Happy New Year ya’ll!

So, before I say farewell till New Years, have a very safe and festive Christmas. Peace be to all!

Just a quick post, to show off this wonderful piece of papercraft of everybody’s favorite hi-technicaaaaal lizard Francis, from Super Paper Mario. It just makes sense!

You can check out an larger version on creator’s JayWearsMittens DeviantArt Profile, which also features a number of cool game-related craft works (just check his clock and wall mount!). Or if you’re up to it you can even make your very own by printing out the pieces, found here. It’s enough to liven up even the most gloomy room.

Now if you excuse me, I’ve got some pasting to do…..

[Source: JayWearsMittens DeviantArt via GoNintendo]

The revisions/updates include:

- MP3 format support dropped in favor of AAC in photo channel (unknown if this affects compatible games)
- The ability to use an custom image for the Photo Channel’s Wii menu icon
- VC games and software can now be given as gifts to those in your address book in the same country/region
- Updates to the Shop channel can now be viewed from Wii menu, icon has also changed (much nicer if you ask me)

For my two cents worth, the loss of MP3 support is no big deal. After all, who has really used the feature other than for Excite Truck? And AAC, as Nintendo states, is a higher quality at a smaller file size. What is gained greatly outweighs the one feature that was replaced. But’s that’s just my opinion, tell me what you think!

The tree, which is currently displayed in downtown Madrid in Spain, consists of thousands of colored LED’s to create an animated replica (or rather close to it) of the dot collecting, fruit eating coin-op classic. Now that’s the way you celebrate Christmas!

Please Melbourne City, get rid of that crappy excuse of a tree and take a leaf out of Madrid’s book. Do it for us!

[Source: Technabog, with more pictures at Kartone's blog via Hawty McBloggy ]

I’ve known about this site for awhile, but it’s such an useful tool that it warrants sharing, particularly for those who want entertainment on the go while on a shoestring budget.

The Vixy video converter is a browser (and now app) based tool for converting video from sites such as youtube, daily motion, MySpace, etc to more device and offline friendly formats such as mpeg, MOV and many more. And it’s easy to use too. Just put in the video’s address, the chosen format and it’ll do the rest for you, ready to download. Simple! Just be aware that because of the format and already compressed quality don’t expect anything too magnificent.

Though it’s still in beta, it’s a fairly reliable service and one I’ve used quite often to rip my favorite youtube videos and audio (oh yeah, it can do mp3 format too!). Check out Vixy.net to try it out for yourself! Happy watching!

A short and silly Web Fantastic that makes me smile every time I see it. Kudos to the team at AMV Hell. Enjoy!

Back at Nintendo’s fall (spring for all those in the southern hemisphere) conference, it was announced that a Trailer/DS demo Wii channel called “Everybody’s Nintendo” would be rolled out by the end of the year. And it looks like they’ve delivered, but ironically, no word on an international release.

The channel, as mentioned above, features such goodies as the ability to download game demos straight to your DS, watch trailers for Wii games (Demos I imagine would’ve been hell on space), and more interestingly, fill in customer feedback forms and view the universal results, to get a better idea of what games are worth your hard earned dosh. It’s certainly a step the right direction.

Obviously this is one of those features that just won’t come fast enough. Let’s hope Nintendo will bring it here any time soon.

[Source: Nintendo Japan]

Thankfully, Nintendo have been very quick to release the PAL AUS version so close to the yanks, who were graced two weeks ago. One can assume this was an marketing decision by the gaming giant, to cash in on the Christmas rush. Even if this is not the case, we thank you! It also raises my hopes of an quick release of Brawl after it hits state-side February.

Super Mario Galaxy hits stores here in AUS on the 29th. Pre-ordered your copy? I have. It might be the only way you’ll be able to get your hands on a copy for awhile.

The Nohohon, stress balls, that CD of whale crys and the ocean, there are plenty of ways of reliving stress in this hectic modern life, but Japanese toy maker Bandai might just have found a perfect solution, involving the complusive-obessive hobby of popping bubble wrap.

Mugen Puti Puti (Roughly Meaing Unlimited Puti Puti), is a 8 x 8 bubble wrap sheet on an keyring created with special plastic material, allowing for unlimited use, all for 180 yen. What’s more, for every 100 pops (every one emiting an recording of an actual pop), a noise emits from the keychain, be it a dog’s bark or sexy female voice, amongst others. There’s even an little heart to be found on one in every 10,000 bubbles, for the collector/fanatic in all of us. It’s an surprisingly compelling and innovative invention, not to mention a great way to channel that pent up agression that comes to us throughout the day.

Apparently Japanese consumers think so too, with over 300,000 sales in the first day, and an projected amount of 2,000,000 of the little poppers sold by March 2008.

What will the Japanese think of next…

[Source: Notice Things ]