I'd want said sequel to fix some of the problems I had with the original, of course, but even if this new title retained the first one's issues--too easy by far, and with a some-call-it-sexist gameplay hook--I'd still probably pick up a copy (especially if it were released for the 3DS).

Anyway, I bring up all of that because the following illustration, produced by artist Glen Brogan, reminds me of that much-maligned platformer--or maybe I should say it makes me ponder some of the improvements I'd like to see in its make-believe follow-up.

Brogan worked up the illustration for the recently opened 3NES Show at Brooklyn's Bottleneck Gallery (in runs through Sept. 22), by the way. Two others were produced along with it: one of which stars Samus Aran and Mother Brain and one of which stars Zelda and Ganon. (Both of them can be seen at albinoraven7.blogspot.com).

"My thoughts going into these pieces were that I wanted to stick closely to the original NES games, as opposed to branching out into subsequent games," Brogan says, "and I wanted to base them around the female characters in each game."

I'd say he did a pretty bang-up job in both regards, wouldn't you?

My wish list for Nintendo's 3DS successor

Yesterday's 2DS reveal got me thinking--and not just about the 2DS and its future success or failure. No, it got me thinking about Nintendo's next handheld, which I hope beyond hope will not be called the 4DS. (I'd also prefer that it not be called the HDS, as recently suggested by commenter Monster_Hunter2882, although I'd take that moniker over 4DS any day.)

My lame attempt at drawing a Nintendo 4DS

Specifically, it got me thinking about which features I'd like to see included in Nintendo's next handheld. Here's what popped into my head during that little brainstorming session:

* two screens, both touch-enabled
* both screens the same size/dimensions (a la the DS)
* two circle pads
* "HD" graphics (basically, a good bump up from those found in your average 3DS game)
* glasses-free 3D would be welcomed, but isn't needed
* backwards compatibility also would be welcomed, but isn't needed

That last one will shock a few people, I'm sure, and I included it here because I've come to the conclusion that I rarely take advantage of backwards compatibility when it comes to gaming hardware. To date I've played just one DS game (Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime) using my 3DS, for instance, and I believe I've only ever played two GameCube games (Animal Crossing and Super Mario Sunshine) using my Wii. 

I fully understand that offering backwards compatibility is a selling point for a lot of consumers, though, so I'd hardly shake my head if it were to be included. I'm just saying that I probably wouldn't make use of it and, as such, I wouldn't mind if Nintendo left it out in order to bring down the price of the system a bit.

So, that's my current wish list for Nintendo's 3DS successor. Is yours similar, or does it include different  (or additional) features and functions?

'Finding an adventure is easy'

Is it odd to have nostalgic feelings for a game you didn't actually play early in life?

If so, I'm odd, because I have all sorts of nostalgic feelings for Nintendo's EarthBound--a game I didn't experience (for the first time) until a few years after it was released in my neck of the woods.

Even odder: I've never finished the game, despite giving it my best on two occasions (including the above-mentioned one).

Anyway, all of that is brought up to add a little "color" to a post that could otherwise be boiled down to "I really like this EarthBound-inspired comic."

And what a wonderful comic it is, right?

It was produced by artist Zac Gorman, who recently shared on his site, Magical Game Time, that he's been "replaying EarthBound since its rerelease on the Virtual Console, so it’s been on my mind a lot."

Another of Zac's recent EarthBound comics is even more fabulous than this one, I have to say. Check it out here, if you have the interest.

Wart and Birdo, sittin' in a tree ...

While scouring the Interwebs for the Mr. Saturn illustration that anchored yesterday's EarthBound-focused post, I came across the curiously titled (in a good way) Sketchamagowza! tumblr.

Although said tumblr is filled with awesome pieces of art (here are a few yummy examples), most of which are inspired by or related to video games and nearly all of which are produced by someone who calls him or herself Shmorky, my current favorite is the Super Mario Bros. 2-inspired you see below (and here).



Nintendo seriously needs to bring back Wart, don't you think? And all of the other guys and gals who were featured in Super Mario Bros. 2 (aka Super Mario USA or Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic), too.

Silly aside: if you're any kind of RPG fan, be sure check out Shmorky's hilarious "Secret of the Dungeon" comic.

