As you may have heard before, most of the world is running short on Wii systems at the moment; in the U.K., Nintendo pulled their Wii television ads after selling out their entire inventory in advance of Christmas.  In light of that, it appears that The Sun is attempting to educate British consumers on "the man to blame for the nation's rage" with a brief article on Shigeru Miyamoto.  The article quickly goes through Miyamoto's history with Nintendo, but doesn't really have much in the way of new information.  In fact, the only "new" tidbit I noticed concerned Miyamoto's wife being an admin worker at Nintendo before the couple met.

Overall, it's a fairly good little summary article, even if the writer seems to have the idea that Miyamoto is president of NCL.  I'd imagine Iwata would be surprised to hear that.

Waluigi will be appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as an assist trophy, clad in his traditional outfit and carrying a tennis racket.  The Smash Bros. Dojo site's 12/14/07 update revealed Waluigi (as well as Stafy, that loveable starfish from under the sea) in all his purple glory.

At this point, I'm starting to wonder how many Nintendo franchises won't be in Brawl.

Here's a preliminary list, culled from The Nintendo Database.  I trimmed out any games that already seem to have character/music/item/whatever references in Brawl... how many do you think we'll eliminate by the time the game launches?

Stuff in bold represent games that had trophies/music/items in Melee.

(I'm making no guarantees this list is currently complete, nor up to date; however, it generally seems to be accurate.)

1080° Snowboarding
Alleyway
Arm Wrestling (arcade)
Band Brothers
Battleclash
Card Hero
Chibi Robo
Custom Robo
Doshin the Giant
Duck Hunt
Electroplankton
Eternal Darkness (the ip belongs to Nintendo, I believe)
F-1 Race
Game & Watch
Golden Sun
Gumshoe
Hajimari no Mori
Happy Panechu!
HeliFire
Hogan's Alley
Hotel Dusk
Joy Mecha Fight
Kaeru no Tameni Kanha Naru (the guy that turns into a frog -- cameo in Link's Awakening)
Kururin
Mach Rider
Magical Vacation
Marvellous
Mole Mania
Nazo no Murasamejou
Oendon/Elite Beat Agents
Picross
Polarium
Radar Mission
RadarScope
Sennen Kazoku
Shin Oni Ga Shima
Short Order & Eggsplode
Sky Skipper
Solar Striker
Space Fever
Space Firebird / Space Demon
Space Launcher
Star Tropics
Stunt Race FX
Sutte Hakkun
Tantei Club
Teleroboxer
Time Twist
To The Earth
Tomato Adventure
Trace Memory
Urban Champion
Wave Race
Wii Sports / Play
Wild Gunman
Yakuman (Mahjong)
Yuu Yuu Ki

All the generic sports titles

On November 29, the voice of Mario, Charles Martinet, spoke in an interview with computerandvideogames.com. In this 15 (or less) minute video interview, Martinet discusses how he landed his job as the mascot's voice, how he develops personalities for Nintendo characters, and side topics such as his take on violence in video games. Regardless of topic, however, it's always fun to hear Martinet converse on random subjects while intermittently inserting the voices of Mario and company.

CVG requires a Windows Media Player plug-in, so be advised of browser incompatibilities. Use the Launch Player link on the right side of the introduction body.

Link: computerandvideogames.com

November 27:



"He is riding high on the deserved success of Super Mario Galaxy. We wanted to know, what does the master, Shigeru Miyamoto think about how other entertainment media have influenced his work on the Mario games? Next-Gen spoke to gaming’s most illustrious designer…"

In this fascinating and illuminating interview by next-gen.biz, Shigeru Miyamoto explained what inspired his ability to design games, the origin of Mario, his thoughts of the Disney "Super Mario Bros." movie, and more. If you haven't read it already, don't miss it!

Source: next-gen.biz

With the release of Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii, director Yoshiaki Koizumi is getting an awful lot of press time.  Fortunately for us, that means lots of neat "behind the scenes" information on Galaxy and the other titles he's had his hands on.  Here are some of Koizumi's recent interviews and some tidbits of information from each.

Wired Game|Life Interview by Chris Kohler
  * Koizumi mentions being the guy who "sneaks" story elements into Mario/Zelda games, due to Miyamoto and other development folks not being all that interested in the story and background plot for games.
  * His development of the plot scenario for Link's Awakening.
  * Koizumi studied film and writing in school, and took a job at Nintendo after graduation.  "(M)y ambition had always been to make drama. That was my goal: Having a character, in a certain kind of world, having him go through a series of actions to accomplish something, and creating a dramatic tension throughout that. And games seemed like a really good opportunity to create a kind of drama that you don’t find in films."
  * Miyamoto's vagueness when it comes to suggestions for game changes, and how Koizumi finds himself entering into this state of vagueness with his own staff now.
  * "I feel like you really can't have Galaxy without all of the things we learned from Sunshine."

Next Generation's Post Mortem, by Kris Graft
  * "I’ve actually been very surprised that the reviews have been so amazing . . . I didn’t know that a 3D action game like Mario was going to be so well-accepted. I mean those games tend to do a little bit better in Europe and the US than they do in Japan, because in Japan they tend to have a few more problems with motion-sickness and disorientation in 3D games. And just in general you never know how people are going to react. But the reviews in Japan have been really, really good this time around so I’m very surprised and very happy about that"
  * The game balances the challenge level by limiting you to three hit points, but supplying plenty of extra lives.  "Hard core" gamers appreciate the challenge from the limited hit points, while "casual gamers" aren't frustrated because they have plenty of chances to succeed.
  * Koizumi and Miyamoto both feel that there really shouldn't be a major divide between the "hard core" and the "casual", as long as a game is well designed.
  * Miyamoto tends to be ambiguous, and that means Koizumi became a sort of an "interpreter" for the rest of the development team.
  * Koizumi wasn't really aware of the Super Mario Bros. 3 references in Galaxy until after it was released and people started commenting on them.  The suits/powers were designed for the game, and the musical references were done by the rest of the team.

Game Daily's interview, by Willis Lambert
  * Experienced gamers have certain expectations when it comes to new Mario games, and he doesn't want to disappoint them. At the same time, that doesn't mean things are identical; new elements and interpretations must be there to keep the sense of wonder alive.  Folks expect Goombas, but what would space Goombas be like?
  * The folks most concerned about changing elements of "the Mario universe" weren't Miyamoto and Koizumi, but rather the other members of the design team and staff.  When new and novel ideas were shown, many responded with "No, that's not a Mario game".  Getting new and novel ideas into the game often came with a lot of resistance.
  * Many level and world designs come from food.  Koizumi often doodles little pictures of food, and he feels that food is immediately appealing and thus works well for thematic structure in the game.  As far as what kinds of food can be found in the game, "there's one that looks like a Japanese tea suite, or two pancakes with a bit of bean paste in the middle, you'll see watermelons, peanuts..."

Gamesutra's Interview from the Montreal Games Summit, by Brandon Boyer and Leigh Alexander
  * During the development of Super Mario 64, Koizumi worked on the creation of Mario's walking and basic movements.  There was a very late development night when Miyamoto acted out Mario's motions while Koizumi modeled them.
  * Depth perception is vitally important when it comes to moving in 3D, but it's very difficult to convey this physical truth to gamers in 3D game.  Shadows are used to help show the location of characters in 3D; while it's not realistic to show a shadow always being directly below the object casting it, it does help the gamer in locating objects in the game.
  * It's very easy to get lost in a 3D game, and it's hard to both use a map and keep the action in the game going.  As a result, the 3D Mario titles tend to have levels with large landmarks and even giant arrows, to keep the gamer from getting confused.
  * The success of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat helped remind Koizumi that games need to be played and enjoyed by everyone in the family.  The simple control scheme (and "over the top" style) could appeal to both experienced gamers and new folks, and that led to a desire to make future games accessible to all.
  * Spherical worlds mean no "invisible walls", thus helping keep gamers in the game.
  * The "planet camera" system in Super Mario Galaxy allows Mario to move all over the place while staying centered on the screen.  This reduces camera panning and seems to help in reducing the risk of motion sickness for those prone to such things.

Phew. That was a lot of work.  Go read the full articles and have fun!

Wired Game|Life Interview by Chris Kohler
Next Generation's Post Mortem, by Kris Graft
Game Daily's interview, by Willis Lambert
Gamesutra's Interview from the Montreal Games Summit, by Brandon Boyer and Leigh Alexander

This Sunday (SUNDAY, SUNDAY), the "outrageous Donkey Kong Monster Jam® truck" will debut at some sort of Monster Jam event at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Sadly, I wasn't able to find any pictures of this thing, but I'm sure the truck-crushing imagery will be visible in the near future.

So, should you be at a Monster Jam event in the future, you might see the mother of all barrel-tossing trucks swerving through the mud.  Send in pictures if you do!

More information can be found either in Nintendo's press release (http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=14201), or (eventually) at the Monster Jam Online site. (http://www.monsterjamonline.com/)

A fairly recent article by Seth Schiesel in the New York Times game some favorable impressions of both Super Mario Galaxy (" The game’s whole feel is so finely tuned, so infectiously enjoyable") and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.  Schiesel gives some of his own impressions of the games as well as his Mario gaming memories, but what makes the article really shine are the quotes he wrangled out of other members of the media and industry.

* Andy McNamara, editor in chief of Game Informer: “The only way to really put it is that Mario is the Man.  He’s definitely like the Steamboat Willie of the video-game industry. Back in 1985 everyone thought the video-game industry was dead, and when Super Mario Bros. came out, it revitalized the whole thing. Mario is really in some ways the quintessential game experience, in that you get to have fun and explore places you would not normally visit, with all these crazy mixed-up worlds and the magic mushrooms and crazy stars. Also, every Mario game gets fairly challenging in the end, but anyone of pretty much any age can just sit down and start playing.”

* Hardcore Gamer Magazine: "What I’ve been experiencing since first putting this game in my Wii is the culmination of several lifetimes of game design mastery by its creators.”

* Simon Jeffrey, president of Sega of America, upon being asked if Shigeru Miyamoto had set up shop at Sega during the development of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games:  "No, no, Muhammad doesn’t go to the mountain.  The mountain goes to Muhammad. We would bring versions of the game to him for him to consult on.”

The article is quite interesting, so I'd suggest you visit the NYTimes.com site and read it for yourself.

If you've ever longed to hear the classic Super Mario Bros. overworld theme played by 12 foot sparks of electricity, this is your lucky day.  At the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon (sponsored by DC Cox {Resonance Research Corp}) in Baraboo, WI, two seven foot tall, high power solid state Tesla coils blasted out Kondo's famous tune.

Feast your ears and eyes on this marvel over at the video, hosted on YouTube.

The coils were constructed by Steve Ward and Jeff Larson. Video was captured by Terry Blake.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1O2jcfOylU

According to DVDFile.com, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters will be released on DVD near the end of January.  The documentary about the battle for the world record high score in Donkey Kong should carry a pricetag of $19.98 when it arrives in stores around January 29th, 2008.  Extra features include a commentaries by the directorial team and an "editor of IGN", featurettes, and the animated short A Really, Really Brief History of Donkey Kong.

For more information, feel free to check out the film's official web site at http://www.billyvssteve.com/.

As political campaigns are in full sway, the past month has revealed a few more tidbits about everyone's favorite plumber:

* In Canada, Mario's popularity rivals that of the Prime Minister!
  More people in Calgary, Toronto, Halifax could identify a photo of Mario than one of their own Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  While Mario and Harper were generally tied in cross country polls (each recognized by about 70% of poll respondents when asked to identify photographs by name), Mario did catch the eyes of more women than did the Prime Minister (66% versus 63% identification).   (http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=22755)

* In the good old USA, Mario's games are the favorite of all political stripes.  When asked their gaming preferences...
  Conservatives generally chose "Madden NFL and Mario"
  Liberals generally chose "Mario and The Sims"
  Moderates generally chose "Mario, Donkey Kong, and Madden"

  The man in red and blue could unite the nation!  (http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/11/how-your-politi.html)

Super Mario Bros. was #82 in IGN's Readers' Choice: The 2006 Top 100 Games Ever, but in this year's IGN's Top 100 Games of All Time, IGN editors gave it the #1 spot.  "Mario" appeared six times in this year's top 100.  You may also notice that they changed the format to give each game a better writeup and readers more exposure to ads.

Source: IGN.com

FoxTrot cartoonist Bill Amend occasionally includes video game references in his comic strip, but it's been a while since Mario was mentioned. This Sunday's strip references Super Mario Bros. as Jason works on family Christmas card designs. Check it out online at FoxTrot.com.

There's a fellow out there who wrote a program called The Music Animation Machine.  This piece of software plays MIDI files with animated graphics (akin to visualizers in other programs).  What make this worthy of a TMK post is that some lovely folks in Japan used this program to make an graphical Mario MIDI.

Interesting, don't you think?

More information, and a few other game MIDI videos, are available on his MAM MIDI Player on Nico Nico Douga page (Nico Nico Douga being a Japanese video and commentary site).

Go take a look!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wkI7hg65F0

Super Mario Galaxy is currently beating out The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by just 0.2% for the highest scored game of all time .  Ocarina has almost continuously held the number one spot for nearly a decade.  Today Galaxy has a 97.8% and Ocarina a 97.6% average score, but Galaxy's lead is narrowing because yesterday they had 97.9% and 97.5% respectively.  It's also important to note that since yesterday Ocarina has gained a review and Galaxy has lost one, and that Galaxy is currently losing in the GameRankings.com user vote. 

Other games like Halo 2 have previously beat Ocarina for a couple of days, but could not hold the title.  I have a feeling Super Mario Galaxy will survive the test of time and stay in the top two, but I might be making a similar blog post around February tenth. 

Update:


For comparison:


Source: gamerankings.com

A new Mario wedding cake has popped up, and this delicious construction features the entire Super Mario Bros. level 1-1, wrapping around its four tiers.



Why another? You might recall that these people had their cake and ate it first.

Link: flickr.com

An interesting half time show for your perusal.

Whether this is actually in Berkeley or not, I leave for MegaByte to decide.

So I'm flitting between work and school and more, but I thought I'd post this...

Last night I was dashing about the Good Egg Galaxy, and I thought I'd explore the innards of the house in the first clearing.  Once in the cellar, I proceeded to  approach a small ramp which normally lets one walk up the wall, but somehow found myself falling through the back of the wall and into the "murky swirling blackness in the background" effect instead.  I appear to have managed to sneak between polygons and get myself stuck.  Interestingly, Mario didn't die, he just sort of vanished into the black, swirling stuff.

I haven't been able to repeat this yet, so I'm not sure if it's pure happenstance or a particular entry angle.

So I got the game at about 2:30 on Monday, and I've been busy with both real life and the adventures of a portly plumber since that point.  So far, the game is good, although I felt surprisingly underwhelmed when I began playing today.  Things have been picking up as the game has progressed, though.

Real life returns soon, then a small batch of the Galaxy.  Let's see how long it takes to reach the "ending" this time.

Whenever you get your hands on the game, enjoy yourself.

The Check Mii Out Channel launched worldwide yesterday.  You can get it free from the WiiWare™ section of the Wii Shop Channel.  It's easy to upload Miis to the Posting Plaza where you can also select up to 50 Miis from around the world as your favorites.  You can also transfer them to your Mii Channel Plaza, but I'm keeping them in the Posting Plaza for now since I already have 100 Miis in my Mii Channel -- not counting the ones stored on my Wiimotes.  The Miis in the Posting Plaza can be viewed by popularity, top 50, grab bag, and favorites.  If you come across a Mii you like and want to see more like it or by the same Mii Artisan you can "Call Mii Friends" to view them.  I really like this feature and am glad they included it.  I don't like being limited to only two initials for posted Miis, however.  I understand that Nintendo probably did it to avoid any inappropriate names, but I still don't like it.  It's cool to be able to name them when you transfer them to your Mii Channel.  I don't know what the limit to the number of Miis you can post is since I've only uploaded 23 so far.  Let my know if you come across any by my DrBrainAge Artisan. 

"Mario Without A Cap" is the first Check Mii Out Channel's contest.  If you don't have a Mii for the contest go to the Mii Channel and make one to submit it before the contest ends.  You can only submit Miis to the contest or plaza that you made.  I submitted this Hatless Mario I made shortly after getting my Wii.  I'm sure people can do better, so go post your Mii.  I wish they'd included a "suggest a contest" option like they did with the Everybody Votes channel. 

Link: press.nintendo.com

I know I'm late with this, but I just saw it on Nintendo Press.  Anyway, the official press release: "Mario, Nintendo's iconic video game character, and Dr. Buzz Aldrin float in zero-gravity atmosphere to train for Mario's upcoming game set in space, Super Mario Galaxy for Wii on November 03, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game is available in stores Monday, Nov. 12."

Click to enlarge:


Link: press.nintendo.com

Volume 2 of Iwata Asks: Super Mario Galaxy is now available in English on uk.wii.com. In this volume, Satoru Iwata -- President and CEO of Nintendo Co., Ltd. -- interviews five Super Mario Galaxy developers. Among the topics discussed are the game's challenge level, the spherical playing field, and the origin of Bee Mario!

Link: uk.wii.com

Okay fungi and fungals, here we go!

Over three hundred TMK stickers were distributed at E for All -- your job is to find photos with TMK stickers in them -- like this one of Destructoid.  Find them and post them here in this blog thread... how many can you find?

Feel free to post any links to e3 2006 or Wii Launch Party (Universal City Walk) pictures you find, as well.

I have some E for All Trinkets and I'm going to give a special prize pack (value undetermined) to whoever can find the most TMK sticker photos on the internet.

Will it be you?

These folks all trust the fungus, even on an early Sunday morning.

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Some shots of the crowds and steps before we all got to enter the hall.

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We're waiting....

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I do believe this is Ness from the first day.  Franklin badge!


Note the Ness tattoo.  I'm 98% sure that at e3 2006, the TMK crew sat behind this guy during the Nintendo press conference.

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I ran into the fellow on the right many, MANY times.

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I saw this guy's shirt, and I just KNEW...

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These fellows were far too enthusiastic.

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Just for Deezer, more shots of games and stuff.

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Classically trained. 'Nuff said.

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You might recognize these folks from my pictures of the media hospitality room on Saturday.  They were enthusiastic to see me, and wore the stickers on their foreheads for a good chunk of the remainder of the day.

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I want this shirt, but I must confess it probably looks better on her than it would on me.

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It's PAUL GALE again.  I kept bumping into him... and folks with their heads being devoured by Pac-Man.

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Fungus -- she trusts it.

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Awwww....

