IKEA Ribba Papercraft Part 1: Super Mario Bros 3.

Link to IKEA RIBBA

This papercraft project was designed and made by Remko Voets, who was awesome enough to share this here with everyone. Thank you Remko!

A few years back I made Mario 3 diorama that was tailored to fit IKEA’s Ribba box frame. That was my last papercraft project. I intended to make more but I hate my printer (the feeling is mutual I think).

Fortunately Remko took the reigns and constructed this beauty. He made two flavors: a simple one with all the art on a single image (which is smart – I went back and did the same for my Mario 3 one), and one where you’d have to assemble everything. After the jump you can find everything you need to make your own. 

Here is the simple version:

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Here is the advanced version with all the individual pieces:

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Just like the first one this is applied behind Ribba’s picture frame, which is pressed to the front of the box against the glass.

These are perfect for a rainy day project, and they look great on your wall. Every time I look at mine I’m reminded of a fancy bottle in a ship, it looks that ornate.

Thanks again to Remko for taking the time to make this geeky papercraft model! Now we need a Super Mario Bros 2. one to complete the triptych.

Part 1: Super Mario 3   Part 2: Super Mario   Ikea Ribba Frame 

Today I am very happy to share another Nintendo diorama for IKEA’s ubiquitous Ribba frame, this time a scene from Metroid (NES).

This design was created by Slawikaruga, who was generous enough to share his creation here with all Metroid fans. Thank you Slaw!

I’m very happy to see this template, not just because I’m a huge Metroid fan, but due to it being the game that inspired the whole “diorama in a shadow box frame” idea to begin with.

After the jump you can find the template to build your own.

Here is the template:

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My only advice for these dioramas is to take your time. They are small and ornate, and I will always liken them to those ship-in-a-bottle displays. The end result is fantastic and they always draw admiration from others.

Thanks again to Slaw for creating and sharing this papercraft project.

1. Cartridge Tombstones. I thought this was too macabre to post here, but it’s been popular on Tumblr so it can’t be all bad. Sure it’s a fun spin on tombstones, but I doubt any cemetery would permit them. However that will change when we geeks complete our world takeover in 2019. I said too much.

2. Modding Punch-Out!! If I had the technical know-how, I would love to edit the game sprites to include some pop culture boxers: Balrog from Street Fighter (above); Rocky, Ivan Drogo, Appolo Creed, and Mr. T from the Rocky movies; Honey Roy Palmer (what? I like Diggstown); the Kangaroo from Looney Tunes; and I know I’m forgetting a few. As for real boxers like Tyson and Ali, I feel they are best left to EA’s Fight Night sim.

3. Borg Wireless Charging Station. This is an old post, but I remade the art and I think it looks coo. I’ve been redoing art for a bunch of older stuff lately. Here is another example.

And that’s all for this roundup. If this were a YouTube video I’d be begging you to subscribe about now (though I’ll settle for being bookmarked). Have a nice Tuesday.

BONUS! Smash Bros. crate also included. See below.

It’s been awhile since I posted a papercraft project (of my own making), so I’m happy to share these crates from the first Donkey Kong Country game (SNES). All 5 “animal buddies” are accounted for.

I recommend you use Card Paper, which makes for a very sturdy crate. After the jump you’ll find all the templates.

Advanced 2-Page Templates:

You’ll need this page (instructions included):

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Choose your animal:

Winky

Enguarde

Expresso

Squawks

Rambi

Smash Bros.

Simple 1-Page Templates:

Don’t feel like making anything too complex? Want something for your kids to make? These are for you:

Expresso

Squawks

Enguarde

Rambi

Winky

Smash Bros.

If these prove to be popular I will post crates from other versions of DKC (the animal logos changed in subsequent games). I hope you like them!

Here is another design from the cutting room floor, a couch and chair based on the first level from Super Mario 3. I put this together a few years ago, but it struck me as Pee-Wee’s Playhouse-ish in appearance so I shelved it.

When I came across it again during my recent cleanup*, it struck me as something fun to look at, so why not share it? Not shown: the walls would be painted sky blue and adorned with shrubs and clouds and other Mario scenery.

