Obligatory Mario-related post of the day: Some genius at Microsoft teamed up with another genius at The Hebrew University, and together they developed an algorithm that “depixelizes” pixel art, so that it looks smoother yet retains its essence and overall shape. Obviously, the most pressing application of this technology was to update Super NES games to look cooler, so that’s exactly what these guys did. A clip of the technology (applied to Super Mario World) is above. To give you an idea of how far they’ve come, here’s a clip showing a comparison with the original game on the left and another less-effective algorithm (which you might remember, if you’re a total nerd, from ZSNES) on the right. There are plenty of more demonstrations on their website, which we highly encourage checking out. This rocks. source
So, when North Korea’s YouTube and Twitter accounts got hacked yesterday, this crude-looking cartoon got posted. The toon, which features background music from one of our favorite video games of all time (Super Mario World, what what?) shows Kim Jong-un violently slamming his convertible into starving North Korean children, and the heir apparent talking to his dad on an iPhone – while driving. The clip is crude and violent, so keep that in mind, but still interesting. source
Well, that’s one way to pay tribute to Freddie Mercury. A crafty “Super Mario World” level hacker (who also knows their way around automation) managed to craft “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Guitar Hero”-style, using a platformer. Awesome, but nerdy.
