While Mario and Luigi belong to Nintendo, they sure do get around.  We've seen the pair of plumbers serving us unauthorized mascots for all kinds of non-Nintendo commercial services over the years, and now my girlfriend has spotted one instance in the wild while traveling around.  Seen in the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant, here we find the duo representing Luigi Lagrange Construction.  Mario comes to us from the artwork from the Paper Mario series (note how his hat sports the L of his brother rather than his own M) and, in a horrible clash of style, Luigi represents the Mario & Luigi series.  If you're going to "borrow" famous characters to serve as your own mascots, at least keep the art style consistent between them.  Personally, I'd suggest ditching Mario altogether here and drawing on some Luigi imagery from the Mario Party series.  Nintendo has created some great character art of him in all kinds of at-work poses to promote those games.  Just a thought (and don't tell Nintendo's lawyers!).

Plenty of people in the video gaming community have gone on and on about Nintendo's EarthBound for the Super NES, and for good reason: it's spectacular.  It's also really hard to find now outside of Japan unless you want to spend a lot of money, so if you're curious about this whole EarthBound thing and want to get a feel for the story, here's your chance.  Created by Armand K., The EarthBound Journal chronicles the story of the 1994 RPG in scrapbook form as written by the characters themselves.

Having finally played Nintendo’s classic game Earthbound (Mother 2) earlier this year, I was compelled to create some art inspired by the game and the joy it brought me. After many, many hours (150+), I give you The Earthbound Journal. It’s meant to be a journal written by the four heroes from the game, recounting their adventures through commentary and imagery. Basically, it’s Paula’s scrapbooking project.

The journal mostly sticks to the established storyline, although it takes a few creative liberties here and there to flesh out some details (not to mention the surprising plot twist at the end).  It's an interesting art project and worth a peek.  Now, is this the part of the article where I'm supposed to implore Nintendo to offer Mother 3 as a downloadable title for the Nintendo 3DS?  Because I'm still very interested in doing that.

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There's nothing like a well-built video game system, but even the most beloved and famous pieces of hardware are subject to weaknesses.  Some are more glaring than others.  Pins were out, screens lose their pixels, joysticks snap off, and lasers lose their ability to lase.  Over at Topless Robot, Shaun Clayton has a list of ten of the most common hardware failures of video game consoles and handhelds both past and present.  For instance, consider Nintendo's original Game Boy and how, over time, its screen degrades:

The Game Boy came onto the scene in the late 1980s, and essentially established the firm pylons of portable gaming that Nintendo clings to this day. Still, it had one slight problem - over time, the screen edges would start losing pixels, or having garbled pixels, and eventually the view space grew narrower and narrower, like a digital glaucoma. Apparently one of the cables would just start wearing out and begin losing the connection. It wasn't a huge problem for Nintendo as they had released successive Game Boy models by the time massive failures started to arrive; still, a Game Boy with a good screen after three years is a small miracle.

I can vouch for that one.  I still have my original Game Boy from 1989, but it's not like I can see anything on its screen anymore.  The darkness began to close in in 1995 and steadily grew worse over time until, eventually, only the middle third of the screen had enough active pixels to show what was happening.  As it turns out, it's very difficult to play Donkey Kong Land when one cannot see what's coming up ahead.  The solution was to buy a used Game Boy Advance SP that will play my old Game Boy cartridges with a clarity not thought possible by my eight-year-old self.  I still hang on to the increasingly faceless Game Boy though.  There's a lot of memories and a lot of miles in that little plastic brick.

Remember Mortal Kombat?  I'm not referring to the many Mortal Kombat games, but the actual Mortal Kombat tournaments within the games.  I'm sure you remember the lore; every fifty years Outworld challenges the Earthrealm to the Mortal Kombat tournament as part of a bid to invade and conquer our tranquil planet.  Earth's best combatants fight for the honor and glory of our realm against horrible monsters and beasts.  If Outworld wins the tournament ten times in a row, its emperor Shao Khan can launch his invasion.  So, with all of these Mortal Kombat tournaments happening in the various Mortal Kombat games, who actually wins each one?  In terms of the overall arcing storyline, who is the triumphant Mortal Kombatant?  Dan Ryckert over at Game Informer has braved sequels worth of continuity lockout to determine the winners.

