Nintendo and Vans team up for retro-themed sneaker collection

It looks like Nintendo is expanding its intellectual property-palooza to the shoe world with an upcoming Vans collection. Sneaker enthusiast site Sole Collector has posted images of several Vans shoe models from German sneaker store 43 Einhalb, adorned with familiar Nintendo characters and iconography.

I love this Duck Hunt Camouflage shoe. It's a clever concept executed with just the right subtlety.

The Legend of Zelda sprites make for a surprisingly natural moccasin-like effect.

And this one may be my favorite, though I'm not sure what it's specifically referencing. It reminds me of old instruction manuals and map screens, and that's good enough for me.

According to 43 Einhalb, the Nintendo collection will include many more pieces of footwear, and it will go up for sale starting in June. I rarely shell out for gaming apparel, but some of those designs look awfully tempting…

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Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.