Graduate students at the IT University of Copenhagen take over their local bar Scrollbar (great name!) every Friday night, and recently decided to deck the place out with a Mario theme. More than just decorations and music, however, the theme also included a cadre of customized cocktails and shots, all appropriately inspired by the Mushroom Kingdom and its denizens.

Drinks included the Princess Peach (a modified Southern Peach) and the Mario and Luigi Shot (half grenadine, half kiwi Bols). The Yoshi cocktail was popular enough to be added to the bar's standard repertoire, and patrons downing the 1UP Shot were treated to that all-too-familiar sound effect upon completion.

Nintendo fans can check out the site for more details about the event, and recipes for mixing every cocktail and shot (assuming they're of the legal drinking age). Now all they need is some Tetris ice.

[Via DS Fanboy]

We suppose that they're technically ice tetrominoes, but that just sounds so much less hip. Next time you have friends and colleagues over for caviar and Rock Band, keep their cocktails cool with these Tetris-themed ice "cubes," fashioned like those seven shapes made famous by Alexey Pajitnov's classic falling block puzzle game. Of course, you could always make them yourself, but nothing says swanky like flexible silicone trays.

Unfortunately, the designer states on his website that the "Tetrice" tray hasn't been put into production yet, but that he's currently seeking out companies to produce it. We hope he finds one soon, because we're already planning our first fancy soirée: black tie only, and you must bring your own controller.

[Thanks, GreasyGuide]

Okay, so maybe not hate completely.

The eye-catching title of an essay from the latest installment of The Escapist puts the emphasis on the negative aspect of the love-hate relationship many industry vets have with E3, but there's surprisingly a lot of love for the trade show here, even if you don't subscribe to the hardened "I hate E3 because I love it" theory of convention devotion.

While the Joystiq staff hasn't been to quite as many E3s as the founder of the International Game Journalists Association (IGJA), we can certainly empathize with the world-weariness that might accumulate after years of weeklong death- press-marches and working in overcrowded, sensory-overloaded spaces. We just hope our love of the game(s) will stay with us as it has for Mr. Thomas, whether we're watching from home or working the show floor in person in post-apocalyptic L.A. The parties will be sure to be awesome.

See also:

• Joystiq at E3 2006 mega-site
• The Escapist's big E3 issue this week, with references within to Joystiq's Paris Hilton story and some E3 party pics orig. from Joystiq
• The Game of Journalism -- the IGJA's official web site

Those of us heavily invested in massively multiplayer games are part of a community, just as FPS clans have a brotherhood borne out of hours of playing together. Events like BlizzCon provide an opportunity for MMO guilds and players to meet up -- for the unknown to meet the infamous.

E3 may have been over, but that didn't stop NCsoft arranging a player get-together last Saturday. Over 400 players signed up, some travelling from as far as Arizona for this one evening. While NCsoft had rented out a LAN centre for the event, players spent just as much time talking as they did playing, with a sizeable contingent of developers and community managers on hand to help the event along. NCsoft celebrities including Richard Garriott and Matt "Positron" Miller attended the event, showing a pleasing commitment to the player base.