Calling the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie "utter tripe crap" is being polite. It's much worse than that. Actor Bob Hoskins, who played Mario, has called the movie "the worst" thing he did. Academy Award winner Dennis Hopper, no stranger to utter tripe crap himself, wasn't too pleased with the flick and explained why he did the project in an interview on late night show Conan O'Brien:

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No doubt there are LEGO architects in the wild who consider this a horrible affront to blocksmithing, but this 29" tall Mario sculpt is obsessively well done. And we're not just using the "obsessively" adjective because the final product was photographed in front of what appear to be Super Mario Bros. wall decals from Blik, we use it because he over-teched it.

The creator used a "NextEngine 3D scanner, modo and big pile of Lego" to get the job done. The final product? Awesome. In-progress pics are available, in case you're wondering exactly what a NextEngine 3D scanner is. (Formal apologies to anyone who thought this post was going to be about Traveller's Tales getting the Mario license.)

Lego Mario designed using modo [Luxology Forums via Gizmodo]

Reader James Lillis recently sent in this Mario-themed T-shirt design. He didn't mention where one might acquire it (or indeed, if it's on sale at all), so we'll just have to please ourselves with a simple look-see.

My only problem? If there is an emergency, and I'm hanging around in this shirt, someone will undoubtedly take the opportunity to punch me in the chest - as hard as they can - in a vain attempt to access star-powered goodness. I don't know if I want to give people a reason to punch me any more than they already do.

Five games that made an impact on the life of Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima? According to the famed game designer:

• Super Mario Bros.

• Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken

• Xevious

• Another World

• Metal Gear Solid

This list comes from a Yomiuri Newspaper article called "All About Kojima Hideo" dated June 11th. We haven't seen the full article (only that picture we found on a Yomiuri blog), and the English translation of Yomiuri article glosses over these five games and what they mean to him. From the pic we found, it certainly appears as though Kojima explained how they affected him.

Hide-and-seek with Hideo Kojima [Yoimuri]

Hey, America, this one's for you, especially if you're vegetarian, a Super Mario Bros. die hard, and are looking to wow (or maybe disgust) attendees of your Independence Day cook out. Instructables has posted a very handy recipe for one-upping your burger this holiday weekend, taking the beef out and putting the green food colouring in. That's not tasty pesto, unfortunately, just some bizarre chemical that makes burger buns green.

Think I'll be passing, but you may find this a delicious prelude to your 4th of July game cake. Thanks to Nate for the tip.

"1UP Mushroom" Mushroom Burger [Instructables]

As we did with Miis and custom Forza Motorsport 2 paint jobs many moons ago, so are we now nearing the peal of clever Spore creature creation tolerance. Oh, some are just fantastic, but after recreations of just about every video game thing in existence in Spore monster form, we're starting to lose interest quickly. Possibly quicker than ever before, sadly. That said, this Bowser recreation is simply too high in quality to pass up. Reader Shawn was kind enough to pass on the Kezins discovery and for that we thank him.

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Mario's been dying that way for years, so, here's a video in which he tries on some new demises in search of a better good death. They missed Defender, where he explodes in a fireworks burst and burns white-hot thermite particles through anything on the screen. That would be funny. Certainly funnier than what happened between Luigi and the Koopas.

Deaths That Just Don't Work for Mario [YouTube]

With great apologies to the late Hunter S. Thompson, for the out-of-context riffing.

"Luigi had taken his shirt off and was pouring beer on his chest. ... We had two bags of fire flowers, 75 mushrooms, five invincibility stars ... And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge winged turtles, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car ...

Update: The picture's artist is suzyage4. He says he drew the above image back in 2005. It's still timely -- Mario is timeless after all.

Super Mario Las Vegas [The Off Topic Forum]

This was a gimme for Nintendo. After all, Bee Mario was the most adorable thing that fat plumber's done in years, so capitalising on the love-in by releasing a soft, cuddly replica was a no-brainer. It'll be available in July, for around $US 25. If your collectible tastes for the game run to the more supernatural end of the spectrum, a Boo Mario will be available as well. Same time, same price.

Super Mario Galaxy Plush Doll: Bee Mario [Play-Asia, via Go Nintendo]

I don't know which I like more, the scientific description of the pseuderanthemum incendia (fire flower), which can be found wild in many places around worlds 1-2 and 4-2, or the fact that you can actually buys these for $US 20 to $US 30 a pop. A vase of these could make a great Mother's Day present, if you're mum is cool.

pseuderanthemum incendia (fire flower) [Etsy, via Tanooki]