*And my cleanup is done! I migrated hundreds of images and edited as many posts.  I also remade art and wrote new write-ups for dozens of posts, so it feels like I’ve been blogging like a madman for the past few months! It feels good to get that out of the way, I can now move on to more new stuff.

Here is a bike rack design based on Sonic The Hedgehog losing a bunch of gold rings to injury. Sonic’s misfortune would be a great place to park your bicycle!

This rack would give the illusion that Sonic was running along the nearby sidewalk or pathway just prior to running into trouble here. Also a few Sonic games had levels set in a city environment, so this would be replicating a game level in real life somewhat.

All the rings are perfectly round, however they would be placed at an angle to look like their oval-shaped video game counterparts. Also they would be aligned in rows to help with accessibility:

This design features only ten rings, but you could easily scatter 2 or 3 dozen around our hero. As long as a few rings are raised off the ground (at varying heights) for a dynamic scene that is true to the video games. Sonic himself would be a standee, but if you want to get really fancy a statue could be used instead.

If no bikes are present this would function nicely as an art installation too, something that is becoming more and more commonplace.

A pendant of Link with his trusty hookshot serving as a chain, what’s not to like? It’s a lot friendlier than my original idea, which was based on Attack On Titan (where you are the titan). You could probably do a standalone hookshot necklace, but the addition of the character truly completes this design. 

It looks a bit bulky above, but ideally it would be very small, something like this (sorry I couldn’t find a better picture to work with):

If you’re interested in seeing other geeky jewelry designs, please head here. Speaking of which, I’m going to stop using the “Geek Bling” header for all jewelry posts from here on out. I only expected to do a couple of these posts in all honesty. Also the word bling seems really outdated already!

This wallpaper features Little Mac and Doc Louis training in Hoboken, New Jersey, getting ready for the big fight against that no-good Soda Popinsky.

It’s a combination of 3D (foreground), photo-editing* (background), and of course pixel art.  You can find 16:9 and 4:3 sizes after the jump.

Sorry the 4:3 size is letterboxed. Not many 4:3ers left! Click to enlarge, then save to your computer:

1920 x 1440

1920 x 1080

*I couldn’t find a (wide) picture of New York’s skyline that appeared to originate from a boardwalk across the river, so I resorted to stealing images from Google Street View. Google forgive me!

If anyone finds an alternate NYC Skyline photo that fits the same perspective please let me know.

3 o’clock? More like Luigi o’clock, amiright? Because the hands on the clock look like an ‘L’…okay that joke was funnier in my head.

Anyways, anytime I see one of those fancy torsion pendulum clocks, specifically the orb weights revolving, I am reminded of the Koopa shells spinning around a racer in Mario Kart.

With the shell weights being suspended by a clear plastic (or glass) pillars, it would almost look like they are being self-propelled (I used a clear blue material so you can see them here).

I went with a tire and rim for the main clock, but other Mario Kart imagery could be used instead. One note: the shells wouldn’t spin around in one direction continuously, they’d reverse direction every 15 – 20 seconds – I couldn’t express that in the GIF.

Here’s hoping such a clock could be made. It would be the sort of family heirloom geeks would covet.

Well the image pretty much speaks for itself, I reckon. I suppose you could fix it up to actually run on steam, but that’s way too over-the-top. There is one slight dig at Valve Software, so I hope they don’t suspend my Steam account (I need my Peggle fix to function).

Wouldn’t it be cool to recreate the title screen from Super Metroid with your computer monitors? Your workstation would turn into a science lab, complete with a captive Metroid as an eye-catching centerpiece.

This mount would feature LED lights, allowing it to double as a lamp. It could feature additional functions like a USB hub or device dock too. Actually you could skip the mount function and just make this a standalone lamp/USB hub as well, allowing you to place it anywhere. Audio sounds from the game would be great too; an animatronic Metroid (that squashes like the title screen) would be too tough to execute methinks.

Obviously this wouldn’t be for those who like to keep their monitors close together for a seamless look. I prefer a noticeable gap to divide my tasks (art on one screen, iTunes or Netflix on the other). In fact, this idea came from the desk lamp I currently have parked between my monitors.

