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.

'Ugh'

OK, so the actual title of the colorful piece of pop art, produced by deviantartist melonjaywalk (aka Francis Gordon), that serves as the focal point of this post is "Hero." I really love the speech-bubble-wrapped "ugh" that appears in its upper-left corner, though, so that's what I went with when I came up with the header above.

Anyway, should one or more of you fine folks know which game the sprite showcased in "Hero" was pulled from, I'd greatly appreciate being enlightened as to its name in the comments section below.

'Yr Surprising No-One'

I'm not entirely sure what inspired artist melonjaywalk to produce this lovely piece of art, but I think it may have been Far Cry 4's controversial cover imagery.

Of course, it's possible I'm just reading too much into this quote, which Francis (melonjaywalk's actual first name) posted alongside his pixelated painting:

"I feel lame to the max seeming as the only way I could identify a character as 'gay' in this is via the colour pink, but I guess being obvious is better than abstraction at this point."



The sprites included in this acrylic-on-canvas creation were pulled from 1995's Super Bomberman 3 (SNES/Super Famicom), by the way--which is one of the few Bomberman games I've yet to experience.

Anyway, if you'd like to check out more of melonjaywalk's stuff--and why on earth wouldn't you want to do that?--saunter over to his deviantart.com gallery at your earliest convenience.

See also: 'Don't get yr hopes up'

A fairly gay Q&A with Aedan Roberts (aka the artist behind the 'Nüdtendo' portrait series)

Although scores of people have produced illustrations, paintings and other pieces of art that depict Nintendo's characters in various states of undress, few have done so with the kind of whimsical verve that's on display in each and every one of Aedan Roberts' "Nüdtendo" portraits.

You see, all 18 of the portraits Roberts has completed so far render the Japanese giant's extensive stable of colorful protagonists and cohorts as both naked and, to varying degrees, surprised and embarrassed.

Roberts recently agreed to answer a handful questions about what prompted him to start the series, why he decided to focus on Nintendo characters, how many more he plans to produce and much more.

The Gay Gamer: When did you start creating these "Nüdtendo" portraits, and what prompted you to do so?

Aedan Roberts: I began creating this series back in the summer of 2012. Up until that point, all my gallery work was intentionally devoid of work that contained other people's intellectual property. I was still trying to figure out a way to do it without falling directly into the "fan art" category while also doing something fun and original.

At the time, I was doodling some of my favorite characters and was up to Mario. I tend to draw my characters naked when I'm working out their proportions and then add the clothes in a later version. But before I could progress, my boyfriend stopped me and told me I had something with this stout, squat, embarrassed creature I had just doodled. So I finished him up, painted him, and then did another two vignettes (Link and Samus). The results were so popular that I decided to go whole hog and make it into a series.

The Gay Gamer: Why did you decide to focus on Nintendo characters?

Aedan Roberts: The decision to concentrate on Nintendo characters was both because I love the long, storied history of Nintendo intellectual property and because it gave unity to the project.

I grew up as a fan of Nintendo. Our very first console was an SNES and from there I have owned every single generation (barring the Wii U at the moment). I have such an emotional attachment to these characters, and if I was going to create a satire where I reproduce a famous series of characters, I wanted it to be these.

The Gay Gamer: Was your plan all along to create a series, by the way, or did that just come to you after you'd made a few?

Aedan Roberts: I decided to turn it into a full-on series after the original three proved to be so popular. I then gave myself a goal--52--that I don't know if I'll reach, but I'll definitely try.

The Gay Gamer: Can you tell me a bit about how they're created? Based on the descriptions you've included on your etsy shop, I'm guessing they're paintings? Regardless, what kind of process do you go through to produce them?

Aedan Roberts: Each character is drawn out so I can translate it into my style. After that, I try to make sure the proportions are in line with the previous characters and then I re-draw the sketch onto hot press watercolor paper. I then glue the paper to a small wooden board, paint the character and then place the board into a custom-painted shadowbox. The color of each shadowbox is made to coincide with the character within. That way, when the shadowboxes are placed together, it forms a pixel-like color grid.

