When I began to build and design The Bowser Shrine in late 2006 (after much initial envisioning, contemplation, and planning), it was during an opportunistic time for a web site's development. I was in the middle of a job transition due to layoff that kept me with nearly unlimited free time that lasted a good 3-4 months. It was during that time that I created about 90% of the current content I have on The Bowser Shrine. I thought for sure that I would be able to complete everything (and then some) during that time, but I had underestimated the amount of time it takes to make a website of the scale I was imagining.

Then, around June of 2007, I started working full time again for Dell computers. I was finding it much more difficult to keep updates and development going like I used to, due largely in part to my drastically reduced free time (at least compared to what I was used to!). I was also finding it more difficult to be motivated to do more work on the computer after already spending 40+ hours a week doing so already at my job. Sure enough, these factors did seem to affect the number of updates I could pump out after that, as I could only basically spend weekends and evenings working on the site, if I were up to it. I also still wanted to spend time playing the ever so fun and addicting Mario games that have had me hooked ever since I was old enough to remember, and of course other stuff to unwind as well.

Those that may have been following updates on The Bowser Shrine for quite some time may have noticed that I'm typically quite business-like when it comes to my updates. Just the facts and straight-to-the-point for what the update is about, and rarely do I post anything too personal or anything. I feel this is the way it should be. I never like making excuses, and only do if I feel I have to. Looking over the past 5 months and only seeing 5 updates, and looking over the past year, and seeing no new sections added, I feel I must give at least some explanation.

This year so far has started off as quite the challenge. At the end of January, Dell had announced that they would be closing our entire technical support centre within weeks, and I was off job-hunting once again. As much as I would have liked to have taken some long time off as I did with my last layoff to go-hard and finish the site, it just wouldn't have been reasonable competiting with so many others that had been affected by the cuts as well. In the end, I landed up getting a really good job as a computer systems administrator for a health insurance company, so in a way it was a blessing in disguise. This transition period has been why there were only 3 updates to this point in time for this year so far. There are several other reasons as well, but I will not go into them at this time.

Let me strongly stress that I very serious about this site and it is very important to me. I am by no means even close to finished completion yet, and even when I do complete it, it will be continually updated. I will always continue having this site running and active as long as I am alive and well. As for updates progression, things are looking up, and I should be able to have more update frequency as I become more and more settled with my new job, and perhaps develop some better time management. Believe me, the longer I go between updates and having outstanding fan requests still not posted yet, the more and more the guilt builds in my conscience. I'll at least try to make the wait worthwhile and make it up to you all, but I don't want to make any false promises. For realistic expectations, I would probably say one update a month would be worst-case scenario, and I could probably get about 2-3 in most cases. I really do thank you all for your continuing support and patience with me.

Whew, now that I've gotten that little bit out of the way, lets turn to something a bit more pleasant shall we?

Update:

Mario Kart Wii launched this past week, which adds another must-have title for every Nintendo die-hard's collection. It was only a month and a half ago that Wii's flagship title Super Smash Brothers Brawl launched, and here we are with another smash hit that will continue to keep us addicted. Over this past week I've swept every Mario Kart Wii gallery I know about gathering all screenshots that have a clear picture of Bowser in them. There were a few that I did not include where Bowser was much too small in the background to really be seen clearly or that didn't involve enough of him in the overall shot. Regardless, I've gathered nearly 20 new official Mario Kart Wii screenshots involving Bowser for my ever-growing gallery. I must say, the entrance to Bowser's Castle in this game is AWESOME! It is a stone statue of Bowser's face, and you actually drive into his open mouth, lol. I've actually just bought the game home myself, so it may be quite possible you won't see me until next month or something, hehe.

After nearly a year, The Official Super Smash Brothers Brawl Website has finally ended its weekdaily updates as of April 14th. This site served as a great breaking-news-like resource for all the little tidbits of new information about the game that would be released on each weekday prior to its launch. Whether it was the unbearable anticipation for new playable characters or stages, or just laughing at the great snapshots taken and the captions that went with them, the Smash Bros. Dojo was always entertaining. Now, it serves as a great database of the features of this great game, that can be referred to at any time. This site sure had a lot of great Bowser screenshots that would rack up over the months, swiped by yours truly and posted here at The Bowser Shrine for your viewing pleasure! Now it's up to us to capture Bowser in those screen captures, and thankfully that has been made a lot easier by integrating Melee's "Camera Mode" features into the pause menu. So take some great snapshots guys, or else you'll leave me no choice but to go snap-happy (actually it probably wouldn't make a difference because I'd still do it anyway!)

KoopeEX submitted some wicked screencaptures of Bowser's Badass Brawl Trophy from 3 different angles. I don't think that is the trophy's official name, despite my capitalization of each word to imply it so. However, I think that would be quite the fitting name, wouldn't you agree? I love them KoopeEX, thank you for your submission!

The Official Super Smash Brothers Brawl Website had another posting this month of user-submitted fan screenshots from both America and Japan this time. I only found a few involving Bowser from both galleries, and I've included them under the official Bowser screenies again, just like I did with the last ones.

Look for another update to hopefully come quite soon, if I can manage to tear my Bowser-like grip from that Wii steering wheel!

Summary:

7 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Super Smash Bros. Brawl
19 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario Kart Wii
1 render added to the Bowser Renders section
3 screenshots added to the Bowser Fan Screenshots section

As predicted, Super Smash Brothers Brawl has been dominating nearly all of my free time since it's release on March 9th, 2008. The game is so much fun and so addicting making it impossibly hard to put down! I play Bowser and Pokemon Trainer as my main characters, mostly because Bowser and Charizard are my two most favourite Nintendo characters (actually just favourite characters period!). I'm really having a lot of enjoyment with this game, and might even go so far to say that it's even funner than Melee! I'm just gunna haveta blame Brawl for me hardly getting anything done this month!

As I stated in my last update, Super Smash Bros. Melee was my undisputed favourite game of all time. This masterpiece was so enjoyable and competitive and never got boring even years later. Speaking of competitive, another one of the reasons I enjoyed Melee so much was competing as a semi-professional "Smasher", competiting in Smash Brothers tournaments near and far (I would say semi-professional because I wasn't paid to do it). Those familiar with the professional smash community such as SmashBoards may have been curious about my alias and the way it is spelled, at least when it comes to professional Bowser players. I am indeed the pro Bowser Smasher "MagnuM", dedicatedly representing the coolest character of all time. I have had the privalege of playing the best Bowser players in the world such as Gimpyfish, CAOTIC, Arash, Captain Jack, Gojira, and Ken. If anyone is interested in checking out a few videos from a bit farther back in my Melee Bowser Career, just do a YouTube search for magnum bowser. I'll also post my signature banner I use at SmashBoards at the bottom of this page.

