![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mathpirate.net\/log\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/TetrisAndMarioKartPhone.jpg\" "\\"TetrisAndMarioKartPhone\\"")
<\/a>No, really. I'm not making that up.<\/p><\/div>\n
As part of my video game obsession, I also collect books about video games.\u00c2\u00a0 These days, guide books for games are pretty much exclusively single title books from a big house like Brady or Prima.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn’t always so.\u00c2\u00a0 Back in the days of the NES, when games were less complicated, there were a wide range of guide books that contained tips for multiple games.\u00c2\u00a0 One of the more popular and well written series were the “How to Win at” by Jeff Rovin.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, I’m only saying that because he thanked me by name in “How to Win at Super Mario Bros.\u00c2\u00a0Games”, but that’s besides the point.\u00c2\u00a0 ((He misspelled “Koopa” as “Kuppa” in HTWANG#3, so I wrote him and corrected him.\u00c2\u00a0 Had the tester gene at age 10, apparently.))<\/p>\n
<\/a>No, really. I'm not making that up, either.<\/p><\/div>\n
One book I stumbled upon recently has the most awesome cover ever.\u00c2\u00a0 Most game guides from that age were unauthorized, so they stuck to plain text covers.\u00c2\u00a0 Those that had images tended to have generic game images (Like a cyborg fighting a dragon), because if they used a picture of Mario,\u00c2\u00a0Nintendo would sue them back\u00c2\u00a0into the Atari Age.\u00c2\u00a0 But this book took a different path.\u00c2\u00a0 A staggeringly awesome path.<\/p>\n
Where to begin…?<\/p>\n I know!\u00c2\u00a0 How about we start with the flying green thing in the upper left corner?<\/p>\n HE SLIMED ME BECAUSE I STOLE HIS BUKKIT!<\/p><\/div>\n It’s Slimer from Ghostbusters…\u00c2\u00a0 Crossed with a walrus.\u00c2\u00a0 Because obviously a gluttonous blob of ectoplasm needs tusks.<\/p>\n If there’s something weird and it don’t look good, who ya gonna call?<\/p>\n MASTER CHIEF!\u00c2\u00a0 Eh doesn’t afraid of no ghosts.<\/p>\n The best part is that this book doesn’t even talk about Ghostbusters.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s not one of the covered games.<\/p>\n Moving to the lower left corner, we find a happy jumping dwarf.<\/p>\n Apparently after the princess was kidnapped and subsequently rescued, Mario went into the Witness Protection Program, where he was given the ingenious disguise of frilly purple overalls, a yellow hard-hat, and facial hair.<\/p>\n In other words…\u00c2\u00a0 WARIO.\u00c2\u00a0 However, since this book was published before Wario came to town, I think the artist for this cover has a valid case for a lawsuit against Nintendo, since it was obviously their idea to subtly alter Mario to produce a different character first.<\/p>\n Now to the four characters on the right side of the cover.\u00c2\u00a0 This is why I bought the book.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n