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

Before today, I could've envisioned a couple of game series being successfully combined artistically with Kirby--Mario and Pokémon among them--but The Legend of Zelda? Not even a consideration for me--until I came across the example below, of course.

The Zelda elements all can be found within the giant Kirby, by the way. Some are images while others are text.



This painting--made using posca, which is supposed to be some sort of water-based marker--is yet another product of artist and blogger Oskunk, by the way. To see more samples of his work, check out custom-art.blogspot.com.

King Boo's balls and Birdo's bits

What would King Boo, Birdo and all sorts of other Nintendo characters--yes, including Mario, Luigi, Link, Peach and Zelda--look like in the buff?

Brooklyn-based artist Aedan Roberts answers that question in a most amusing way via his recent "Nüdtendo" portrait series--two pieces of which can be seen below.

Here, for instance, is King Boo--and, er, his "bits":

Unsurprisingly--given the above, at least--Birdo's bits also are on display in Roberts' humorous portrait of the much-loved Super Mario Bros. 2 baddie.

To see the rest of Roberts' Nüdtendo series--my current favorites are Wario, Tingle, Peach and Link--check out his site, aedanroberts.com.

If you're interested in either of the pieces shown above, by the way, the King Boo one can be bought here (for $275), while the Birdo one can be bought here for the same price. (A few others also are for sale via Roberts' etsy shop.)

(Via boyculture.com)

Yep, another art post: 'Bombs Away,' 'Hyrule Intentions' and 'Tale of Two Brothers'

Like any respectable gay gamer, I've long had a soft spot for female protagonists. In particular, I've had a soft spot for Nintendo's leading ladies--Peach, Samus and Zelda, especially.

All of which should help explain why I went a big gaga after I came across artist Kasey Tararuj's uniquely styled portraits (above and below) of the above-mentioned women this past weekend.

Each piece was produced for the 3NES Show ("a tribute to three of Nintendo's most popular games") held at the Bottleneck Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, a few weeks ago.

If you like any or all of them as much as I do, I'd highly recommend checking out Tararuj's blog, One-Eyed Girl, for closer looks at them.

Specifically, additional shots of her take on Peach (titled "Tale of Two Brothers") can be seen here, while more shots of her Samus and Zelda portraits ("Bombs Away" and "Hyrule Intentions") can be seen here and here, respectively.

And if you're really interested in them? Head on over to the Bottleneck Gallery's online shop and buy one or more of them. ("Bombs Away" can be purchased here, "Hyrule Intentions" here and "Tale of Two Brothers" here.)

See also: 'Cherry on Top' and 'Dreamy Mushroom Munchers'

Super Dead Mario

I love pretty much every aspect of the following piece of art, produced by the always creative Oskunk, but my favorite part, it has to be said, is the mushroom with the X-ed out eyes in the lower-left corner.



To see some more of Oskunk's wicked (I mean that both literally and figuratively) creations, check out his Flickr photostream and/or his blog, Custom Art.

Vandrell's fabulous Alex Kidd, Burning Force, Golden Axe and Valis fan art

As much as I love many of Nintendo's games and systems, I'm no "Nintendo fanboy." After all, I also love many of Sony's games and systems--and in the past I loved many of NEC's (maker of the awesome PC Engine) and Sega's games and systems, too.

Why do I bring that up? Because I want you to understand at least a bit of why I'm so drawn to Barcelona-based and Sega-obsessed (or so it seems) artist Vandrell's digital illustrations--beyond the fact that they're drop-dead gorgeous, I mean.

Here (and here), for instance, is a piece he created to honor Sega's earliest "Mario killer," Alex Kidd:



And here is a piece that pays respect to Namco's 16-bit shoot 'em up, Burning Force:



The classic brawler Golden Axe gets the "Vandrell treatment" in the following concoction:



While Telenet Japan's Valis series gets a well-deserved nod in this one:



If you're looking for something even better and more fabulous, by the way, be sure to check out Vandrell's blog, which features, among other things, a number of mock-ups that turn the illustrations above into full-fledged Sega Mega Drive (aka Genesis) box arts.

Nearly five minutes of awesome Pokémon doodles

Early last week, I posted a video that consisted of three-and-a-half minutes of awesome Animal Crossing doodles, each of which were produced (using black pencil and acrylic paint) by YouTube user surrounded78.