Unfortunately, Bowser was severely disadvantaged in Melee, something I disappointingly found out quite early. He was plagued with a lot of lag, awfully short range, weak moves compared to how powerful he is, was not as hard to KO as he should have been... and the list goes on. However, the ones faithful to Bowser were not deterred by these shortcomings, and strived to take Bowser to his limit, perhaps even becoming a tournament capable character. Techniques like Fortresshogging were introduced to try to give Bowser a competitive edge. Despite the efforts, the best Bowser has been considered on the Melee "Tier List" by general consensus of the best and most experienced Smashers was about the middle of the Low Tier. This was extremely frustrating to me because I had hoped that Smash Brothers would be a game in which you could win a tournament with your favourite character, and there wouldn't be advantaged characters and disadvantaged characters (i.e. tiers). I was practically praying Bowser would be better in Brawl

After a long 6 years of struggling with an under-privaleged Bowser in Melee, the Wii's most highly anticipated flagship title finally launches, along with an updated Bowser. After almost a month of hard play with the game, and especially with Bowser, it still seems too early to tell anything for certain. It is hard to say whether Bowser has gotten better, worse, or has remained about the same. One thing I noticed quite early is that his ground game seemed a lot better than his aerial game, which was pretty much a complete reverse in Melee. Bowser is definitely harder to KO on the sides, but he still seems to be easily KO'd off the top of the stage. Bowser's B-moves seem pretty beefed up, and his side-B snatching body slam is great for catching your opponent off guard (and even pulling a suicide KO if you can pull it off). Still though, to me the big turtle still seems pretty slow and laggy, is way too easy to juggle because of his size, and should deliver more power to his punch. It is hard to say how he'll land up on the stack, although most of the characters, amazingly enough, all seem to be pretty equal in skill and balance.

Wow I spent nearly an entire update just blabbing about Brawl! I'm sure I'll be addicted for quite a while, however my lack of progress and updates on The Bowser Shrine was definitely weighing on my conscience, as it should and constantly is. If anyone wants to play me online in Brawl using Nintendo WiFi, just e-mail me so we can coordinate friend codes.

Today's small update is just uploading the most recent Bowser screenshots that have been posted recently for Smash Brawl and Mario Kart Wii:

On the Friday before Brawl launched in North America, the The Official Super Smash Brothers Brawl Website posted a large collection of user-submitted fan screenshots. Most of them are quite funny and some of them are pretty cool. It definitely shows off Brawl's robust screenshot feature, which was quite inconvenient to do in Melee with the whole "Camera Mode". Since I'm not sure whether these screenshots would be considered "Fan Screenshots" or not since they were posted on an official site, I'll post them under the official Bowser screenies, at least for the time being.

The latest screenshots of Bowser in Mario Kart Wii have him showing off his in-game motorcycle. It is pretty hard not to laugh seeing Bowser burning it on a bike and going off jumps... just wait until he pulls a wheelie!

Summary:

9 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Super Smash Bros. Brawl
3 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario Kart Wii

Happy Leap Day everybody! I'm sure anybody that was born on a leap day is very lucky, as they would probably age 4 times slower than the rest of us!

It appears that I will soon be reaching 50,000 page views at The Bowser Shrine very shortly. This is quite a milestone and I want to thank each and every one of you for checking out my website, and especially to the repeat visitors who frequently return checking for updates that Mr. Procrastinator here doesn't provide often enough.

It's hard to believe, and it has felt like so long, but Wii's flagship title Super Smash Bros. Brawl is just a little over a week away from release in North America. Super Smash Bros. Melee to date is my undisputed most favourite game of all-time. No game could ever capture my interest and keep me addicted for so long as that game did. 6 years later, the game is still not boring, and challenging friends for top smasher just never gets old. Hopefully Brawl can at least meet, and perhaps surpass the high expectations everybody has for it. Just taking the addition of online play alone, I don't think it will have much difficulty doing this.

Today's update was another quick one of catching up with some Bowser media:

Mario Kart Wii will be the next Mario game after Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and launches on April 27, 2008 in North America. Nintendo has had a pretty impressive collection of first-party Wii titles so far, especially for their Mario franchise. I have posted several screenshots of Bowser racing in-game in the Bowser Screenshots section. Bowser's Mario Kart Wii render has him driving a green "Hot-Rod"-like car with flames on it. He is preparing to chuck a blue shell while he has a squinting glare in his eyes. It looks really cool, and it's high resolution so all Bowser's delightful details can be seen.

Summary:

2 renders added to the Bowser Renders section
1 wallpaper added to the Bowser Wallpapers section
2 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Super Mario All-Stars
1 screenshot added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario Party 2
1 screenshot added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario Party 5
8 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
1 screenshot added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario Party DS
10 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Super Smash Bros. Brawl
7 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario Kart Wii

Whoa, it has been far too long since I posted an update here at The Bowser Shrine! I apologize for the delay, this has been another very busy month for me. I'll try to remember to do more smaller updates rather than fewer large updates, since it makes the site look more active.

I got Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Super Mario Galaxy over the holidays, and am enjoying both games thoroughly. I still haven't beat Super Mario Galaxy yet so I'm still trying to avoid all of the spoilers!

And speaking of spoilers...

Super Smash Brothers Brawl launched in Japan today, much to the envy of all other Nintendo gamers still waiting for the release in other regions. With the official release of the game, the rumours and speculation comes to an end. All of the unlockable characters, stages and secrets finally revealed to the many internets! Actually, this M3G4T0N update occured a few days ago, when some lucky Japanese gamers were able to get their hands on some early copies of the game somehow, and upload screenshots and videos of their progress through the game as they unlocked everything. By now, the final roster of Smash Brothers Brawl as well as all of the stages are now known. When it comes to the playable characters, I have a few gripes about some that made the cut in the final roster, and some well-deserving characters, and specifically villains, that didn't, but it is still a pretty strong cast in my opinion. When it comes to the stages, I can't help but express my extreme disappointment and frustration with the exclusion of a stage I, and I'm sure many others, deemed a necessity. I guess even talking about something that does not happen still classifies as a spoiler, so if you still want to remain unpleasantly surprised, you are going to have to somehow scan over my outburst in the paragraph below.

HOW COULD THE DEVELOPERS, FOR A SECOND STRAIGHT TIME, REFUSE TO GIVE BOWSER A STAGE!? It is simply unfathomable! Bowser's Castle has been a stage or a level in pretty much every Mario platformer, spinoff, and sports game there has ever been made! I cannot understand why they would not make such a universally recognizable stage as Bowser's Castle! Everybody remembers their first encounter with Bowser in Super Mario Bros. on the lava bridge. Or what about Bowser's doomship in Super Mario Brothers 3? There have been so many interesting versions of Bowser's Castle presented in so many Mario games, the developers could have chose any one of them. For a game which prides itself on representing all the nostalgia from Nintendo's past, this was a colossal oversight in my view. I thought for sure there would be a very dynamic Bowser's Castle stage very similar to a lot of the Metriod stages that were made in the past for Smash Brothers. Now the only next best thing we can hope for is a well-made fan creation in the level editor. Tell me why it is necessary to have 3 Kirby stages, 3 Donkey Kong Stages, 3 Metriod stages, etc, and not have a single stage for Mario's prime nemesis. I will never understand why this must-have stage was forgotten about again, it is absolutely unbelievable.

