Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System (better known as the SNES) was released here in 1992, and took the gaming world by storm. Gamers these days think that the Microsft vs. Sony vs. Nintendo is the be-all-and-all, but the truth is that the console wars were raging almost 20 years ago too. The contenders were the Sega Megadrive, the Nintendo SNES, and the popular home computers like the Atari ST and Amiga.

The SNES brought us classics like Zelda: Link To The Past, Super Mario World, Chrono Trigger, and Donkey Kong Country, as well as its own versions of popular games at the time like Lemmings and Street Fighter II. It also brought Super Mario Kart to the table, a game which featured popular characters from the world of Mario duking it out in a fun and totally original go-kart racing game.

Super Mario Kart is well worth checking out, for older gamers to fulfil their need for nostalgia and for younger gamers to get a taste of where the long line of Mario Kart games started. Considered by fans to be the best in the series, at 800 Wii Points it's a must buy.

Super Mario Kart is available on Wii Virtual Console now! More details on Nintendo's official page here.

This LEGO Mario is a whopping 6ft tall, and was built by intrepid Dutch builders extraordinaire Game Mania. It's so big, in fact, that it's actually claimed the title of the biggest LEGO Mario in the world! Don't worry about stability though - it has an internal framework and has been glued together for strength. The entire model contains over 40,000 LEGO bricks.

It's up for auction on the Dutch ebay site, with all proceeds going to Ronald McDonald house, a charity that supports critically ill children and their families. The current asking price is €2550. I'm not sure what the little Luigi statue is all about, but it's not included in the auction.

We could do with one of these to brighten up the place here at ConsoleBUZZ!

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We're introducing some new lines over the coming weeks, and first up will be the DS cases you see above. They're suitable for the Nintendo DS Lite and DSi. We've also set up a new Nintendo DS Cases category so that you can check them all out in one place!

The new designs feature Pikachu, of Pokemon fame, and a mushroom from the Mario games. They're big enough to safely carry a DS Lite or the new DSi, and have a secure velcro fixing. The soft yet tough construction will keep your handheld safe from knocks and scratches.

Look out for them appearing on the site in the next 2 weeks!

Check out this awesome Mario rug, hand crafted by Crafster user enemyairship. As you can see, Mario's wearing his famous Tanuki suit which enables him to fly. The rug measures 7ft x 7ft and is made up of 386 individual granny squares, each one representing a pixel. The rug took 15 days to complete, and should go along very nicely with enemyairship's other Mario-inspired work, including the leather ottoman you see above.

Keep up the good work!

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