Well, while perusing the other 90 videos surrounded78 has uploaded to his (her?) YouTube channel in the last seven or so years, I came across the one below, which includes just under five minutes of awesome Pokémon doodles.



As amazing as surrounded78's Animal Crossing creations are and were, I think these Pokémon creations may be even more so thanks to the ones shown at :16, :21, :36, 1:05, 1:42, 1:59, and so on and so forth.

See also: 'Three-and-a-half minutes of awesome Animal Crossing doodles'

Three-and-a-half minutes of awesome Animal Crossing doodles

Just in case you've forgotten, Animal Crossing: New Leaf will be released in North America in less than a month.

That likely sounds like a reasonably short amount of time to some folks, but for me it's still much too far away. The game was first teased during E3 2011, damn it. I want it nooooooooooow!

The only things that are keeping me anywhere close to sane through all of this are New Leaf-centric Tumblrs like bunsicalcrossing.tumblr.com and merongcrossing.tumblr.com.



Oh, and videos like the one above, created by YouTube user surrounded78, who produced each of the 95 (or so) illustrations included within using black pencil and acrylic paint.

My favorites are shown at :25, 1:04, 1:13, 2:56 and 3:05, by the way. Which are yours?

(Via bunsicalcrossing.tumblr.com)

Duck Hunt x 3

I'm a sucker both for Nintendo's Duck Hunt and for the works of the artist known as SUIKA (or melonjaywalk), so I couldn't help but share the following photo here.

By the way, is anyone else wondering why in the hell Nintendo has never given us a Duck Hunt sequel? Sure, a similar game was packed within the first Wii Play, but that wasn't what I was looking for.



I can understand why the company wouldn't want to release such a title via retail, of course, but doing so digitally could be a pretty successful endeavor, if you ask me.

Or maybe I'm completely alone in wanting to return to Duck Hunt's grassy plains?

Poor Luigi

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride--or maybe in this case I should say, "Always the sidekick, never the star"?

Regardless, given the backseat nature of Luigi's life, it's easy enough to imagine that he may not be the most cheerful and positive chap. Is it possible, though, that his brother's annoying omnipresence has pushed him to contemplate suicide? I, for one, hope not, but New Zealand-based artist SUIKA seems to think otherwise.



Granted, SUIKA also believes Mario to be teetering on the edge (see this similar piece from earlier this year), so maybe I should take his thoughts on the matter with the proverbial grain of salt.

By the way, the Luigi painting above is 400 mm by 550 mm in size and was made (with acrylics) using a 17-mm-by-17-mm and 5-mm-by-5-mm hand-drawn grid.

To see more of SUIKA's works, check out his blog and his deviantart gallery at your convenience.

You really can't have too much Mario-inspired art, can you?

Does the headline above--or, rather, the fact that just a few words of it flow into the second line--drive any of you nuts?

Honestly, it drives me nuts, but I'm too lazy right now to rewrite it in a way that will be less annoying.

Anyway, who cares about that, right? We're hear to talk about Mario-inspired art! Specifically, we're here to talk about the Mario-inspired art seen in the photo below (and here).



It was made by "The Artist Known as SUIKA™," by the way. (Sorry for the playful editorializing there, SUIKA.)

Oh, and the Mario sprite that's front and center on this canvas was pulled from Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, a GameBoy Color title released in 2000.

To see more of this talented artist's stuff, check out melonjaywalk.blogspot.com.

Donkey Kong x Japanese Ukiyo-e

How would some of gaming's most cherished characters look if they had been conjured up during the latter half of the 17th century rather than the late stages of the 20th?

Artist Jed Henry tackles that rather curious question in a recent series of illustrations (like the one below and here) that suggest how, say, Donkey Kong and Mario, would have looked had they been painted or printed in the ukiyo-e style that came to life in Japan in the 1600s.

A number of other classic game franchises are given the same treatment in a series of pieces that can be found in Henry's deviantART gallery. Among them: Kirby, Metroid, Pokémon and Star Fox.

See also: 'Looks like I'll have to add Soul Bubbles to my DS wish list'