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That sneaky Paul guy is back, along with some new friends.

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Everyone has cooler t-shirts than I do.

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That's one hip red tie.

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This guy's company makes giant, dome displays.

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Fungus stickers go well with dark jackets.

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See the guy on the right?  Guess who is he in costume as...


Princess Peach.

That's just disturbing.

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Insert witty comment here.

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Most of the really neat t-shirts you see all came from the Nintendo World Store in New York City.  (Shakes fist.)

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Cute little Bowser plush.  I have two just like it.

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Note how one member of this family group doesn't trust the fungus.

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So, I ran into some more girls from the PMS Clan.  Naturally, they love the fungus.  The third girl, however, was a bit more enthusiastic.


This lovely lass asked for an additional sticker for her husband at home, and THEN decided that all the ladies of the clan NEEDED to display their trust of the fungus.



She then decided that the folks running the HP booth (which the PMS girls were staffing) also trusted the fungus:



One PMS girl was busy demonstrating something, but we got to her later...

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Trust the fungus? Of course they do!

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This guy needed a red mushroom to go with his shirt...

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When I saw the NES controller around his neck, I knew he needed a sticker.

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MARIO!  (Or an approximate fascimile thereof.)

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Oops.  I appear to have forgotten to rotate these fellows... that or we had another earthquake.

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Someone didn't want their face in the photo.

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Kilted guys MUST trust the fungus.

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This shirt caught my eye... and it turned out the guy in the shirt was part of the Indie Games display.  He proceeded to lead me to these fine folks...

... who, of course, trusted the fungus.

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Proud of the trust, he is.

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Back in the media center, I ran into this fine fellow while we were discussing the general lack of media presence on the final day.  He was happy to show his fungal trust.

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TANOOKI!

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This fellow is sporting one of the t-shirts Nintendo gave away during the week.

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Custom French Mario-esque shirts.

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What's cooler than a dad with a Mario shirt?  (Well, he could be an older brother or demented uncle, but I prefer to assume the direct family connection.)

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Just in case you were wondering how to play the new Fire Emblem game...

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It's truly scary what happens when you have a Pac-Attack.

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This may be the first, and last, time I ever see Ice Climbers cosplay.

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I'm not entirely sure why I have two pictures of this guy, but I do.

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Why should YOU join the ECA?

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We got that elusive PMS girl at last.

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All good Toadettes trust the fungus!

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Guys in HP booths will be forced to trust the fungus, thanks to the PMS girls.

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We need more gals with Peach t-shirts.

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This lady told me she is a total Legend of Zelda junkie.  We had a debate on the matter of Shiek and whether shiek is female (which SHE IS, as she's Zelda in disguise) or male (yeah, right).  She was unenthused with my reasoning for shiek being female.  We also discussed Link's possible love interests.

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NOA employees trust the fungus.  Would you expect anything less?

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A bad photo of one of the banners hanging around the room.

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This feels like some sort of growth chart.

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This charming Nintendo booth lass manned the Fire Emblem displays, which were sadly underutilized during the course of the show.  Whenenever I passed her way, I did my best to cheer her up.

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Everyone, TRUST THE FUNGUS!

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Tanookis are so nice, we snapped 'em twice.

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These guys were trying to drum up interest in their booth, which sells certification programs for game testing.  I'm not sure there's much of a demand for that, but they had vibrant displays.

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This woman seemed a bit confused when I asked if she trusted the fungus, but she perked up nicely when she received the sticker.

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You can't beat the classics.

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Nintendo girls love the fungus!

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A floor mural that was finished just in time for day 4.

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Spare E for All ID badge holders being given away on the final day.

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These guys finished off my TMK sticker sheet!  TRUST DAT FUNGUS!

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More free E for All Badge Holders.  I wonder how many they made?

Game stores such as GameStop, ebgames, and Game Crazy have recently received full copies of Super Mario Galaxy for use in their demo kiosks.  So, if you want to check out Mario Galaxy early, try your nearest game retailer.  Inevitably, some employee dumped and uploaded the game to the internet already, over two weeks before it will be available for purchase.

Link: NeoGAF

Just getting ready to start another exciting day of fungi folk collecting.  Please excuse the strangeness of the first picture and the difficulty of seeing the second.

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Yep, well all just love to trust the fungus!

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Ever wonder how you control Super Smash  Bros. Brawl using just a Wii Remote?

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Tommy Tallarico and his close, personal friend Becky Young trust the fungus!

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I'm telling you, ladies love Yoshi.

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That's a Mario t-shirt I haven't seen before.

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There's a funny story behind this... when I saw this guy's shirt from an angle, I thought it was a Zelda t-shirt.  After asking him if he trusted the fungus, I realized my mistake.  Luckily, he DID trust the fungus.

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A young Zelda trusts the fungus.

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A group of fungus loving folks... and that guy on the far right is starting to look familiar.

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I thought this was a neat t-shirt.

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This guy told me he made this Mario hat out of a Mario pillow he bought somewhere... so, if you find any large Mario hat pillows, it IS possible to hack them into functional Mario hats.  This guy revealed that he practiced on his Luigi hat first...

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So yes, I need to write something here...

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I really must say that these two don't object to the fungus.

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Anyone want to translate these for me?

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It's lunchtime in the media room, and these ladies all love that fungus!

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These nice folks enjoyed sticking TMK stickers on each other's foreheads.  I have their website URL around here somewhere, but now I can't find it... hopefully they'll visit and let me know!

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I really liked this guy's shirt. Reminds me of my wallpaper.

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MB is going home.  Let's wave goodbye!

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The fungus, let us trust it.

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This nice lady is from GameQuest Direct. They have a new site set up and consumer buying goodies and all sorts of stuff, but I didn't sign up for it.  That made her sad.

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These guys are wearing the special Super Mario Galaxy t-shirt that was given out at a SMG/SSBB stage demo I missed.  Sigh.

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The Fungus is among us.

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These folks came all the way from Alabama -- presumably not just for this show, but I wasn't sure.

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This would be an unnamed person who may or may not be a NOA employee and is not being named.

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Look -- this Link(ette) trusts the fungus!

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Remember, when the camera flashes TWICE...

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Link plays Link's Crossbow Training. (The game's pretty good, actually.)

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This guy got a TMK sticker from me back at the Wii Launch Event at Universal Citywalk -- it's on his wallet.  He asked for a new one.

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Yoshiiiii.

Day Two Begins... and my lens is smeared.  Don't worry, it clears up soon.

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This is Paul Gale. I kept running into him.  You'll notice that.

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Waiting for the convention room to open.  I met all these folks waiting...

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These folks are standing in a big line while I'm in a tiny line upstairs.  I think they were chanting for some reason.

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Deezer told me to get more game images.

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Don't make him go Zelda on you.

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More stickers.

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This is MegaByte playing against someone.  Why is this newsworthy?  Let's zoom in on the opponent's lanyard...

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Those Nintendo girls just love the fungus.

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Perrin Kaplan trusts the fungus!

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Some of the Brawl decorations hanging around the room.

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More Nintendo booth decorations.

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She manages to pull off a DK tie with sunglasses.

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Chris Kohler, star of Wired's Game|Life, takes the time to appear in a picture here on TMK.

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Rock out with a Guitar Hero guitar while you TRUST THE FUNGUS.

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That t-shirt he's wearing was given out by Nintendo in their special Brawl arena area.

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The ladies seem to enjoy Yoshi shirts.

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Some company trying to sell giant, truck-sized video displays had this "Graffiti Me" whiteboard set up near their display.  Sadly, no one drew on it... until I took some initiative.  Later that day, it was covered with stuff... and most of my stuff was gone. Sigh.

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Two thumbs up!

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Don't they look happy?

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Konami folks trust the fungus, too.

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There was a story here, but it escapes me at the moment.

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Never stop trusting that fungus, guys.

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They are quite happy with their mushroom stickers.

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This booth had Mario Kart RC cars and slot cars. They were zipping around the floor at times.

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Even guys with t-shirts based on games that predate the fungus still trust in it!

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Another Nintendo gal proudly sporting her new sticker.

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Four swords!

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I believe this guy got a sticker when he asked what they were.

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These stickers were fairly popular, as you might have noticed by now.

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SNAAAAAAKE....

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I want a Triforce emblem sweatshirt.

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Hey, it's Luigi!

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Yeah, I know, it's Trevor Belmont, but still...

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So I went to offer the gal with the Zelda handbag a TMK sticker, and everyone else demanded one too.

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EA producers ALSO Trust the Fungus.

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1up!

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David Hayter, voice of Solid Snake, trusts the mushroom.  MB and I are backstage at Video Games Live.

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This is Video Games Live... they had a Cosplay parade thing before the show.  That appears to be Fox McCloud holding Kirby.

My hotel room. Aren't you excited?

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The first person to TRUST THE FUNGUS and receive a TMK Sticker.

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MegaByte and his Nintendo World Report buddy Steven Rodriguez arrive at the convention center. Aren't they looking chipper?

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Another happy recipient of a TMK sticker.

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He, too, trusts the fungus.

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Two, count them, TWO Fungus Fans at once!

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Even Destructoid trusts the fungus... even if I didn't see it on him later during the day.

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How can a guy with a shirt like that NOT be a member of the Mushroom Kingdom?

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MB says this is someone I should know about. Sadly, I lost his note about the name of this person.  I believe this person shows up later in different garb.  MB will have to update me on this.

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So it's a bit blurry... the lighting was bad.  That's Phillip  from Advanced Media Network... those wacky AMN guys even posted about it in their forums.

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Boy, I think I need to reconsider my choice to be in all these photos... I look crazy, and I'm not the guy wearing a DK tie.

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Even folks from 1up.com trust the fungus!

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Nintendo gals and TMK -- a perfect blend, like pizza and cardboard boxes.

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Yes, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man love TMK too...even if their handlers wouldn't let them wear the sticker.  We know they really love us.  (Oh, that's Chris Glass from DMG Ice in the last picture.  He took a lot of these pictures for me while I was chatting with the lovely folks in all the photos.  He's long-suffering.)

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You know, I'm going to have to learn about smiling for a camera and properly timing my speaking, or I'll keep ending up with photos in which I look vaguely like Wario in Brawl.

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People of all ages trust the fungus!

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Hey, NESS TRUSTS THE FUNGUS! (Did you ever doubt that, really?)

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Lunch time.  Note the giant table full of boxed lunches?  It's thirty minutes after lunch started and they're still on the table.  E for All <> E3.

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Who's this man who trusts in the fungus so? Why, it's Rusel DeMaria, author of many fine video game history and information books (including Hi Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games).

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All of these fine folks met me, chatted, took TMK stickers and posed for pictures.  Hi, folks!

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If you wait in some tiny bleachers, you get to play four player Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  If you win in your four player tournament, you get to play on THE BIG SCREEN with other winners.  Here you can see MegaByte's back as he prepares to face off in a BIG SCREEN TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS.

I'd have more about this, but it was my turn to play on the other side, so I ran off.

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Cosplayer time.

Yes, E for All had a "Cosplay Parade and Photo Opportunity".  Here we go.  Please excuse the lousiness of the pictures, but the front of the stage area was filled with a high school marching band.



I bet you thought I was kidding for a moment, didn't you?

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You may have noticed, amidst those rather lousy pictures of folks in Zelda/Spiderman/Castlevania/FF7/Kingdom Hearts/Destructoid (that shouldn't count)/Generic Anime characters, something special.  The SINGLE GREATEST GAMING COSTUME OF ALL TIME:

Yes... that's a BOO COSTUME!

(Sadly, the cosplaying fellow said he "didn't trust the fungus".  Personally, I think he was just staying in character...right?)

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We're just one band of happy, mushroom-loving guys.

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Even if your skull is slowing mutating into Pac-Man, you can still take the time to trust that fungus.

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The folks in the Nintendo booth really love that fungus.  I mean, it makes sense and all, but it's still rather touching.

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Scurvy knaves from regions unknown trust the fungus, and that's not a gaffe.

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  Oh, look -- a super blurry picture of a new Wii system box.  Note the prominent Wii Sports logo on it. (Trust me, it's there.)

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These two young ladies trust the fungus. Isn't that wonderful?  The one on my right appeared to have been up to something crofty earlier that day.

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This is a picture of myself with a mushroom gal and her identical twin sister.

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I bet you wish you had a cool DK tie like this guy has.

Actually, maybe I could snag an extra one for a prize or something like that. Hmmm.

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You know, I'm not made of witty catchphrases and slogans.  Just because I haven't used any so far doesn't mean that I'm not tired of trying to.

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TANOOOKI!

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It's amazing how people pop out of the woodwork when they realize you are giving stuff away for free.

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This nice young lady is trying to hide her face so she won't get in trouble. Did it work?

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It's a Metal Gear print in the Into the Pixel exhibit.

No, that's about all there is to this.  I was asked to take it, so I did.

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If I had won a game of Halo while at this booth, these nice ladies would have given me a free iPod carrying case.  I don't own an iPod, but still, it would have been nice to have.

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Here I am at the 1up booth.  See that lovely lady posing next to me?  She lost her badge earlier that day... then I found it under a sign.  Here we are after she was reunited with her badge.


Here's one of her co-workers. He let me know that she had been losing stuff all day -- even her airline boarding pass!

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These nice ladies of the PMS Gaming Clan wanted me to join The ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association).  I'm not sure the ECA is for me, but I promised to look into it.

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Awwww.... aren't they a cute couple?  They said they'd come back tomorrow in a new set of matching Mario-themed t-shirts.

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Kong....KOOONG!

So, I played it quite a bit today... some thoughts and observations:

* Peach's "Daisy" outfit is currently missing. She has the Daisy color scheme (brown hair), but no texture changes (daisy earrings, different crown, etc..) like in Melee. This seems like an odd omission.

* Regarding Samus and Fox's "alternate outfits" -- I'm going to have to check into this tomorrow, but I didn't leave the expo with that impression at all. While I'm hesistant to say much about Samus (I'll try her color scheme out tomorrow, although toggling through the colors showed NO alternate textures or designs, JUST color schemes), I do know I saw Fox in the "Star Wolf" coloring... and frankly, the only difference I saw was the color scheme. If Samus has a Fusion Suit, it should be obvious, and I'll look for it tomorrow -- otherwise, well, I think the reports of "different costumes" at this point are merely different color schemes. Dark Link appears to just be a different color scheme too.

* Multiple taunts are fun, but I can't tell if there is ANY way to CHOOSE a taunt in Wii Remote play. This might be a problem, as some taunts have lag (Mario's growth).

* Still not sure about Mario's FLUDD. It seems to be called by D+B when standing, but I'm not entirely sure what makes it later vanish OR if you can do anything else with it after it is called. You can't seem to drop it as an item.

* Peach feels more "floaty". Her hip smash attacks have little white flash heart animations.

* I really, REALLY hate Wii Remote controls.

* Classic Controller is growing on me, but I still want the Wavebird.

* Adventure Mode looks neat -- they were showing various Adventure Mode clips. Wario appears to be a total jerk in this game.

Overall, the game FEELS like an enhanced SSBM as opposed to "a brand new game" -- adventure mode and the like will take care of that, though.

IF it's true that there are no alternate costumes at the moment... I find that rather significant. Removing Peach's "Daisy" outfit really makes no sense at all... if that's gone, it would seem MORE possible that there is a universal "second costume" or "costume selection" option for ALL the characters coming later. But, well, speculation.

Oh, another thing -- Final Smash attacks generally seem WEAKER than we are all expecting them to be. Avoiding or surviving the attacks isn't impossible by a long shot. The game seems very well balanced even with the Final Smash attacks... Stationary Final Smashes (like Mario's) can be avoided if you are quick, Speedy Final Smashes (Super Sonic) are hard for the player to control, etc..

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Summary of New Adventure Mode Stuff (from David's Memory)

* Donkey Kong stage (Donky and Diddy) : Bullet Bills blast into an island. DK and Diddy begin fighting stuff. Level begins. Giant goomba boss. Etc. etc. Ending cutscene -- DK and Diddy find bananas, then BOWSER appears and growls at them.

* Arena - you guys know this one. Mario/Kirby, fight, Pirahna w/ Princesses, you save one, Mario goes flying away (presumably to end up with Sonic)
New Stuff: Arena, Kirby and Peach standing near each other, Zelda crawling out of her broken cage. Suddenly, motorcycle crashes into the arena. Wario hops off, pulls out a futuristic gun, shoots Zelda, she turns into a "Smash Statue" (with base), Wario cackles, picks up the statue, laughs and rides off.

I forget if anything else was really new... it showed some of the actual platforming parts... Pit fighting a giant crowd of the Eggplant-man-looking Darkness guys...

I'll be at the E for All show this week, as will at least one other TMK staff person.  Pictures should be coming from the event, and any small tidbits of news that can be found.

If you're at the E for All show and spot me somewhere, say hello!  Mention TMK and I might even have a small gift for you...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1311048903

Isn't that cute?

With digital distribution, USB drives, and even good ol' Compact Discs, the Floppy Disc has been rendered obsolete (though I'm sure a certain someone will counter that claim). So what is a person to do with all those old and unused media storage devices?

Why make a Mario mural of course. According to Kotaku, this guy plans on making his entire apartment a tribute to our favorite 8-bit plumber. Now that's just insane; not to make a the mural, but to have that many Floppy Disc lying around!

Link: Kotaku.com

Today UPS finally dropped off the size 10 pretties you see above. My only regret is that I did not order two pairs; one to wear, and one to place on my Mario shrine. Oh well, maybe I will wear these to a special event, like the midnight release of Super Mario Galaxy. Even then, I'm not sure I could bring myself to wear them (they are just so perfect) ...

Other than the shoes, the only items in the box were a special Run Athletics Nintendo Tee, a non-Nintendo related bumpersticker that I trashed, and my receipt. I'm going to frame the receipt, that way when I'm poor I can always say "Man, those shoes were totally worth it".

Check out the clickable gallery below...

It's been sometime since Mario AND Luigi attempted to save the Princess and the Mushroom Kingdom together, hasn't it? Wouldn't it be grand if Luigi was at least somehow involved in Mario's latest adventure, Super Mario Galaxy? Well, thanks to some detective work (aka looking closely at screenshots) it seems he might be.

A reader from blog "Go Nintendo" was able to spot Luigi in the background of this photo (blown to epic proportions above). It looks as if Luigi is trapped in a cage of some sort, with Boo Suit Mario needing to free him. Now, I personally believe once Mario finds Luigi, it turns out nothing but a ruse to trap poor little Mario.

Cameo, secret playable character, or just some Boos playing a trick on Mario? You decide!