As for judging how competitive the new Brawl Bowser is, it still seems too early to tell. There are several videos that have been posted of Bowser in action, mostly on YouTube. My good friend Gimpyfish62 was actually lucky enough to play Brawl early, and he posted The Best Brawl Match Ever Recorded in which he spammed the "Bowsercide". This is certainly a welcoming addition to Bowser's arsenal, a good way to lay the smack down on your opponent, and plus it looks so hilarious!

I can really get carried away when talking about Smash Brothers, but there is an update to present too:

I answered two fantastic thought-provoking questions in the Mailbag, both of which generating quite lengthy responses! The first asked about the origin of Bowser's kids, and where they may have come from, as well as if Peach had anything to do with their existance. I'm sure this has been a question you all have asked at some point or another, and we still don't know for sure. That uncertainty leads to all of the rumours and ideas that have been brought forth. The second question I'm sure you all have also asked yourself. Can Bowser take his spikey backshell off? We have never seen Bowser in a Mario game without his shell, but we have seen a few Koopas lose their home in the past (such as in Super Mario World). What would Bowser look like without his shell? Read my takes on these two questions and see if you agree with my predictions, and keep those great questions coming!

I also caught up on all of the Bowser screenshots that have been released for Brawl up to this point, but I should forewarn that I have posted some unofficial screenshots of Bowser seen in the Subspace Emissary. To me, the screenshots don't seem to spoil too much, but if you'd rather not see them just yet, stick with the official media on The Official Super Smash Brothers Brawl Website.

Lastly, Benjamin Dickens made some neat wallpapers which have been posted under the "Unofficial Wallpapers" section of Bowser Wallpaper. They are designed for widescreen monitors and they look pretty sharp! Thank you for your submissions Benjamin!

Summary:

14 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Super Smash Bros. Brawl
2 wallpapers added to the Bowser Wallpapers section
2 mailbag entries added to the Mailbag section

It is exactly one year to the day that The Bowser Shrine was first launched to the world wide web! Although its initial release was quite preliminary, with only the main website design up as well as some contact information, I wanted to unveil my project early so that all the Bowser-obsessed fans could have something to look forward to. I've always known that Bowser deserved a large, dedicated fansite honouring his greatness, and after seeing such few Bowser websites over the years, I felt it was time someone payed Bowser the respect he deserves. It is my hope that my website, The Bowser Shrine, can live up to these hefty expectations, and give the Koopa King his full honours. I want it to be overwhelming with Bowser content and media and truly be every fan's number one stop for anything relating to Bowser and/or the Koopa species!

I have been collecting Bowser media ever since I was old enough to figure out how to, and I felt I just had to share all of this passion by providing all of my content and information that I possessed. I had greatly underestimated the amount of time it would take to properly share all this information and create everything. I had originally planned to launch The Bowser Shrine when it was 100% complete, but to do so would have meant even more and more waiting by the Bowser faithful. I decided last year that I would launch what I had at the time and build everything up slowly to completion. Over the past year, I have created most of the informational Bowser content and uploaded much of the official artwork and screenshots that I have collected, but I'm still not even close to finished this project. By my rough estimation, I would say I'm not even half done what I had originally planned to do. It has been frustrating to see such slow progress, and I thought I would certainly at least have all the grey links completed by now. I still have thousands of Bowser fanart pictures to share as well as sprites, music, merchandize, and I definitely need to get a forum going too. You haven't seen anything yet!

The amount of dedication and time that is needed to build and maintain such large fan-sites is probably one of the reasons such few exist. Even when a site is complete, having frequent updates with new media and information is usually rare. I want to try to avoid that, so perhaps slowly building and building on my website may turn out to be a good thing. I find it incredible that I have racked up over 33,000 hits on my fansite just in the first year alone! I bet a lot of it is from eager Bowser fans who have already added The Bowser Shrine to their bookmarks, and are checking frequently for updates; in which I seemingly can only manage to provide about twice or thrice a month. I really want to thank everybody for being patient with me. I guess patience is a requirement when you're a Bowser fan. *Walks over to NOA headquarters banging on the doors* "Where's Bowser's game!? Are you working on it right now!?"

Today's update is mostly a catch-up on media again:

Joey Anderson sent in a screenshot of Talon's Bowser brooch from Ocarina of Time, as well as the Bowser portrait painting that could be seen looking out of the window of the castle room in which you meet Zelda. This was an interesting cameo Bowser made in Ocarina of Time, and I'm glad Joey took these screenshots and sent them in to serve as a good flashback.

DarkCream sent in a painting of Bowser with King Boo that I have never seen before. I'm guessing it may have been from Luigi's Mansion, which I have not played. DarkCream also found a great screenshot of Bowser spinning the heavy hammer from the Hammer Throw competition in the opening FMV for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic games. I was quite impressed with this find and added DarkCream to the Fan Contributions section. Thanks for the submissions DarkCream!

I still have two mailbag submissions and three fanfics to get to. I will most likely look at these on the next update, which realistically will probably happen in the new year with all the fun things that the month of December brings. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Summary:

6 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
8 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Super Smash Bros. Brawl
3 screenshots added to the Bowser Fan Screenshots section
1 contributor added to the Fan Contributions section
1 link added to the Links section

Today I updated a bunch of Bowser media I had been collecting over the past couple weeks:

Just when you thought you've seen the biggest and highest resolution Bowser render here yet, I have found the largest by far! This one is of Bowser's character render art for Super Mario Galaxy, and it's a whopping 3500 X 3500! Looking at the "Actual Size" in your image viewer, Bowser pretty much looks life-size! I bet if you were to print it out on a very large piece of poster paper, you could have a life-sized poster of Bowser for your room! I love Bowser's pose in this render as well; such style and attitude! I don't know why it is always at the blogging sites or some other random site that some people always find these huge-resolution Nintendo character artworks. The author at Almost Monumental said that Nintendo released it, but I'm not sure where! Check out this monster-sized Bowser Galaxy render

Also, I got a promotional e-mail from Nintendo announcing the release of Mario Party DS, and in the e-mail was an awesome animated GIF of a spinning Bowser assuming a crouching pose at the end. I thought it definitely looked wicked, and I'm hunting for a high resolution picture of this Mario Party DS render. If anyone knows where it can be found, please let me know, because this render can definitely be considered really high up on the Wanted list!

I also managed to come across an awesome Super Mario Galaxy wallpaper featuring a really tough crossarmed Bowser, isn't he great?

Any other media additions, just look for the blue borders.

Summary:

6 renders added to the Bowser Renders section
21 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
10 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Super Mario Galaxy
2 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario Party DS
3 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Super Smash Bros. Brawl
2 wallpapers added to the Bowser Wallpapers section
2 links added to the Links section

I do occassionally, between posted updates, make small modifications to some sections of The Bowser Shrine, that most people probably won't notice. Most often it is just small design tweaks and what not that I don't really feel necessary to make a posted update to tell everybody about. Other times, I work for a few hours one day on an update on my local webserver, and then finish the rest up another day and then upload it. So while there may be large gaps sometimes between posted updates, usually there are small changes made or work done inbetween.