Shameless self-promotion time: if you liked that Super Metroid .gif I linked to earlier, I also made another one here (in case I haven’t mentioned it, yes I’m on Tumblr too — mostly just fiddling around).

A few years back I was going to post a few “geeky mailbox” designs but I got sidetracked and completely forgot about them. I recently played Sonic The Hedgehog and remembered this particular design using the checkpoint (aka “Star Post”) from the game.

This design is for my American neighbors, seeing as Canada’s residential mailboxes are being put out to pasture. Canada Post is run by a bunch of hosers, eh!

Initially I thought the Star Post would be cool for a lamp or outdoor lamp post design, however the bulb’s red and blue colors aren’t exactly friendly for illumination. I do think it would be awesome for a beer tap or gear shifter though.

Standing desks have been rising in popularity these past few years, so I thought I’d design one that is truly geeky: a standing desk that looks like an arcade cabinet. It’s the perfect standing desk for work and play.

While the desk looks cool, I think it may have the added benefit of fooling people into standing in front of it for long periods of time with little or no discomfort — just like being in an actual arcade (minus the continuous feeding of quarters). There’s just something about arcade cabinets that can lock-in the attention of people, even when the game is in an idle state. Hopefully that carries over to working on spreadsheets.

This design was based on the 27″ iMac. If you need a larger screen or more desk surface, then a 2-player (Mortal Kombat) or 4-player (TMNT, The Simpsons) cabinet could be utilized.

If you need to sit the desk height could be adjusted, with a rolling cabinet used to free up some leg space (personally I’d just use a bar stool). Also there’s lots of room near the back of the cabinet, which could be used for shelves or storage.

Obviously you can add an arcade stick or two and turn your PC into a MAME machine too. Speaking of which, you should check out this great archive site where you can play old arcade games for free.

For those who want one, there’s a cottage industry of arcade cabinet builders and resources online, so Google your hearts out (if you’d like to recommend a custom builder please share in the comments).

As for the whippersnappers asking what an “arcade cabinet” or “desktop PC” is, you need to leave. Now. SHOO!

Remember in the 80’s there was this promise of household robots could head to the fridge and fetch a few drinks for its thirsty owners? This opener would sort of fulfill that pipe dream by having a robot assist with opening a beer bottle. Progress!

There would be no robotics involved, just a bottle opener molded into the shape of Nintendo’s famous peripheral. R.O.B. himself would split in two, his lower base serving as a display stand with a magnet holder.

R.O.B. was completely useless as a video game peripheral, but as a bottle opener? I can think of no greater calling.

Here is a fun trinket for your desk: a Zelda treasure chest that features a Rupee floating in mid-air. This is made possible by magnetic levitation, something you’ve probably seen before (like that floating Tardis).

It works the exact same way as all other mag-lev toys, however the magnetic base is integrated into the treasure chest:

Other items could be swapped in, like a heart container, potion, compass — anything really. This sucker runs on AC or battery power, so I don’t see why it couldn’t belt out a few chimes from the game as well, or emit lights from the bottom of the chest (like in Ocarina of Time).

One downside is the treasure chest wouldn’t be able to close, because it needs to be a single solid shape molded around the mag-lev base.

I had somewhat of an ordeal acquiring a Game Boy Advance in the last few months. Rose Colored Gaming is sold-out (they can no longer acquire back-lit screens for GBAs), I also had no luck on Craigslist, a few used video games stores had nothing available; it was almost enough to make me quit!

I had to resort to eBay to buy a GBA SP-101 model, the only Game Boy Advance with a back-lit screen that could also play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games (you’d think the Micro or even the DS Lite had the same backwards compatibility, but they only cater to GBA games).

Unfortunately my GBA has no headphone jack, and its form factor is a little awkward to hold at times, but it’ll do for now.

Given the apparent scarcity of quality Game Boy handhelds, and the flaws of all existing models, I’m hoping a third party company (like Hyperkin) decides to offer a brand-new Game Boy that covers all the bases.