Link: Go Nintendo

SEGA's gaming legend Sonic The Hedgehog to feature in Super Smash Bros Brawl for Wii

10th October, 2007- Nintendo of Europe and SEGA Europe Ltd today revealed that Sonic, SEGA’s legendary blue hedgehog, will be making his debut in the eagerly anticipated beat ‘em up, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii. This brawling, battling, action packed video game features a varied roster of characters, from Mario to Link to Zero Suite Samus and now players can choose the iconic hedgehog to go into battle with.

Sonic made his first appearance in 1991, appearing in Sonic The Hedgehog™ for the SEGA MEGADRIVE™, and quickly became a well-known household name, securing a dedicated following across the globe. Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series has been a firm favourite since the first title launched in 1999 on the Nintendo 64, and since the launch of Super Smash Bros. Melee for Nintendo GameCube, it has since gone on to have millions of fans worldwide.

Laurent Fischer, European Managing Director for Marketing and PR commented:
“I am very pleased that Nintendo is extending its relationship with SEGA in this way and that our gaming icons can come together in such an action packed title. I am sure many fans will share my enthusiasm to see Sonic appear Super Smash Bros. Brawl to battle it out with a whole host of Nintendo favourites!”

Mike Hayes, President and COO of SEGA Europe commented:
”Its amazing that after all these years we get to see these two much loved characters compete against each other in another fantastic title. Bringing Mario and Sonic together again underlines the continuing partnerships between Nintendo and SEGA, and produces another industry first for our two companies.”

In the forthcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl, players will for the first time be able to complete in online multiplayer battles for up to four players. The game will also contain an all-new adventure mode called Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Subspace Emissary, where players can select their favourite character before embarking on an adventure to conquer giant bosses from the Nintendo Universe. There will also be a variety of stages where players can commence battles, including Delfino Plaza, Yoshi’s Island and Sky World.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl will launch across Europe on Wii early 2008 at an estimated retail price of €60.

Mii functionality and Dream events confirmed for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has not only a massive line-up of real-life Olympic events, but SEGA can today proudly confirm that their much anticipated title also has a unique series of exclusive “Dream Events” to add to the mix. The Dream Events - which are both single and multiplayer - are based in colourful game-like universes that include objects and power-ups that will either improve a players game, or bring their opponent down.

The four Dream events featured are:

- Dream Race (Sandhill Race Course) – Get on your marks for this intense power-up filled race course, made for either one player, or as many as four.

- Dream Platform (Tropical Reef Diving Area – 10,000M Diving) – More like skydiving, soar through hoops and perform aerial tricks while avoiding obstacles and opponents to reach the finish line first.

- Dream Fencing (Duel Wharf Fencing Beach) – With unique special attacks for each character, this jungle-inspired world offers the ultimate duel.

- Dream Table Tennis (Speed Rally Table Tennis Stadium) – A sci-fi wonderland, this magical table tennis extravaganza offers a special ability for each character – so move fast!

Mario & Sonic At the Olympic Games also offers Wii users the ultimate gaming fantasy – the opportunity to play against their favourite Mario or Sonic character. Thanks to the unique interactive Mii features, players can bring their own Mii into the game as a playable character and compete as themselves in any of the Olympic or Dream events.

Screenshots of a Wii Ware Dr. Mario game are popping up, as well as a few shots from the Wii Mario Kart title, showing Peach driving about in a motorcycle-like thing of some sort.

It's times like this that I wish I knew how to add pictures to TMK.  HEEEEY, Deeezer!

Check out the official Smash Bros. site to see Sonic knocking Mario over as he dashes about like a deranged blue spiny mammal.

Prepare to die the death of a thousand stomps, blue pretender.

NINTENDO NEWS: WANT TO PLAY GALAXY AND BRAWL? VISIT NINTENDO'S BOOTH AT E FOR ALL

Oct. 9, 2007- You might want to get in line for Nintendo's booth at the E for All Expo now. Nintendo will be showing a huge lineup of cool games for both Wii™ and Nintendo DS™, including the hugely anticipated Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Oct. 18-22 event at the Los Angeles Convention Center will be the first opportunity for the public to get their hands on these games and take them for a test drive.

In addition, Nintendo will host a daily Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament. Competitors get a free Wii-themed T-shirt, and a different T-shirt will be available each day of the show.

Although the lineup is subject to change, the complete list of games for Nintendo systems scheduled to appear at E for All include:

Wii
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
Battalion Wars™ 2
Fire Emblem™: Radiant Dawn
Wii Zapper™ with Link's Crossbow Training™
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Resident Evil®: The Umbrella Chronicles
Medal of Honor Heroes™ 2
Ghost Squad™

Nintendo DS
Professor Layton® and the Curious Village
Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon® Pearl
Flash Focus™: Vision Training in Minutes a Day
Brain Age™: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
Brain Age™ 2: More Training in Minutes a Day
Mario Party DS
The Legend of Zelda®: Phantom Hourglass
Nintendogs
Mario Kart DS
New Super Mario Bros.
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Final Fantasy XII
Jam Sessions
WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
My Spanish Coach

For more information about these and other Nintendo games, please visit www.Nintendo.com.

NINTENDO'S SUPER MARIO GALAXY HOROSCOPE FOR MONDAY, OCT. 8, 2007

You've got plenty of energy today; it's a good day to dream of future rewards. After a lifetime spent chasing coins, finally one comes to you!

Now through Nov. 11, stop by a participating retailer and place a deposit to reserve your copy of the magnificent Super Mario Galaxy for Wii. Your cosmic bounty will be great: When you return to retrieve your game on its Nov. 12 launch, you will claim a limited-edition shimmering silvery Mario coin, an eternal testament to your foresight.

Don't put off tasks you know need doing-surely this is one of them.

For more information about Super Mario Galaxy, please visit www.Nintendo.com.

DID YOU KNOW? DONKEY KONG: BARREL BLAST LETS PLAYERS GO BANANAS ON WII!

Oct. 8, 2007- Nintendo has given some rocket-powered barrels to a bunch of apes, and the rest of you had better get out of the way. The high-octane Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast launches today exclusively for Nintendo's Wii system. It's a game that anyone can pick up and play, but racing fans will have - dare we say it? - a blast perfecting their moves.

Up to four players choose a racer from a variety of characters, including multiple members of the Kong family, as well as their friends and enemies. Racing is a snap. Players shake the motion-sensitive Wii Remote and Nunchuk to accelerate and turn, or press a button to jump, attack or use a variety of items to thwart their competitors.

Each of the 16 racecourses is littered with bananas. Gather 50, perform a Wild Move and watch your Barrel Rocket hit hyperspeed. The game even includes a variety of fun challenges for players to complete to receive special rewards.

Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast is rated E for Everyone and is poised to rocket into the library of every Wii fan. For more information about Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast, please visit www.Nintendo.com.

Before he was filming Mario's adventures or pulling karts out of water, Latiku was known for one thing: Annoying players by throwing Spinys at them. It seems he is going to be doing just that in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, except this time as an Assist Trophy. The update also mentioned that other 8-bit characters will reprise their roles (Excitebike was the focus of the update) and make appearances as Assist Trophies. Any suggestions/predictions readers?

Link: Smash Bros. DOJO!!

With all his bravery and goodness, you'd think Mario would be the last person to land in jail. Alright, maybe the first time wasn't his fault, but surely he must have committed some wrongdoing to be in that situation again. Of course, Nintendo making another Mario Party game, that could constituted as a crime against humanity, amirite?

Enjoy some more fresh screenshots of Mario Party DS at the link below, courtesy of Famitsu!

Link: Famitsu.com

By far, the latest DOJO!! update for Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the funniest of them all. One of the rare "double" updates, the first included 5 new screenshots and 3 new videos showing off the new level Shadow Moses Island, and I recommend watching them all. In one of the videos, Snake is given intel on Yoshi (best line "It talks?!") where he questions Yoshi's sexuality and tastiness, and in another video is told all about Wario's farting ability. The second update, titled "Snake Joins the Brawl!", Snake is briefed on Mario, and is given the mission of taking down our favorite mustachioed plumber.

Despite the silliness, there is quite a bit of information given, and some of Mario's attacks are displayed in the second update. Make sure you watch them all below!

Link: Smash Bros. DOJO!!: Shadow Moses Island, Smash Bros. DOJO!!: Snake Joins the Brawl!

If you didn't already spend your hard earned cash on the 120.00 Mario shoes, or the 200.00 Mario 50cm statue, there is now a third expensive Mario item you can purchase: The 50cm Fire Mario statue, Wecle ATS. Pictured above, the statue comes courtesy of the people that brought us the regular Mario 50cm statue. It's coming this November, raising the question: SMG or this? I think the choice is clear.

Link: Fire Mario 50cm Statue (purchase)

DS Fanboy sat down with Rich Amtower, who works in  the translation department for Nintendo's Treehouse division. In the interview, he talked about his most recently released work, DK Jungle Climber. Below is a portion of the interview...

DSF: You recently worked on DK Jungle Climber, what were some of the unique challenges you ran into in localizing this title?
RA: The game was still in development while we were localizing it. This meant that every few days, whole levels might be tweaked so that we'd have to rewrite hints, clues, and tutorials. Staying on top of the changes was critical, because you want to make sure you're giving good, clear, and fun information to the player at all times. It was great seeing how much work the development team put into the game, and their efforts really show through in the finished product.

Check out the rest of the interview below!

Link: DSFanboy.com

If you've ever wanted Mario themed athletic shoes and also wanted to throw money away madly, have we found the perfect thing for you.

Denim & Sole is selling a special, limited edition "Legacy X Nintendo 2007 Colorway: blue-red-black-gray" athletic shoe.  Only 400 pairs will be sold, at $120 each; to slightly offset the cost, you will also receive a "Run Athletics Legacy X Nintendo T-Shirt" with each pair of shoes.

A few more pictures are available at the charmingly entitled "High Snobiety" site.

So, Deezer... how much do we have left in the TMK treasury?

Some impressions via NWR....

From what I played at GC 2007, Super Mario Galaxy appears to be a prime example of how a game can utilise the strengths of the Wii console to their fullest. Not only are the graphics and sound design amazing, the game also takes advantage of practically every control feature offered by the Wii Remote and Nunchuk: You press buttons, move the control stick, aim, flick, and swing your way through the levels, and these actions never feel gimmicky.

Read more at the link!

Link: NintendoWorldReport

Update: Nintendo have confirmed this review is fake. Read all about it here.

Belgian gaming magazine "Gunk" seems to have already fully played and reviewed Super Mario Galaxy in their latest issue. While the exact content of the review is unknown at this time, the summary posted by a neogaf member states that the magazine didn't find anything wrong with the game, except the fact that it missed Wii's launch. What's more strange is that no specific pros or cons are mentioned in the review, and this magazine is notorious for posting reviews of games they have not played. The magazine gave it a 92/100.

I'll leave it up to our fine readers to debate the validity of this review!

Link: neogaf.com

Ever since I began shopping at GameStop 10 years ago I've always preordered my Mario games. Usually, Mario games are going to sell like hotcakes, so no preorder gift is needed to incite sales, but for Super Mario Galaxy Nintendo is pulling out all the stops. Exclusive to GameStop and Target stores(thus far), all customers that reserve a copy of SMG will be able to get a commemorative Mario coin that features Mario and his little star buddy.

As of today's date, the stores in my area have not received them, but if anyone does snag a coin, make sure to let us know!

Link: Platformers.net

So I got an e-mail from Nintendo today, summarizing tidbits and such about the Wii and DS during September. Nothing about the infamous "September surprise" we may or may not have gotten, but there was something interesting in the e-mail: "Donkey Kong Barrel Blast - coming October 8th".

Now, I'm sitting here confused, as I didn't know we had a release date for the game.  I jump online to check TMK... and yes, Deezer or MB or SOMEONE ELSE better in tune with release lists has that noted.

Why do I feel like I missed some announcement months ago?

Do I really need to write anything else?

Source: Smash Bros. DOJO - run by Sakurai, the guy behind it all.

The N64 title Yoshi's Story has been released for the Virtual Console here in North America.

If you haven't played this yet, the game is a more arcade-like take on a Mario platformer.  As Yoshi, eat fruit, toss eggs, and stop Shy Guys as you try to stop the evil baby Bowser from doing whatever it was he did this time.  The game features prerendered graphics (much like the Donkey Kong Country series, but at a much higher quality) and "two dimensional" gameplay.

The game is a bit on the short side, but it does offer a good chunk of replay value due to the structure of the levels - each world has several levels, but you only play one level each time you progress through the game.  Your level options are dependent on how well you play...

Yoshi's Story is a fun little platformer, but don't go in expecting Super Mario Bros. 3 or Yoshi's Island.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot...

EEE-AAAAAAA-UH-NOOOO .....  EEE-AAAAAAA-UH-NOOOO .... EEE-AAAAAAA-UH-NOOOO ...EEE-AAAAAAA-UH-NOOOO!

Ryota Kawade and Kensuke Tanabe from Intelligent Systems were interviewed by NCL to promote the upcoming European release of Super Paper Mario (Yes, USA'ers, they still have not been able to play that title). There are some interesting tidbits to the interview, and below is a portion to make you salivate for more...

NoE: Which of the four main playable characters in the game is your favourite to play with?

RK: "I think for me Mario is the easiest to use, but my favourite character is Luigi. I’m very much satisfied because we could make him take an active role in this story!"

Click on to see the full interview transcript, including the questions about a Paper Mario Brawl level, and Paper Mario on the DS!

Link: NeoGAF

Do you smell that? It's the fresh smell that's coming from these boxarts. The Super Mario Galaxy one may hold secrets about gameplay and such, so make sure to check out that one. The Donkey Kong Barrel Blast one? Well, Nintendo's just hoping you'll buy the game. You will, won't you?

See them in all their original size glory at the links below!

Link:
Super Mario Galaxy boxart
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast boxart

Brain Age 2 was very recently released.  As you might have heard, it comes with Virus Buster, which has been described as "a Dr. Mario clone."

I just finished playing it for a bit... it's Dr. Mario in art style and features the Chill music from the Dr. Mario games.

Mario cameo stuff is just popping up all over the place in these "Touch Generations" titles...

To further those sessions between gaming, TMK's Blog will be providing you with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, or videos, feel free to submit it!

Alright, you can say this weekend's movie is a complete wash, but I beg to differ. See, I waited patiently until today to post all the new, awesome, fanatastic links to all the videos that were taken of Super Mario Galaxy and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games from the Game Convention 2007. Unlike other sites that make needless posts after posts and force you to compile the video inks yourself, I've linked to each video, divided by game, in one simple place. Not only that, but I also went ahead and rounded up any articles and pictures about the games! Am I not just the greatest?

I imagine this may eat up a good part of your weekend if you watch them all. Enjoy this weekend's movie, TMK's GC 2007 Round-Up.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympics Games
Video
TMKVideos
GC 2007: Mario & Sonic 'Yoshi Dash'
NintendoWorldReport
Impressions (Video located middle of article)
GameTrailers
GC 2007 110 Meter Hurdles Cam Gameplay
GC 2007 100 Meter Dash Cam Gameplay
YouTube
GC 2007 Competition
Articles
Gamespot
GC 2007 Impressions
IGN
GC 2007 Impressions
Jeux-France
GC 2007 Demo
Pictures
Famitsu
4 Photos
Jeux-France
17 Photos
NintendoWorldReport
27 Photos
TMK
24 Screenshots

Super Mario Galaxy
Videos
GameTrailers
GC 2007 Green Planet Cam Gameplay
GC 2007 Gateway World Cam Gameplay Pt. 1
GC 2007 Gateway World Cam Gameplay Pt. 2
CVG
Egg Planet Galaxy: The Prehistoric Piranha
Cookie Factory Galaxy: Conquering the Sweet Cake
IGN
GC 2007 Videos: Upside Downside, Level Assemble!,  Buzzing About, Just Bee
Jeux-France
Cookie Factory Galaxy: You can't film that!
Articles
Gamespot
GDC 2007 Impressions
IGN
Impressions and Information Nintendo doesn't want you to know
Pictures
Jeux-France
17 Photos
TMK
Six Screenshots

Past Weekend Movies (Most Recent): Summer 2007 Edition

For the weekend, a new selection of Mario tunes has been added to the WTMK playlist.

You can expect to hear music from Super Paper Mario, Super Princess Peach, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, and a few other titles.  Can you guess what else has been added?

Here's a hint... two of the selections tie into a hardware line, while the third could be called a trifle more flat.

TMKVideos is now hosting the GameVideos footage taken straight from Games Convention 2007. Check it out at the link below.

Link: TMKVideos: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games- 'Yoshi Dash'

Sega gave GC 2007 attendees a new batch of screenshots for the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. These latest screens show the characters participating in archery, long jump, and other activities. Check them out on the screenshots page, and discuss potential new game information on the Fungi Forums!

Link GC 2007: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Wii Screenshots

A sprinkling of new tunes and long lost promos can now be found on WTMK.

Are you as excited as I am?

...

Well, listen anyway.

If a NeoGAF poster is to believed, Nintendo of Europe couldn't wait until tomorrow to let the press take a gander at their latest release date list. On there, you'll notice a certain game by the name of Super Mario Galaxy. It's dated for November 16th, which is sooner than most gamers probably expected. However, there is one person that did not think that possibility was far-fetched: me. That's right, I called for a release date of November 15th, solely based on speculation and Europe's usual release schedule. See, I'm not all hot air, just 98%.

Check out the Mario-related game release dates below, and the link for the full list!

Wii
    * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games - 30.11.2007 - 59.99 Euro
    * Super Mario Galaxy - 16.11.2007 - 49.99 Euro
DS
    * Donkey Kong Jungle Climber - 12.10.2007 - 39.99 Euro
    * Mario Party DS - 23.11.2007 - 39.99 Euro

Link: CVG

The Games Convention 2007 in Leipzig, Germany will be held August 23-27, and as reported here a few weeks back, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will be on display by Sega. What I have included above is a picture from the setup and signage. Expect plenty of impressions from different media sites, all of which I'll attempt to catch and post here!

Check out more pictures at the link below.

Link: Jeux-France

I'm sure everyone's seen the latest video from Smash Bros. DOJO!! (If not, it's right here). I saw it last night as well, and much to my surprise it seems another Mario character has snuck their way into Super Smash Bros. Brawl. No, it's not Toad, it's Petey Piranha! This leads to an ultimate, mind bending question: is he in fact a playable character, an assist trophy, or a level hazard much like those in Super Smash Bros. Melee? Personally, I'm leaning towards playable character, but that leads to yet another question: Who would want to play as him? 