With today's submission of the following fan submissions, I have only 2 or 3 fairly lengthy fan fictions to review and upload. After that, I should be up to date with all the e-mails that have been sent to me for a while. Lengthy fanfics are by no means a disadvantage, it just simply means I will need a larger portion of time to spend reviewing it for uploading. So please don't be discouraged if your fan fiction is long, it doesn't mean it is any less great!

And now, the update:

Each section now has a "Last Updated" notification explaining when that section was last updated or modified. This is both a good reminder for myself, as well as everyone else, how recent the information or media on that page is. It will also be a very good way for anyone to remind me when I need to be on my toes for some sections in which there is new content to be added. A small change yes, but it serves as a great reminder.

I have recoded my Links page so that it is much more readible and everything is much more aligned. I've also added one link to a promising new Mario universe fan site named "The Castle of the Hybrid Goomba". The content on the site is coming for most of the sections, but web development takes a lot of time.

Two great questions for the Mailbag have been answered. I am loving your guy's unique and varied questions, keep them coming! One question concerned Bowser's minions or accomplices (like Kammy Koopa), and where they might be when they are no longer seen. The other question was a multi-question, the first asking about the name similarities between King Koopa (cartoon) and King Bowser Koopa (videogames). The other asked about who Morton Koopa Jr. is named after. These latest entries brings my grand total to 6, but I'm sure there will be tons more.

Brittany Webb did some great screen captures of Bowser appearing in some Japanese Super Mario Bros. cartoons as well as the American commercial for Super Mario All-Stars that can be seen at Retro Junk. These captures are fantastic Brittany, thank you very much!

Now I'm REALLY going to have to restructure some sections of The Bowser Shrine due to how large they have gotten, most notibly, the screenshots sections, and the fan fiction section, and others. When I first created them, I didn't really give enough foresight to how everything was going to be organized when it got too large to all fit on one page. I need a much better directory structure in a lot of sections to 1. reduce the amount of scrolling that is needed to see just certain parts in that section, and 2. to reduce unnecessary bandwidth sucked up by just throwing everything onto one page. My next upcoming update will focus on the reconstruction of these sections, before moving on to completing other sections I plan to do on TBS (see greyed out links). I also have a few more fan fictions to review and upload, as well as tons of new Bowser media to update; a lot of which coming from the Brawl Dojo!! and other sources.

Summary:

1 link added to the Links section
22 screenshots added to the Bowser Fan Screenshots section
2 mailbag entries added to the Mailbag section

I've finally found a good portion of free time in one day to dedicate to focusing on reviewing and uploading all of the older fan submissions I have received over the past few months. Having so many extracurricular demands and interests to pay attention to can become quite distracting, and makes updates harder to keep up with due to less free time. This is agonizing to me because I know that people want to see progress on the site, as I also want to see it completed as soon as possible. The grayed out links on the left (which have been gray for far too long) are just a small number of the sections I plan to do in the near future. I still have so many aspirations for The Bowser Shrine, you haven't seen anything yet. As for an idea, I have 1,500 fan art pictures I've collected over the years of Bowser Koopa alone, most found on the fantastic art site DeviantArt. I guess I've now answered my own question as to why there isn't very many large fansites anymore...

Everything you see on The Bowser Shrine is completely hand-coded by myself, which is the way I prefer to do it. However, this means it takes longer to process submissions, since they must be customized to meet the site template. Over time I will be able to become more efficient at this. I know I'm getting many visitors each day, most of which being repeat visitors looking for updates. I'm sorry I have taken so long lately to act on some of your guy's submissions, I just wanted to really take the time to properly go through it all. Thank you for being patient, and thank you for your continued interest in The Bowser Shrine! I will certainly try to keep updates much more consistent and frequent, rather than going long stretches with infrequent large updates.

Whew, glad I have gotten that out of the way! Now without ANY further delay (for once), may I present... THE UPDATE *gasp!*

The "TBS Fan Contributions" section has now been created. This will be the place where I provide credit to the fans who have submitted new/updated information or media to the site (not including specific fan works like fan fics or fan art). It's my way of saying "Thanks!" to the people that have discovered these things, and offered to share it, (and also my humble admission to these people of their impressive rare Bowser searching skills!)

Liam Munz sent in the Japanese Box Art of Super Mario Bros. 2, which interestingly enough shows Bowser with Super Saiyan like attributes (a Dragon Ball Z reference if anyone's been hiding under a rock for the past decade). These attributes were also given to Bowser as his second costume in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Thanks very much for this rare gem Liam!

Charkonian Ard sent in an absolutely ginormous resolution render of Bowser Breakdancing from Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix. This submission is the higest resolution render of Bowser on The Bowser Shrine to date. The funny thing too is that I remember seeing this image come up months back while doing my typical weekly Bowser Google Image searches (the obsession!!). Even seeing the image as the second Google Image hit on the first page, I never paid attention to just how big it actually was! In my experience, most Google Image searches just retrieve these tiny little images altered by other evil webmasters to fit their website; and not providing a link to the full res. glory! No excuses though, a deal's a deal. I will provide credit to Charkonian's find, and post it in the Bowser Renders section. I'm not sure where this blogger from Press the Buttons was able to snatch this high res. image, it seems like it may have come right from the source (Nintendo)

Erin Thweatt submitted an AWESOME scan of a fist-clenching, blue-eyed Bowser render from the Super Mario Bros. 3 Strategy Guide. It replaces a very vague and dark low res. image with a grainy background from the "Unofficial Renders" section of the Bowser Renders section. I don't believe I have ever seen this render of Bowser used anywhere else. This is perhaps the best (and certainly the most vividly colourful) Bowser render I have ever seen. It was great for Erin to scan this in so well, because while I do own a impressive number of Mario games Bowser is in, as well as magazines and media, I couldn't possibly own everything! This scanned render is a rare gem, and a valuable addition to The Bowser Shrine!

Stupid M M was clearly not stupid when they wrote "Bowser Meets a Girl Red Yoshi". This Fan Fiction is written in a play format, separated by parts. It is a story revealing Bowser's softer side, which he proudly hides reluctantly. It seems the author of the play has a promising talent in writing for their age. I like how the author made Bowser try to act all tough and reluctant to the love he was receiving from Rosa, it is so in-character for the Koopa King.

Sticking with the theme of: Sympathy for a Bowser with Heartache, BoomerB157, wrote "Bowser's Triumph", in which Bowser is successful in defeating Mario, and can finally focus on gathering the courage to tell Princess Peach his true feelings for her. The story may be short, but it sticks well to Bowser's character, and the choice of wording is quite good! I'm sure fans will enjoy this well-written short story

Last, but not least, Josh Gonzalez wrote the colour-coded story "Bowser Story!" about Bowser's uninvited drop-in to the Mushroom Ball. The colour-coding gives a unique personality to each character (Red for Bowser, Pink for Peach, etc). This is another example of a well-written, well detailed short story. I liked the humour added as well with Bowser blaming Peach for not leaving the window open for him so he didn't have to crash through it! The fight scene was full of action as well, it was neat envisioning the details the author provided.