At the outset of the first Mortal Kombat title, Goro was standing as the reigning Mortal Kombat champion for 500 straight years (after defeating the Great Kung Lao). Shang Tsung was basically the Bobby "The Brain" Heenan to Goro's Andre the Giant, and was using the big guy to create enough chaos on Earthrealm for Outworld to conquer it. The Shaolin monk Liu Kang recognized this threat, and entered the tournament in an effort to thwart Shang's plan. Kang successfully defeated the four-armed beast, and went on to take down Shang Tsung himself. Afterwards, he rode off into the sunset to hang out back at the Shaolin temples, presumably to never again worry about having his spine ripped out of his body.

Surprisingly enough, Liu's attempt at a peaceful retirement didn't go as planned. You see, Outworld's emperor Shao Kahn was none too pleased with Shang Tsung's failed takeover of Earthrealm, and sentenced him to death. In desperation, Tsung begged Kahn to let him lure Earthrealm's warriors to Outworld for the next Mortal Kombat tournament. The emperor accepted, and restored Shang Tsung's youth. The Thunder God Raiden is informed of the next tournament, and he gathers the kombatants in preparation for the tournament in Outworld. Despite his wishes for peace, Liu Kang finds his Shaolin brothers slain by a horde of Tarkatan (the spiky-toothed race that Baraka belongs to). Now on a quest for revenge, Liu Kang convinces his fellow monk Kung Lao and actor buddy Johnny Cage to travel to Outworld with Raiden and the rest. There, Kang wins his second consecutive tournament by defeating Shao Kahn and his Shokan bodyguard Kintaro.

It gets a little murky after that as new characters pass in and out of the overall Mortal Kombat storyline and the backstories of key characters are rewritten to suit new plot events.  Personally, I lost track of who was doing what after Mortal Kombat 3.  A year or so ago I read up on Wikipedia to see what had happened in later games such as Mortal Kombat 4, Mortal Kombat: Deception, and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and found that even with footnotes, I had no earthly idea what the hell was going on in the world of Mortal Kombat.  I would say that this is what happens when one steps away from a franchise for a decade, but considering that the most recent Mortal Kombat title for the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 purposefully reset and rebooted the saga with time travel, I'd say that the creative time behind it all knew just how convoluted and confusing things had become and decided to cut bait and start fresh with the familiar and well-known elements in place. 

The rumors were true!  Fans of Konami's original arcade game based on the then-controversial FOX program The Simpsons should celebrate as the company has officially announced that it's bringing the 1991 title to the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 as a downloadable game.  $9.99 / 800 Microsoft Points will snag you the adventures of Homer Simpson and his family as they battle their way through Springfield to rescue Maggie who has been kidnapped by the evil Waylon Smithers.  As an added perk, the game includes some improvements not seen in the the original version and even has a bit of bonus content.

• Four-player online action. The Simpsons family is a force to be reckoned with when all 4 members of the family are teamed up. Now you'll never have to go it alone with online four-player cooperative play!
• Four different ways to play the game. Relive your favorite game modes, including the original coin-op experience in "Quarters" mode, or enjoy "Survival" mode which challenges you to see how far you can get with only one life! And for those looking for a more casual experience, "Free Play" gives unlimited continues so you can enjoy the ride.
• Bonus content! Play through new unlockable content that is sure to bring you back to 1991! For the true fan of The Simpsons™ Arcade Game, unlock and discover the never-before-seen Japanese version of the game, view classic flyers and posters, and peruse a guide that highlights the many Springfield characters who appear in the game!

PlayStation Plus members can download the game for free next week when it hits the PlayStation Network on Tuesday, February 7.  Microsoft Xbox 360 owners can get an early start on things this Friday, February 3.  Why now, you may ask?  As it turns out in what I'm sure is totally a coincidence, the five-hundredth episode of The Simpsons airs later this month.  It's cross-promotional marketing synergy at its finest!  As for that mention of the Japanese version of the game, Hardcore Gaming 101 notes that this iteration of the game features an easier difficulty level, increased frequency of health power-ups, a different scoring system, and the ability to jump while holding a melee weapon.  There are no lost levels to be found, but it'll be interesting to play a variation on a classic creation.