Make sure to check out the video- you might be surprised by what other Nintendo characters show up...

Link: Smash Bros. DOJO!!

The newest issue of Nintendo Power (October 2007) spills a few more details on Super Mario Galaxy. Below is a list of the things the editors mention:

- Basic storyline: A comet passes over the Mushroom Kingdom every 100 years, raining down magical stars and stardust. The kingdom is celebrating, when all of a sudden Bowser attacks! Mario arrives to put an end to this madness, but the situation worsens. Before he can realize what has happened, Mario wakes up on a moon above the Mushroom Kingdom...

- 120 stars, 40 different galaxies, and six major areas.

- Names of Galaxies mentioned: Gateway Galaxy, Star Dust Galaxy, Egg Planet Galaxy, and Cookie Factory Galaxy (for spoiler reasons, I won't disclose each Galaxies' detail).

- Confirmed Power-ups: Super Mushroom (fills health bar completely), Starman, Fire Flower, Bee suit, and Boo suit.

That's all they seem to mention. I'll make sure to pick the magazine and update you guys with anything else. This seems like the one issue all Mario fans need to get! (Though I'm sure it's just the beginning....)

Link: Wii.tv

To further those sessions between gaming, TMKblog will be providing you with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, or videos, feel free to submit it!

Last weekend, I asked for everyone's opinion about this feature. Very few replied, but those that did got across two points: They love bad puns, and they love Weekend Movies. In light of that, I will be continuing Wiikend Movies (see what I did there?).This week's movie involves Mario, a midget, a giant hand, and King Koopa being lit on fire. How they are all involved is what you must find out. Due to the great message this video brings, I am happy to present this weekend's movie, "Not So Super Mario".

Weekend Movie: Not So Super Mario (Length: 30 seconds)

Past Weekend Movies (Most Recent):
|8/11/07|- Ignorance is Bliss
|8/4/07|- Mario Brothers
|7/28/07|- Mario: Struked & Charged
|7/22/07|- History of Video Games
|7/14/07|- Super Mario Reloaded
|7/8/07|- Super Mario Bros. Z
|6/30/07|- Charles Martinet Uncensored
|6/10/07|- Mario RPG: Rawest Forest
|6/2/07|- SMB, Line Rider style!
|5/26/07|- Invisible Mario Karts

Old-school gamers step into the spotlight in this feature documentary about the original Donkey Kong.

Aug 17, 2007- This Friday, August 17, a documentary called The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is headed to theaters. The movie follows the stories of two very different people — a middle school science teacher named Steve Wiebe and an entrepreneur named Billy Mitchell — with one thing in common: kicking booty at the original arcade version of Donkey Kong. With a slot in the Guinness Book of World Records on the line, the two fight it out for DK domination, all the way to a dramatic ending in which one is crowned king.

Gamer or no, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters offers an intriguing and humorous look into the lives of two incredibly determined men, and what drives them to be the very best at everything they do, including playing a 26-year-old video game.

If you’re wondering who ends up being crowned king, then check the schedule below to see if The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is coming to a theater near you.

NOW PLAYING
New York (IFC Centre & AMC Empire)
Los Angeles (Landmark Nuart)
Seattle (Landmark Varsity)
Austin, TX (Alamo Drafthouse)

AUGUST 24
San Francisco (Landmark Lumiere)
Berkeley (Landmark Shattuck)
Chicago (Landmark Century Centre)
Minneapolis (Landmark Lagoon)
Washington, DC (Landmark E Street)
Boston (Landmark Kendall Square)
Portland, OR (Cinema 21)

August 31
Ft. Lauderdale (Las Olas 15)
Dallas (Inwood 3)
Kansas City (Studio 30)
Pleaseantville, NY (Jacob Burns)
Salt Lake City (Broadway 6)
San Diego (Landmark Ken)

September 7
Atlanta (Landmark Midtown)
San Antonio (Crossroads 6) (Ed. Note: Yay.)

September 14
Nashville (Belcourt)
September 21
St. Louis (Landmark Tivoli)

September 28
Iowa City (Bijou)

To Be Announced
Portland, ME (Movies on Exchange)
Hartford, CT (Cinestudio)
Ann Arbor (State)
Columbus (Drexel)
Madison (Sundance)

If you thought Mario and Luigi were the only ones that needed to save a princess from an evil kidnapper, think again. I am proud to introduce the Super Chick Sisters, who are on a quest to save Pamela Anderson from the evil Colonel Sanders! Website Kentucky Fried Cruelty's flash game Peta's Super Chick Sisters takes a few visual cues from New Super Mario Bros. and the super brothers even make a cameo, but I won't spoil the entire game from you!

Play through your browser, or download it at the link below!

Link: Peta's Super Chick Sisters

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, the documentary about the battle for the high score on Donkey Kong, was finally ready to be reviewed by editors from various publications, and those reviewers were quite pleased. In fact, at this time, the movie has a 100% rating on RottenTomatoes.com, meaning that not one reviewer has found anything (or very little) wrong with the movie. I definitely recommend seeing this movie...If it's released in your area. I have found a total of zero showings in my area (San Antonio/Austin Texas), and I doubt other small markets will get to see the movie. However, if you do get a chance to see it, please let me know by contacting me with a review or impressions!

Link: Rotten Tomatoes

Today's DOJO!! update detailed a rather peculiar collectible element, simply known as "Stickers", that has been added to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Stickers work much like the trophies from Super Smash Bros. Melee, except there are much easier to collect, with players earning them the instant they start a game. The sizes and characters featured on the sticker will vary, and there is even an extra mode where you can decorate things by putting stickers on them, creating things like a single frame comic. One aspect that wasn't detailed about these was the ability to save screen shots from the game and used them as stickers. This was mentioned with only a teaser sentence, so hopefully we can get information on that in the future.

In the meantime, check out the remaining pictures by clicking the links below!

Links
Stickers get filed away in your album.
Placing a Sticker in your album.
Saving a Sticker.
Various Stickers, set 1
Various Stickers, set 2

Weekly Famitsu caught up with Miyamoto and asked him a few questions concerning ideologies on game development. Nintendo's latest strategy has been leaving many without needing a strategy guide, to say the least. The companies focus on casual, easy to play games is indeed a dramatic turn for the company that has brought us quite a few complex adventures, ranging from Metroid to Zelda. However, our good old friend Miyamoto is quick to point out that the company simply wants to make games fun to play. "We need to release more games which feel like games. It is important that people who are playing them feel that the games are indeed fun to play," states the legendary game designer. He says that idea has been the focus during the development of Super Mario Galaxy.

"Now there is this concept I always focus on, which is you have to feel the fun of a game by only trying it, and that concerns Super Mario Galaxy, of course. Should it be fun by only playing it a short time, this indicates already it has a big value as a product… It is very important that the full fun of the game is being felt in the first stage 1-1.”

To read a translated summary of the entire article, click the link below!

Link: Next Generation

Mario & Luigi have surely lost their minds. What we have here are 8 inch tall homemade wooden Mario & Luigi toys. These are already pretty interesting just by being statues, but what's even better is that the arms with the weapons make a chopping action. The figures were made for i am 8-bit, a show that spotlights Videogame inspired artwork. Unfortunately, these were already sold, so you won't be able to buy them, but you can at least admire them in all their madness.

Link: flickr.com

Website Snack or Die chronicles videogame cookies and tells visitors how to make those cookies. So far they don't have many entries, but what they do have includes Cinnamon Starman cookies, Goomba cupcakes, and Bob-omb cookies. See these Mario characters in all their glory and learn how to make them all on one simply page, now how cool is that? If anyone ever wants to send us their Mario creations, all you have to do is send us a tip.

Links
Snack or Die: Starman
Snack or Die: Goomba
Snack or Die: Bob-omb

Games.net has listed their top 10 choices for weapons in videogames that are more creatively driven than traditional weapons. Of course, items from Mario's world make the list, and I'm sure quite a few of you will agree with the number one choice! Read up on all their choices at the link below.

Link: Games.net (Some vulgar language)

I can't believe how many Mario tattoos are popping up recently! Maybe it's just us focusing on them, but it's still amazing to see people using their body to express their love of Super Mario and friends. This one comes courtesy of Samuel Mullin, who did a 3/4 sleeve to honor Mario. He states that he didn't do this because he's a nerd, but because he wanted to pay homage to the game that got him through his young life. Check out mores are the link below!

Link: Samuel Mullin's website

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKblog will be providing you
with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, or videos, feel free to submit it to me!

I always think of TMK whenever I hear this song. Fortunately, someone has finally made a video to go with it, and creatively retells the tale of Bowser's evil plans to take over dinosaur land. Does he succeed? You'll have to watch to find out! It is with much pleasure I feature this weekend's movie, aptly entitled 'Ignorance Is Bliss' (also, check out this page to read up more on the song).

Also, this is the end of summer, isn't it?! Well, I know I always said this was to slow the boring summer days, but that doesn't mean the fun as to end. I want your feedback: Should weekend movies continue? Post a comment in this thread on the Fungi Forums and let me know. If I get enough good responses, I'll continue it. If not, well, then I guess this is goodbye to Weekend Movie...

Weekend Movie: Ignorance is Bliss

Past Weekend Movies (Most Recent):
|8/4/07|- Mario Brothers
|7/28/07|- Mario: Struked & Charged
|7/22/07|- History of Video Games
|7/14/07|- Super Mario Reloaded
|7/8/07|- Super Mario Bros. Z
|6/30/07|- Charles Martinet Uncensored
|6/10/07|- Mario RPG: Rawest Forest
|6/2/07|- SMB, Line Rider style!
|5/26/07|- Weekend Movie: Invisible Mario Karts

Well, it's been a bit dry for a stretch, but TMK's streaming radio channel, WTMK, has been updated with new music and a few surprises... now featuring music from Yoshi's Island DS, Mario vs. DK 2: March of the Minis, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, and more tunes from Yoshi Touch & Go.

Yes, it's a very DS WTMK over at http://www.themushroomkingdom.net/wtmk.shtml .

Nintendo The Official Magazine (UK) got some hands-on time with the E3 build of Super Mario Galaxy recently, and they posted a pretty long Q&A for readers who were wondering just what the game is like. I've posted a few questions here, but make sure to check their forums out for the entire thing!

If the controls are normal, do they work well or should it be 'to the max'? (Answer question in vice versa if the controls were originally used to the max)
Aye, they work fine. Developers need to remember that just because the controller is motion sensitive it doesn't mean they have to make use of it, and luckily Miyamoto and his team seem to be of the same opinion. They could have easily made it that you had to flick the Remote up to make Mario jump, but that would have been rubbish and the A button does a perfectly fine job.

Is being a bee as fun as being mario or is it just a bit boring?
Nah, it's good fun: not so much in terms of progressing through the level normally, it's not too different in that respect. But the extra height you can get from flying encourages you to go and find hidden areas, and I found a fair few. I have the feeling there are going to be a lot of surprises that can only be found as Bee Mario.

Link: Nintendo The Official Magazine

Last week, vooks.net confirmed that Metroid Prime 3 Corruption would be heading to Aussie stores on November 8th, and this week it seems they are onto another hot tip. Four different online retailers for the region are giving Super Mario Galaxy a November 15th release date, meaning that they will be experiencing two triple-A titles only a week apart, and three days after the North American gamers. The site is quick to mention that in Australia Nintendo usually never releases two titles of this caliber that close to each other. Nevertheless, this is a good sign for Aussie gamers!

Link: Vooks.net

Multiple Japanese retailers are listing Super Smash Bros. Brawl with a November 22nd release, meaning they'll get it a few days before the US. However, it's what else these merchants are listing that's more interesting: They confirm that SSBB will take advantage of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Websites, blogs, and even print mags have been reporting such news for a few months, but nothing has been officially confirmed by Nintendo. However, with these many retailers on board, some believe it's only a matter of time.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will be appearing at the Game Convention along with other software titles for the Nintendo Wii. The software will be first and third party, with the press getting 90 minute booth tours.

Link: Gamefront.de

Thanks to a few pages in Famitsu, new details have been revealed about Super Mario Galaxy. The game is composed of 6 worlds, with the confirmed level types being water, sand, ice, and even a planet in the form of a donut. Once again, there are 120 stars scattered amongst the game for players to collect. Gravity is also a major factor of the game, and your view of what's on that planet will vary depending on its size and shape. Fortunately, as we've seen, the controls don't look too difficult. Famitsu explained that you'll be able to point to an enemy with the Wii remote to attack it, or use the butt-stomp attack by pressing "Z" in the middle of a jump. Additionally, The 'bee' suit allows Mario to prick enemies with his stinger, while the 'boo' suit will allow Mario to be undetected by other Boos.

Finally, the magazine details the 2-player mode. The 2-player will primarily help the person controlling Mario by gathering 'Star Parts'. These 'Star Parts' act much like coins, and when Mario gets 100 of them, he gains an extra life. The 'Star Parts' also provide players with a special attack if they are ever in need of one. Click on the magazine scans below to see their full size!

Evite.com unveiled several new Wii themed eCards, amongst them being a Mario Party 8 eCard. So, in light of that, I sought out to invite a few members to come check out the blog just to see what it looked like. Did you get an invite? If you did, thanks for being an active member! If you didn't, you can thanks my terrible computer (after 40 forum profiles were opened, it froze up on me!). You aren't missing anything, and I have attached the invite after the jump (aka 'Fungi Forums') for everyone to see. Come join us on the TMKBlog and make sure to participate in the Fungi Forums!

Also, I suggest you check out the other Wii eCards, and if you are having a special event, make sure to a certain staffer in mind.

Link: Evite.com

Tired of that Wii with the glossy white look? Well, even though Nintendo hasn't announced a new color for the Wii, it seems gamers are always ready to make a new system their own.  Industrial designer and ebay seller 'brianyounglee' has put up for sale a special color edition of the Wii called 'Yoshi green', designed with Mario's faithful buddy Yoshi as the inspiration. That's not all, he even painted the green dino on there, and the base has been given Yoshi eggs to compliment the system. If that not enough to get your palm's itching, he's included Mario Party 8 and WiiPlay (with remote).

The bid is now just over 400 bucks, so if you're a big Yoshi fan or simply just need a Wii, maybe now is the time to bid. You can see more pics and ante up at the link below!

Link: Ebay item: Yoshi edition Customized Wii

Nintendo's maintenance  to the Wii Shop Channel earlier today seems to have been a sign of what was to come: A new update for the Wii. The update details what work was done to the Shop Channel, as well as what other changes owners can expect. The download roughly takes about 1 minute, and here's the skinny:

Wii Menu
- Keyboard functionality has been added (Internet Channel not compatible yet).
- The current time according to your system clock is now displayed on the Wii Menu.
- The latest news and weather highlights can now be seen from the Wii Menu (much like the Everybody Votes Channel shows you the most recent question).
- The daily playtime letter is now Wii white.
- Scrolling messages in the Message Board now uses a different sound.
- Address Book entries can now be shifted around using A+B but only to empty spaces.
- A new warning stating that modified Wii's may cease to function after adding a new firmware update.

Wii Shop Channel
- Keyboard functionality has been added.
- Titles you've downloaded can now be accessed on the main Shop page.
- New search options for the Wii Shop Channel:
      * You can sort games by genre or publisher and see the amount of titles in that category
      * You can now type in the full or partial name of the game you are looking for.
- Nintendo now recommends titles you should download, featuring the most popular titles and the most recent additons.
- Nintendo now lists for users the most popular titles based on the number of downloads (top 10).

In case you were wondering, Paper Mario, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario Kart 64, Super Mario World, & Super Mario 64 take the top six spots on the list as of today.

That's all I was able to notice. If you can add anything, please comment in the Fungi Forums!

Update: USB keyboard functionality has been added to the list. I just sent a message using my keyboard on the Wii and it worked perfectly!

Not all TMK updates are created equally. Most of time we'll keep you posted on major updates on the main page, but smaller updates seemingly go unmentioned...until now! Dukar Dump will go over any small changes we made to the site, be it a broken link being fixed or a page update. Of course, if you see any type of broken links or things that need updating and want to help out, just send us a tip.

Updates
Mario Mania
Merchandise

Game Pages
Wii
Punch-Out!!
Pinball
Paper Mario
Mario Kart 64
The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past
Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong Jr
Donkey Kong Country

Screenshots
Wii
Super Smash Bros Brawl

Bob Hoskins, who played Mario in the sometimes-infamous Super Mario Bros: The Movie, has spoken out about the project fourteen years later in an interview with The Guardian.  And he doesn't have anything positive to say.

"The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers. It was a ****in' nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set! ****in' nightmare. ****in' idiots."

Incidentally, the directors, Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton, haven't directed a film since.  Though the film initially received a lukewarm reception by critics in part due to their lack of video game understanding, it has become a popular target of derision by gamers due to the liberties taken with the story.  Now we see what the starring actor really thought about the whole deal, and a good reason why there was never a sequel despite the cliffhanger ending.

Link: The Guardian (Warning: Hoskins has a potty-mouth)

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKblog will be providing you
with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, or videos, feel free to submit it to me!

I love it when you guys do my work for me. Sure, it's fun to make my own videos, but sometimes you just want your readers to take initiative and make your blog posts their blog posts. So, with that in mind, long time TMK'er NintendoExpert89 sent me this message:

"Hey Super-Jesse, I am writing because I'd like to recommend a Mario Flash sprite-based series I've seen that is done very well, in my opinion, which I think would be suitable for the Weekend Movie. It is a five part series called "Mario Brothers" which details Bowser's conquering of the Mushroom Kingdom and Mario's struggle between the grief of his fallen brother and the courage to build an army and overthrow the Koopa Empire. I must assure you, it is quite dark and it does not really have a happy ending."

I personally watched these way back when there were only two episodes of the five, and now I'll have a chance to catch up! Thanks for the tip, and as you requested, here's this weekend's movie, Mario Brothers. Thanks again to NintendoExpert89 for the submission!

Weekend Movie:
Mario Brothers
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Past Weekend Movies (Most Recent):
|7/28/07|- Mario: Struked & Charged
|7/22/07|- History of Video Games
|7/14/07|- Super Mario Reloaded
|7/8/07|- Super Mario Bros. Z
|6/30/07|- Charles Martinet Uncensored
|6/10/07|- Mario RPG: Rawest Forest
|6/2/07|- SMB, Line Rider style!
|5/26/07|- Weekend Movie: Invisible Mario Karts

Tonight's DOJO!! update was pretty robust (it even used that exact word!), detailing the new single player adventure mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A side-scrolling action mode entitled "The Subspace Emissary", the story is put together by quick movies that focus on character development. With that in mind, the famous faces you see will have their own personality based on their game history, giving them more depth than we're probably used to seeing.

