Those of us who are gamers know what it’s like to be a super fan of a certain game, and if you’re like me (occupying the space of both gamer and tattoo addict), you’ll have considered a gaming tattoo at some point in your life.
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For the record, I don’t have any gaming tattoos, mainly because I haven’t yet found a game that remains such a firm favourite that I would consider having it forever etched into my skin.
There are however, plenty of other people who have taken that plunge and as such, I scoured the interwebz for the best gaming tattoos I could find. In no particular order, these are my favourites.
Street Fighter – This is a pretty badass tattoo. The incorporation of Ryu’s fist into the client’s is awesome.
Borderlands/Portal – This is kind of weird, but is still a successful Claptrap/Portal combination which is really cool and quite well-executed.
Remember the “Cake is a lie” meme from a few years back? This gamer will never forget it.
Super Mario Bros. – I’m not the greatest fan of Super Mario tattoos, which is why I haven’t included some of the more old-school Nintendo tattoos in this list. They often just look kind of cheap, but this is a really cool execution, and it works well as a tattoo.
This is a completely different interpretation of Mario as the Hindu god Shiva. It’s beautifully conceptualised and put together.
The Legend of Zelda – A Link to the Past – a really cool piece of old-school gaming pixel art that doesn’t look cheesy. The stained-glass tattoo below is mind-blowing.
Bioshock Infinite – I really love the schematics so this appeals to me on so many levels. The Songbird sketch is from Bioshock Infinite.
Nintendo – witness two amazing Nintendo sleeves by Laura Kennedy from Timeless Tattoos (Glasgow, Scotland)
Warhammer – My first reaction was “holy shit!, this is frikkin’ amazing!” It’s also the product of 92 hours of work over the course of two years and it is phenomenal. Art by David Martin.
God of War – Another “holy amazeballs” moment. Kratos from the God of War series.
Killzone/Resident Evil – If symbols are more your thing, then this is a pretty good combination. Killzone on the left, Resident Evil on the right.
Fallout – Another great tattoo combined with a specific tattooing style, this time of Fallout.
Halo – Finally, one of the nicest Halo tattoos I’ve come across. Art is from Halo 2.
Images via Gamexcoreink, Inkedmag, fouracestattoo, greatblogabout, Imgur, Optimuspint and IO