Subscribers to Sony's PlayStation Plus service have grown accustomed to basking in the free game and downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, but the service isn't extending to the upcoming PlayStation Vita.  At least, not yet.  When fielding questions from fans of the Plus program over at the PlayStation Blog, Morgan Haro from the PlayStation Network team replied to a pro-Plus comment with this:

We definitely have our eye on Vita, but it will not be there on day one.

That's understandable.  Everything being released for the Vita is new.  Sony isn't about to start giving away content at launch to a new audience.  I'm sure that Plus will include Vita content eventually once sales numbers hit certain targets and other internal goals are met.  One of the top-selling Sony-published Vita launch games will probably even be the first free title released once the second-generation titles debut in a brilliant maneuver of offering a game for which the majority of Vita owners already paid actual money to a select subset of those owners.  If, say, Uncharted: Golden Abyss were to be a free download to Plus subscribers for a week, you know it would generate a lot of interest in the Plus service for those resisting its siren song of discounted content and would also spark plenty of press about the Plus service coming to Vita with a mighty bang.  Sure, Sony would be out some Uncharted sales, but I would think that anyone who does not pick up Nathan Drake's latest adventure when buying a Vita probably wasn't going to purchase the game anyway.  I'm just brainstorming here, but I wouldn't be shocked if a scenario similar to this played out when the time is right.

THQ's troubles continue to build as reports of layoffs have surfaced today along with news that the publisher is facing removal from the Nasdaq listings if it can't get its act together and raise its share price.  Eurogamer discusses the layoff report:

A troubled THQ will imminently announce 170 layoffs, according to a new report.  Independent industry suit Kevin Dent claimed to have been sitting on the news "for a week or so". His Twitter conversation with THQ's vice president of technology Mark DeLoura suggests this is for real.

"This is probably going to break in the morning, I have sat on it for a week or so. The culling at THQ was 170+ souls including Mark DeLoura," broadcast Kevin Dent, directing the message at DeLoura.  "A smart journalist would send THQ's VP of Tech Mark DeLoura an email and see what the auto reply says," Dent later wrote.

"Hey, that's cheating," DeLoura replied, smiley in tow.

MCV sums up the stock situation:

Troubled publisher THQ has been warned that it faces a possible de-listing from the Nasdaq stock exchange.  The threat comes because the company’s shares have failed to top the $1 range for 30 consecutive days. That’s the minimum level required for a continued listing.  THQ has been given 180 days (until July 23rd) to address the issue and boost its share price. It must maintain a $1+ level for ten consecutive business days.  The company has failed to trade above $1 since the beginning of December.

There's no word on who the other people being let go are, and while nobody wants to see a layoff, one would hope that it's people from the businesses that THQ has previously announced that it's departing rather than employees from divisions that are cranking out content that is actually selling (e.g. Volition).  Without a focus on childrens' software or uDraw, the company doesn't need studios cranking out more Spongebob titles.  While in better economic times it's probable that those employees would be relocated or reassigned, considering how badly THQ needs to stop its money hemorrhage situation, cutting some people loose now may be the only viable option.  For more on THQ's troubles, be sure to listen to Episode 75 of the Power Button podcast.

Nintendo's Club Nintendo loyalty program began offering free games in its catalog of reward options back in December of last year.  For a mere 100 or 150 Coins, members can download several of Nintendo's top digitally distributed titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Super Mario Kart, and Kirby's Dream Land.  So far the offerings have been solid titles and fans have been eagerly awaiting to see what the next selection of games will bring.  Now that February is here, it looks like the program is taking the month off in spirit if not in practice.  Here's what your hard-earned virtual currency can buy this month:

• Mario Party 2 (Wii; 150 Coins)
• Art Academy: First Semester (3DS, 150 Coins)

Well, that's... underwhelming.  I can understand putting Mario Party 2 in the lineup this month in order to cross-promote the upcoming Mario Party 9 for the Wii, but I don't think anyone was clamoring for Art Academy.  Moreover, why are there only two games from which to choose this month instead of the usual four?  I feel bad for looking a gift horse in the mouth and all that, but this month's selection is pitiful.  I wonder if perhaps people were redeeming more game vouchers than Nintendo expected and the company decided to cut back a bit.  Here's hoping that February's titles are an anomaly and not the new standard.