Check out a new little movie, and a bunch of new screenshots, at the DOJO!!


Update: As pointed out by Mr. Dayton, Peach was also confirmed as a character (playable? Maybe, probably). See, this update was so huge that there were new details within new details. Also, who's that girl that Kid Icarus is facing? Hmmm..

Link: Smash Bros. DOJO!!

Sega product manager Grant Gie sat down with CVG for a short interview about his company's upcoming game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. During this pow-wow, they asked the one question that is on everyone's mind: "how on earth is fat old Mario ever going to beat Sonic in a race?"

That answer? Make Sonic fast, but not in every aspect. Gie explains that the entire game can be seen as a balancing act, reminiscent of games like Mario Kart or the recently released Mario Strikers Charged, where every character has a distinct advantage, but also a disadvantage. As always, Mario & Luigi are all-around on all the stats, while Sega decided to make Sonic have top speed, yet low acceleration. Still don't see that as a fair shake for the blue flash? Gie says it's a risk that Sega is willing to take, as it makes the game more appealing to people who simply want to just pick-up and play.

"We're trying to go for that mass-appeal like Mario Kart; it crosses all boundaries. Kids can pick up and play Mario Kart and have a great time, but it's really fun at home with those core gamers who replay and replay."

For some reason, when I think 'top speed' and 'low acceleration' I think of Bowser, DK, and Wario in the Mario Kart games. Sonic doesn't have their build at all. However, I can't think of another way to make it fair. Unless of course, Sega takes a cue from their recent Sonic games and just makes Sonic 1) hard to control and 2) have bad camera angles. This also raises another question: how will Robotnik- er, Eggman, and Bowser compete? If they give them the same stats as Sonic, that's just wrong.

Link: computerandvideogames.com

File this one under "rumour", as it comes from British gamer mag NGamer. A reader recently sent them a question about Donkey Kong 64 possibly showing up on the Wii's Virtual Console. The editors responded by stating that they believe it would show up on the Nintendo DS before it would on Virtual Console.

Now I know this is hardly any sort of confirmation, comparable to a friend saying "Oh yeah, I could see [insert title here] on the [insert console here]", but it does get one thinking: Would Nintendo make a DK64DS, or is the new DK Jungle Climber the closest DK will get to a solo adventure title on the DS?


Link: gamefront.de

Taiko Drum Master DS is a nifty little game. See, beyond just drumming (like another game we know...) players can also change their character's clothing. This is a nice feature, unforunately though it seems there's a bug within this option. Once you change the clothing, you are not able to continue your game! Bandai Namco, the fast acting company they are, has promised to get a 'patched' version of the game to retailers within the next couple of weeks.

That's all nice and well, but what about those that were already sold? Bandai Namco made no comment on replacing such copies...

Link: gamefront.de

According to website GameDaily Biz, Senior VP and long-time Nintendo'er George Harrison is set to retire from Nintendo sometime in the near future. The exact date of his departure is not known, but speculation has it set for sometime during the holiday period.

Was this due to the recent split in divisions, personal reasons, or a greater conflict we just weren't told about? Well, unless Harrison had this planned (which I think he would have hinted at earlier than this), I want to say that it would have to be something big for someone who has been there as long as Mr. Harrison was....What do you think?

Link: biz.gamedaily.com

You might remember the blog post I made about the upcoming DK movie, King of Kong (read more here). Billy Mitchell is one of the men that's portrayed in that movie, and he had the title of the highest score for Donkey Kong up until four months ago. He lost that claim to Steve Wiebe, who bested Mitchell's score with 1,049,100. Upon hearing this, Billy started practicing. He practiced all summer long, and finally, two weeks ago, he was ready. He attended an event at the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers and made his run. Two hours and 39 minutes later he was the champion once again, with a score of 1,050,200. Billy states he could have gone for a higher score, but wanted to keep it close for future challengers.

He's the current champion, and Wiebe recently responded with a challenge to go head-to-head with Mitchell to settle it once and for all. Mitchell hasn't responded yet, but even if they do match up, I have a feeling this is only the beginning...

Link: mtv.com

A lot of people say to me, "Hey, Jesse, you're probably the biggest Mario fan out there!" No, my friends, I am not. Though I may own a plethora of Mario merchandise, make videos with me dressed as Mario, and even blog on a Mario fan site, I am not the biggest fan. The gentleman above can take that claim from me, simply because he sacrifices his body for his passion. That is something I could never do.

I'm glad that picture only goes so far, I can't imagine what he might've done below the back.....

Link: thebbps.com

Fold effortlessly from 2D to 3D in Super Paper Mario only on Wii

31st July, 2007- It’s time to brush up on your origami skills as everyone’s favourite plumber embarks upon an all-new quest that is truly out of this dimension in Super Paper Mario on Wii! With the power to flip between 2D and 3D, Mario must embark on a thrilling adventure to reunite his lost friends and save the world. Super Paper Mario launches across Europe for Wii on 14th September 2007.

As with the previous two games in the Paper Mario series, all characters are as flat as a sheet of paper. However, our hero Mario can manipulate the environment around him to his benefit, opening up new paths and possibilities with the ability to ‘flip’ from 2D to 3D at will. This ability comes in handy throughout the game and is crucial to the progress of the player in his rescue mission. Seemingly impassable barriers are only as thin as a piece of paper when viewed in 3D allowing our hero to walk past with ease and fearsome 2D enemies expose their weak spots in 3D.

The adventure begins when the mysterious Count Bleck, a mad genius who is determined to fulfil an ancient prophecy, kidnaps Princess Peach, Bowser and Luigi. Bleck forces Peach to marry Bowser so that he can unite good and evil and create a Chaos Heart that will destroy the universe. Only Mario escapes his clutches and now it is up to him to rescue his friends from the evil Count and save the world!

Players start out controlling Mario, but later on can unlock and control Princess Peach, Bowser and Luigi as well. Each character has their own unique ability allowing them to overcome different puzzles and obstacles. Also lending a helping hand are small sidekicks called Pixls, which Mario will encounter during his journey. Each of these Pixls has a different ability, which can be used to aid the player on their journey. These range from Tippi, who will give information on enemies and items pointed at with the Wii Remote, Carrie who will lift Mario over impassable gaps, and Dottie who can shrink a character to miniscule proportions.

The majority of on-screen action is controlled simply by holding the Wii Remote sideways using only the Control Pad and two buttons. However, the motion sensing abilities of the Wii Remote also add a dynamic edge to the gameplay. Unique special moves and abilities can be activated by shaking and moving the controller; so that players can not only set up chains and earn bonus points when defeating enemies, but also use abilities like fire, thunder and ice attacks.

Super Paper Mario mixes the role-playing game-style adventure of its predecessors with the platform action of classic Mario games from yesteryear, bringing players a deep, entertaining quest that is truly the best of both worlds.

So make sure your platform gaming skills are honed as Super Paper Mario bends, twists and flips its way into stores. Super Paper Mario launches across Europe for Wii on 14th September 2007 at an estimated retail price of around £35.

End Press Release

Have you ever wondered why email isn't common in the Mushroom Kingdom? Sure, we could say that the Toads are just stuck in the 80's, but the real reason might be this new virus that's going around, using their hero Mario as the culprit. A mass-mailing virus is going out that's attempting to lure users in by disguising itself as an innocent Mario game. When users launch the game though, they also launch a file containing a worm. Currently, Bowser isn't being questioned (but if he didn't do it, then who did?). Have there been other instances where Mario was used as the source for a computer virus? I can't think of any.

Hmm, seems we gotta start a virus page on the site....

Link: sophos.com

New Controls and Wi-Fi Features Give Nintendo's Soccer Smash a Wicked Boost

REDMOND, Wash., July 30, 2007 - It's gonna take more than a good pair of shin guards to protect Mario™ and his turbo-kicking teammates in Mario Strikers Charged, Nintendo's blistering new soccer title for Wii™ that launches today. Earthquakes, firestorms and electric shockwaves are just a few of the otherworldly hazards in this ball-chasing battle royal. And with players from coast to coast competing online, this wildly unpredictable pitch is for neither the faint of heart nor the heavy of foot. It's not just soccer, it's soccer - Mario style.

Mario Strikers Chargedintroduces nine sensational new stadiums, plus a host of new characters with their own special abilities and power moves. Players create their own teams by mixing and matching captains and sidekicks, then use the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ to face opponents in single-player or multiplayer modes. Mastering Striker Challenges or the tournament-styled Road to the Striker Cup will unlock new elements and cheats.

The excitement extends beyond your living room as Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo's wireless gaming service, enables players nationwide to meet and compete online. Participants are ranked using a positive structured points-based system, and rankings are reset to zero each week to keep the competition fresh and fierce.

"Mario Strikers Charged incorporates unique Wii controls such as flicking the Wii Remote to tackle the ball from your opponent or using it to block shots on the goal," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "There's no better way to keep a game challenging and fun than to invite more people to join the action. With Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, we're creating a real community where players at any experience level can take part in the fun."

Mario Strikers Charged is rated E 10+ for Everyone 10 and Older. For more information about the game, visit www.MarioStrikersCharged.com. Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

End Press Release

Not all TMK updates are created equally. Most of time we'll keep you posted on major updates on the main page, but smaller updates seemingly go unmentioned...until now! Dukar Dump will go over any small changes we made to the site, be it a broken link being fixed or a page update. Of course, if you see any type of broken links or things that need updating and want to help out, just send us a tip.


Updates
General
A new way to browse game pages:Click here!
Game Pages
NDS: Korean NDS release info added.


If everything goes as planned, there will be a lot more updates next week!

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKblog will be providing you
with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, or videos, feel free to submit it!

Hazzah, the weekend has arrived and as promised, this weekend's movie is something special- to me, anyway. The title isn't a typo: Mario Struked & Charged tells the tale of a girl who goes out to play some soccer after she becomes bored with videogames. However, she is challenged by one of the greatest soccer players in the world...Who is this legend, and how will she overcome such obstacles?

Watch my video, entitled "Mario Struked & Charged", to find out...

Weekend Movie: Mario Struked & Charged

The game has made Nintendo so much money, it could probably be renamed that! Super Paper Mario has sold over 1.25 million copies worldwide since its April release. There were once reports of sluggish sales in Japan (due to that market's focus on shorter games), but do you think this will stop Nintendo from creating another iteration, especially after these numbers?

Source: Nihon Kogyo Shimbun

Nintendo, possibly taking a cue from a couple of college kids, decided to promote the Wii in Italy by using Post-It notes to make giant murals. Now, if only they could get the permits to do something like this in America....

See Link at the link below!

Link: thecoolhunter.net

That's not a typo. The E for All Expo website has stated that Super Smash Bros. Brawl may be playable at their little shindig. The only problem is that they still have not been given the final say by Nintendo. Apparently, this rumor came to their attention an email started circulating from a person named "Mark James", who was claiming to be an employee of the event. The site has denied any relation this "Mark James" and is investigating who might have leaked such information.

Like I've said before, how long will we have to wait to play Brawl? Too long my friends, too long....

Link: eforallexpo

How to promote a new CD:

1) Stunt that changes your image? Check.
2) Pop-culture reference to influence that image change? Check
3) Sexy outfit? Check.
4) Girls? Check.

Needless to say, Picopico Sound Project has all the right pieces to become numero uno in Japan. Their new CD comes out today (in Japan), but unfortunately, these gals don't come with it.

See more, read more at the link!

Link: plusd.itmedia.co.jp

 

These facts are so fast, you’ll miss them if you blink. Oh, look, they’re gone. That’s okay, I took a picture with my Pokemon Snap camera. Below are some facts Nintendo wanted me to share with you regarding their global domination. That whole fast thing? Their wording, not mine.

* Through the first half of 2007, the total Wii™ hardware sell-through in the United States and Canada combined is more than 2.3 million units (2.1 million United States, 222,000 Canada).


* For the first half of 2007, Nintendo represents nearly 70 percent of the industry growth in the United States and Canada combined.


* In June alone, Wii was once again the top-selling home console with nearly 435,000 units sold in the United States and Canada combined (381,800 United States, 53,000 Canada).


* In June alone, Nintendo DS™ was the top-selling video game system overall with nearly 608,000 units sold in the United States and Canada combined (562,000 United States, 46,000 Canada).


* Nintendo remained the top video game publisher in the United States and Canada in June, as well as the top publisher for all of 2007.


* In June alone, Nintendo has six of the top 10 best-selling games in the United States, including the top four: Mario Party 8 and Wii Play for Wii, and Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl for Nintendo DS.


* Of the top 30 best-selling games in the United States for all of 2007, half are for Nintendo systems.


* The three best-selling games in the United States for all of 2007 are for Nintendo systems: Pokémon Diamond, Wii Play and Pokémon Pearl.


* Wii already boasts more than 180 games, including 120 downloadable Virtual Console™ titles. By the end of the year, that total number will climb to about 330 games, including an additional 100 new games from every major third-party publisher, along with an additional 50 Virtual Console titles.


* Approximately 300 games are already available for Nintendo DS, with another 140 titles expected by the end of the year from every major third-party publisher.

Slow news days always mean filler posts. Sure, we could resort to non-Mario, awesome Kojima party news, but that’s just not how I roll. No, I’d rather post about Mario game cakes. That’s right: Mario. Game. Cakes. There are a lot of birthdays around my office today, springing me to do a Google search for “Mario cakes”. Thus, I came across gamecakes.com’s collection of Mario looking sweetness. There’s less than a handful of Mario ones, but I’d recommend checking out everything the site has. My only complaint: they don't show how to make the cakes. 

Maybe one day TMK will make a page dedicated to these. Until then, check out the link below...

Link: gamecakes.com

So I stumbled across my SMB Deluxe cart recently and starting playing through it again... yes, I know, there are much better ways to play it on handhelds these days, but I do find myself wishing Nintendo did a few more of these mild updates.  I'm starting to think that with the advent of the Virtual Console, most remakes of classic titles will cease.

That's probably a good thing, but there is something interesting about playing through different versions of a game.  There are at least four different versions of Super Mario Bros. out there (3, if you discount the arcade title), each with a slightly different feel to it.

Not all TMK updates are created equally. Most of time we'll keep you posted on major updates on the main page, but smaller updates seemingly go unmentioned...until now! Dukar Dump will go over any small changes we made to the site, be it a broken link being fixed or a page update. Of course, if you see any type of broken links or things that need updating and want to help out, just send us a tip.


Updates
Game Pages
Wii
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
Mario Strikers Charged
NDS
DK Jungle Climber
Animal Crossing: Wild World

If Transformers: The Movie taught us anything, it's that anything, and everything, can be found on Ebay. Believe me, most of my Mario collection in recent years has much to do with the little site that connects me with old grandmas and Japanese importers, but rarely do I see something as cool as this. Ebayer sswan117 has put up for auction a set of toys known as "Mario Family" that were given away by...You guessed it: Club Nintendo. However, the best part about these toys is that Shigeru Miyamoto allegedly signed them, and even took time to write a catch phrase for each character. Now how cool is that? It is so cool you'd bid over 100 bucks? Well, it's at 102.50 right now, so get bidding.

If you ever see anyting noteworthy on Ebay, lemme know and I'll weekend post it!

Link: ebay: AUTOGRAPHED Club Nintendo Mario Family Set E3 2007

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKblog will be providing you
with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, or videos, feel free to submit it!

After last weekend's hate on Super Mario Reloaded (good movie, but I guess the kids are finicky these days), I was hesitant to do a Weekend Movie period. Alas, I found hope when I saw this little nugget, simply entitled "History of Video Games". It may not be Nintendo/Mario centric, but it is a good homage to all the games that have gone before to get us where we are now, and actually chronicles even recent releases. I strongly suggest veterans (aka pre NES), juniors (aka pre SNES), sophomores (aka pre N64), and even freshman (aka post N64) take a gander at where the industry has been. Could it give us an idea of where it's going? Only time will tell.

Enjoy "History of Video Games". I'm sure you will.

Weekend Movie: History of Video Games

P.S. I think you'll be excited for next weekend's movie. I suggest you get "Charged up" now for a presentation by a certain TMK staffer.... ;-)

Ah, walking into GameStop is always fun. I browse around and look at their overpriced game goods, laugh at their signage that's busted up and dusty, and sometimes I even buy a game or two. I walk up to the counter and the kid there recommends to me "Fire Emblem". I would have no problem with this, except for one thing: I walk up with Mario Party 8, I am wearing a Super Mario Bros. t-shirt, and my hat says "Game Over" with the Mario poison 'shroom. Hm, what games should the kid have recommended? See, it's context clues that got me through Spanish class, made me the number one seller of reservations for GameStop in San Antonio (back when I worked there), and also got me to ask the kid, "How about Super Mario Galaxy, is that up for reserve?"

The rest, my friend, is history. The reason you should go ask the same question I did? That way you snag a copy, because the kid will never see it coming. :-)

CVG contacted Nintendo of Europe in an attempt to pry some information about Mario Kart Wii. Nintendo confirmed for it's PAL gamers that Mario Kart Wii will not be coming landside until 2008, shattering any hope to the rumor (or, as they type, rumour) of a 2007 release. Nintendo states that Europe has no reason to worry though, as they'll be getting other heavyhitters such as Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl Pokémon Battle Revolution. It seems that Nintendo also confirms the game is coming sometime before the end of January, stating that they want to start the year off with it and go from there.

Before ending the conversation with CVG, Nintendo told them that they will have major Mario Kart Wii related information coming soon. How soon? No one knows, but we can all agree it's not soon enough.

Link: CVG

Update: Looking at the press site, I noticed a logo for the game popped up that I had not seen before. It's attached after the jump (aka click "Discuss in the Fungi Forums")!

Today's Super Smash Bros. Brawl update explained the virtual world the Smash Bros. participants live in. Much like Melee, it describes them as trophies, programmed to fight each other. However, in a Matrix like twist, the trophies seek purpose.A purpose not just to fight, but to find a place to belong *cue sappy music*. The screenshots that accompanied the update show Mario and Kirby, seemingly prepared to battle. Things changed right then as Mario walks over to Kirby and they shake hands. What happens next…

Well, you’ll just have to go check it out yourself ;-)

Link: Smash Bros. DOJO!!

Wired News is running a series of E3 interviews, and today's featured their sitdown with Miyamoto. Even though E3 wasn't as huge as years past, Miyamoto still had much to say about Nintendo's offerings at the expo. Below I've included part of the interview, in which Wired News asked Miyamoto about Super Mario Galaxy's two-player feature.


