Buy this Chibi-Robo statue, help combat autism

So… Press Start: Nintendo Charity Gallery is a pretty cool thing. A group of students at the San Jose State University have created a massive collection of Nintendo themed fanart and have made it available for auction, with the proceeds going to the Morgan Autism Center.

As well as this cool Chibi-Robo statue (which I’ve already been outbid on) there’s a wealth of really cool art, inspired by similarly treasured Nintendo games, like Star Fox, F-Zero and Earthbound. My wallet is sure going to hurt but, hey, it’s going to a good cause. My living room wall! (jk)

If you like cool games and unique works of art (who the hell doesn’t?) then I don’t think you’ll regret checking out the auctions. And if you’re lucky enough to live in San Jose then the works are all on display at Umpqua Bank until the 16th of May. Let me know in the comments if you make it out there…

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Two new Art Style games announced

Nintendo recently held a bunch of media summits all across the globe, unveiling its line-up for the months ahead. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the announcement that both Metroid Other M and Super Mario Galaxy 2 will hit this summer. And I can’t blame anyone for that. The original Mario Galaxy is, in my opinion, the single finest game ever made – a title that was, for me, long held by Tetris for some 23 years before Galaxy came along.

Hidden among such monolithic announcements, however, was news that we can expect a couple more WiiWare Art Style games this year. Here’s the details, straight from Nintendo.

As the techno music pulses, Nintendo’s Art Style™: light trax™ puts players in charge of a white beam of light as it engages in a surreal race against other beams across a dark track. Players must keep away from obstacles, use items and look for power boosts if they want to finish first. Art Style: light trax launches this spring.

Swim and spin through the primordial ooze in Nintendo’s Art Style: Rotozoa™ as you absorb tiny organisms that match the colors of your tentacles. As you absorb more organisms, your tentacles grow. The challenge increases as additional tentacles are gained, but power-ups can help you survive and thrive. Art Style: Rotozoa launches this spring.

There’s no info on who the developer might be but we can safely assume that it’s Skip since Light Trax seems to be a 2.5D* remake of Bit Generations: Dotstream. Rotozoa, on the other hand, seems to be completely new, so that’s where my money will be going.

*2.5D, by the way, is a term I find utterly detestable since its meaning is so ill-defined. I take it to mean a game that has 3D visuals and 2D gameplay. But the term is thrown around so carelessly these days that it’s lost a lot of meaning and has become a lazy catchall phrase for a group of games that actually behave very differently when you look at them in detail. I almost wish I hadn’t used it in this post now that I’ve ranted on… But I guess I’m a lazy games pundit too.

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