Next update I will process the remaining back-dated fan submissions. Oh yeah, and eventually I have to finish more sections...

Summary:

The Fan Contributions section is available!
3 contributors added to the Fan Contributions section
1 box art added to the Bowser Box Art section
2 renders added to the Bowser Renders section
3 fan fictions added to the Bowser Fan Fiction section

A playable demo of Super Smash Bros. Brawl was available at the Entertainment for All Expo (E for All) held at the Los Angeles Convention Center between Oct. 18-21. There the general public was able to test drive games that had not yet been released to market yet. Gimpyfish, fellow Bowser diehard and Melee Bowser master, was able to attend this event over all 4 days, and has posted his impressions of the demo at SmashBoards.

In general, most of Bowser's moves have been kept very similar, but he has been buffed up. He has become larger and more powerful, and is now much more difficult to K.O. He also will not flinch to quick weak attacks. He is noticably faster, or at least has less laggier moves, and also gets an increase of range. A very interesting move he has been given as well is the ability to do a flipping body slam to an opponent after grabbing them with the Koopa Klaw (and it looks hilarious!). It is believed that Bowser can also use this as a suicide move by the edge. All in all, Bowser is shaping up pretty good, but it all comes down to how the other characters are fine-tuned. Brawl will be slower than Melee, but faster than Smash 64. Perhaps this slower gameplay will allow power characters to become more effective. It is still very early to determine any sort of tier lists thus far, but first impressions of Bowser are good.

There is an overwhelming addition of Super Smash Bros. Brawl videos that can be seen from this event, most of them posted on YouTube. Here's a little list of some of the good videos that Bowser is featured in:

Golden Bowser vs. Dark Link
SSB Golden Bowser
Brawl Free For All
Brawl Free For All 2
Brawl Free For All 3
Bowser in Subspace Emissary Cutscene

Also updated for today is:

4 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Super Smash Bros. Brawl
1 screenshot added to the Bowser Screenshots section for Mario Party DS
2 wallpapers added to the Bowser Wallpapers section
1 box art added to the Bowser Box Art section

As many had come to suspect recently, Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been delayed. It was originally supposed to launch on December 3rd, 2007, exactly six years after Super Smash Bros. Melee. Just before Sonic was revealed as the second third party playable character in Brawl at the Nintendo Fall 2007 Press Conference, it was announced that the Japan release date of Brawl was delayed until January 24th, 2008. After that, The Official Super Smash Brothers Brawl Website had TBD beside the official release date leading to the speculation that it would be delayed in North America as well. Today, a new launch date of February 10th, 2008 for the Americas was posted on the website.

As strange as this may sound, I was very pleased to hear this news. The release date was delayed because the developers need more time to complete the game. This shows that they truly care about delivering a fantastic title that will be enjoyed for years to come. Had the game been rushed, it would have shown in the quality and depth of the game. If you can remember, Super Smash Brothers Melee was originally supposed to be a GameCube launch title, but it was delayed for two weeks for extra tweaking. Who knows what the final result would have been if it was not pushed back. Also think about what could have been done with Melee had it been delayed further (the elimination of clones, better character balance with less tiers, etc). It was pretty much an insult having Bowser as useful as Pichu in Melee, and I'm sure with more time the developers may have been able to correct Bowser's fundamental flaws as a fighter. If the developers of Brawl do not release future online balance updates, then they only have one shot at trying to balance the game and keep an even playing field. Having a delay will also allow for more stages, more characters, and greater overall depth and polish. This delay could mean the difference between a 9.0 and a 9.8 in reviews. I know you are all just dying to finally get a chance to play the game, and to play as Bowser, just as much as I am. The developers asked for an extension because they absolutely needed it. Give them the time they need to make this the greatest Nintendo game of all time. I please ask everybody not to nag for the release of the game and to be patient. Your future self will thank you...

I've answered a question in the mailbag asking about Bowser's emotion. You can find out the answer in the Mailbag section. Also three new Brawl Bowser Screenshots have been recently posted on The Official Super Smash Brothers Brawl Website.

1 mailbag entry added to the Mailbag section
3 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section

I've answered a good mailbag question that asked whether Bowser could be considered a large Fire Bro. Both Bowser and Fire Bros. can breathe fire, which seems like a pretty rare ability amongst the Koopas. Perhaps Bowser is just a big Fire Bros.! Find out the answer in the Mailbag! (Keep sending in your questions guys, they are great!)

1 mailbag entry added to the Mailbag section

I've added 24 screenshots to the Bowser Screenshots section for the games Super Mario Strikers, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Originally, since I wasn't sure exactly how I would organize all the of screenshots when I first made the screenshots sections, I decided to dump them all onto one page for the meantime. Now I am noticing that it's kinda klunky to go in there to look for a certain screenshot, as you have to wait for all the thumbnails to load, and scroll all the way down the page sometimes. This can be easy reorganized so that bandwidth and time can be saved. I will most likely organize the screenshots by game in alphabetical order very soon. New screenshots for upcoming games are coming out all the time, especially for Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and you can bet I'm always there checking for new Bowser information and/or screenshots (even if he is far in the background in the screenshot). Yes, do not underestimate the obsession...

24 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section

The Bowser Shrine finally has its first fan fiction submission! "Unsent Letters" by Kevin Koopa tells the story of Bowser's struggle to tell Princess Peach the truth, and the reason for him constantly kidnapping her. It reveals Bowser's softer side, his feelings of love and care for the princess, and his desire to be with her to cure his loneliness. It is an interesting short story that is very well written. The style of writing is quite skillful, and has great imagery. It really seems like a untold story of Bowser's personal side. I have always imagined Bowser being embarrassed about his secret crush on the princess, being the supposedly tough, tyrannical ruler that he is. It is like he tries as hard as possible to hide his soft spot for Peach by continuing to act bad and obnoxious so that his secret doesn't get out. This story is a good example of just how deep and complex Bowser's character and personality really is. You can find it posted in the Bowser Fan Fiction section.

1 fan fiction added to the Bowser Fan Fiction section

I've added two Mailbag submissions asking about Bowser's native language, and whether Bowser could be considered a Spiny, since he has a spiky shell. I am currently processing some other fan submissions I have received recently, look for them to be posted soon!

2 mailbag entries added to the Mailbag section

I decided I would go through all of my old Nintendo instruction manuals and strategy guides and stuff to try and find as many Bowser artworks and renders as I could. Most times there are some rare ones that you can seemingly only find in a hard copy, and the image doesn't seem to exist online. I have found a bunch which I believe would probably be quite rare, and I have scanned them all into my computer. It was nearly a good half-day's work to scan everything in, but I sure have a large collection of some of the rarities when it comes to Bowser images. Over time, I will clean up these scans in photo editing programs, and post them on The Bowser Shrine (most likely in the unofficial part of the Bowser Renders section.

I described 3 more recent renders of Bowser in the Bowser Evolution section. It's really strange because all 3 renders are radically different from each other. Bowser now seems to have bunch of appearances he can be depicted as. Bowser's Brawl render is very good artwork and looks very realistic, but he's just gotta lose those freakish looking gums! Brawl development team, if you're listening...

