Astute gamer and comic diarist, James Kochalka, hit us with the following story:

Yesterday we got the Gamestop phone call from the voice of Mario telling us that our Super Mario Galaxy pre-order would be available to pick up today.  That was great, very silly and entertaining.  We picked the game up this morning.  This evening, I just got another automated call from Gamestop.  This one said Super Mario Galaxy would be released tomorrow evening and that it was rated “mature” and we would have to be 17 years or older to pick it up.

My first thought was that it was some kind of automated prank… but there wasn’t really much to it.  A very plain and blah reminder, but with the facts all wrong.

Anyone else out there get a bizarre call from their local Gamestop?

The differences between Assasin’s Creed on the PS3 and what it will eventually look like on the DS sometime in 2008 are legion, I’m sure.

Graphics? Take whatever comparisons and trash talking were made between the PS3 and Wii in 2006 and add a healthy dose of HGH. The sound? The DS might as well be a Game & Watch in this situation, no offense to the great Gunpei Yokoi. Controls? Hmm. Debatable. Touch could provide an edge, but PS3 sorta kinda has rumble and neutered tilt, maybe, so we’ll call that one a wash. Sheer processing power? In this scenario the DS be powered by a wee hamster, I’m afraid to say.

Luckily, the blokes at Penny Arcade have an idea, and they’re pretty sure it’s the right one. On a more serious side, I’m wondering aloud today whether Assassin’s Creed will be one of two things: A card game, which could be cool; or a Ninja Gaiden DS title with Phantom Hourglass controls.

Regardless of what it becomes however, I just hope the enemy AI isn’t as atrociously awful as it is on the PS3 title.

Mario, made of cans, for a charity event. That’s pretty much all I have to say about that.

…

Cans. Heh.

Wii Sports Boxing is apparently a Caveman’s best friend.

Anyone object to this fan-made Smash Bros. addition?

[Thanks, Alucard!]

Ingenius. Brilliant. Hilarious.

Now this is some finger lickin’ good information. Apparently PETA is using the likeness of the New Super Mario Bros. to fight KFC. They’re a cute couple of chicks, but I don’t know if they’re going to be enough to discourage people from eating the headless, artificial chickens they breed at KFC these days. Anyway, Nintendo lawyers … attack!

One of my favorite local comic strips has gone national. Secret Asian Man by Tak Toyoshima may be in your local paper now, but it’s also available online. This week’s Sunday edition featured a nice Wii joke. Click here to read it.

During the height of Nintendo dominance back in the 1990s, the company believed it could do anything. Cereal, bed sheets, crime fighting (weekends only) — all were not ruled out as possible money makers.

So it seemed only natural that the wild success of The Wizard be followed up by a Mario Bros. movie starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper as a humanoid Bowser. Trouble was, the Virtual Boy was more fun.

Hoskins let the poor movie have it one more time recently, and pulled no punches about the husband and wife team that directed it.

Bon Hoskins blames his 1993 flop SUPER MARIO BROS. on the “arrogance” of husband-and-wife directing team Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel. The British actor, 64, played Mario in the film adaptation of the Nintendo video game, which was directed by married couple Morton and Jankel. He says, “(It was) the worst thing I ever did. Super Mario Brothers. It was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. “After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set. F**king nightmare. F**king idiots. “That’s the nature of the game, the whole experience was a nightmare.”

I think he may have been kidding. Mario Bros. the movie rocked! And by rocked I mean it was about as fun as having a cat attack your business while you go to the bathroom.

OK, OK! I get it. You guys love your online play. In deferrence to the rabble, I have become an old school Atari developer and will soon release a new game.

It will feature online play for 1,000 simultaneous mutliplayer and HD graphics. 1080p or nothing, I say.

And yes, I tried to find the worst picture possible. I deserve it. This is me being K-Fed, right before meeting the actual K-Fed, at Gypsy Bar in Boston.

[Hat tip to David for finding this. ]

From America’s Finest News Source:

“In the wake of Guitar Hero’s success, we thought the public was more than ready for additional popular American musical genres in a simulated-performance format, but people don’t seem to be responding to marches as well as we had hoped,” said Activision spokeswoman Melissa Hendleman, whose company spent an estimated $25 million developing the game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii consoles.

Head on over for the full report, sales graphs, and a glimpse of the wireless controller.  Personally, I’m holding out for Trombone Hero.

[Thanks, Dr. Blood!]

Kittybot’s been busy with Jell-O. Why do I find myself wanting to blast this thing with my Ice Beam? Yes, I have one. It was the Infendo holiday gift last year.

Head over to Brickshelf (via Hack a Wii) for more photos. You’ll never guess what’s going on inside that Wii!

Have you made any Nintendo stuff with LEGOs?

Every day in my inbox there’s an email from the Urban Dictionary featuring their Word Of The Day.  Today, their featured word is Nintendonitis.

A chronic painful condition that effects the muscles or joints in the hand, fingers and/or forearm after playing videogames too much.

Dude, I played Final Fantasy for three days straight, but my Nintendonitis flared up so I couldn’t play anymore.

Anyone here ever suffer from this terrible affliction?  My guess is yes.

[Image via Flickr]

Sometime’s Scott Johnson posts pictures of nasty toe nails and sometimes he posts gems like this from Sarcastic Gamer.

[Source: ExtraLife via SarcasticGamer]