Are you excited? You should be! It’s going to be an amazing weekend full of video games – including New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which has gotten rave reviews! Hopefully everyone reading this will be able to stop by in person, but if that’s not possible, and if you’re reading this late tonight, on Saturday November 14th, or Sunday November 15th, click on over to nicksmarathon.com, watch us play, and send us a message!

And if we’re playing an online game and you can, feel fry to join in!

Or you can just simply play “What video game T-shirt is Al wearing now?” See, when I was getting my clothes ready for this weekend, I discovered a startling fact: I own an insane amount of video-game shirts. Probably about the same amount – or maybe even slightly more – than the number of Mets shirts in my closet.

This plethora of shirts can be broken down into four main categories.

Old School Shirts:

Clint got me this shirt. The text says “Know Your Roots,” and that’s actually an important life lesson.

A fact of my life, simply stated.

The original Game Boy. Nothing more, nothing less.

Promotional Shirts:

These are shirts I got from a friend at VH1, who got a lot of free video-game stuff, and was kind enough to hand off some goodies to me from time to time. This particular shirt was a reference to Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (as you can see from the back of the shirt) for GameCube, a game that shipped with Bongo drum controllers. Get the subtle double entendre?

Another Donkey Kong shirt, this one is a long sleeve shirt I wear to bed sometimes in the winter – in fact I wore it a lot at Nick’s Marathon 2008. I love it because its comfy, it’s warm, and it has a freaking Donkey Kong tie on it! It was for the GBA release of Donkey Kong Country 2. (We will NOT be playing the SNES version of DKC2 this weekend, this much I promise.)

A really large yet comfy looking shirt that celebrated the release of the Nintendo DS in 2004. I’ve never actually worn this shirt, but I have refused to throw it away.

Launch Shirts:

Got this one when Mehler and I camped out for the Wii. In Times Square. For thirty plus hours. (Well, for me anyway. Mehler, not so much…) In the cold. But it was worth it – I was 7th in line to get a Wii, and I got this shirt!

Got this one when James and I went to the midnight launch for Super Mario Galaxy. Good times.

Got this shirt for pre-ordering Wii Fit at Nintendo World. That’s Shigeru Miyamoto’s “signature” on the front, and his face on the back. (If you don’t know who that is, congratulations, you’re not a nerd!)

Also from a Nintendo World launch, this time for Mario Kart Wii (obviously.) I didn’t actually attend this launch, but James did, and he picked me up a shirt. That’s what friends are for!

Miscellaneous Shirts:

Mario and Luigi go racing with their Wii Wheels.

I love how this video-game controller is *just* different enough from the Wii-mote to avoid a lawsuit. I wore this around the pool in Jamaica, and the native Jamaicans didn’t seem to get the joke.

And of course, the shirt from last year’s Nick’s Marathon. If you didn’t get one last year, you can still get one (for a donation to our charity) by clicking here.

So which shirts will I wear this weekend? You’ll have to come by or watch us online to find out. And who knows – maybe there will even be a brand new shirt from the New Super Mario Bros. launch event happening this Saturday at – where else – Nintendo World!