Features-wise all I’m asking for is a big LCD screen, GB/GBC/GBA compatibility, charging via mini-USB, and an audio jack. As for the design, I think a clamshell approach like the DS/3DS handhelds is best (saw a lot of scratched-up screens in the past few months). For fun I put the cartridge port in the front, so you can always see what it’s in the slot (also it looked a bit too plain without a second screen there).

If you wanted to go really overboard, you could include 2 cartridge slots for alternating between games (or to just transfer Pokemon between game paks).

This new Game Boy would be the perfect companion to the 3DS; between the two of them you’d cover all generations of Nintendo handheld devices (minus the Game & Watch handhelds, of course).

Note: yes I looked extensively into handheld emulators, but aside from the PSP the pickings were slim. What can I say, I prefer the plug-and-play of a cartridge pak.

This is one of those “I’m surprised this doesn’t exist yet” posts, because Final Fantasy Tactics was inspired by chess, so why isn’t there a tie-in chess board?

My thoughts turned to FFT when I saw this neat Super Mario chess set. I managed to resist buying the Mario set, only because I wanted something a little more sophisticated to match my maturity level (hey stop laughing), hence my need for a Tactics-based set.

Like the Mario set, I hope a FFT board would include figurines for all the playing pieces. Each figurine would need a base that identifies their position (Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, etc.), something I think the Mario set definitely lacks.

Note: sorry I didn’t include all 32 pieces in the image, that would’ve taken a few days to illustrate.

Nintendo’s already working on their next console, which goes by the code name NX. It’s rumored to be ditching the disc drive in favor of flash carts for new games, and will be compatible with a large range of mobile devices (Nintendo’s own handhelds, plus smartphones and tablets). It will likely be unveiled in 2016, followed by a release sometime in 2017.

When I heard of a console with no disc drive named the NX, my first thought was NX stood for Netflix. Perhaps this console will be a small device like the Roku? So I came up with this compact design, fashioned after Mario’s hat.

The killer app would be a subscription service that allows users to play Nintendo’s entire library of games, dating back to 1985. Additional publishers could also make their legacy titles available. If the service was $5-$9 a month I think many gamers would be interested. One note: games would be downloaded, not streamed like OnLive — that’s a must.

This Mario hat design was inspired by the Roku 3, a device that features a simple pebble design that I really admire. The hat would feature a single power button that illuminates (the ‘M’ of course) and a flash cart port on the front. Power, USB, and HDMI ports complete the package. It would be compatible with Wii and Wii U controllers (perhaps the Wii U tablet as well). It could also come in Luigi, Wario, and Metal Mario color variants.

As for backwards compatibility for game discs, you could add an external disc drive to play GameCube, Wii, and Wii U games. Though it wouldn’t surprise me if Nintendo opted against backwards compatibility. Video game companies are in the business of selling new games, not enabling customers to play old ones.

I’m looking forward to Nintendo’s new console! Who knows what it will feature. 3D glasses? Multiple tablet controllers? Holograph projector? The possibilities seem endless.

Now that I think of it, a Roku-sized Nintendo could also come in a Pokeball case! That would be cool too.

If Razer or Logitech ever had a lapse in judgement and offered me a job, I would pitch a bunch of Super Mario USB gadget designs, even though Nintendo has zero history of PC or Mac related ventures. You can never have enough Nintendo-themed stuff, in this blogger’s opinion.

Above from left to right: a Lakitu webcam, a Question Block thumb drive, and a Koopa mouse. I will probably do a keyboard and some speakers in a later post.

But wait, there’s more! I figured the Lakitu (who is sporting his frown from Mario 64) would make for an interesting selfie stick:

The Lakitu would be entirely ornamental, his camera would just be for decoration. It’s essentially adding a figurine to a selfie stick, for the lone amusement of making the Mario enemy your personal photographer.

You can purchase a high-res poster of this map here.

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a geeky map, mostly because I’ve been wanting to do something new. So I present this Star Fox-themed map of the solar system, based on the mission branching screen from the SNES game.

To keep it in the style of the game, most of the planets are the same size (sorry). I also had to spread out the planets in order for their orbits to be (mostly) unobstructed. So please forgive all the liberties I’ve taken!