NEWS

D.I.Y. Mega Man Animation Totally Rocks

After a 12-year break, this year’s WiiWare title Mega Man 9 (a.k.a. Rockman 9) marks the official return of the video game franchise that hit NES in 1987. And if you had any doubts about the dedication of the humanoid robot hero’s fans, you won’t after watching this D.I.Y. tribute video from college student Nicolas Menard.

Using stop-motion animation, Menard re-created a level from the game with simple obstacles like LEGO bricks, cereal boxes and a harmonica. In this photo-trickery game, Mega Man’s must defeat Menard, who plays as “Fork Hand,” a giant fork. Watch the video below to see what we mean…

Punch-Out!! Hits Wii Without Mike Tyson

When it dropped in the 1980s, we clocked many, many hours on our Nintendo playing Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!!. Iron Mike was the heavyweight champion of the world, and the pixelated classic was the hottest game not featuring a character named Zelda. And although we reluctantly kept rocking with it when they dropped Mike (after his loss to Buster Douglas) and introduced Mr. Dream, we always had a special place for it in our hearts.

So you already know we got amped when we heard that they were working on a updated version of Punch Out!! for the Wii, which will drop at the top of ’09. Our hopes are high, and after peeping the new trailer for the game, with its trademark over the top animation, we’re even more excited. Watch it below…

Marisa Miller Will Help You Sell Things

Who cares what the perfume smells like, with M-squared’s endorsement we’ll cop for our chick. [Bastardly]

Surprise, surprise…Joe Budden’s Padded Room album got pushed back. [Nah Right]

Buy these sneakers…and you’ll be a lot cooler. [Daily Drop]

Nintendo might introduce a real life Kirby. [Das Gamer]

This comedian has Denzel, Chris Rock, and Morgan Freeman down pat. [DoubleViking]

Nintoaster Reheats Original NES Console

The Wii might be all the rage these days, but the O.G 8-bit Nintendo system that debuted back in 1985 is still being re-invented. Nintoaster, the latest D.I.Y rendition of the machine that had us all blowing our brains out, was constructed using a simple pop-up toaster.

An industrious engineer named Richard DaLuz (who previously created an all-in-one system with Atari 2600, NES, SNES and Genesis) recently gutted a toaster, inserted an old Nintendo’s parts (controllers, AC adaptor), orange LED lights (for the cooking effect) and made it into a fully functional system. Watch a video of him recreating the process below.

Press Your Girl’s Buttons In The Geekini

Hey Gamer: the time has come to crawl out of your basement hovel and get your calloused thumbs on these buttons. From the fertile mind of French designer John Nouanesing comes the “Geekini,” a classic two-piece bikini featuring strategically placed A, B and directional buttons from the original Nintendo controller. Okay, it’s a little cheesy, but it beats those shorts with “Juicy” embossed on the ass.

Unfortunately the Geekini strictly a concept piece at the moment, but that’s okay, because you’ll probably need a little time to round up a girl to put in it in. After the jump, see full photos and find out where they put the “Start” and “Select” buttons.

Shaun White Snowboarding Comes To The Wii

Winter sports are undeniably fun, but sometimes the frigid weather makes us question whether it’s worth making the trek to the top of the mountain. And like most tedious activities, we look to video games to provide the lazy man’s alternative.

It’s been a while since a truly great snowboarding series emerged (we see you, SSX Tricky), but Ubisoft might have next: Shaun White Snowboarding is dropping this winter. Skip that trip to Vale and try to achieve world-wide acclaim in the Olympic Gold Medalist’s signature game. It will also be available for Xbox and PS3, but the Wii version is the most dynamic, using the new Balance Board to simulate the actual deck. See some more screen shots below.

V-Sports Is The Poor Man’s Wii

Even though Nintendo’s Wii is way cheaper than any of the other current generation of consoles, that $300 price tag might still be too steep for some. Well, penny pinchers are in luck, because a Japanese company has been selling a knock-off called V-Sports for only $89. Sure, the gameplay is probably a joke, but the price isn’t the only selling point for the V-Sports. The console is available in white, blue and pink, and it comes with 11 games (in one!) plus a bonus game that features 10 more. It might never go on sale in the U.S., but Wired recently spotted it at some shopping malls in the Akihabara section of Tokyo. After the jump, check out screenshots of all the games and the different colors that V-Sports comes in.

BAPE x Nintendo DS Lite Hits Japan

We don’t quite get the limited-edition craze in the video game world these days, with all the branded Xbox 360s, PSPs and the like. Assuming you already own one of these consoles, are you really gonna shell out for another just because of a pretty graphic? The novelty has to wear out pretty quick. Unless you’re the type to cop something like this…*shaking head*.

All that said, we briefly suspend our cynicism to big up the new A Bathing Ape x Nintendo DS Lite collab, which officially dropped in Tokyo on April 1. Four reasons: (1) BAPE has been so universally shunned by cool guys that ití’s actually almost (almost) cool again. It’s the circle of life. (2) Japan-only. Suckas! (3) We own a DS, and even we would cop this. Shoot, DS could do a double collab with Halliburton and Exxon and we might cop it. DS rules. (4) The design isn’t bad. Sure, the white one looks like a regular DS with stickers on it, but the gold one is top-notch. Good luck on eBay with that one, folks. Check out a few more shots after the jump.

Strong Bad’s Wii Game Is Only For Attractive People

If you’ve never visited homestarrunner.com, you’re missing out on one of the most consistently funny (and totally bizarre) shows on the internet. The most popular part of the site is when Strong Bad (pictured above in a wig) answers reader emails, which always leads to some sort of hijinks (Click here to watch a classic). Well, now all the characters are coming to a video game called Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, which will be available for download on Nintendo’s WiiWare service in June. Three different trailers have been released, so check them out after the jump.

Christina Aguilera Worships Donkey Kong

Sure Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes may be grooming baby Suri to becoming a polished Scientologist, but genie-in-a-bottle turned milf-of-the-moment Christina Aguilera seems to be focused on bringing up her newborn baby Max with the religious guidance of the Nintendo entourage. It’s been reported that this “Last Supper” painting by artist Misha hangs from the wall of the Aguilera nursery. You too can own a piece of the Donkey Kong-Jesus dynasty, the 18×10 inch print is in its 2nd run, limited to 75 pieces, and comes hand signed/numbered by the artist. $75, www.nineteeneightyeight.com

[Kotaku]