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Nintendo's flagship intellectual property has seen more than its fair share of amateur recreations using other games' modding engines, usually with predictably creepy results. But Skyrim modder Clintmich's Super Skyrim Bros. has to be one of the most simultaneously polished and jarring efforts to date.

 

Using Bethesda's Creation tools, he's fashioned a warped and violent image of the Italian plumber's antics in five worlds, ending with the player tracking down the kidnapped princess and taking on a more humanized and therefore terrifying incarnation of Bowser -- suspiciously modeled on a low-level fire mage from the game proper.

 

Instead of gently bonking goombas on the head as you land on them, players are thrown a giant lumber hammer to cave in enemy carapaces and a staff to cast fireballs, instead of a hat. Something has to be said for the effort made to make it look like the Mushroom Kingdom, even if it plays exactly like Skyrim. The daisies have wide-eyed little faces, there are coins hanging impossibly in mid-air, and the koopa troopers look chubby and plush -- in short, adorable until they try to kill you.

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I like to imagine that I would completely freak out if I was living in the '80s and saw this poster hanging at my local cinema. Of course, I had to settle for just playing Half-Life 2: Episode 2 the game way back in 2007 (holy crap, it's been that long?).

This art, found by us on Reddit, is the work of agentscarlet, who has some other stunning pieces on DeviantArt.

Also, Hollywood, please don't take this as a sign that you should actually make a Half-Life movie. I'm sure you'd just ruin it.

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Most modern military shooters have so few different colors that I can count all of it with one hand. That isn't a good thing as it just makes the game look like a brand-new coloring book for military-Hollywood fans.

Battlefield 3 is such a game without a vibrant color palette; however, modders might be able to help with the PC version. A video of the modders' work definitely makes Battlefield 3 more beautiful, but using this mod could lead to a permanent ban.

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A nagging problem kept bothering me while playing Battlefield 3. It had nothing to do with the server speed or my overheating Xbox 360.

I just couldn't think of a great rock-music playlist to listen to during my sessions.

I really wanted to capture that ruthless environment of Battlefield 3 in a playlist. The game has an edgy visual atmosphere that always crawls under my skin whenever I boot it up. The colors are dark and rusty. Every ricocheted gunshot causes some sort of explosion.

I thought that 2000s post-punk would work pretty well. That decade, however, also coincided with the happy-indie-rock movement. I certainly couldn't play Modest Mouse's "Float On" while mowing down hordes of soldiers.

Then I came up with the sound. I had to add in my favorite Generation X music from my childhood.

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The Community Spotlight features some of the best unedited articles that didn't quite make the front page. This week, we explore whether the survival-horror genre is dying (or just undead), examine what the Wii U will offer gamers, and explain why video games are good for you. (Told you so, Mom.)

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Survival horror is dead
By Jason Rose

While he acknowledges that different things scare different people, Jason identifies two key components of successful horror games: danger and difficulty. The problem? Today's titles, like Resident Evil 6, have abandoned these principles.

What does the Wii U stand to offer?
By Chandler Tate

Chandler wants to like the Wii U, he writes, "but at the same time, my mind is telling me no." He's not sold on the controllers and doesn't see much new in the gameplay, either. Do you agree?

Video games are good for you: The positive effects of video games
By Jesse Meixsell

Jesse gives us a collection of arguments in favor of playing games, including a number of sourced citations. What benefits have you seen from your time on the sticks?

The curse of graphic adventure games
By Alexander Kraus

Remember the old PC adventure games where the only method of movement was pointing and clicking? Alexander says the influence of that antiquated control scheme still affects games today, for better and worse. Interesting observations. 

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I recently completed the mobile game Final Fantasy Dimensions, which brought back the series’ tradition of using an evil empire as the villain. This motif is one that is present throughout most of the Final Fantasy series, and it is easy to see why. Unlike the Dragon Quest series -- which usually focuses on an intangible, mystical or demonic villain as the bad guy (like Rhapthorne from DQVIII or Demon Lord Nimzo from DQV) -- an evil empire strikes an instantly recognizable chord with the gamer. It represents tyranny, oppression, subjugation, and the loss of the individual against a mass uniform force. The very word empire evokes so many sharp images in our minds due to our own background and history.

From a gameplay standpoint, the empire makes sense as an antagonistic force since it not only provides an overt villain, but also offers a large, overarching and layered game mechanic that can provide many colorful villains or characters under one umbrella (e.g. in Dimensions there are eight generals of the Empire's armies, and oh boy do you get to fight all eight of them eventually). At the same time, it also provides a counterpoint for your party: You are the individuals fighting against the masses that wish to conform you and crush you to a pulp. This provides not only high stakes for your plight but also consistently pushes the game toward an eventual showdown between your "individuals" and the empire.

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Welcome, Vault Hunters! Here you will find the results of our latest Bitmob Wants You community writing prompt. And the articles you've written are worth their weight in bullymong hides.

