Browsing: Nintendo

Illumination and Nintendo did not hesitate on filling the movie in with cameos of every character they could that has been in a Mario game. From Super Smash Bros., to the Captain Toad games, to Mario Kart, this movie had everything thing that you could think of, making it the ultimate love letter to the character that made Nintendo a household name.

The “Great Video Game” series has been probably the most fun thing I’ve gotten to participate in at the Lariat. I’ve enjoyed reading all of the submissions that people have turned in — the academic analysis of “NASCAR Thunder 2003,” the religious look at “The Legend of Zelda,” the philosophical explorations of “BioShock” and “Pokemon Snap,” etc.

“Super Mario 64” all started for me, Mario, when I received a letter from Princess Peach, which asked me to come to her castle to eat a special cake she had prepared. Of course, next thing I knew, I was in front of the castle after what seemed like a blackout. I was so acting like a good little man in blue overalls. I ran up to the castle and entered in.

I leapt from my mother’s 1994 Mercury Villager, bounded for the front door, and with haste jumped the stairs to the room I shared with my younger brother. I had just returned from Blockbuster, my young mind’s pinnacle of joys — a reward for cleaning my room. I held the limited edition green case in my hands.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo — or E3 as it’s more commonly known — created in 1995, has always been a location for video game companies, as well as technology innovators, to reveal groundbreaking achievements and long-awaited products to the masses. This year is no different.

Growing up in the church as the son of a minister, I met several “church bullies” along the way — people who picked on me one minute and paused for a moment of holy reflection when anyone mentioned the words God, Jesus, or Bible. I never liked these people. Since they always picked on me, I suspect they never liked me much either.

Have you ever seen the episode of “Doug” where Doug is really afraid of eating liver and onions for the first time? That was a really good episode. It was a real cool “Doug” moment. There’s another episode, more relevant to the topic, where Doug spends an entire weekend playing a video game. He ignores his homework and everything.

Although shortened this week, our weekly “Great Video Game” selection is “Hydro Thunder,” a boat-racing game that found a place in video game history as one of the all -time greatest racing games.

A legendary sword, a noble steed, deadly monsters, a princess in danger and one big bad tyrant controlling the land — these aspects can be found in multiple storylines and games. I doubt, however, that many stories also contain a magical musical instrument needed to save the world.