Awesome Nintendo

Ever since the SNES game Donkey Kong Country, Nintendo’s big ape has lived in a wooden house up in the trees. Inspired by a fan request, builder Studson Studio made a model of the treehouse, incorporating twigs, dirt, and rocks he found outside to add to the authenticity. The tiny bananas are a nice touch.

This new model of the Nintendo Switch offers the inky blacks, high contrast, and rich colors that OLED displays are known for. It has a slightly larger 7″ OLED screen, a wide adjustable stand, enhanced audio, and a dock with a wired Ethernet port and 64GB of storage. The $349 system drops 10.8.2021 just in time for the holidays.

When you think about it, the podracer sequence in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, is kind of like a round of Mario Kart, minus the banana peels. Studson Studios ran with the idea, and put together this awesome Star Wars + Nintendo kitbash model that imagines what Toad’s podracer might have looked like.

Nintendo has yet to announce the title of the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but they are here to tease us with a bit of footage. See Link take to the skies, face off against a giant beast, and witness gorgeous vistas as far as the eye can see. Coming to Switch in 2022.

Filmmaker Devin Supertramp and team created this fan film inspired by the world of Metroid Prime and Super Metroid. Ainsley Bircher portrays Samus Aran on a mission to find the Chozo Temple and to fix her damaged suit. They did a great job taking advantage of the frigid location shoot and combining live action with VFX.

Beyond the It’sa Me Mario!, you have to admit that the sounds in Nintendo’s 1st-party games are often pretty silly. Comedian Gus Johnson takes a stab at envisioning exactly how they came up with all those sounds in the recording studio.

We’ve heard a million and one versions of the Super Mario Bros. theme music, but it’s still fun to discover a new take on the classic video game tune. The very talented Ukrainian duo B&B Project performed a live run-through of World 1-1, with the button accordion providing the music, and the bandura creating the sound effects.

Nintendo started out making playing cards, so it makes sense that they might occasionally dip their toe back in those waters. This official deck features images inspired by the game levels in various Super Mario games. Apparently, they’re a little thin compared to regular playing cards, so they’re best as a collector’s item.

Nintendo fans might remember the short-lived The Legend of Zelda cartoon which ran on Saturday mornings in 1989. Now, thanks to the warped mind of editor KhalidSMShahin, we can enjoy this not-so-classic video game cartoon with Beavis playing the role of Link.

Pac-Man is back in a frenetic 99-player battle royale. The goal: get through your maze, and be the last Pac-Man standing. You can mess with other players by gobbling ghosts and using your power-ups. The game arrives on Nintendo Switch Online a 6 pm PST on 4.7.2021.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard the warm and captivating vocal stylings of Smooth McGroove. The singer was dealing with some health issues, but is back and feeling much better. We’re happy to hear him back on his game with this wonderful a cappella version of the Overworld theme from New Super Mario Bros.

One of the best things about the Nintendo Switch is its ability to go from a handheld to a home console. If you prefer to play on a big screen, then Michael Pick’s mod is for you. The builder created this fully functional Switch with a TV and custom-made buttons. Best of all, he donated it to Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

There have been tons of covers of music from the various Super Mario games, but the members of the Super NES Band likes to play video game music using the actual tone generators classic consoles. Listen as they perform live medleys of tunes from Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario Land.

Inspired by the Nintendo GameBoy Color he had when he was a kid, artist and electronics wiz Jiri Praus made a custom version of the handheld, featuring a shiny brass front and a see-through back which exposes its meticulously bent brass wiring. He had to use an emulator instead of original hardware, but it’s still beautiful.

VGMtogether coordinated more than 160 musicians around the world to join in an online concert celebrating video game music. Their subject, the soundtrack from Paper Mario: The Origami King. Kudos to project director Laura Intravia and her team for putting it all together.

The lobby music from the Nintendo Wii’s Mii Channel is like the modern-day equivalent of elevator music. The soft and soothing soundtrack has been the subject of many memes and cover versions, but this is our favorite. Alex Moukala reached out to 30 musicians around the globe to join him for this epic jam session.

Looking for a place to store all those little Switch cartridges? These Nintendo-themed containers from KoalaVerde will look awesome sitting on your desk or bookshelf. The 3D-printed units come in Bob-Omb, Yoshi’s Egg, Donkey Kong barrel, and Zelda Triforce designs. They also make a giant DK barrel for storing larger items.

The Nintendo 64 is known for games like Super Mario 64 and Star Fox 64. But there was another potentially big N64 title that never came out. In this short film from Adam Butcher, he takes a look back at Catastrophe Crow!, a highly-anticipated game that vanished along with its creator under strange circumstances. Or did it?

Fans of 8-bit console gaming and adult beverages will love these wood coasters from Cutting Boredom. Each of the six available designs envisions a drunk version of a classic NES game, with titles like “Drunkey Kong” and “Mike Tyson’s Pass Out!!” Each one is printed in color then sealed with a two-coat polyurethane finish.

The MagGo is the ultimate travel bag for the Nintendo Switch. The shoulder pack is perfectly sized for the handheld and its accessories. It has a magnetic easy-open main compartment, pockets for a dozen game cards, space for a charger with a cable pass-through, and three pockets for other small items.

Inspired by a lengthy livestream of Super Mario Odyssey, ThePandemicLight edited the brief but potent Blur track Song 2, and replaced all of Damon Albarn’s celebratory “Woo-Hoos” with the voice of Mario. It’s as brilliantly funny as it sounds.

Game accessory maker 8BitDo’s stick is the perfect controller for all of your favorite arcade games. Sporting a retro Nintendo-inspired look, it works via Bluetooth, 2.4Ghz, or wired connections, and encourages modders to swap components. Ideal for both PC and Nintendo Switch gaming.

Do you have an Apple TV? Tired of staring at that boring black box sitting on your TV stand? Elago’s clever cover transforms Apple’s set-top streaming box into a retro gaming system. The Super Famicom-inspired silicone cover is strictly cosmetic, but it looks awesome. Elago also makes a matching cover for the Apple TV remote.