This project was constructed from a wooden cabinet and plywood add-ons to take the shape of an Companion Cube. Hit up the Livejournal link to see how it was constucted (cake recipe not included).

Also, here is a Companion Cube that actually IS a cake, for shits and giggles. Don't question it. Just appreciate the damn cake.

[Flickr]

Just saw over on Twitter that the legendary Captain Lou Albano has died.  Those who are fans of 80's pro wrestling will remember him fondly.  Those who love The Goonies surely will remember him in the Cyndi Lauper music video done for the movie.  The rest of us will remember him for his early portrayal of Mario.  Now the Super Mario Super Show wasn't what you would call "good" but neither was a lot of the classic cartoon shows of our collective childhood.  So I say swing your arms from side to side, not to do the Mario, but to remember a great entertainer who did so much to bring all of us joy in our lives.

Plus, who among us has the gall to say Bob Hoskins was the better Mario?  Captain Lou was down right Shakespearean in his portrayal!

This past weekend I attended the Baltimore Comic Con. This isn't all that surprising since I am a rather large geek. The con itself wasn't what I expected but that turned out to be a good thing. I went to the Con expecting it to be a smaller version of the New York Comic Con (which I also attended) where there was a large section devoted to games and gaming. As it turns out the Baltimore Comic Con was aptly named as the show was focused almost entirely on comics. Almost.

I am a sucker for pictures that incorporate 8 bit and pixel art, and what better place to post it than here at Bits and Bytes. Some people like to add it in Photoshop, others like to set it up in real life. Either way, I'm sold like a coke baron's house on auction.

The above snap, simply titled "8bit Banana" on DeviantART user chrisgrabinski's page, is one of my favorites. Granted, its not video game related per se...but if you call it Donkey Kong food, it is! Keep reading to see a few more.

I was pretty bummed out when I heard that Bayonetta was delayed for the North American market.  Platinum Games' previous title, MadWorld, was a thrilling black-and-white-and-red gore-fest, and their previous games (Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Godhand) which were produced under the name Clover Studio, were all fantastic.  Needless to say, this Osaka-based team, which was disowned by Capcom, knows how to make a killer game.  Lucky for me, I've been able to snag a demo of the PS3 version of Bayonetta.  Now the game's delay stings much worse than before.

Hit the link for the full preview.

Back in 2006, comic book aficionados let out a celebratory squee with the release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance.  The game was the culmination of several past successes from Raven Software (X-Men Legends, X-Men Legends II) infused with the promise of playing as the entire Marvel Universe.  And while impossible to cram everybody into the game, the original Ultimate Alliance took a real kitchen sink approach that made sure fans everywhere were satisified.  Now, 3 years later, Ultimate Alliance is back.  But with new deveoper Vicarious Visions at the helm, can Ultimate Alliance 2 repeat the series success, or does it suffer from an "under new management" crisis of quality?

Is it safe to say Beatlemania is back in full swing?  Okay, so maybe girls aren't flipping their lids anymore, but with the release of their masters, The Beatles Rock Band, and now a chiptune tribute album, the Fab Four are still a force to be reckoned with.  Like they've done previously with Kraftwerk, 8-Bit Operators have released a Beatles compilation titled "Wanna Hold Yr Handheld, Vol I"

However, these aren't just straightforward covers. The album is basically a mashup of video game sounds and experimental dance music, all the while keeping the familiarity and genius of The Beatles original works.  A few of the 16 contributing artists include Glomag, Saskrotch, GOTO80, 8BitWeapon & ComputeHer, and many more.  My personal favorite is a German cover of "She Loves You," by Herbert Weixelbaum.

If you haven't already, go here and take a listen. It's a great oppurtunity to rediscover some classic Beatles in a new light.  Hopefully it won't be long (yeah, yeah, yeah!) until Volume II comes out.

I just had to have a conversation with a 4 year old to explain why Santa is a douchebag sometimes and can't bring you shit that doesn't exist.  She was surprisingly cooler about it than you might expect.  On the bright side, I get an opportunity to teach these kids patience.  Oh -- and if you weren't already feeling a little sad for my kids, guess what?  This is your fault.

Now that you've had a week to let all the singing, dancing, yelling, and down right silliness stop giving you nightmares, Part II of the most WTF Nintendo Commercials is here to cause you even less sleep.  Like all great sequels, we travel to the future, buy a sports almanac, and go back to 1985, only to find out we've created an alternate timeline where Biff is our stepfather, George McFly is dead and....oh wait, that's a different Part II.

Click here if you missed Part I, and hit the jump to see what Nintendo has conjured up this time.  What's the matter?  You chicken?

Back in August I attended the first annual Game Unicon.  While the convention seemed like a success at the time, it looks like the first one may be the last.  It turns out that the main organizer of Game Unicon, John Keough, is a compulsive liar and a violent person.  Thanks to him, the winners of tournaments have not been paid their prize money, a woman was assaulted and had her car stolen, and Game Universe, the retail store that helped put on the con, may go out of business.

Hit the link to vicariously experience the drama that came in the wake of Game Unicon.