I just moved to Portland, Oregon a week ago and it became quickly apparent that this was going to be my kind of town. Between the amazing food and the charming people, it's already feeling like home. And then I hear about something like this and my attachment goes to a whole new level.
It seems that someone has taken it upon themselves to place Mario Kart power-ups in the bike lanes along one of the streets east of the river. Speed boosts, banana peels and Starman all lay in the path of unwitting cyclists. As noted in the report above, we don't know where they came from and, frankly, I don't give a damn. This is awesome.
Conrad Zimmerman is Destructoid's News Editor and home to the busiest mustache in the gaming press. An amateur historian and pop culture fanatic, Conrad possesses a nearly limitless wealth of videogame factoids and a passion for the power of games to teach, inspire and entertain. He enjoys reading, writing and turning things which should be fun into work.
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I really would like to see someone biking down the lane and pedal fast for boost, maybe hum the star invincibility song and crash when they hit the banana.
im betting a hundred-to-one that conrad did this himself a week ago. he just moved there, had time to go down the 'avenue' and spray paint symbols because he loves dtoid and mario kart, and then this hits the news a week later on TV and Dtoid??
The rest of the clip goes on to say, "The Blue Shell in particular seems to have tire tracks going both ways, as if cyclists ran over, stopped, and then backed over the shell in a fit of rage."
@stay
The news report said they don't know whether the city plans on painting over it or anything. I'm hoping they don't... I live in a large city right now and always see writing on the sidewalk... such as a kitten shaped like a penis. So if that penis kitten stays but those awesome Mario Kart symbols don't I will be very slightly annoyed.
@GoggleKnocker
Oh i misheard.. damn me and my lovable yet inappropriate assuming. :/
I know lower south in northern california someone wrote in the street for people to slow down because of a school zone and by the end of the week the city painted over the homemade signage.
I think it would be a classy act if both the penis kitten and mario kart uppers got to stay.
They pretty much have to paint over these, because they're a safety hazard. Some genius is going to drive over the star and think they can safely plow straight through traffic.
Man, I know I've become a cynical bastard when what impressed me most about that video was the reporter getting all of his information right. Most others would probably just call them "strange symbols" from a "mario" originating from a "Nintendo."
@FDC Ruckus: A lot of "old school" gamers are at the age where news matters. Although, being Portland and a native Oregonian (Or-eh-go-nee-en) I'm not at all surprised these days with what is called "news".
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Contest:
1:00 AM on 08.23.2010
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You live in Portland?? So does this mean you will be organizing official Dtoid meetups here?
suspiciousssss lol
This place makes me sad.
Still, I wont kill myself just yet.. in hopes to see what this masked anarchist does next.. TRASH CANS INTO WARP PIPES?! OH MY?!
HACK THE PLANET!
The news report said they don't know whether the city plans on painting over it or anything. I'm hoping they don't... I live in a large city right now and always see writing on the sidewalk... such as a kitten shaped like a penis. So if that penis kitten stays but those awesome Mario Kart symbols don't I will be very slightly annoyed.
Oh i misheard.. damn me and my lovable yet inappropriate assuming. :/
I know lower south in northern california someone wrote in the street for people to slow down because of a school zone and by the end of the week the city painted over the homemade signage.
I think it would be a classy act if both the penis kitten and mario kart uppers got to stay.
Dtoid Portland has been having meetups for ages. We've got a pretty active NARP/movie/event group.