Big wooden video game nostalgia for your wall

Early video games had their charms, from the cheesy music, to the simple joysticks, though both that and the game usually needed a good blow to get working. For awesome art honoring the early days of gaming, get a look at 8 Bit Wood.

From an industry insider, 8 Bit cuts little blocks of wood into "pixels", then stains 'em, arranges 'em into old-school characters, and glues 'em together, resulting in oversized NES art so cool it hangs on the walls of his employer, Guitar Hero designers Neversoft -- who really don't sound like they need any more wood. Mural options include Contra, with the musclebound dude and separate gun upgrade icon; Ryu from Ninja Gaiden climbing a wall with his legs dangling; and a Raccoon Suit Mario in flight, plus the Goomba, Boo, and Question Mark sprites that the artist says are "full of memories", although clearly you'll have to bust out your SkilSaw to get to them. There's also even-classic-er like a two foot-wide Space Invaders getting shot with a laser launcher, Pitfall, with the digitally primitive dude striding over a gaping-mawed gator trio, and Dig Dug, showing the manhole-size hero using a hose to inflate one of the evil Pookas, which were said to be modeled after tomatoes. Tomatoes named Danny DeVito.

His biggest piece is Duck Hunt (with the dog who laughs at your suckiness), and future plans include Punch Out, with a 2,500-pixel "life size" Glass Joe, and a new version of Ninja Gaiden, with Ryu running with his robe flapping in the wind and his hand on his sword, too much of which is said to lead to Marble Madness.