Triptych: The Games Of My Youth

"Punch 'Em Out" (t-shirt) by Adam Works

"Just Keep Digging" (t-shirt) by Stephen Hartman

"Nintendonitis" (t-shirt) by ORabbit

Triptych: Getting Back To Basics

"Sumi Wind" (cardigan print) by Midgerock Studios

"Nintendo 8-Bit Legend" by RISEarts

"Arcade" by DKNG Studios

Showcase: G-Bit's Adventure Time NES Games

[G-Bit's Shop]

Triptych: Nintendos, As Far As The Eye Can See

"Play Poster" by Sam Goldberg

"Game Girl In The Wild", Artist Unknown (Photo by dubie710)

"Super Gigan Vinyl" by Hannes Hummel

Hannes Hummel's piece up there is an actual, working NES emulator. Check out his portfolio for more pictures!

Showcase: NES Arrested Development Games

In honor of the return of Arrested Development in the spring of 2013, I present to you Jesse Eisemann's animated Nintendo\Arrested Development mashups. Teamocil!

Just announced: the original ten-episode run of the new season has been expanded to possibly fifteen episodes at best, and a good round dozen if nothing else.

[Jesse Eisemann's Website]

Showcase: Classic NES Posters by DonCarlos Salinas

I really, really wish these were in a higher resolution and weren't just photos taken of someone holding up poster prints, but you work with what you have, I guess. That said, I love these. If DonCarlos Salinas decided to print and sell giant versions of these, I'd buy them all. I love the semi-3D effect with drop-shadows behind each pixel layer, I love the background texture, and I love the subtle re-coloration on each piece.

Seriously, print these up so I can hang them on my wall. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

[DonCarlos Salinas'
Classic NES Posters]

Triptych: Gamer's Love

"NES" by Walter Newton

"Gamer's Love" by biticol

"The Coin-Op Kid" by Neil Hanvey

Showcase: Cartoony Consoles by AmazingTrout

You know what I don't love? Those caricature drawings sold by artists on boardwalks, where they take famous people and distort their most prominent features. To me, they're like the visual art equivalent of puns: trying to get a laugh in the cheapest way possible (side note: I don't hate puns, but you have to admit they're the exact opposite of high-concept humour.)

And yet somehow, when that same principle is applied to videogame consoles, my monocle pops out and I find myself heartily approving. Click the link below to check out more of AmazingTrout's console artwork, including the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx.

[Cartoony Consoles]

Triptych: Now You're Playing With Power

"NES" by Charlie Bernatowicz

"Gameboy and Games" by Derek Temple

"Lucky Star and Disk Writer" by Gashi Gashi

If you're wondering about that last one and how it relates to Nintendo, the Famicom Disk Writer was a peripheral that was only ever released in Japan. Basically, games for the Disk Writer were released on rewriteable floppy disk (take a look at the original Legend of Zelda disk, for an example) and led to, as far as I know, the first cases of console game piracy.

Triptych: Alternate Universe NES Box Covers

"Kraven The Duck Hunter" by Brendan Tobin

"Jack's Nightmare" by Brinkerhoff

"NES Watchmen" by Illustrography

Showcase: Ty Lettau's Minimalist Nintendo Games

Mega Man, Metroid, Super Mario Bros.

Final Fantasy, Tetris, Dig Dug

The Legend of Zelda, Rampage, Excitebike, Donkey Kong

Ty Lettau is someone I've featured here before, I think. I'm always incredibly impressed not only with the quality of his work but also his dedication to covering a ton of ground within each concept - for example, in his Super Bros. set, in which pop culture characters are redesigned in the style of the original Super Mario Bros. sprites, is comprised of just shy of seven hundred entries - and his new Minimalist Nintendo Game theme looks like it will be equally expansive.

[Ty Lettau on Flickr]