Wired News: I was just playing Super Mario Galaxy, and I was really interested in the two-player mode. Could I hear about why that came about?

Shigeru Miyamoto: One of the driving forces behind it was that we felt that since Mario 64, a lot of people have had a hard time playing the Mario games because of the move to 3D. So this time, we really wanted to create a Mario game that everybody can play -- but we still wanted to do something in 3D. So that was really the genesis of the idea.

The other thing is, with the Mario games, if you're playing and there are people sitting next to you, they're always saying, "Oh, go over here, go look at that thing." And so we thought that with the Wii remote and the pointer we would be able to make it more interactive for the people sitting on the couch next to you, who could guide you along the way pointing at different objects.

Interesting way Miyamoto answered that. I see his logic behind having the two-player mode the way it is. It seems like he feels having it where both characters are on-screen would deter from the game in some way. We forget often that Mario games were turn-based before 3D, and with all the exploration in Mario 64 or SMG, that type of setup would have, to me, hurt the overall experience. What do you think?

Oh, and make sure to read more of the interview at the link below!

Link: blog.wired.com

(Click to enlarge)

No true widescreen on Mario Party 8 was pretty annoying. I'm sure not many people have a 16:9 capable TV, but for those that do, the borders on MP8 had to bother them some bit (it did bother me for a few plays, but I got used to it after awhile). However, I'm not sure our friends across the sea did any better. Check out the PAL version above, and judge for yourself which one you like more. Neither is an acceptable answer.


Update: Courtesy of the one, the only, Megabyte: 'This entry didn't make it clear, but PAL gamers don't have the border OR any wide-screen option at all.  In other words, it would stretch it like VC games, but the particular TV in the photo knows how to adapt the image so that it doesn't stretch.'

The dunce cap has been rightly placed on top of my head, and I shall research more about these "PAL" tvs. I may take a trip there, plug in my Wii, and see what happens. I'm sure my US Wii will have no problems! ;-)

Yes, children, gather 'round, for I have news of great things to come. Possibly to come, that is! That scan above is not a joke: Wi-Fi for Mario Party DS is that much closer to being a reality. This image comes courtesy of Nintendo's latest gaming catalog that hit specialty retailers this week. Unfortunately, Nintendo's mum as of now, with no mention of Wi-Fi for the game on their press site or E3 information. Let's just hope this isn't a repeat of the Mario Hoops 3-on-3 fiasco.

Let's ask you guys: Is Mario Party Wi-Fi happening? If you ask me, out of DS or Wii, I always thought a DS version of Mario Party would be more likely to have Wi-Fi action first.

The latest Famitsu magazine shows Mario meeting a Peach lookalike called "Rosetta" in Super Mario Galaxy. Rosetta's role in the game is not yet known.

Click to enlarge!

If there's one thing plumbers hate, it's chasing rabbits all over a wet basement. Mario probably thought he was done with that after going to Delfino Island and seeing a total of zero rabbits. However, these rascals have shown up in this Super Mario Galaxy screenshot, and who knows how many other places they might be. I don't know about you, but after having to track these guys down in Super Mario 64 DS, I'm pretty much done with chasing rabbits. Unless they are Raving Rabbids, that is.

More SMG screens at the link below, along with other games demo'd at E3 2007!

Link: famitsu.com

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKblog will be providing you
with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, or videos, feel free to submit it!

So, I was watching TNT last night (in HD nevertheless) when Matrix Reloaded came on. I'm not a huge Matrix fan (is there such a thing nowadays?) but it did fill me with nostalgia. No, not because I remember a time when Keanu Reeves was considered a good actor (again, is there such a thought nowadays?), rather it's because it reminded of this Weekend's Movie: Super Mario Reloaded. This is a must see for any and all Mario fan, and make waves when it released in 2004. I remember watching it during my single days, thinking about how much time, and life, it took to make this. The short answer is a lot. The long answer? Well, you'll just have to check out the movie to see for yourself.

Enjoy "Super Mario Reloaded", courtesy of newgrounds.com!

Link: Super Mario Reloaded

Have a youtube vid you did all on your own? Submit it to me at jesse.salazar at themushroomkingdom.net and it'll be featured here in a future post!

Oh yeah, now for some hardcore, unrated roundtable action, courtesy of NWR. Below I've snipped some of the content from the Miyamoto roundtable. Want the rest? Well, give PGC NWR a hit and click on, because they got some juicy news on Luigi's appearance in Super Mario Galaxy!!

- Super Mario Galaxy is designed in a similar in fashion to the games Nintendo has made for the last 20 years; Wii Fit is more designed for the wider audience. The one thing they have in common is the goal of making them accessible to anyone.

- Just like Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Nintendo hopes to have Super Mario Galaxy sell just as well by making it accessible to everyone. Galaxy's assist mode is one of those ways, where a second player can grab a Wiimote and shoot stardust to stun enemies.

- Q&A: Is Luigi in the game?

Link: NintendoWorldReport

With E3 come and gone, I've decided to collect for everyone the various news outlet's impressions of Super Mario Galaxy. They all are pointing to one sign: All is well in Super Mario's world. Check'em out below and gauge for yourself how well SMG is coming along!

Nintendo World Report
Gamespot
Joystiq
IGN
1UP (video podcast)
GameBattles

TMKvideos is currently hosting the 15 second SSBB short that was released early this morning. Check it out in all its horrible youtube compressiveness by clicking the link below!

Link: TMKvideos: SSBB Promo

Shigeru Miyamoto must be ecstatic this week. His creations are taking center stage but are bringing in a wider audience than they have in quite sometime. He's probably so excited he may just forget what things he's supposed to talk about and what he's not supposed to talk about. IGN had a quick one-on-one with the master of Mario, where he 'accidentally' revealed something about Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games:

"There will be some fencing in Mario & Sonic at the Olympics. I don't know if I'm supposed to say that, so if I'm not, I'm very sorry, SEGA," he said, laughing.

laughing. I have a feeling some grudges never die.

So, fencing in Mario & Sonic, eh? I still say it needs a pasta eating contest. I mean, if you're going to have relay racing, it's only fair to Mario.

Link: ign.com

I've decided to add more fuel (or water, depending on how you see it) to the gameinformer rumor (here) that was all the rage some time ago. It seems Nintendo's E3 press site has company bios of Perrin Kaplan, George Harrison, and Beth Llewelyn, nowhere mentioning their departure or movement to a different city. The kicker is that GI stated they'd leave shortly after E3, so there's still time for the rumor to come to fruition. Place your bets now, and stay tuned for any interviews you may see around the intertubes this week...

Despite the daily updates, Smash Bros. DOJO!! has yet to confirm a lot of information on Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, EGM has managed to make two bold claims in their latest issue (August 2007, #218). Firstly, in their rumors section, they proudly reveal confirmation that the game will use the physics engine Havok (wikipedia).  Finally, in their "Best of the Rest" section, they state SSBB will utilize the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for online battles and more. Now, nowhere in all this E3 mess have I heard or seen confirmation of either, especially since the game isn't going to be on the show floor for playability, but don't you think Nintendo would have said something, anything, about either of those things today? Do you think EGM is going out on a limb, or is the printed word still more trustworthy than the typed one? Let your opinions be heard!

Now, I may have a baby and only a 30 minute lunch hour, but I will still do my best to keep you updated on the latest E3 happenings. Below is a dashed list of all the big deals thus far (very rough, with no links to the game pages as of yet):

- 140 new DS titles by end of 2007
- 100 new Wii games by end of 2007
- Wii Zapper is detailed and announced as an official Wii accessory. It will retail for 19.99 USD
- Mario & Sonic will be multiplayer up to 4 players.
- SSBB is dated as December 3rd, 2007 (announced on main page)
- New Wii Channel: Check Mii Out will be a combination of Everybody Votes and the Mii channel, where everyone votes and can download other people's Mii, as well as participate in Nintendo sponsored competitions.
- Mario Kart Wii will have online play, and is coming the the USA 1st quarter 2008 with a Custom Wii steering wheel packaged in. (announced on main page)
- Super Mario Galaxy coming November 12th, 2007 (announced on main page)
- Brain Age 2 is coming on August 20th, 2007
- Wii Fit is announced.

More details, and press release pics, will be coming in throughout the day, so stay tuned!

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games isn't just about the love of the game. For example, this screenshot shows the race for the cure, and look at all the celebrity faces that showed up! We got Luigi, Tails, Mario, Peach, Sonic, Robotnik- er, Eggman, Knuckles and even Bowser. Yes, we are at a dawn of a new era, where even enemies can set aside their differences and compete for a good cause. The fight against mediocre games cannot be won by chili dogs or mushrooms alone. No, these runners need your support.

Okay, enough with the fluff, enjoy some more of these screenshots, in all their non-HD resolution, after the jump (aka "Discuss in the Fungi Forums"). Does anyone else get the feeling this game is going to have too much Sonic in their Mario game?

Link: gaming-universe (DS version screenshots)

I like it when websites think their opinions are so great, they get this big headed idea to disperse those opinions onto us, their viewers. I don't view MSN all that much, with Google and all, but I did stumble upon their latest power trip about the worst cartoons ever. This article By Robert Isenberg picks on the cartoons we have all grown to love, such as Transformers, Capitan Planet, and even Goof Troop. However, the biggest issue I have with his little list comes when he is discussing why Pokemon is one of the worst cartoons ever:

""Pokémon" had none of these qualities (character development, mature themes, complex plots and either smooth animation or really scenic backgrounds). And wasn't not alone: The "Super Mario Bros." and "Pac-Man" cartoons also fell flat, which is what happens when you base a saga on a two-dimensional video game. Now just imagine "Grand Theft Auto: The Animated Series" -- that would be something.

Oh, I see! So, if we focus on three-dimensional video games, it'll provide a better basis for a cartoon series, is that right? I guess little does Mr. Isenberg know that GTA started as a 2D, sprite based game as well, and that there are a number of 2D games that have everything he craves in a cartoon series. I don't agree at all that a GTA cartoon would be a good fit for morning cartoons, and I definitely wouldn't want to see the backlash that would follow from both gamers and parents if that were to happen.

Agree, disagree? Let your opinion be heard in the Fungi Forums!

Link: Worst Cartoons Ever (MSN.com)

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKblog will be providing you
with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, feel free to submit it!


These weekend movies seem to just get longer with each new entry. This weekend's featured video, Super Mario Bros. Z, will definitely fill an otherwise boring summer Sunday (since I accidentally posted this a little late, heh). A perfect blend of action and plot, this series isn't your run of the mill character crossover. It's a step above other Super Mario/Dragonball Z parodies, and one I fully suggest you watch. Just make sure you have time to do so, as this 6 part series runs long and demands your full attention. Enjoy this weekend's movie, Super Mario Bros. Z!

Thanks to Da Bomb-Omb for submitting this weekend's movie!

Link: Weekend Movie: Super Mario Bros. Z (some ads on newgrounds are a bit NSFW, be warned)

The Smash Attack is probably one of the most important aspects of the Smash Bros., and in Brawl it could mean the difference between winning and losing. That's why Smash Bros. DOJO!! decided to spend today's post demonstrating the way you perform it on each individual control scheme. No mention is made on whether the "cheat" stick will be making a return in multiplayer mode, but I'd assume not since the Wii Remote doesn't have a good way of performing such a shortcut. Unless you add in motion controls, of course....

Check out more Mario modeling goodness at the link!

Link: Smash Attacks (smashbros.com)

If you were hoping someone from TMK was going to get hands-on impressions of Super Smash Bros. Brawl at the new Min-E3, then hope no more. Unfortunately, a rep for Nintendo has confirmed that the game will not be playable due to Nintendo's other great offerings and playable demos such as...er....They didn't really mention what those titles were going to be, as far as I can see. Nintendo has not ruled out the possibility of the game being there in trailer form, and also put to rest any concerns that the game has been delayed by saying, "I wouldn't read anything into this as far as release date. It's still 2007."

Take that last sentence as you will, and make sure to stay tuned here for the latest updates on SSBB.

Link: ign.com

If I came to you and said "Mario & Sonic will unite to sell buckets and buckets of titles more than the most popular first person shooter" in 1990s, you'd probably be inclined to believe me. If I said the same thing in the 2000s, you'd laugh at me and tell me to go play Sonic Adventure 2, or Super Mario Sunshine. At that point, I'd slap you for dissing such a fun game like SMS. Well, Sega's corporate director Masanao Maeda is implying just that now. He believes that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will sell millions of units, rivaling Halo 3's sales and potentially beating it to claim the top spot this holiday season. I can see where his argument comes from: Mario and Sonic are two of the most popular characters in gaming history. In addition, it'll be made for the two top selling systems on the market, the Wii and the DS. Of course, I suppose all this could be just fluff marketing, but ya know, that's not how Sega rolls. Check out the Reuters report below and judge for yourself!

Link: reuters.com

July 2, 2007- Mario™ and his pals have plenty to party about: Mario Party 8 has become the all-time fastest-selling title in Nintendo's popular Mario Party series. As the first Mario Party game created exclusively for Wii™, this new installment has sold more than 550,000 copies in the United States during the weeks following its May 29 launch.

Enlivening Mario Party's fun-filled formula with a carnival theme, the latest version of this virtual board game allows players to use the Wii Remote's unique motion controls while navigating new boards, meeting new characters and going head-to-head in new minigames. Kids and adults can easily pick it up and start playing together.

"The overwhelming response not only reminds us how much fans absolutely love the Mario Party franchise but also proves the unmatched ability of the Wii system to attract new players," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Wii users are keeping the Mario Party going strong."

For more information about Mario Party 8, please visit www.MarioParty.com.

End Press Release.

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKblog will be providing you
with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, or videos, feel free to submit it!

This weekend's movie comes courtesy of Game Head, SpikeTV's attempt to fit in a post "TechTV" world, which did a four part interview with Charles Martinet (no introduction needed). He was candid about the possibility of voicing Link, his history in entertainment, and how he feels about not being openly recognized on the street. Of course, there's much more where that came from, so make sure to make time between uh....COPS repeats...and check out Charles Martinet: Uncensored (but still totally family friendly because he's cool like that).

Warning: the feature is filled with parts about stuff you won't care about, like a Fantastic Four 2 review. You were warned.

Link(s):

Charles Martinet: Part 1
Charles Martinet: Part 2
Charles Martinet: Part 3
Charles Martinet: Part 4

Sure, this may seem like some sort of spammy, over-zealous post, but I just thought you fine folks deserved to know where I've been for the last...oh...2 weeks? Yeah, that's a good number. Well, as you can see above, my wife had our baby boy. He was born on June 11th at 3:11 am. Hence, the last few weeks have been pretty hectic for me. Finally though, I'm getting close to being able to do some updates on the site, and maybe, just maybe, one day I can get back to my old self. So consider this weekend a test weekend. I've actually receive some (emphasis on some) e-mail tips, so if you all can keep that up it'll make things much easier! Send those tips to jesse.salazar@themushroomkingdom.net and I'll make sure to post it all as I can.

Blythe hand dyed, sewed, and embroidered an NES complete with controller, light gun, SMB and Duck Hunt cartridges, and a TV with screens of the games.  She's made a lot of household objects, cameras, and monsters. You can see some of her work on display at the Argyle Fine Art Gallery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Links:
craftster.org
blogspot.com
sewnbyblythe.com

Peach speaks out...

Heh heh heh heh heh...

A while back, Nintendo put out the call for fans to submit Nintendo-themed short films. The top ten finalists are now up on this page with the winner to be announced on the 18th. Viewers can vote, but it's "just for fun". Check out the official rules for the prizes. Grand prize gets their video shown at a theater in New York.

Who do you think should win?

If you're like my cat up there, you love you some arcade games. Be it Mario Bros, Frogger, Pac-Man, or Space Invaders, there's just that one game you always have an itch to play 25 cents at a time. But, of those titles, which of them deserves to be called the best of it's decade? Do you have what it takes to sit down, analyze, and cast your vote for your favorites? Well, News.com wants you to do just that! From their list of selected arcade games, you've been given a chance to choose one, so plunk down your vote and make sure your favorite gets the recognition it deserves. On a side note, my cat can totally kick your behind at Vs. Super Mario Bros. Just look at that determination!

Link: Vote here

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKblog will be providing you
with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, feel free to submit it!

Some TMK faithfuls can be true blue cool folks. They'll show you things, send you links to awesome stuff that would make any fan say "oh, pretty neat". That is the back story on how I found this week's feature, entitled "Mario RPG: Rawest Forest". The sell on this is the audio, so make sure you have yours as a comfortable level, as some parts can get a bit too quiet (according to the person that sent me the link, its the fault of Flash). Once you got your can of Mario energy drink and ACT II Mario popcorn (exists, I'm looking at a box right now), please sit down and enjoy "Mario RPG: Rawest Forest".

Link: Mario RPG: Rawest Forest

Thanks to a very helpful TMK fan for sending me this

A bit of a shake up that resulted in SPM moving out of the Top 5 in Japan, check it out:

Nintendo Wii

North America:
1. Mario Party 8
2. Wii Play
3. Super Paper Mario
4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
5. WarioWare: Smooth Moves

Japan:
1. BioHazard 4
2. Bokujou Monogatari: Yasuragi no Ki
3. Wii Sports
4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
5. Hajimete no Wii

UK:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo)
2.Mario Strikers Charged Football
3. Wii Play
4. Cooking Mama
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Nintendo DS

1. Pokemon Diamond
2. Pokemon Pearl
3. Nintendo DS Browser
4. New Super Mario Bros.
5. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!

North America:
1. Pokemon Diamond
2. Pokemon Pearl
3. Nintendo DS Browser
4. New Super Mario Bros.
5. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!


Japan:
1. Miru Chikara o Jissen de Kitaeru: DS Ganryoku Training
2. Yamakawa Shuppansha Kanshuu: Shousetsu Nihonshi DS
3. Chuugaku Eitango Target 1800 DS
4. TOEIC Test DS Training
5. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke

UK:
1. Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training
2. Cooking Mama
3. New Super Mario Bros.
4. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends
5. Big Brain Academy

By the way, what's wrong with this title: "Saling The World"

Why not let the guys at gamasutra know when you figure it out!

Link: gamasutra

Wow, I spaced this one last night! Here we are, another round of software charts from Japan, as I usually do. Let's take a gander, shall we?

