Hawty McBloggy Invites You to Play

I’m a bit of an Etch-A-Sketchist fangirl. And by bit I mean I worship the aluminum powder that he meticulously etches his amazingly detailed pictures on. After I compiled all of his video game related sketches in one convenient post, I sent him an email with a picture attached in hopes that he would recreate it in his own unique Etch-A-Sketch style. Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more of a fangirl, I get this incredible picture kindly deposited in my inbox. Turns out I could be more of a fangirl, who knew?

The picture I submitted (me as Cortana, originally done by Pavel Dolgov)

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When you think of Super Mario Brothers, do you immediately get an image of a bloody princess being brutally impaled by a sadistically violent piranha plant? Rest assured you and your twisted mind are not alone.

An Etsy seller by the name of ceefurn has created a Mario-themed oil on canvas piece of art that appeals to our darker side. Mario is absolutely bug eyed in disbelief at the sight of his beloved Princess with a Pirahna Plant tendril piercing straight through her head. With her crown resting at a precarious angle, bright red blood drips through her hair as the callous Pirahna Plant looks on with a bloody and evil grin. If this is the Super Mario Brothers you have always envisioned, this nightmarish 38″x36″ piece will run you a very pretty $250. I guess the princess is now in the castle in the sky.

A flickr user by the name of joshuadamon has altered some Halo 3 screenshots to show his “perspective of the Halo universe”. What a beautiful perspective it is. His entire gallery is worth viewing, but some shots are definitely more spectacular than others. As someone who appreciates the finer aspects of Halo 3 screenshots, I can assure you the time spent browsing his gallery is definitely worth it.

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You may think you have the best desktop image ever, but you would be mistaken because I actually have the best desktop image ever. ZZoMBiE13, the generous and talented artist behind Another Halo Comic Strip, made me a custom wallpaper patterned after my Spartan.

While you can’t have something nearly as awesome as mine, you can still have a bad ass Halo-themed wallpaper. Here are ten different designs that struck my fancy, perhaps they will strike yours as well.

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Frank O’Connor of Bungie Studios has routinely treated us to his unique and often humorous depictions of “Mister Chief” (his personal version of our favorite Spartan superhero) for the past handful of years. What started on 01.16.04 in Frankie’s first Weekly Update (back when Halo 2 was still a tightly guarded secret) has since turned into something loyal Bungie readers look forward to every Friday. The first image of Mister Chief had him wielding a light saber because, as Frankie said, “guns are hard to draw”.

Four years later brings us Mister Chief still sans weapon but this time on a different medium. Just once Frankie lovingly painted our beloved Mister Chief on the more tangible form of canvas. This original painting recently fetched an astounding $6,100.00 on eBay, the proceeds of which will go to the Brian Morden Foundation to help fund Ewing’s Sarcoma and childhood cancer research (you can read more about Brian, who was a passionate Halo fan but more importantly an amazing person, here). This canvas painting was officially titled “Here Lies the Last Sip of the Bourgeoisie Malaise Consommé”.

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Cortana is one of my favorite characters in the Halo video games. Not only do I enjoy her wry sense of humor but I love the subtleties of her relationship with the Chief. As much as I adore her, I am a bit on the fence about this Cortana print. Drawn and painted digitally by the Popular Erotic Pin-Up Artist REIQ, I’m just not sure it captures a side of Cortana that actually exists. I simply don’t see her striking this pose or being playful in this sexy of a way. How much does it matter if it is accurate or not when there are large boobs on display anyways?

Purchase here : reiqstore’s eBay Store
Buy it now price : GBP 10.00 (approximately US $19.8

Apparently this artist specializes in subjects who “defy gravity with their immense breasts, impossible poses and gigantic weaponry.” I would guess her gigantic weaponry is her intelligence as I don’t see anything else pictured.

As a Halo fan, do you like this poster? And why or why not?

First she adorned an animated Christmas tree. Now this retro video game character is also on the walls of your favorite gaming room. A crafty Etsy seller by the name of pixelparty recycled an old dresser that unfortunately (and fortunately) didn’t survive moving into Blinky, the aggressive red ghost that is forever on the heels of Pac-Man.

Purchase here : Pixelparty’s Etsy Shop
Cost : $30
Note : Only the red one is available at this time.

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You may be wondering why the gamertag SpaceGhost2K (who goes by worldwidewebbs on eBay) sounds familiar to you. Could be you first discovered his talent in October’s Official Xbox Magazine. Could be because you have seen pictures of his original handcrafted Xbox 360 faceplates floating around on the internet. Could be because you have read one of the 500 million articles I have written about his amazing faceplates (you will find I have an unnatural obsession with his work which leads to him dominating the eBay finds category of my blog). In this interview not only will you gain some insight into the man and the gamer behind all of these things, but you will also be lucky enough to catch an exclusive first look at his very special 100th custom made faceplate. Along with everything else, he has some big news about a brand new home for both faceplate collectors and faceplate designers alike so sit back and enjoy the interview (and some awesome pictures) with the extremely talented, passionate, and creative SpaceGhost2K.

So, let’s start at the very beginning. When did you start gaming and what was the first game you ever played?

Around 1980, my dad was in a bowling league. My brother and I entertained ourselves in the arcade. There were about ten machines there over a couple of years so I can’t remember my exact first one, but it was probably “Star Castle.” They also had Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Defender, Ms. Pacman tabletop version, Wizard of Wor and Berzerk. And a Black Knight pinball table.

I bet you and your brother looked forward to bowling nights just as much as your dad. What is your favorite video game of all time, one of those old school arcade games or something from the current gen?

I’d have to say The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I’ve got almost 300 hours in it and still haven’t done it all.

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Purchasing some gaming-themed art for my family room (aka the main gaming room) has been on my to-do list for several months now. We have slowly been redecorating that room one step at a time to make the work load a bit more manageable. We had light colored berber carpet installed first, then purchased some electronics equipment suitable for our gaming needs, next bought a beautiful deep red sectional chaise sofa, and now it is time to spruce up the walls.

It is actually a good thing I waited because Pavel Dolgov recently took his old gaming prints and enhanced them in Photoshop. Purchasing prints instead of original art is an inexpensive alternative to decorate your living area while still maintaining a high quality appearance. I have poured over his prints several times over so I can personally tell you the colors and details are much more vivid with the enhancements. They were already beautiful before he touched them up, now they are simply spectacular.

Here are his current offerings (which he plans on expanding according to my recent interview with him) :

Seduce Me

Purchase here : imagekind (Pavel Dolgov)
Sizes and Prices :

• Petite (10.0″ x 8.0″) - $17.98
• Small (13.7″ x 11.0″) - $26.98
• Medium (19.9″ x 16.0″) - $36.98
• Large (29.9″ x 24.0″) - $55.98
• Grande (36.0″ x 28.9″) - $104.98

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A new Halo-themed website called abstrakt popped up last week and is dedicated to the “art from inside the halo 3 engine”. Yankeyhotel, the person behind not only abbstrakt but also haloanyone (which unfortunately hasn’t been updated in a while, perhaps he is switching his focus solely to the new site) has started taking pictures within the game that have a more artistic slant. The images have not been manipulated in any way, which is really quite amazing when you see some of the shots he has captured.

Every Friday he will be putting up images from the community so you can try your hand at it as well. Last Friday he featured TTL Demag0gue (the image above is his), who just happens to be a clanmate of mine. Yeah, I totally know him. I’m pretty sure my coolness factor just skyrocketed. I should get his autograph. *goes into fangirl mode and runs off to hunt down Demag0gue