Even the lowliest form of cinematic art — the “superhero movie” — can be redeemed by a good, dark origin story. “The Dark Knight” was considered for Best Picture nominations, and “Casino Royale,” which gave Bond fans a look into the hero’s sad past, was considered the best 007 film in years. This week in Austin, the South by Southwest film festival is happening, and in a promotional move, a team of film makers decided to imagine Mario, the protagonist of so many Nintendo games, getting the same treatment. Check out the video after the click.

An “elaborate hoax” may not be the best phrase for it, but there’s certainly something interesting about YouTube celebrity Neil Cicierega’s examination of his childhood Gameboy. Not content to let the mystery hang in the air for too long, there’s already a thrilling conclusion linked from the video. This initial exploration is worth watching to get you thinking! Check out the video after the click.

“Fruit Ninja” is one of the most popular — and addictive — mobile games out there. The concept couldn’t be simpler: fruit flies onto the screen, and the player has to slice it with your katana. Straightforward, but also disconnected from reality. Which is probably why it’s so funny to see that game play acted out in real life, by somebody who is most definitely not a ninja. Check out the video of the real Fruit Ninja after the click.

Angry Birds is dangerous. It’s a simple physics game available for both iPhone and Android, and has become legendary for how addictive and time-consuming it can be. In this video, taken from an Israeli comedy program, peace negotiations between the eponymous Birds and their arch-enemy pigs are taking place. Watch the video after the click.

The Microsoft Kinect, a new camera attachment for their Xbox 360 gaming console, has been wowing critics in the weeks since it’s been introduced. How are the games for it, though? In this video, our intrepid researcher, in the name of science, attempts to play a Kinect-enabled racing game without moving a muscle, and he does pretty well. Is this an example of a new technology that still has some kinks to work out, or just another example of the decreasing difficulty of new games? Watch the video after the click.

A few weeks back, Cee-Lo came out with a catchy song whose title was vulgar enough that it couldn’t be played on American radio. (It wasn’t even close.) But the internet picked up the song and loved it–if you still haven’t seen it, Google will help you find it–and now we get to see great projects like this one: a chiptuned version of the track with re-written lyrics all displayed on an NES intro screen. Fantastic. See the video after the jump.

Even if you’re not familiar with Minecraft — and for the record, it’s a popular and independent low-fi bare-bones sandbox game that’s got rabid fans making an encyclopedia, a forum, and obviously videos — watching this guy accidentally burn his house down is quite entertaining.