CURRENT | LAST | SYS | GAME | WEEK |TOTAL|  MOVEMENT
07./07. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros.  -19,907 / 4,500,164 (DOWN from 21,472)
13./18. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (UP)
14./15. [Wii]  Super Paper Mario (UP)
15./13. [NDS] Yoshi's Island DS  (DOWN)

I know not a single person on these forums commented on the LAST charts I posted. However, if you happen to view those, you would have seen this awesome, totally correct quote from me:

I'd venture to say MVDK2 is going to be out of the rankings next week...- Me

Sure enough, MVDK2 is gone. Don't be too sad, DK lovers, I'm sure one of his other upcoming games will make a splash of some sort. You can quote me on that.


Link: neogaf forums

Please excuse the unusually formatted picture. It's the only way I could comically portray the following tragic news. Perrin Kaplan, George Harrison, and Beth Llewelyn have all decided to leave Nintendo of America due to NoA's decision to move their respective departments, Sales and Marketing, to San Francisco and New York. No official statement has been issued by Nintendo, nor is a date given for when they will be out of Nintendo's loop for good.

Let's end this post with some memorable quotes from each departing party!


Perrin Kaplan: "The Wii will be region-free."
George Harrison: "(San Francisco is) nice. I've been down there many times. The weather's great, I've just got to figure out where to locate."
Beth Llewelyn: "Ahh!  You’re going to ask me to do math!  I’m gonna have to figure that one out."

I wonder if Harrison had a change of heart since the Media Summit, or if he was always planning on leaving?

Link: gameinformer.com

I'm sure my pseudo true headlines are enough to make you want to punch someone in Wii Boxing, but that doesn't change the fact that you still looked! To reward you, I'll divulge just what movie I'm talking about.

The King of Kong (imdb) was originally released as a video game themed documentary at SXSW by in March. The movie is about two men vying for the Guinness World Record high score on the arcade version of Donkey Kong. The movie was a huge hit, and now New Line has hired screenwriter Michael Bacall to pen a feature film adaption of the documentary. New Line and Bacall are looking to dramatize the film's main subject matter, making it more "hollywood" than "Wario's Woods". If you are a fan of the original, do not dispair, because Seth Gordon is back to direct the feature film. If you have never heard of the people I've mentioned in this post, I'd suggest you spend some time on Wikipedia before commenting.

Honestly, I can't wait to check out this movie. 10 coins for people who go and snap photos of themselves wearing DK shirts. Don't worry, I'll remember come August....

Link: ign.com

says Nintendo of Australia's Vispi Bhopti according to gamearena.com's Stephen Farrelly. That's right, American, European, and Japan gamers need not fret (well, maybe European. They should cower in fear!). Rather than just saying a flat out "No way dudes!", Stephen fluffed it up a bit, and even made a bet, with money!

"As far as Wii goes, Super Paper Mario will definitely hit Aussie shelves this year, though no official date has been given, while the other major releases maintain their silence with no word on whether we'll see Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime: Corruption or Super Smash Brothers: Brawl in 2007 in Australia (though I put my money on us seeing at least two of these this holiday season)"

This leads to one question: Do they say "dudes" in Australia?

To read the full Aussie version of Nintendo's Media Summit, click on over below!

gamearena.com

I get the feeling people around here don't like to see sales rankings, but I sure do! It's like a tiny window into people's wallet. I always think "hm, they are buying that? They must be rich." Then again, sometimes I look and think "they bought that?! Maybe they need more bran in their diet..."

Ranting over, here's the latest Euro/Ireland numbers (TMK database titles only):

Europe
LAST|CURRENT||GAME
3 4 Mario Strikers Charged Football
7 8 Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
21 20 New Super Mario Bros.
- 38 WarioWare: Smooth Moves

Ireland
LAST|CURRENT||GAME
3 6  New Super Mario Bros.
8 8  Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
- 10 Mario Strikers Charged Football
10 13 Nintendogs: Lab & Friends

In case you don't know, and I'm sure you do, Super Paper Mario has yet to release in these territories. Can you believe that? In other countries, *cough* JAPAN *cough*, the game has already experience its 15 minutes, yet here the game has yet to see the spotlight!


Link: neogaf forums

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKBlog will be providing you with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, feel free to submit it!

Thanks to MP8, this week in Mario gaming isn't as boring as some may lead you to believe. In light of that, this weekend's movie is a bit short, and probably should be called a "Weekend Video". Nonetheless, I've gone ahead and dubbed this as our weekendly (word?) feature presentation! So enjoy SMB, Line Rider style!

Link: SMB, Line Rider Style (youtube.com)

Here are the top 5 titles for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS across the world as of May 31st, 2007:

Nintendo Wii

North America:
1. Mario Party 8
2. Wii Play
3. Super Paper Mario
4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
5. WarioWare: Smooth Moves

Japan:
1. BioHazard 4 Wii Edition
2. Wii Sports
3.  The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
4. Wii de Yawaraka Atama Juku
5. Super Paper Mario

UK:
1. Mario Strikers Charged Football
2. Wii Play
3.  The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
4. Cooking Mama
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Nintendo DS

North America:
1. Pokemon Diamond
2. Pokemon Pearl
3. New Super Mario Bros.
4. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!
5. Mario Kart DS

Japan:
1. Miru Chikara o Jissen de Kitaeru: DS Ganryoku Training
2. Chuugaku Eitango Target 1800 DS
3. Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
4. TOEIC Test DS Training
5. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke

UK:
1. Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training
2. Cooking Mama
3. Big Brain Academy
4. New Super Mario Bros.
5. Final Fantasy III

On a personal note, blog and news entries from myself might be delayed a bit the next few days. I am experiencing a family medical emergency, making it difficult to find time to update. However, whenever I can, I will make sure to post stuff for you lovely, lovely fans! This would be a fantastic time for all readers to submit anything and everything they find that'll fit into the blog, or even official news announcements around the Mario universe I might have missed! my email is jesse.salazar@themushroomkingdom.net, so get emailing!

Those french, they can be so cute when they cite credible sources! Jeux France is saying that they have an inside scope on a (as of now) rumor, or rumour, about what Nintendo will show off at this year's E3. IE3 may not be as big as before, but some heavy-hitters are mentioned. First, Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy will be given solid release dates. Secondly, new hardware from Nintendo will be shown. Exactly what will be shown is not mentioned, but one can venture many a guess (Wii with DVD playback, new Game Boy). Finally, and the biggest one of them all if you ask me, is the announcement that Mario Kart Wii is scheduled to be unveiled!

You know, when it comes to a rumor, I always shrug it off until final confirmation, and this one should be treated no different. While they are more possible than other rumors, don't be surprised if only one of them is true...

Link: Mario Kart, Wii Wii? (jeux-france)

The newest item revealed on Smash Bros DOJO!! (their title, not mine) has Mario welding a Cracker Launcher (again, their title, not mine). No, it's not what you think. I'll let Masahiro Sakurai explain:

"This is a shooting item. Basically, you hold it in your arms. After you grab this item, it’ll rapidly release blast after blast of firecrackers that explode gaudily. You can walk around and jump while holding the launcher. You can also aim the launcher at different angles by tilting the Control Stick up or down."

Some of these items led themselves to the Wii's functionality, yet Sakurai always says you use the Control Stick to tilt the item. I know he said it'd be a traditional control type game, but does anyone think maybe, just maybe, it'll have some motion sensing controls?

To see the full size, head on over to the Fungi Forums!

No, that's not a typo, it's the one, the only Donkey Kone! See, this is how you do play on words right, sorta like my Toadally shirt (you'll see it soon). Ha. Toad-ally. Priceless.

Link: flickr.com

I love the colors I used for the ranks, however on the main page it'd just show code, so I decided against doing so this week. Here are....SALES!

CURRENT | LAST | SYS | GAME | WEEK |TOTAL|  MOVEMENT
07./09. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros.  - 21,472 / 4,480,257 (UP from 17,862)
13./12. [NDS] Yoshi's Island DS  (DOWN)
15./11. [Wii]  Super Paper Mario (DOWN)
18./16. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (DOWN)
28./22. [NDS] Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: Mini Mini Big March!  (DOWN)

I'm glad NSMB is up this week, but the others have all fallen in rank, much like weeks previous. I'd venture to say MVDK2 is going to be out of the rankings next week, but never know with those crazy gamers from another mother!

Ever wonder how much money our favorite little plumber has made for Nintendo? Well, wonder no more, as Nintendo has disclosed the exact amount (give or take a decimal) of units the Mario series has sold since it's inception in 1983. For kicks, I've included the top five franchises for Nintendo, with units sold as of March 2007:

Total Mario series: more than 198 million units sold worldwide
Total Pokémon series: more than 164 million units worldwide
Total Zelda series: more than 52 million units worldwide
Total Donkey Kong series: more than 48 million units worldwide
Total Metroid series: more than 13 million units worldwide

I wish the Metroid series was higher up. That series has a lot of potential, and it just has never seem to hit mainstream like Nintendo's other franchises.

File this under rumor, but not an impossible one. N-Zone, with the help of some creditable sources, has discovered that Nintendo has plans for the Kremlings to appear in future Mario titles. In case you don't know what a Kremling is, here's a picture of one (they play the goalies in the Mario Strikers series). What future Mario titles will this character appear in? My money's on Mario Kart Wii. Anyone care to venture another good guess?



Link: N-Zone

Like clockwork, the newest Nintendo Power has hit houses nationwide, and once again we are treated to a special part of the Virtual Console's top seller's list. This month's edition features the NES titles released before April 2007. Without further ado, here is the list (get ready for no surprises...Okay, maybe one):

1) Super Mario Bros.
2) The Legend of Zelda
3) Mario Bros.
4) Kirby’s Adventure
5) Donkey Kong

That one surprise for me is Mario Bros., which is a decent title, but I can't really see anyone but hardcore Mario fans shilling out another 5 bucks for a game that's updated and improved in the GBA Super Mario Advance series. Then again, maybe some confused it with Super Mario Bros? I think Wario's Woods deserves a top 5 spot, I love that game!

For comparison, here are the titles released up until 04/07 that aren't on the list (no particular order):

Pinball
Soccer
Solomon's Key
Wario's Woods
Donkey Kong Jr.
Ice Hockey
Tennis
Baseball
Urban Champion
Gradius
Xevious
Ice Climber
Kid Icarus
The Legend of Kage
Elevator Action
Tecmo Bowl
Excitebike


Source: Nintendo Power (July 2007)
See also: Top SNES VC titles

You know, I always had a feeling that Europe had a thing for torture. I mean, I look at the sales charts for that region, and sometimes I just can't help but wonder why they buy certain games. However, from time to time there is a shred of hope. I present you the software sales for Europe and Ireland, ending 5/29/07:


Europe
CURRENT|LAST|GAME
1 1 SPIDER-MAN 3
- 2 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
- 3 MARIO STRIKERS CHARGED FOOTBALL
2 4 COMMAND & CONQUER 3: TIBERIUM WARS
3 5 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 07
11 6 TMNT: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
13 7 THE SIMS 2: PETS MAXIS
6 8 THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION
23 9 FIFA 07
5 10 FINAL FANTASY III

And coming in at number 19 was our old friend New Super Mario Brothers!

Ireland
CURRENT|LAST|GAME
1 1 SPIDER-MAN 3
2 2 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 6
3 3 NEW SUPER MARIO BROTHERS

Amazing how NSMB manages to stick around in just about any region's top 30. Semi-related note: My little brother this weekend played NSMB for the first time, and he loved it. Mind you, my little brother only plays racing games, and he's never played a platform game in his 7 years on earth. Pretty interesting how that game can hook just about anyone! For the entire charts, click the link below.

Link: neogaf forums

Did You Know? Nintendo's Mario Party 8 Brings the Carnival to Town

May 29, 2007- Nintendo is bringing the carnival to town, and this time the party is going to get players up and moving. Mario Party 8 is the first Mario Party game for Wii™ from Nintendo, and the first in the series to incorporate motion controls.

In this carnival-themed excursion, players might use the Wii Remote™ to punch the air to chip away at a statue, point it at the screen to shoot at targets or balance it like a tightrope walker's pole. The amazing functions of the Wii Remote add a new level of hilarious competition. This new Mario Party installment includes new boards, characters, moves and minigames.

Since the original Mario Party debuted in 1999 on Nintendo® 64, the franchise has been a perpetual fan favorite, selling nearly 6.5 million in the United States alone. It's the video game version of a board game, where each player takes a turn moving spaces. Then everyone competes in a fast-paced minigame at the end of the round. Its controls are fun and easy enough that every member of the family can join in. Mario Party 8 lets players get into the action like never before, and is a great follow-up for gamers and families who had fun competing in Wii Sports™.

Mario Party 8, Rated E for Everyone, launches May 29. For more information about Mario Party 8, please visit www.MarioParty.com.

End Press Release

A few Mario games popped up today when Circuit City announced their $10 special for Memorial Day (USA):

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2

I'm sure these games are gone by now (even in Pacific time zone, it's about 1:00 pm already), but good to know that if you happen to be at CC, you might come across a great deal.

Link: siliconera.com

I gotta admit, the above cake tops my birthday cake, which simply was the SMB2 cake pan. I won't spoil what the cake looks like entirely, but I will tell you alot of work went into this, and the story behind it is pretty cool. The girl who made this, Su-Yin, has a bright future ahead of her, especially if it only consists of making constant delicious Mario cakes! Click on over to a "Geek-ful Cake".

Link: Geek-ful Cake (blogspot)

To further the slow, boring weekends gamers are usually met with during the summer months, TMKBlog will be providing you with Weekend Movie. These posts will highlight a video the blogger felt worthy of sharing. If you come across a video, feel free to submit it!

Be warned: This video is merely inspired by Mario Kart. The setting: a bus stop. The antagonist: a female, looking for competition worthy of her challege. The conclusion: true love.  However, not before some trials and tribulations....Click on to see "Invisible Mario Karts".

Link: Invisible Mario Karts (collegehumor.com)

Who Will Be The Champion? Find out as Mario Strikers: Charged Football launches this Friday, 25th May, exclusively on Wii

25th May 2007 – Pull on your team colours and prepare for kick-off, as your favourite Nintendo characters take to the pitch. With the rulebook well and truly torn up, Mario Strikers: Charged Football combines football, combat and Wi-Fi gaming to form the ultimate extreme sport. Mario Strikers Charged: Football kicks its way onto Wii across Europe this Friday, 25th May.

Precision passing, skilful saves and phenomenal goals are not all that make up the beautiful game as Mario Strikers: Charged Football adds that little bit extra to one of Europe’s favourite sports. All the rules are gone, as Nintendo introduces a whole new type of football to Wii, where fouled players get special treats with which to avenge themselves and devastating special moves replace set-plays as the ideal way to score!

Mario Strikers: Charged Football is the first Wii game in Europe to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service adding a whole new level of competition to the game as players can take on opponents from across Europe to find the champion of the pitch! Players can also compete in ranked tournaments, earning points for each win and the most spectacular goal scored.

With Mario Strikers: Charged Football players can choose whether they want an international match or home nations tournament! Players can select which friends they want to take on in Friendly Mode, by swapping Friend Codes and creating their own personal championship. What’s more, by using their Mii characters to save individual game profiles, multiple players can save their records and settings allowing the whole family to compete using just one Wii console.

Players can immerse themselves deep into the action with Mario Strikers: Charged Football as the Wii Remote and Nunchuk allow real movement to be translated into on-screen action. Basic movement and strikes are executed using the analogue stick and buttons on the Wii Remote, however when quick reactions are needed, players can just flick the Wii Remote which causes the character to check their opponent, hopefully stealing the ball in the process. Players can also use the Wii Remote to perform cat-like saves, defending their goal from Megastrikes by grabbing the ball out of the air.

So forget about fair play and shoot for glory asMario Strikers: Charged Football launches across Europe on 25th May 2007, for the estimated retail price of around £30. Wii is available at the estimated retail price of around £179 and comes bundled with Wii Sports.

end Press Release

Virtual Insanity! This Week Virtual Console Lets You Save The Planet, Journey Through Space And Overthrow An Evil Tyrant

25th May 2007- This week sees NES classic Super Mario Bros. 2 hop onto the Virtual Console. In this 1989 classic, Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad go for a picnic which doesn’t quite go to plan when they end up in the mysterious land of Subcon. Obliged to save it from the curse of filthy frog tyrant, Wart, players must use each of the four main characters and their own special ability to battle through seven worlds and free the land from Wart’s evil grasp! Super Mario Bros. 2 is available to download now for just 500 Wii Points!

If you feel like something a little more turbo-charged this week then get ready for Mach Rider™. Set in 2112, Earth has been invaded by evil quad bikers who are bent on destroying everything. Players must assume the role of Mach Rider, the world’s last hope, and travel from area to area destroying any quad bikers they encounter. Mach Rider, which was originally released on the NES in 1987, also features a level design mode enabling players to create their own courses. Unique to the Virtual Console version, players can save these creations to enjoy over and over again. Mach Rider is available now for 500 Wii Points.

Finally this week is Blazing Lazers, originally released in 1989 for the Turbografx. This vertical scrolling shoot ‘em up achieved critical acclaim when it was first released. Now it’s available on Virtual Console featuring nine levels of non-stop shooting action in the darkest depths of space. Players can choose from four weapon types including bullets, waves and rings, each of which can be upgraded making them even more deadly. Blazing Lazers blasts its way onto the Virtual Console for 600 Wii Points.

These great games will join the list of 89 classic titles already available for the Virtual Console in the UK.

end Press Release.

Yes, finally, the time has come. Here it is, everything and anything you wanted to know from the Nintendo Press Event, from media to information, it's all ready and barely legal. The above image is directly from the new Brain Age 2!

Listed by site:

1UP
Event Wrap-Up
Mario Party 8 Screens
Mario Strikers Charged Screens

Gamespot
Mario Strikers Charged interview
Mario Strikers Charged video
Mario Party 8 video
Mario Party 8 images
Mario Strikers Charged images

Game Trailers
Nintendo Media Summit overview (DK Jungle Climber info)
Mario Strikers Charged Trailer
Mario Party 8 Trailer
Mario Strikers Charged developer's walkthrough (online)

GameVideos
Mario Party 8 minigames trailer
Mario Strikers Charged ‘Multiplayer’

IGN
Mario Party 8 trailer
hands-on Mario Strikers Charged

Joystiq
Mario Strikers Charged hands-on
* Earn tickets to unlock Dr.Mario minigame in Brain Age 2
Mario Party 8 hands-on


Kotaku
Brain Age 2 video (Dr.Mario reference)

Wired
Super Mario Strikers Charged hands-on

All screenshots, concept art, and Mario references will be updated and documented throughout the night and weekend on themushroomkingdom.net, so stay tuned!

