In 1989, Kristian Wilson, then a VP at Nintendo, famously said: “Computer games don’t affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.” Cue the rave scene of the early 1990s.
Indeed, a paper published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that students who spent more time playing video games, and consequently less time studying, suffered a significant drop in their GPAs (0.24 points for males and 0.13 for females).
With that in mind, we bring you an ode to some of the greatest video franchises of all time. Game on.
From the kids at Panda Smash comes the most elaborate and welt-inducing version of Mario Kart ever.
Before Poykpac brought you the Hipster Olympics, they brought us this cautionary tale of the post-Mushroom Kingdom misadventures of the mushroom-junkie plumber and his princess.
A plumber, armed with a sledgehammer, must overcome a non-stop barrage of toppling barrels, hurled at him by a massive gorilla, and climb an elaborate girder maze to save a princess. And people don’t get video games? Maybe they’ll understand this version of the arcade classic as told by Jackass and Viva La Bam alums.
Super Mario Brothers The Movie Trailer
I saw this “film” in its major theatrical release in 1993 at Greg Fazio’s ninth birthday party. With an all-star cast, including Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the titular plumbers and Dennis Hopper as the villainous King Koopa, the film set cinematic video game adaptations back a decade. Hoskins comments in a “making of” special: “I used to do Shakespeare and wear tights. But now I’m playing this little character that bounces up and down in a game.”
N64 Super Smash Bros. Commercial
I don’t know what it is, but it’s just hard to look away from a bunch of clumsy costumed men battling to the death. And the use of The Turtles “So Happy Together” is just priceless.
No one re-imagines video game premises better than Seth Green and his Robot Chicken team. If you don’t believe me, just look what Master Chief did to Donkey Kong. The horror.
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