POP today launched the brand new microsite for Super Mario Sluggers. And so it seemed like a good moment to reflect on years past, recalling the work we did for its GameCube predecessor, Mario Superstar Baseball.

Interactive baseball cards — the most natural idea ever for a Mario-themed site about baseball. Exploring the site would earn the user new cards, and a virtual counterpart would offer trades to complete your collection. 

On the back of each card were a variety of stats, game videos, and minigames, not the least of which was a fabulous little Flash-based game where Mario hit pitches to knock out multi-colored DK-barrels. Very addicting! 

Site is no longer online; view Flickr Photoset. 

Here’s one from the archives. The Seattle band Mercir (of which I was/am a member) debuted its album As Small As The Center in 2004. This site was designed to accompany its release. The beautiful artwork was hand-crafted by PCP and I was able to utilize the graphical assets from the album – such as the multi-color bands – for use on our site. 

The site lives on, albeit with an updated skin (also from PCP!) for the Windchimes & Landmines EP. 

The Pokémon Company holds regular tournaments and competitive events for players of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. This was their foray into the world of tournament play for video games. We created this site for Pokémon to get kids pumped about the new tournament, get them registered, and track the tourney progress as it was live last summer. Good times all around. And you might notice the site’s background bears a striking resemblance to a poké-ball. 

Site, and Flickr Gallery

Today POP’s site for Ubisoft and Gearbox went live in anticipation of the release of Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway. The site was a pleasure to work on, in particular because we were able to create an immersive historical timeline as a part of the experience.

The timeline was constructed based on the assets available through the official novel. The game’s creators touted its authenticity, which is a big thing in the WWII shooter genre. 

Microsite, and Flickr Gallery

In 2006 POP created this award-winning site for Nintendo’s release of New Super Mario Brothers. The day it launched it got Dugg over a thousand times, which is, of course, more a testament to the Mario brand than our design skills, but then again the fanboys did sing the praises of the site itself in there too!

We were able to work with Nintendo to capture very high-quality video clips from the game, and separate the game environments from the “sprites” of characters. The sprites were then reanimated onto the site stage to give the website itself the feel of a platformer game. Seemed appropriate, considering the Mario Bros. franchise essentially invented the platformer genre. (Don’t quote me on that, hardcore gamers.) 

If you haven’t played the game, you’re missing out. Seriously. 

Microsite, and Flickr Photoset

The pink puff made his Nintendo DS debut to this POP microsite, early in 2007. One of the hallmark franchises for Nintendo, Kirby has had a steady following of kids all over the globe, playin’ his games and watchin’ his toons. 

The site was all about hunting – finding the scattered treasure chests for sweet prizes. And there was a special section where Kirby got to mix-and-match yummy copy abilities with your help - all right there inside his tummy. 

Live site, and Flickr Photoset

I’ve never been an RPG-player, but there’s something about working with these really dramatic, fantasy illustrations, soundtracks, and movies that gets me pumped. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance was a site we did that integrated a pretty sophisticated database into a Flash site, letting users sort like-attributes of game characters, weapons, countries, etc. all set against a RISK-like world map.

One of my favorite things about this site is its ability to look really good at any resolution – from the tiniest sub-800 pixel screen, all the way up to full screen on an Apple Cinema 30 inch display. We incorporated multiple Flash layers and put them all to work centering, left-aligning, stretching etc. in order to stretch the site without losing any graphical quality. 

In 2005 we worked on this microsite for Nintendo, for “The Minish Cap”. I loved this site. In fact I ended up writing some music on it (a little orchestral riff assembled in Reason, remixing the classic Zelda tune) and low and behold, POP won a Webby Award (People’s Choice!) for Best Use of Music or Sound. (Zelda was also nominated for Best Game Site that year).

I think a great game site should be able to hint at that unique kernel from a game that sets it apart. In this case, the kernel was the character Link’s unique tools to get through his quest. The “mole mitts” were used on the site to “dig” for deeper content, while the “gust jar” was able to pull back the corners of the site to find hidden downloads. Meanwhile, the not-at-all-annoying Minish Cap pseudo-trash-talked at you from below to give you hints about how to use the site. 

The site lets Link be the hero and guide you through the content, showcasing the story of the game in its own way – the site requires you to “shrink down” to get at content that’s too small to see at your normal size – just like it works in the game. 

Microsite, and Flickr Photoset

I dunno. Maybe I’ll post other stuff too if I find it really interesting. Or maybe I’ll have something on my mind. Who is to say, really? 

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