3 entries added to the Bowser Evolution section

Well, just one day after Bowser was confirmed in the roster for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, his Final Smash has already been revealed. It is something I had predicted myself ever since learning about Final Smashes, and I'm sure a lot of other people did too. Bowser transforms into Giga Bowser for a short while, and can wreak havoc for all that stand in his way! It is also hinted that Giga Bowser may be invincible during this Final Smash.

When normal Bowser transforms into Giga Bowser, he becomes a colossal beast, at least 4 times his normal size, with even larger and thicker long horns, even sharper dagger-like teeth, longer and more tapered backspikes, and he looks even meaner and more sinister (plus his gum problems only get worse!). Giga Bowser looks slightly different than the Giga Bowser in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The differences in Brawl are that his scales are a darker shade of brown, his proportions look a bit different, and his face is even more psycho and evil. When Bowser summons the power within and begins his transformation... you better run!

4 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section

(Render image of Super Smash Bros. Brawl Giga Bowser)

You may all release your held breath now and relax, the Koopa King will be returning in Super Smash Brothers Brawl! Although this is perhaps the worst kept secret ever, that uncertainty was always unsettling. Now the only thing we have to worry about is hoping that the developers remember to make Bowser's Castle in Brawl so Bowser has his own stage.

Bowser has returned with an updated look, but the reaction seems to be mixed amongst most people. Bowser appears much more realistic and scary-like than even his Melee look, and Bowser also appears much older. It seems like he also got a haircut, his scales are a lighter shade of brownish-orange, his claws are much more detailed, and his face just looks plain... weird.

They have made Bowser an old dinosaur indeed, I mean, they pretty much gave him wrinkles on and around his snout. This sort of gives an even deeper realism and sophistication to him, but he looks well past retirement! The most strangest addition is puffy swollen looking gums, similar to Giga Bowser's strange-looking mouth. This gives Bowser a very menancing and psychotic look, but in my opinion, I think it was taking it way too far. I really didn't like the whole Giga Bowser idea, or the look in the first place, and this new Bowser appears to look similar to Giga Bowser in a few ways. One saving grace is from further away, you can't really tell that Bowser has seriously inflamed gums.

Now Bowser has always looked cool, but he didn't sacrifice his good looks in the process. I never thought I would say this, but Brawl Bowser appears to have more of the ugly cool monster look. I'm not too much in favour of Bowser looking anywhere close to ugly or deformed or gothic or psycho or anything, so I'd definitely have to prefer Bowser's Melee look over his Brawl look. My favourite Bowser to date would have to be his Super Mario 64 renders in the instruction manuals and on the cartridge. That had a perfect balance of looks and coolness if you ask me. Ok, this looks like something I should save for the Bowser Evolution section, which I'll need to update soon, so I'll just stop ranting now. Bowser's confirmed in Brawl, which is awesome, and it looks like they are hinting of making him a lot better too... which is even better!

1 render added to the Bowser Renders section
4 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section

(Render image of Super Smash Bros. Brawl Bowser)

I have noticed an inconsistency between browsers when loading up The Bowser Shrine. When I load the page in Internet Explorer, I've noticed that the menu link spacing looks much different than it does in FireFox; which I've been using to test the page on my local webserver. The code is exactly the same, but for some strange reason IE decided to add much more spacing between my links on the left hand side. Surprisingly it still looked okay with all that spacing, but for consistency's sake, I want it looking as identical as possible to the version I'm bringing up in FireFox. Seeing my webstats, over 75% of my viewers are using Internet Explorer, so it's best I have the page looking the way it should be! I've modified the code now to keep IE happy... get FireFox people, it's way better! Another issue I saw with the page was when viewing it in the Wii's Opera browser. The disclaimer at the bottom was not linebreaking properly, and looked really messy. I've modified it slightly so that it displays properly in the Wii browser, however, it looks a bit messy now and I'll need to add to it in the future to bulk it up a bit.

One month ago, I wrote in one of my May updates that The Bowser Shrine was having trouble getting indexed in search engines and nobody was finding the site. Although TBS was listed on Google and Yahoo, it would appear on like page 5 or 6; even for a descriptive search such as "Bowser Koopa". Since that time, I have seeked the advice of other webmasters, contacted other related websites to do link exchanges and affiliations, and cleaned up some of my code to meet the strictest standards. Wow what a difference that has made! I am now on the first page of both Google and Yahoo for the search keywords "bowser koopa". I'm actually not sure I could even get any higher! I'm really pleased of how much improvement I did in the rankings in such a short period of time. I believe getting more sites to link to TBS is what did the most good, as a huge part of Google's PageRanking algorithm is how many other related websites link to yours. I've also been including a link to The Bowser Shrine in a lot of message boards, and that has probably helped traffic as well.

I'm now getting quite a few hits to my counter everyday, and that's really encouraging. Also puts more pressure on me to keep pumping out updates. I have had the first e-mails come through for a mailbag submission as well as a short fanfic! Look for those to be posted soon! I'm so glad to be having regular traffic now, so expect a guestbook and a extensive forums to go up in the near future!

Unfortunately I'll be a bit busier from now on and updates to the site may be a little less frequent. I really wanted to get all the grayed-out sections done before things got busy again, but I guess I underestimated how much work it takes to create an extensive fansite! The Bowser Shrine will not be finished after the grayed out sections are complete, it will continue to build and grow over time and I will always be updating it. Perhaps the reason why there aren't that many fansites out there is the simple fact that it is time consuming and a lot of hard work to build and maintain one. It's also possible that everyone basically looks for somebody else to take the initiative. My major goal with the creation of The Bowser Shrine is to get Bowser the respect he deserves! I'm sure Bowser has a much larger fanbase than people think, or at least he's on the "Top 5 Favourite Mario Characters List" of most people, but all I know is that I will never be at ease until Bowser gets a game of his own!

Nintendo just released an awesome character art picture of Bowser in Mario Strikers Charged! They've got Bowser looking quite mean indeed! Check it out in the Bowser Renders section! All I can say is that I cannot wait for this game!

1 render added to the Bowser Renders section

Alright, so the speculated huge update on The Official Super Smash Brothers Brawl Website landed up being just a site redesign with the news that updates will occur on every weekday. There was also a list of composers that gives some hints on which new characters might be included. At the bottom of the page there is remixed SSBM Menu Music that will most likely be used on the Battlefield stage. So no news on a Brawl Bowser yet, but looking on the bright side, releasing a little bit of information each day just might make it seem like less of a wait until the game comes out. I'll be checking the website every weekday to see when we can finally get some information about Bowser in Brawl. You know he's going to be in it, so don't worry! I can't wait to see what he looks like!

