Back in early 2007, The College of New Jersey was home to a collection of chalk murals entitled “Thank You for Playing.” The collection featured chalky sprites from classic games like Mega Man, ExciteBike, Bubble Bobble, and Final Fantasy.

Check out more pics here.

After dishing out her fun-filled recipes on the Nintendo DS, Wii, and mobile phones, Cooking Mama will finally be setting up shop in arcades! The cutesy cabinet and 46″ touchscreen will probably only show up in Japanese arcades, but isn’t it pretty?

Here’s a video of the Cooking Mama arcade in Cooking Mama-ing action:

[Via GameSetWatch]

Photographer, graphic designer, and design director Adam Richardson recently released pics from his news project entitled “Invaded” where he adds iconic imagery from the game Space Invaders onto actual war photos.

I was a bit bummed to find out that instead of actually taking the pictures himself, Richardson just snags them from stock photo sites like Getty Images and AP Images. Although it takes away some of the magic, the final results are still pretty brilliant.

[Via Format]

Vanja Mrgan is a self-proclaimed Croatian illustrator, geek and an all around alright kinda guy who takes it upon himself to answer burning questions like: What would Wario look like with a beard? What would the Black Mage from Final fantasy look like with a beard? What would Mr. Game and Watch look like with a beard? What would RoboCop look like with a beard.

I think you get the idea.

Enjoy some of Vanja Mrgan’s bearded renditions of iconic pop culture icons below.

[Via beard·revue]

After all these years, Ryu Hayabusa still looks badass in sprite form. Here he is running along some wall somewhere. This piece is by 8-bit graffiti artist GameBoyOne. Be sure to check out more of his work on his Flickr page.

Warning: this video contains large amounts of the following: cleavage, butts, buttsex, hippopatamus butt rape, tongue rape, anal inflation, poop, airplane rape, magical mustachioed boner faeries, semen, bukakke, shish-kabobbing, and awesomeness.

If this was a real game, I’d play the shit out of it.

Truckers Delight animated video clip directed by newcomer wunderkid Jérémie Perin (Premiere Heure) who takes the song’s title (a tribute to those little pleasures that the lonely truck- driver indulges himself in) and takes it to the next level. Think Spielberg’s Duel + Russ Meyer’s Faster Pussycat Kill Kill! and Marc Dorcel’s wildest fantasies. All warped into an 8-bit Sega era style graphic. And this clumsy and somehow pretentious description doesn’t even come close to what you’re about to see: it’s très funny,très dirty, -très sexy. Très Flairs indeed.

Flairs -- Truckers Delight (YouTube) [Via Nerdcore]

EA Japan’s upcoming DS game, Shonen Kininden Tsumuji, is pretty much Zelda, but with ninjas. This might be a bad thing for Link and friends because, as we all know, ninjas make everything, like, a gazillion times better.

This game reminds me of that other Zelda-like game with an ancient Japanese setting and heavy use of imagery inspired by traditional Japanese paintings. You know, the one with the wolf that has a sequel coming to the DS in 2010…

Geeze, with Zelda: The Spirit Tracks, Okamiden (the one with the wolf^__-), 3D Dot Heroes, and now Shonen Kininden Tsumuji, it seems like a good time for those who are fans of Zelda-esque gameplay.

Here’s a trailer for Shonen Kininden Tsumuji (Legend of the Boy Ninja Tsumuji).

Check out more on the official Japanese site.

[Tiny Cartridge via GoNintendo]

[Via christinebovig]

Some wise-ass kid didn’t know an answer to one of the questions on a calculus quiz, so instead he drew a picture of Charizard along with the explanation “I couldn’t figure out this problem, but here’s an amateur drawing of a Charizard, I hope that helps…”

A logical thing to do under the given circumstances.

When the when the kid received his graded paper, he saw that his professor responded with his own amateur drawing of a Blastoise with the words “Blastoise uses water cannon. It’s Super Effective! Charizard fainted.”

Fucking amazing.

[Via BuzzFeed]

Fuck. Yes.

3D Dot Game Heroes a the retro-inspired PS3 game that’s a true love story to the games of yesteryear. The loading screens even pay homage to classic game box art! And with the game’s hero editor, Japanese gamers have already recreated gaming legends like Cloud Strife, Old Snake, and more!

Here’s a trailer of 3D Dot Game Heroes in action:

While the gameplay could be considered a blatant Zelda ripoff, it’s more of a homage than anything. And besides, who could complain about having more games that play like Zelda?

Look out for this PS3 exclusive when it drops in the U.S. (finally!) on May 11th, 2010.

Indie game designer Eric Ruth is currently working on a Left 4 Dead “de-make” featuring 8-bit graphics and sounds and each map and campaign from the original game. Eric just wrapped up on the first mission, “No Mercy” and he expects the game to be completed by early January 2010 and he’ll release it as a free download for PC.

Although, since the game only allows for 2 players as opposed to 4, shouldn’t it be called Left 2 Die?

[Via Sci-Fi Wasabi]

Guaranteed to probably never get you laid. Unless you’re a hot chick who brings me to your house and says that you made this throne especially for me.

This 7-foot tall Nintendo Famicom cartridge throne actually resides at the legendary Super Potato retro gaming store in Akihabara, Japan.

[Via Erick Kwiecien]

This is the first, and probably the only time that I’ll ever utter the following words:

I fucking want that mailbox!

Fine! Here’s the stinkin mailbox (nimcraft) [Via Wonderland]

I’ve featured countless custom designer toys and custom console mods on Albotas throughout the years, but these custom NES systems by Thretris (spotted on Tiny Cartridge) are the first I’ve seen that have sort of a designer toy aesthetic. The polish and level of professional quality on these are amazing.

The line between toy customizing and console modding is just a bit more blurry.

This is the Killtendo Entertainment System (KES) and is a companion to another Thretris custom, the Billtendo Killboy

Dubbed Sky, all I can think of when I look at this one is Mega Man.

This one’s called 80’s Reborn, which I can kind of see, but this one gives off the biggest designer toy vibe.

And since we’re on the topic of custom NES consoles, check out this red velvet NES by Phil McCoy and sexy-ass Battletoads NES by Phil’s friend Greg which were also featured on Tiny Cartridge:

Possibly one of the best NES mods ever.

Here’s some cool stencil graffiti featuring a sprite of Alex Kidd from the oldschool Sega days. Fun fact: did you know Alex Kidd was sort of Sega’s unofficial mascot before Sonic came in and stole the spotlight?

[Via Jordiet.]