This might not have been enough to warrant its own post, but it had to be shared. This here’s a photo by Flickr user revengingangel. Yeah, that’s a random pipe on a random sidewalk, and one that’s pretty hard to notice if you’re just casually walking by.

I guess Mario really does still work in the plumbing industry, despite having earned millions in blockbuster games, movies, and television shows, appearing in the Olympics among other sporting events, teaching, traveling into space, riding dinosaurs, what have you.

The Tanooki
Special podcast tonight - Send in your mailbag questions!
The Tanooki’s Black Wednesday Podcast/Videocast
The Tanooki Show #4- November 26, 2008

News & Stuffs
Nintendo of Europe changes logo…just now.
Eidos sorry for game-breaking Tomb Raider glitch
Koffing? Strap on that Pokemon mask!
Aonuma to keep working on Zelda series
Korea and Taiwan to get Fit in December
Professor Layton and the silver screen
428 = 40: Famitsu gives Sega’s new Wii game a perfect score
Wii surpasses 7 million sales mark in Japan

How are your writing skills? If you think you’ve got a college-level writing ability or better, a sense of wit and humor, experience with Photoshop, and basic HTML skills, we’re looking to bolster our Nintendo team reporting staff. We’re getting to the time of year when Matt and I are practically unavailable for the month, and the rest of our crew is stretched this with other work obligations.

We’re primarily concerned with reporter positions at the moment to cover the stories missed by my (and others’) absence, but once things get back to normal around here, we’ll have a number of growth opportunities for you - especially since we’ll have a bigger staff and even bigger aspirations for the site. ;)

Send application materials to apply@thetanooki.com, and fill out the form here. If you’ve sent us an application at anytime in the past, feel free to remind us about it (if you applied more recently) or resending your materials entirely (if you applied a long time ago) by shooting an email to the above address. Thanks!

General News
Mega Man designed to be challenging
Sonic Unleashed trailer with endless possibility
Possible Leak: Guitar Hero World Tour setlist
Could E3 2009 be open to the public?
Activision and Red Octane say leaked ‘World Tour’ list a fake
Rock Band 2 trailer from E3 2008

Wii/DS News & Media
Iwata confirms gyroscopes in Wii MotionPlus
New Fatal Frame 4 trailer creeps into view
Judge orders ban on US sales of Classic Controller
Sonic and the medieval scans from Camelot
Reggie would love an original GTA for Wii
Wii storage space is finally becoming a “mainstream problem”
Nintendo Power details Sonic and the Black Knight
Donkey Kong 3 on the Japanese VC this week
New Fire Emblem DS character art
“Wiimote” nickname used at expense of Fobis
Retailer event confirms colored wrist straps!
Japan gets Digital Photo Channel for Wii
Harvest Moon trailer takes us to our own Island of Happiness
Shaymin event giveaway now going on in Japan
Sonic and the Black Knight direct cover scan
Fire Emblem: New DS trailer and the commercial for Japan
Nintendo holding “core” games until they’re ready to be shown
Digital Photo Channel coming to America, Europe
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility E3 trailer
Igarashi eyeing WiiWare 2D Castlevania platformer?
Bonus Content feature added to Japanese Wii Shop Channel

Arts & Culture
If you live for Nintendo? Why not die for Nintendo?
Pokemon Ranch: Gotta fold ‘em all!
Mega Man 9 “box art” coming soon as t-shirts
Do you smell what the puffball is cooking?
Ace Papercraft: Trucy Wright
Duck Hunt plaque: Who’s laughing now?
This is but one of the stained glass pieces of which the people speak

It was a “blue” day today. By that, I mean it was Sonic’s spotlight from the get-go. A new Wii game called Sonic and the Black Knight, my impressions from Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, and hopefully a new HD of trailer of Sonic Unleashed once Matt renders our video intro in HD.

You can catch up on the news below. I’m still sorting through E3 assets and don’t have time to single-handedly keep a constant eye on the daily news for the next few days, so feel free to submit news tips to the “News Submit” link to the right and help me out.

The Tanooki
Sonic Chronicles impressions

General News
NPD Group: June sales and figures
Wii install base surpasses Xbox 360 in the US
Official Mega Man 9 artwork added

Wii/DS News & Media
Three dozen Sonic Chronicles screens
New Wii-exclusive Sonic unleashed for the Wii
GoDaddy confirms Sonic’s trip to Camelot
SEGA forum admin confirms Sonic’s trip to Camelot
Black Knight confirms: Sonic is the new Thomas Ian Nicholas
Logo, screens, and fact sheet from Disney’s Bolt
Capcom announces Dead Rising for the Wii
Shaky off-screen trailer for Pokemon Platinum
Piracy exploit found in Wii… and being fixed
More Pirates on the Wii today
Gley Lancer and Super Fantasy Zone on Virtual Console
Tomb Raider Underworld screens and box art
Available this week at retail: July 21, 2008

Art & Culture
Another example of “paper” Mario

Yeah, that’s Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune and Capcom president Kenzo Tsujimoto in between us. Good times at E3, people. Good times.

Lots of material to cover from today, some of which is found below, most of which still needs to be uploaded… I’ve got several press kits full of press releases, trailers, and screenshots I really want to share with you all, unfortunately I don’t have an easy way of getting them all up. It’s a combination of time issues, tech issues, and lack of hardware. Regardless, I hope everything we’ve got up for you so far is to your liking!

We’ll be out at the convention center again tomorrow, bringing live feed from one more press conference (Konami’s at 2:30pm PDT) and then a little bit from the show floor. See you all then.