I have now gathered all of the screenshots I have taken of the Koopa King in Mario games and posted them under the "Fan Stuff" heading in a link called Bowser Fan Screenshots. I've picked 226 of my best screenshot captures for you Koopaholics! Most of these screenshots I took over the years using a capture card that my Nintendo system was hooked up to. There I could take some decent screenshot captures, and I was sure to keep them safe over the years. The best gallery would be the screenshots for Super Smash Brothers Melee, because of the game's fanastic graphics and awesome camera mode. Garry's Mod is another excellent gallery, as there is actually a full legitimate Bowser model that can be downloaded for Half Life 2. In the future I will probably have separate sections for these two galleries. Anyways, all the snapshots are really good, and since all the control is in the hands of the user, Bowser is quite often the center of attention (as he should be!). If you have any Bowser screenshots you have taken, don't hesitate to share them here on The Bowser Shrine!

The Bowser Fan Screenshots section is available!
226 screenshots added to the Bowser Fan Screenshots section

If you go to http://www.smashbros.com, there is a teaser splash page presenting an official Super Smash Brothers Brawl website called "Smash Bros. Dojo!!". The official Smash Bros. website hadn't been updated since late last year, probably around November when the last Super Smash Brothers Brawl trailer was released. An image at the bottom of the splash page says "Site Launch in 4 days (Japan Time)". This is exciting news as there is a good chance we will be getting more information about Brawl, such as more characters revealed, stages, and maybe even an official release date. It's also quite possible we might see early screenshots of Bowser in Brawl for the first time. You can bet if any images are released, I will post them here at The Bowser Shrine. I have 226 personal screenshots of Bowser which I have completed processing on. They will be posted under the "Fan Stuff" heading as Bowser Fan Screenshots. I should have them uploaded by tomorrow.

I have created a really short Bowser Fan Fiction section basically explaining that there are no Bowser fan fictions to display yet. It took like 5 minutes to do and it fills out the greyed-out links a bit better. I also added two more links to the "Mario Universe" section on my links page. I am currently processing some more Bowser screenshots (as if 225 wasn't enough). I'm doing the Bowser Fan Screenshots section now, so I'm gathering all of my screenshots I've taken of Bowser in Mario games. I expect it to be at least as big, if not bigger than the Bowser Screenshots section.

The Bowser Fan Fiction section is available!

I have now gathered all of the screenshots of Bowser I have seen Nintendo release to support their Mario games and have posted them in the Bowser Screenshots section. I have found most of these images at major gaming publications such as IGN and Gamespot, or at the official website for the respective game or at Nintendo.com. I chose to include only the best screenshots of Bowser, where he can clearly be seen and that are unique. There are quite a few screenshots I have displayed, a whopping 225 to be exact! Good screenshots of already released or upcoming Mario games are important to generate interest in the game and to advertise. I'm also planning a Bowser Fan Screenshots section, where fans can send in their screenshots they have taken of Bowser through capturing software or other means. If you can find any other good official Bowser screenshots for some games, give me a shout!

The Bowser Screenshots section is available!
225 screenshots added to the Bowser Screenshots section

I have added a few more unofficial Bowser Renders in the respective section. Since I am always ordering the images by date of release of the game it was made for, I guess it can sometimes be hard to pick out what the new ones are. I am very close to completing the Bowser Screenshots section containing over 200 screenshots of Bowser! These are just the official screenshots of him too, I plan to also have a Bowser Fan Screenshots section as well!

Another odd thing has been happening with The Bowser Shrine and search engine indexes. The Bowser Shrine has been around since December 2006, but months later, I am still very low on the search engine rankings for even descriptive searches such as "Bowser Koopa". Also for some strange and frustrating reason, my website will intermittently disappear completely from any search for the title "The Bowser Shrine", and the homepage will disappear when doing a search for the URL "http://www.bowsershrine.com". When searching by URL, other sections of the page may come up, but not the homepage. I have no idea why this could be happening, and Google's Webmaster Tools says the site passes everything. I am very lost and confused as to why I can't get a good PageRanking and why I'm still so far down on the list. I want people to find this site as it has a lot of great things to offer and I've worked pretty hard on it already. If anyone has any ideas or tips at all, please contact me.

5 renders added to the Bowser Renders section

I have now posted my collection of box art images I have seen Bowser on in the Bowser Box Art section. These box art images are created to support the respective Mario game and to serve as advertising to generate interest in it. High quality, high resolution box art images are often to hardest to get, as most box shots you find on the net are just a small preview thumbnail that doesn't enlarge. Some of these box arts I have scanned myself, others I found on Gamespot or by doing search engine image searches. I have also included box art pictures from other countries or regions in which Bowser can be seen in. I have posted 27 box art images in total, and I'm sure I have covered most of the North American boxes at least. If you can manage to find a box shot with Bowser that I have not listed, or a higher quality image, please let me know!

The Bowser Box Art section is available!
27 box arts added to the Bowser Box Art section

Added 7 new unofficial Bowser renders and a link to the MarioWiki! The Bowser Box Art section is next and I have collected all of my images already, I just have to code the page now.

7 renders added to the Bowser Renders section

I have now posted my collection of Bowser Wallpapers I have found from the web and on official Mario game sites. These wallpapers are released around the same time its respective game is, for fans to adorn their desktops with! Often high resolution Bowser renders for the respective game is used in the wallpaper, making it look really sharp and detailed. I have posted 26 Bowser wallpapers, some of which having different resolutions for different desktop sizes. So, go ahead and download all the Bowser wallpapers you want. I would really appreciate credit or a link to The Bowser Shrine if you like the wallpapers here. I'm always searching for more wallpapers whenever new Mario games are released, and I will provide them all here if I find them!

The Bowser Wallpaper section is available!
26 wallpapers added to the Bowser Wallpaper section

I am always looking to expand my links section and affiliate with other Nintendo sites. If you are interested in doing a link exchange with The Bowser Shrine, Contact Me! I have added three webpages to the Links section.

3 webpages added to the Links section

I finally have some Bowser media available for The Bowser Shrine! I'm beginning to share all my Bowser wealth! I have posted all of the Bowser Renders I have collected over the years. The images I posted are character art and renders of Bowser released for a specific game. Nintendo has other Bowser generated images for advertising, box art, and merchandise, and those will be featured in upcoming sections under the "Bowser Media" heading very soon! I listed 64 images in total, and I'm sure there are even more out there somewhere.

I was pondering for quite a while about how I would display the images. Since some of these renders are so well done and detailed, I wanted a way to have comments and ratings and other stuff able to be posted under the image. I was thinking of also using Coppermine for the Bowser Renders section, but maybe it'll be best for just the fan art section. So I might just leave that as a future consideration. After all, I already pretty much commented and described most of the Bowser Renders in the Bowser Evolution section! So feel free to download all the renders you want, in case you've been missing any. I would really appreciate credit or a link to The Bowser Shrine if you like what you see. I've been keeping a lot of the rare ones safe for quite some time, now they can be more readily available again!

The Bowser Renders section is available!
64 renders added to the Bowser Renders section

I beefed up the Links section with some more webpages. I am also still currently researching the best way to do the galleries, and they will be up very soon! I am starting to affiliate with other sites to get The Bowser Shrine known and to increase traffic. The Bowser Shrine's link button is shown on the Links page as well.