Zac Gorman x Dragon Quest

You want to know why I've long been fascinated by Square Enix's vaunted Dragon Quest series?

Take in the illustration below, which was made by artist Zac Gorman for an iam8bit gallery exhibition that opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Seriously, how could you not fall head over heels in love with such a charming cast of characters?

For those of you who are up for a bit more of Gorman's brilliance, check out this Donkey Kong-inspired t-shirt design.

No joke: if I hadn't just bought two game-related tees, I'd pick up one of the above faster than you can say, "It's-a me, Jumpman!"

Matthew Elliott x Pokémon

Warning: I've spent a lot of time perusing deviantart.com lately, so you should expect a number of upcoming posts to focus on fabulous game-related drawings and the like.

Cases in point: the following Pokémon illustrations, produced some time ago by Matthew Elliott (aka pseudonymjones).

"Team Rocket Grunt F + KOFFING"

"HAUNTER used Sucker Punch"

"MAGIKARP used Splash"

I came across the pieces above after stumbling across Elliott's take on everyone's favorite closeted game character, Tingle, by the way. Check out that illustration here, and check out his tumblr (which he seems to use more than deviantart these days) here.

I need this Pikmin print on one of our walls ... NOW

I'm sad to say that I can't remember where I was introduced to the Pikmin-inspired illustration seen below (and here).

I know it first came to my attention this past weekend, but I can't remember if I was trolling Twitter or reading a blog at that time. Regardless, I think it's all kind of awesome, so thank you to the person who's responsible for making me aware of it.



According to the artist responsible for it, Bobby O'Herlihy, the illustration was produced as a result of a private commission, with the goal of that commission being to celebrate the launch of the Wii U.

To see more of O'Herlihy's work, may I suggest hopping over to his blog, Cynic with a Pencil, once you're done here?

Reed Bond's 'Pink Yoshi'

Remember the "Sexy Shy Guy" I wrote about a few days ago? (Check it out here if you don't.) Well, it appears it was part of some sort of concerted effort by the folks behind the Drawed Goods site to illustrate characters from the Super Mario Bros. universe.

Another of the pieces created as part of the aforementioned effort is the one seen below (and here):

It was made by Atlanta-based artist Reed Bond and is, in my humble opinion, the definition of "adorbs." (I'm especially fond of Yoshi's side-eye.)

To see more of Bond's work, hop on over to his tumblr--reedicule.tumblr.com--when you have a second. Also, I'd highly recommend checking out drawedgoods.com while you're at it.

Sexy Shy Guy

I'm not entirely sure why, but awesome, Atlanta-based artist, Drew Green, recently decided to draw a "sexy Shy Guy."

I found it completely adorable when I came across it on Facebook, so of course I had to share it here.

To see more of Drew's work, be sure to check out his deviantart gallery and his Tumblr at your convenience.

Oh, and check out his wonderful comic, Ross Boston, too, if you're into that sort of thing.

'Let's have some fun with joysticks'

What does it say about me that the first thing I noticed about the following illustration is that the half-naked guy who I assume is supposed to serve as its focal point is playing what appears to be a PSone (one of my all-time favorite consoles)?

Of course, the guy in question isn't exactly "my type," so maybe that has something to do with it.

I discovered this image while perusing one of my favorite tumblrs, by the way--with that tumblr being Games With Boys.

Did you know that Justin Difazzio, aka the regular commenter formerly known as viewtifuljustin, is the proprietor of Games With Boys? Well, you do now.

I like big Pokébutts and I cannot lie

Especially when they're drawn by artist Lindsey Morris (aka Wine Lips), who is hawking a 12-page mini-comic called Pokébutts via her website.

As I'm sure you can tell by the comic's title, Pokébutts features full-color drawings of Pokémon characters sporting ample derrières.

Morris is selling two versions of Pokébutts, by the way. The standard edition can be had for just $5, while the special edition--which is customized with your choice of hand-drawn Pokébutt--costs $8.

I've already decided I'm going for the $8 version, but I haven't yet placed my order because I'm unsure as to which Pokémon character I want Morris to JLO-ize.

(Via tinycartridge.com)