Life is just full of nice little surprises. On my inbox the other day, I found an email from one of our readers, Amy Hays. She wrote about her very own Mario-themed wedding cake, and I can tell you I flipped when I saw the pictures and immediately showed it to my friends. Here’s what Amy had to say:

“I found your blog and some pics of really fun cakes, and thought I’d share my own epic Mario wedding cake. I had found pics of a very similar cake online, and it inspired me to create my own Mario cake and surprise my groom on our wedding day (November 5th). My groom is a professional video gamer, and his favorite game is Mario cart. We were married in Vegas, so I had the bottom tier a desert theme, and I went with the old school Peach Castle rather than a modern one. I’m brunette, and my groom a blonde, so I had them customize Peach and Mario accordingly. The only hint I gave my groom about the cake was I had a pair of Mario boxers delivered to him to wear during the ceremony the morning of the big day, and then I had our rings brought forth by the ring bearer on a 1-Up key-chain which later snuck itself into my bouquet for the rest of the day. The entire cake was edible, the desert tier was berries and creme, the galaxy was bouncy chocolate with chantilly cream, and the castle (which has been preserved in my freezer for the 1 year anniversay) is peanut butter chocolate. I hope you post the pics on your site, so your readers can find more inspiration for their own wedding creations!

~Bride of a true Geek~ “

What a lucky groom, indeed. I love the details like little Mario standing on a block, the princess leaning in for the kiss, the mushroom heads, the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, and all the other references to the game. Must have been a bit hard to have to slice it up. I would’ve been content to stare at it all day.

Click the image below for a much larger version of the montage:

Samus Aran, the legendary bounty hunter from the Metroid franchise comes to life via Brazilian cosplayer Yuki LeFay. If you’ve been living away from civilization for a while and don’t know who Samus is, she is heroine of the Metroid series that dates back to the first one. Gamers have even voted that she will win in a fight against Master Chief of Halo.

This is the best looking Samus I’ve seen so far. If you don’t believe me check out the following photos of her cosplay. Metroid Prime hunters weasel.

More photos after the jump. Read more »

I was looking for new ringtones for my Sony Ericsson C902 when I came across Entertonement. The site boosts of a large collection of sound bites, which includes a couple from your favorite Super Nintendo games.

Once you get to the web site, you’ll be able to listen to different sound bites from various Super Nintendo games, such as Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros, Final Fantasy, Donkey Kong Country, Chrono Trigger and a lot more. You could also upload your own sound to the site. All the sound bites can be embedded in various social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace, Friendster and Bebo.

If you want to use the sound bite as your cell phone’s ringtone, you need to register first with the web site. After registration you can send the tone directly to your phone. Entertonement supports all major carriers. I’m using Final Fantasy III Victory Theme Song as my ringtone these days.

Some say that Barrack Obama’s success can be pointed at his use of games in his campaign. He placed ads in Burnout Paradise, Madden NFL 09 and Guitar Hero. No other presidential candidates to date have used this media in their campaigns.

But is it possible that Obama be a gamer himself? We all know that both presidential daughters own a DS each. Actually the answer is yes. He has been quoted as saying that he loves playing Bowling on the Wii Sports to relax. So yes, President Barrack Obama is a gamer himself but then again, almost everyone is a gamer these days. Even my grandmother enjoys playing Cooking Mama on the Wii.

When President Obama was asked if games are the reason for the decline of education in the country, he stated that the parents should be the ones to blame for it. He believes that the role of parents is to interact with their children instead of leaving them in front of the TV. These are good times we live today. Hopefully Obama’s promise of change will be felt by everyone, even gamers.

I was sick over the weekend and I can’t find the charger of my DS. I need to have my Nintendo fix. So I borrowed my brother’s laptop and went to Super Mario Brothers. It’s a web site that is dedicated to r beloved plumber brothers, Mario and Luigi. There you can find games, music, themes and downloads that features the two.

There are various Super Mario flash games available from the web site. If you’re looking for the classic Super Mario game then play the Super Mario Flash. Its graphics is based on the Super Mario Allstars of the Super Nintendo.

Another favorite is Luigi’s Mansion. It is based on the classic Donkey Kong game but in this version Luigi must save Mario. You could also try the original version if you want. There’s also the nostalgic Mario Bros. that I’ve spent a lot of times as a kid.

Playing Super Mario flash games made me feel better. It is my chicken soup. What’s yours?

My aunt makes the most delicious cakes in the world. But presentation-wise, her cakes are dull. Maybe these cakes I found on the net can inspire her to create one in the future. Here are the top six cake designs in random order.

Wii Remote
Flickr user Jenguin made this cake with fondant. Maybe she can improve on the scale the next time.

More cakes after the jump. Read more »

Hype is building up for the release of Ghostbusters for the Wii. It is scheduled for a June 2009 launch. Hopefully everything goes well and the game would not be delayed. Atari has released some screenshots of the game. Judging from the looks of things, GB Wii appears to be good.

More Photos after the jump. Read more »

Wii games occupy the top three spots in the games chart. Still number one is Wii Fit and it’s followed by Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii. As you can see, there are more people being converted into gamers each day. But who plays the Wii?

The Wii provides people a way to enjoy and compete with others. It is the perfect party console. Plus it is more affordable than other gaming consoles. I got a confession to make though. I have paid no attention to my Wii for almost a month now. I spend most of my time I front of my PC because of work and World of Warcraft. Then when I’m offline, I’m playing with my DS or the PS3. A guildie from WOW sold her Wii and bought a DS instead. Her reason was that the Wii is not that fun as she thought it would be.

Wii might enjoy retail success but did it manage to convert gamers to its favor? I think not. Most third party games don’t translate well in the Wii. Based on my own experience, Nintendo published games are the ones that bring the most fun. Maybe I’m just old fashioned and can’t learn how to use the Wiimote properly. Have you been playing with your Wii? Or are you like me who stuck with other consoles?

Games that tested the gamers’ rhythm were aplenty this year. It was not just between Rock Band and Guitar Hero. There were a lot to choose from. This coming holiday season what better gift to give your musically inclined kids but a music genre game.

First thing that comes in mind when you hear the words music game would be Guitar Hero. This year Guitar Hero brought the whole band with their Guitar Hero Whole Tour. Then it became portable when it went to the DS with Guitar Hero on Tour.

Not wanting to be outdone, Rock Band builds on its momentum with a sequel and featured a playlist that every member of the family can enjoy. Rock Band 2 for the Wii would be available this holiday season.

Nintendo has also joined in the music bandwagon with its own Wii Music. But unlike Rock Band and Guitar Hero that comes with their own peripherals, Wii Music would use the Wii Remote and Nunchuks to play the game.

Your family can have a musical holiday with these games. Which of the following do you prefer the most?

Visit random homes today and you’ll find out that more girls are spending their time playing gamers. Girls now want to be guitar heroes and would carry their DS where ever they go. Ask young girls what they want for Christmas and chances are there’s a game related item on their list.

During my time, boys play video games while girls play with their Barbie. Times have changed. Now girls would be exercising with Wii Fit. Look at the best selling games today and you’ll see it dominated by casual games. Puzzles games, virtual pets, sing along, and fashion games would be mixing it up with the action and FPS games.

On the frontrunner of this development is Nintendo’s Wii. Ever since it’s launched, it has changed the perspective of the majority on gaming. Parents want their kids to play the games instead of limiting their play time. Girls bought Wii Fit to stay fit at the comforts of their own home.
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