2 webpages added to the Links section

I once again had to split up a section into two sections after it got too large! I came up with a quick Bowser Profile page listing a few of his characteristics and attributes. It's still a little brief right now and I might need a few more suggestions as to what I should have in his profile. Below the profile, I started doing a Bowser's Appearance 101 pretending that I was describing him to someone who has never heard of him or seen an image of him before. Once again I went insane with detail and after a while I had enough for a whole separate section. I named this section Bowser Description.

So basically two new sections for the update today, completing the "Bowser Info" group! I will most likely be adding sections to this group a bit later, these were just the basic ones I wanted to get up first. Ideas for further sections would be "Koopa Kids" and "Bowser Quotes" and the sort. So now comes the part where I deliver all of my thousands of Bowser media I have collected and kept safe and organized over the years! I will need to do a bit of research to find out the best image gallery system to use; I hear Coppermine is pretty good. I would say at this point I will be 50% done the Bowser Shrine. It feels like the hardest part is behind me now, so expect a 100% completed Bowser Shrine very soon!

The Bowser Profile section is available!
The Bowser Description section is available!

I have now completed Bowser's Evolution, another major section of the site. This section details Bowser's major concept art and computer renders and how they have evolved over the years while still keeping his basic design concept consistent. The Mario games that Bowser is depicted in try as hard as possible to make him match the concept artwork he was given, and with the power of Nintendo's latest systems, the gap is narrowing. Bowser's in game character models are starting to look more and more like his concept renders. There are lots of great Bowser renders and images to go along with my descriptions, so this should be a fun section. Full resolution versions of these images will be available soon.

The Bowser's Evolution section is available!

I added an image showing how Bowser's sprites and models have improved over the years at the very top of the Bowser Depictions section. I also added a little Bowser pointing image for any *NOTES* that come up in some of the pages under the Bowser Info group, just for a neat touch. It's like a Bowser tip or something.

I have now completed the Bowser Master Game List listing every game Bowser has appeared in or cameoed in over the last 20 years. I came up with 53 seperate game titles that contained Bowser in some way. There is no list this exhaustive detailing every single Bowser appearance anywhere! I had no references or anything to come up with this massive list, only memory and game by game research.

The Bowser Game List section is available!
53 renders added to the Bowser Game List section

I have now completed three major sections for The Bowser Shrine. These sections contain the bulk of Bowser's information as a video game character. There is quite a lot of information in these sections and I have also included pictures for visual aid and to accompany the text. I've been working on these three sections for a while now offline on my local Apache server. I wanted to upload all of them at once, all spruced up and everything. I originally had these three sections all combined into one section called "Bowser's History", but it was far too much to read for one section and a lot of the information could be divided into other sections. I'll try to avoid such a mass update at once in the future to keep updates more consistent. Next I will be completing the rest of the "Bowser Info" sections.

The Bowser Depictions section detailing Bowser's look in Mario games over the past 20+ years has now been completed! This is easily my biggest section yet, at least information wise. Many that know me notice that I am very detailed, and I really went all out in my detailed descriptions. Bowser has definitely come a long way in his look in Mario games from his first 8-bit sprite on the NES. Now Bowser's full 3D and high detailed in-game character models are becoming close to the renders used to illustrate him in the instruction books and concept art. I also have a brief section on cameos Bowser has made as well as depictions of him outside of Mario games. This section should take a good 15-20 minutes to get through, so have a good read!

The Bowser Depictions section is available!

I have now completed the section on Bowser's History, outlining his timeline from childhood to adulthood as well as his current plans and attempts of world domination. This would be the best known up to date information of Bowser's backstory gathered from all of the games that have come out in the last 20+ years. This is a fairly large section with quite a lot of information in it. It took quite a long time making sure my content stuck as close as possible to the facts. There was some degree of filling-in-the-gaps when it came to Bowser's early childhood, but I believe most of it can be accurate despite being an educated guess. The whole section could take a good 10-15 minutes to read thoroughly, so take your time and enjoy!

The Bowser History section is available!

Finally I have some information up about Bowser! In the Bowser Overview section, I have a brief overview on the greatest video game character ever, at least in my opinion. I describe who Bowser is, what he looks like, and what drives him. I also briefly touch about his appearances in Mario games. Take a look!

The Bowser Overview section is available!

I'm about 60% done the "Bowser History" section, and it is huge! I will most likely be splitting it up into 3 different sections: Bowser Overview, Bowser History, and Bowser Depictions. I may also have a featured section about how Bowser's look and renders have evolved over the years, but how his basic concept remains the same.

I have the About TBS section filled out now outlining my mission with the Bowser Shrine as well as reinforcing my Bowser fanaticism. It also describes what to expect and what you can find here at The Bowser Shrine. Check it out!

The About TBS section is available!

Today I added a funny Bowser-waiting-for-mail image in the Contact section, and added a Links section. I just have the Nintendo homepage on for now, but I'll definitely have a lot more as time goes on.

The Links section is available!

I added a favicon to The Bowser Shrine so the site can more easily be found when browsed through a bookmarks list. The original Bowser Face image was red in color and belonged to Gimpyfish62, a good friend of mine and long term Bowser fanatic. He has the image slapped onto his Wii and DS as a sticker.

I would estimate that I have about 3,000 files related to Bowser featuring renders, fanart, screenshots, music, etc. Did I ever mention that I was obsessed about Bowser? I plan to share it all on The Bowser Shrine, and I'm excited about doing so. I am currently of the process of organizing all of the media and gathering it all together so I can share it here on The Bowser Shrine!

I have registered a domain e-mail address so anyone can now Contact Me! I have also opened up a Mailbag! if anyone wants to e-mail anything that they would like posted with a reply. I hope to be hearing from a lot of you soon!

The Contact section is available!
The Mailbag section is available!

So I thought the original shell design with the cyan borders and everything looked a little too 1999, so I have no borders at all now and added gradient fills to the links and updates headers. I also added a small counter at the bottom of the affiliates section with a very proud Bowser standing on top. Doesn't he look tough?

Welcome to the Bowser Shrine! I am MagnuM, and I consider myself the biggest Bowser Koopa fan on the planet! I challenge anyone to contend against my absolute fanatical obsession for this character! It was disappointing not being able to find many Bowser fansites anywhere on the internet, so I felt compelled to create the largest and most dedicated Bowser Koopa fansite ever! The Koopa King deserves it!

I would have liked to have launched a complete fansite with every section 100% completed, but a site as large as I am planning will take some time to completely build. As for right now, I have only the main page layout and an overall feel for the site developed, but the sections will come and they will come quite quickly! I just wanted to get the site out there quickly so any Koopaholics (a little term I coined) can finally rest more easier knowing that there are others like them and there is a major fansite where they will be able to find anything related to Bowser and the Koopa species!

On the left is all the links and subsections I plan to create for The Bowser Shrine. None of the grey links will work just yet, as they will only redirect back to the main page. Any links in blue will symbolize a finished section. Highlighting any of the links will animate the Bowser in the link heading. On the right I plan to place affiliates, but as for now, I just have a fist pumping Bowser reminding you who's boss! So not much yet, but hang tight, because updates will be large and frequent! Check back often and stay tuned!

The Bowser Shrine is launched!