General News
Speakers for Nintendo’s Keynote Revealed
Nintendo Press Conference - Live Feed!
Technical Difficulties
E3 Live Transcript
Live broadcast schedule for July 15
Rock Band 2 Hands On
Ubisoft Press Conference - Live Blog
Capcom Press Conference - Live Blog
Activision Press Conference - (Not so) Live Blog

Wii/DS News & Media
Slimmer, cheaper DS model on the way?
Animal Crossing confirmed! Coming late 2008
Wii Sports: Resort follows in the original’s footsteps
WiiSpeak bringing voice chat to Wii
Update! Animal Crossing: City Folk screens
Wario Land: Shake It! New details and screens
Shots from the upcoming Wii Sports Resort
Samba de Amigo fact sheet
Grand Theft Auto is confirmed for the Nintendo DS
Wii Music Hands-On report
More DS Guitar Hero on the way?

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go. I’m leavin’ on a jet plane.

Actually, that’s a lie. I’m boarding a plane to Los Angeles in just over 30 hours, and I haven’t packed a single thing. I mean, I have everything I need. It’s just not all together in one collection yet. You know - a suitcase.

Yeah, I know. It looks like I procrastinate. Truth is, I’ve been pretty busy. With what? Next post!

General News
Rock Band 2 gameplay trailer
‘Mega Manathon’ raises money for Child’s Play
Media Crate: Japanese sales figures for June 30 - July 6

Wii/DS News & Media
This Chrono Trigger trailer is same amount of awesome, but better understanding
Two more for the PAL Virtual Console
Pokemon goes Platinum on September 13th
Rumor: America is getting Metallic Silver DS
Rumor: Sonic is not so ‘unleashed’ on the Wii
Wii: Sonic Unleashed may have nine levels after all

Arts & Culture
Here’s one way to stick your face in a cake
Dragonforce opens concert with Donkey Kong
Tanguy Ukulele Orchestra covers Mega Man 9

This is what our live, streaming coverage of E3 looks like. Why? Because we’re not there yet. ;)

Everything’s been tested, all systems are go, and we should be finalizing our schedules for the summit by tomorrow. Of course, you can already feel the atmosphere - E3’s pretty much begun. We’ve gotten Mega Man 9, Castlevania Judgement, Rock Band 2, and now Chrono Trigger. What’s left?

General News
Behold the Rock Band 2 Fender Strat

Wii/DS News & Media
Chrono Trigger DS? Not probable, but also not impossible!
Chrono Trigger announcement confirmed inevitable
Konami makes Castlevania Judgement official
Atlus bringing over two NIS games in one day
It’s official! Chrono Trigger is headed to the DS, and sooner than you think
Wield your lightaber on the DS with Star Wars styli
DS Media downloads become a reality in Japan
Final Fantasy IV: Then and Now
Snap! Picture of Fatal Frame IV’s box art
Mushroom Men to feature original music by Les Claypool
Sakurai says he would consider a Brawl sequel

Arts & Culture
The Incredible Wii auctioned for JDRF
Gee, Falco Lombardi papercraft. How swell.

I didn’t see this image for the first time until today. I’m not an Obama supporter, but let’s not kid ourselves: this is pretty awesome.

General News
Nintendo Australia hosting an Art exhibition and contest

Wii/DS News & Media
See some spectacular scans showing Shake It!
Wii left out of Rock Band 2 announcement
Terry, Mai, & co. kicking it up on the VC
Magnetica Twist attracted to WiiWare this week
Available this week at retail: June 30, 2008
Dragon Quest V trailer goes back to the future
Rock Band 2 comes to the Wii!
Cook in 3-D with Cooking Mama World Kitchen for Wii
Thracia 776 coming to Japanese VC in July
Dr. Mario gets a new leaderboard
Direct feed Arc Rise Fantasia screens are out!
Mega Man 9 is a WiiWare exclusive… for now

Arts & Culture
Metal Gear Solid 4 comes to the Wii?
Remember R.O.B.? He’s back… in LEGO form.

E3’s coming up, and that means rumors, speculation, and vivid imaginations. I came across this artist concept on Flickr. Obviously it’s not much of a change aside from a bigger screen, a higher resolution, and… oh yeah, it’s paper thin.

I don’t know if I’d ever want a handheld that thin. First off, it’d snap in half in your pocket. Second, I’d kinda like to feel as if I’m actually holding something when playing a game. Third… where does the stylus go?

Photo via Flickr

General News
Media Crate: Japanese sales figures for June 16 - 22
SEGA sponsors first all-Sonic convention
Harmonix temporarily drops receipt restriction on warranty

Wii/DS News & Media
Japanese students using DS in English classrooms
Nintendo Power hinting at yet another game
‘Goo’ finding its way into European stores
Samba de Amigo to include “Love Love Mode”
Final Fantasy: My Life as a microtransaction addict
Arc Rise’s battle system detailed
From Donkey Kong to Wii Fit: Miyamoto speaks!
Smash Bros. site updates with Snapshots Galore #3
Nintendo offers Giratina DS Lites to Daisuki Club
Best Buy putting some Wii games on clearance
We maybe Sambaing with maracas after all
Nintendo denied appeal of $21m lost lawsuit
Nintendo of Europe can fix Brawl disc errors, too!
New Fire Emblem DS scans from Famitsu

Arts & Culture
8-bit loves for your lobes
The Wind Waker’s Aryll, now in paper form
Zelda fan art deviates from realism