(Wait, do those have value? Would they have more value if I called them Bonerfart hides? Huh. No matter.)

Anyway, the point is, these articles are great, and it's all thanks to our stalwart Bitmob community. Check 'em out below.

I'm not here to save the planet
By Ansis Fãrts

Ansis likes the simplicity of Borderlands 2's setup. Yes, there's a story, and yes, you're nominally a "good guy," but as Ansis writes, "At the end of the day, what really makes the world of Borderlands special is that you're just someone with a lot of guns and a lot of desire to put those bullet hoses to use."

I don't think I have the time any more to enjoy Borderlands 2
By Leigh Harrison

It's not that Leigh doesn't like Borderlands. On the contrary: "I was truly hooked by Borderlands. I played it solo and exhausted every quest before the finale, fully aware that I would inevitably begin a new game plus upon its completion." That didn't end up happening, though. Read on to find out why.

Click through for more of your articles.

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I can hear their pleas at night. More like cries for help, really. They speak through the walls, calling for release. These lost souls came to this vile place with the best of intentions, and now they can only wait. And wait. And wait.

I am, of course, talking about my shamefully unplayed collection of fighting games. What did you think I was talking about? Because I'm not just a player. Oh no, it's far, far worse than that. I'm a collector.

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If you have never played a game in the Final Fantasy series, somehow managing to avoid exposure to Square Enix's behemoth for its long existence, where would you begin if you were interested in checking out the franchise?

This question has been on my mind for the past several weeks as I've put many hours into a game that I like more than I should, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. 

Dissidia 012 isn't a game for everybody. It's a game for people who like Final Fantasy. As a devoted fan of the series, I like a lot of things in this little handheld brawler. I like the subtle differences in the way that the different characters play. And I like how the title asks you to play as each of the fighters, forcing you to learn their different styles.

But I also feel alone in my appreciation for Dissidia 012. Most of my friends don't know about Final Fantasy’s fine details. And so, as I have played, I have been mulling over the question of how one might introduce others to this beloved saga.

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I recently read through many of the Resident Evil 6 reviews, so I feel qualified to give you my critique of this blockbuster title. Let me start off by saying that I haven't played the game or the demo. I believe playing it before reviewing it will give me an unfair bias toward the game.

Let's start with Gamespot. They gave the game a 45/100. WOW. These guys are garbage. These guys obviously didn't play the game, either. I mean Game Informer gave RE6 an 88/100. Gamespot said that while the narrative is good, everything else sucks. I honestly don't get why people still go to this publication.

I mean c'mon; the reviewer says that the quick-time events are too long. How is that a bad thing? Quick-time events are soooo much fun. They also said that the game's set pieces are mediocre. I doubt that is true. But let's move on to a much more qualified publication.

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I sat with my hands resting on the keyboard and mouse, mulling over a selection of loot I'd accumulated from my hacking and slashing through the Ghosts of Plunder Cove. Did I want to equip the Hasty Maul, which has a "very slow attack speed" but also a "+7% attack speed"? Doesn't sound so "hasty." How about the Vampiric Lumber Sledge with the ability to steal 6 health on a hit? Or maybe the Paired Battle Axe with a "very fast attack speed" and a "+5% chance to execute"? Execute what? I'm not sure.

It's a quarter to midnight, and I'm nearly through my six-pack of Session lager. I need to get this show on the road. I don't really have a good way of knowing what would be the best weapon to equip, so I settle on Ole's Massive Wrench's 161 damage per second rating and dump everything else off on my pet hawk to sell back at town.

Runic Games' sequel to its premiere action role-playing game is overflowing with swords and shields and hammers and axes and wrenches and all kinds of spoils. I knew this going in. Everyone knew this going in. Many might profess that this is their reason for playing.

But Torchlight II taught me an important lesson: It's not really about the loot.

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Not too long ago, I wrote about what Rock Band Blitz means for those fake music groups you've been cultivating all these years. My conclusions were dire and troubling, but I've recently discovered an even darker side to developer Harmonix' jam-fest for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.

It's not the competition. I know that I'm susceptible to that, and I am as prone to trash-talk as anyone when I find something unimportant that I arbitrarily hitch my emotional wagon to. Nor is it the insidious social-game hallmarks like coins and social media integration littered throughout the title.

No, what I have discovered is an affront to everything I have spent the past 25 years of my video game "career" trying to avoid. It is a stark realization that has shaken me to my core and made me doubt my very existence and credibility as a gamer. When I made this discovery, all life as I knew it stopped instantaneously, and every molecule in my body exploded at the speed of light.

Metaphorically, I mean. It's hard to type these articles when your body's all exploded and traveling through time and shit.

What was this apocalyptic truth? What could have affected me so deeply? Why do I wake up in the middle of the night crying?

Rock Band Blitz turned me into one of these people:

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