According to AMN, the answer to that question is a resounding "not exactly". In their latest hands-on report, AMN says the Wii remote doesn't stand out as a positive or negative thing in Mario Party 8. Rather, the best thing about the title is its new Monopoly-like gameplay. The negative comes into play when focusing on how the mini-games are standard fare with Wii functions tacked-on. The hands-on impressions lead me to believe that the game will receive a mediocre score, especially when the writer's last sentiment is "it’s essentially Mario Party with Wii controls".

See the full report by clicking below, and let me know what you think!

Link: AMN

Handkerchiefs may not be the hot topic here, but in Japan school kids are required to have hankies at all time, for sanitation reasons I'd assume. The above hanky is one that blogger Brian Ashcraft from kotaku.com lets his kid use. Apparently, the Mario patch was sown on to spice up the rather plain handkerchief. The only patches I've seen in the States, recently, have been the boring old "know your roots", mushrooms, and 1up logos, but no mario faces. Seems Japan has the upper hand when it comes to patches!

Link: kotaku.com

IGN's Top Ten Tuesday is usually nothing than a glorified countdown list, but from time to time they do offer food for though. Take, for example, yesterday's, where they listed the top ten characters that needed their own videogame title. From a roster of sidekicks and forgotten heroes to notable antagonist and Wookie lovers, Mario's very own Toad was recognized as being overlooked. The state the obvious: every Mario hero has been honored with their own game except Toad.The piece they write is just fluff, and nothing really is mentioned to justify their choice (other than his smiling face), but this does raise a good topic: Does Toad deserve his own game? If so, what kind of adventure would it be, and what would his moveset be? Heck, write a fan-fiction on the proper board and I'll make sure to highlight in a future post (other goodies need to be run by the boss-mans, but I'll see what I can do).

In case no one steps up to the plate, I'll put my two cents in: I think a game with Toad could, in theory, work. He'd need a stealth like game, because Toad's not a big guy, and probably couldn't take on Koopa's army one-on-one. I'd imagine it as a campy version of Splinter Cell, or Metal Gear. I know, that's probably a bad way to put what's in my head, but that's all I got.

Anyone else willing to wager what a Toad game would be like?

Only one Mario title stands tall in the top ten.

CURRENT | LAST | SYS | GAME | WEEK |TOTAL|  MOVEMENT
09./05. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros.  - 17,862 / 4,458,786 (DOWN from 21,332)
11./06. [Wii]  Super Paper Mario (DOWN )
12./10. [NDS] Yoshi's Island DS  (DOWN)
16./16. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (---)
22./15. [NDS] Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: Mini Mini Big March!  (DOWN)

Unfortunately, SPM seems to have run its course with our day ahead friends. That's a shame, because SPM is one of the best Wii games on the market in my opinion, and definitely deserves as much praise and sales as any other game on that list.

Link: nttpub.co.jp

What is Media Create? Media Create gathers and analyzes data from the digital entertainment industry, specifically focusing on the Japanese console gaming market.

Okay, so I don't suppose it'll make you cry, but you might just be in awe by how every person of interest invited got a free 2000 Wii Points card just for going. Hopefully, these items were the least interesting thing about the event, because I'm hoping for some big news tomorrow, once the NDA is lifted at around 10am central standard time. The site I swiped the picture from, kotaku.com, is going to be giving away everything but the two cards, so if anyone here snags the Mario stuff, please email us. We need to catalog  it, yo!

Yeah, I'll never use "yo" again, I promise.

Link: kotaku.com

Today was supposed to be jam-packed with new information on the latest Wii/DS games, but it seems there was a catch to the press event: you can't say anything until Friday. So, until then, here's all I was able to scrape from the bottom of the barrel. Nothing too interesting, but worth mentioning:

* Nintendo Power is looking to be licensed to an outside publisher. You may or may not know that our forums have been bouncing with NP possibilities, but this one never came up. It should have too, Nintendo's Europe mag has a similar model.

* George Harrison confirmed that a total of 61 people have moved from Washington to San Francisco. This only includes sales and marketing team members.

* Reggie says: 40% of Wii owners online, 3.3 million VC downloads, and Metroid Prime 3 will have controls that rival PC FPS controls.

Again, no Mario information, unforunately, can be released at this time. The first note that I get, I'll make sure to pass along!

I say tidbit because the only one little Mario morsel of information is mentioned, which is unfortunately the review score of Mario Party 8. However, as that'd be boring, I'm happy to present everything interesting about the new Nintendo Power issue, that way you don't have to buy it.


* Raving Rabbids 2: New mini-games include using the Wii remote as a cell phone to text other rabbids, to bring a sandwich to Don Rabbid perfectly, and show zero improvement in any graphical way, shape or form.

* A Wii/DS version of Geometry Wars is in development (now if we can only get "FlOw " back...).

* As reported here, Smash Bros Dojo will be relanched, with daily blog updates from Sakurai. These will include possible information new characters, designs, and levels.

* Soul Calibur Legends exclusive for July issue.

* Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition will include PS2 version with an updated graphics engine (*cough*GameCube*cough*)

* Madden NFL 2008 to feature Mii avatars for online play.

And finally, ladies and gents, the review score for Mario Party 8: 7.5.

Oh, and it seems there's bonus Mario Party 8 information. The issue will include a preview of some MP8 mini-games. Most seem to be controlled like WarioWare: Smooth Moves and WiiSports. Also,  like I mentioned here, Miis will be playable characters.

*Phew* So, there you have it! What was going to be a boring old review score turns into a full flegded Nintendo Power spoiler fest. This will probably be one of the only times I'll venture out into non-Mario territory, so soak in those foreign rays beeming from the TMK Blog!


What you think of the Mario Party 8 review score? Feed me your thoughts, let me know if you're excited enough to buy the game.

Link: neogaf forums

Whether you're a longtime gamer who likes classic franchises or a newcomer aiming to keep your brain sharp, Nintendo's summer lineup of games has something for you. Nintendo's offerings are anchored by key Wii™ games like Metroid Prime® 3 Corruption and Mario Strikers™ Charged. Nintendo DS™ owners can challenge their minds with games like Brain Age™ 2: More Training in Minutes a Day and the new picture-based puzzle game, Picross DS™.

Licensees also are demonstrating a strong commitment to Wii and Nintendo DS by announcing more than 40 titles in all genres. The unique controls of Wii and Nintendo DS make the Nintendo platform versions of these games entirely new experiences. No matter what your taste or experience level, you'll keep busy this summer!

Wii July 30 Mario Strikers Charged Nintendo
Aug. 20 Metroid Prime 3 Corruption Nintendo
September Battalion Wars 2 Nintendo
Aug. 14 High School Musical: Sing It! Disney Interactive Studios
Aug. 14 Madden NFL '08 EA
August Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 EA
August Space Station Tycoon Namco Bandai
August Brunswick Pro Bowling Crave
August Dave Mirra BMX Challenge Crave
August Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection Crave
September Brothers in Arms Ubisoft
September Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal Warner Bros.
September George of the Jungle Crave
Fall Boogie EA




Nintendo DS July 30 Picross DS Nintendo
Aug. 20 Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day Nintendo
Sept. 10 DK Jungle Climber Nintendo
Sept. 24 Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol Nintendo
July SimCity EA
July Namco Museum DS Namco Bandai
July Drake & Josh THQ
July Glory Days 2 Eidos
Aug. 14 Madden NFL '08 EA
Aug. 14 High School Musical: Makin' the Cut! Disney Interactive Studios
Aug. 14 Heroes of Mana Square-Enix
August I SPY: Fun House Activision
August Jewel Quest Expedition Activision
August Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 EA
August Worms: Open Warfare 2 THQ
August Luminous Arc Atlus
August Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus Capcom
August Mega Man Star Force: Leo Capcom
August Mega Man Star Force: Dragon Capcom
August Operation: Vietnam Majesco
August Turn It Around Majesco
August The Wild West Majesco
August Fulllmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game Destineer
September Drawn to Life THQ
September Zoey 101 THQ
September Crayola Teasure Adventures Crave
September Nancy Drew and The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park Majesco
September Holly Hobbie & Friends Majesco
September Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations Capcom
September Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck Warner Bros.
September Pet Luv Spa & Resort Tycoon Activision
September Animal Genius Activision
September George of the Jungle Crave
September Jam Sessions Ubisoft
September Professor Brainium Destineer
September Indy 500 Legends Destineer

End Press Release.

An interesting scan has popped up across the internet, allegedly from the next issue of Nintendo Power. If true, the scan confirms the release of Paper Mario sometime in June! It looks to be legit, and with Super Paper Mario being somewhat new still, I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo banked on its newfound success and squeeze a few more Wii Points out of the craze. Also if true, that means the Paper Mario series will be the first series that can be played entirely on Wii. Okay, that's not a HUGE deal, but I thought it was interesting enough to mention. Take an eyeful of the scan after the jump!

Edited: I am a kid of the Everything64 era, so excuse the error of "64" at the end of everything :P

Just got this email an hour or so ago. Nothing different from the usual Nintendo survey fare (Sequel talk, etc). But, I'd thought I'd share it with you, in case you wanted to take the survey ;)

We value your opinion!

Thank you for taking the time to complete our brief survey about Nintendo products. Your participation in this survey will help Nintendo continue to provide the best products and services possible. The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Please respond by Friday, May 25th.

Your responses are completely confidential and will be used for research purposes only.

Thanks again for your time!

To participate, just click the link below and follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Click here to start the survey.

Sincerely,

NINTENDO OF AMERICA INC.


Have fun. What'd you change about SPM??

Oh Princess Peach, why do I love you so?
Why does Bowser take you to and fro?
How else can I express my love
For thee, gentle like a turtle dove
You will be with me even when you leave
For I have placed you right on my sleeve.

Ah, feel the love on this lovely Friday....

Anyway, this dude's mom is to thank for the lovely Peach you see above. To get his reasoning on why he had his mom do this (like he needs one), make sure to check out the link.

Link: Stitched with Love, by Mom

Update: Here's America's top 5 software as well:

1. [NDS] Pokemon Diamond (1,045,000)
2. [NDS] Pokemon Pearl (712,000)
3. [Wii] Super Paper Mario (352,000)
4. [Wii]  Wii Play  (249,000)
5. [360] Guitar Hero 2 w/guitar (197,000)

With this information, I'll make sure to get a worldwide sales total for SPM asap!

Original post:

OH, CANADA! How dearly you love Nintendo. However, I'm not here to talk about that, for this is not the time, nor the place (this is). No, I'm here to proudly present you with the top 5 games in Canada because...Well, you'll figure it out:

CURRENT | SYS | GAME | SALES
1. [NDS] Pokemon Diamond (48,000)
2. [NDS] Pokemon Pearl (37,000)
3. [Wii]  Wii Play  (Unknown)
4. [Wii] Super Paper Mario (Unknown)
5. [PS2] God of War 2 (11,600)

Now, if I were to guess, I'd say that SPM sold probably 15,000-18,000 units, but they don't say. For the full report, check out the link below!

Anyone care to guess SPM's Canadian sales??

Link: gamespot.com

Here's how all of Mario's game titles stack up in sales (Japan), in a simple to read picture form. Any of these numbers jump out at you?

Link: neo gaf forums

An interesting peice of concept art has surfaced for the new PS3 title "LittleBigPlanet", and I'll let you conclude as to why it's so surprising. Seems you can get so detailed on the customization that users could create Mario, and perhaps even other videogame characters. Of course, this is just concept art (sketch drawings at that), meaning these drawings may or may not end up on the cutting room floor. I'm not sure user-generated content can fall in lines with "trademark" issues (I'll leave you guys to investigate that one), but I'm surely a bit more interested in this title if the customization can get that good. Of course, not even a full blown Mario title for PS3 would cause me to plunk down 600 bucks for one.

Hm...Maybe if it was a special edition Mario PS3. Yeah, probably definitely most likely I would. Maybe.

Link: jeux-france.com

Mama-Mia, Mario took a stumble this week! Check it out:

CURRENT | LAST | SYS | GAME | WEEK | TOTAL
05./08. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros.  - 21,332 / 4,440,924 (DOWN from  51,681)
06./02. [WII] Super Paper Mario  - 20,670 / 330,851 (DOWN from 90,151)
10./04. [NDS] Yoshi's Island DS - 17,423 / 808,555 (DOWN from  58,948 )
15./06. [NDS] Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: Mini Mini Big March!  (DOWN)
16./12. [NDS]  Mario Kart DS (DOWN)

Wow, not a good week for our pudgy little plumber. While NSMB rose in rank, the weekly sales for the game were down. I blame our friends at Square-Enix, whose FF games snagged the top two spots. Anyone surprised by these numbers?

Link: neogaf forums

Found this picture (attached) online, listing some of the anticipated VC games for Europe being available today. In case you're image impaired (thanks file compression), I've listed the titles below (because they are Mario related, yay).

- Mario & Yoshi
- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Hm, Mario & Yoshi is pretty fun, wish Nintendo of America would give us that. Not that I don't enjoy Pac-Man on a different console #576 (though, to be fair, it's the NES version). /end sarcasm

What's interesting: Mario and Yoshi are in both these titles!

Now that the game is out in Japan, people have begun to film themselves playing portions of the game.  Here's some bigfoot-sighting quality video of the Mario Bros. lookalike stage.  These guys actually do plumbing!

Link: YouTube

With the Mario Strikers Charged release date just a week or so away, IGN.com got some limited hands-on time with the system. If you don't wanna go over there and read, I poured a few minutes into it and got the goods right here. According to the preview, MSC will use friend codes that are specific to the game, not tied with your Wii friend code (big surprise). The good news is that 'Rivals' play is intact, meaning you can also play complete strangers around the globe (this is good, I had heard a rumor the game was going to be region specific). The Friend's roster allows you to see how your buddies rank, and also displays a picture of their Mii. Furthermore, it seems Next Level wants to turn this into the layman's Madden, with Daily Leaders and Season Leaders, plus My Daily Rankings and My Season Rankings. Honestly, it seems Mario Strikers Charged has great online potential, but it'll only go as far as the developers, and gamers, allow it.

The game is also set to include a total of 17 stadiums; 10 brand new ones, and the 7 originals from the first iteration. Unlike the first game, however, the squads can now be broken up by more than just one type. It is now possible to customize your remaining four-man line-up with different sub-characters. These selections will play a big part in how your team will match up offensively and defensively. There is also more variety amongst the captains, and the animations are more fluid and unique. The character art seems to have been bumped up, with stadiums said to look outstanding with their architecture and fully realized crowds.

Finally, onto the controls. MEGAߥTE mentioned in his preview how the Wii remote's functionality will come into play, and this article compliments that information. IGN.com states the controls will take some getting used to. However, it seems the sequels gives more depth to the controls, with more complicated moveset that allows for some stunning and dramatic finishes.

All in all, it seem that the game will be worth it's price, if you plan on taking advantage of the full package (single, multi, and online player modes). If you don't, some may just see this as Wii's version of an expansion pack. The full article is linked below. Based on these impressions, how do you feel about the game?

Link: IGN.com Preview's MSC

The top 10 Spanish software sales...In english!

1. POKEMON RANGER (DS)
2. BRAIN TRAINING DEL DR. KAWASHIMA (DS)
3. WII PLAY (WII)
4. HORSEZ (DS)
5. RESISTANCE: FALL OF MAN (PS3)
6. HOTEL DUSK: ROOM 215 (DS)
7. ANIMAL CROSSING: WILD WORLD (DS)
8. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. (DS)
9. CATZ 2006 (DS)
10. F1 CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION (PS3)

When looking at all the markets, I can see how Iwata is a little disappointed with Brain Age sales, but to argue, these countries also seem to love HORSEZ, so who's really the crazy one?

Ever wanted to write Nintendo news rather than just reading it?  How about writing your own game reviews?  Nintendo World Report, another site I write for, is hiring!  If you're interested and think you meet the qualifications, apply now!  If you have questions, let me know.

Link: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=13440

That's right folks, it looks like some new information may be just around the bend. The official site for SSBB has a countdown to the day that the site will be relaunched, possibly to include more information on the game, as well as characters we have yet to see. There have been rumors flying around about Tingle being in the game, two versions (a la Zelda), and Wii remote functionality, but I'll hold on tongue on the details until this bad boy is up and running. We got a week, and you know I'll be there as soon as anything new pops up!

Yeah, all has been quiet on the Smash Bros. end of the spectrum lately. Many of you have been asking for anything, anything, that way your thirst for SSBB news could be quenched. Well, looks like a manga scan appeared (attached after the jump), though it doesn't have to seem any new information on it.  I did go through it, however, and found on the left side bar a very interesting image. Now, I can't read these foreign scrolls, but I can deduce from the picture there that maybe some Wii remote functionality is going to be included. Look at the kid, and how Link is on screen mimicking the kid's gesture. Pretty crazy, huh? Also, in the second picture below it, Tingle is shown with Kirby, DK, and Link looking on. This may be proof that Donkey Kong is indeed in the game (big surprise), but I can't say what these pictures mean without translation.

I'll leave that to you fine folks. I have full faith that each of you can somehow contribute to figuring out just what's going on. If not, then specualte away!

Square Enix had a little shindig the other day where the press got to preview some of the latest and yet-to-be released games. Of course, Itadaki Street DS was there, in all it's Mario character art greatness. IGN.com has a hands on preview, and while I don't usually like linking to IGN (knowing some of you openly chastise the site), it seem this preview has great party pics and answers the dying question of "What is this game?" that many here have been asking. I encourage everyone to turn off their IGN filter and take a good read. Trust me, it'll be worth it, if just to see more pictures like the one above.

Link: Itadaki Street DS preview (ign.com)

On behalf of the TMK staff, I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day. As you can see, for Mother's Day I'm going to beat your mom at Mario Kart. Obviously, you should have trained her better for a well-oiled machine such as myself. However, you can comfort her with a nice Mother's Day present!

Speaking of which, what will you be giving your mom for her special day?

Imagine seeing this in your mailbox. Now, first though would be "Mario, what friend of mine is named Mario?", followed by "OH! I get it, Mario Party, like the game...Witty, but what cryptic message be this?" So, you head on down to this kid's party only to be met with the following:


"Awesome! My own Mario bag...HEY! I WANTED MARIO-GIMMIE IT!"


"Whoo-hoo! I'm rich! Hey, whatd'ya mean these aren't all for me?!"


"AH! PIRANHA PLANTS! WHO INVITED THEM?!"


"Sweet! Wait, there's only Luigi ones left..Forget this, I'm outta here..."


"*Gulp*-On second thought, maybe I'll stay. Mr. Chomp makes a good point."

So you stay, and rock out to the best party ever. Ya know, except that you have a Toadette bag, one penny, and a Luigi hat on. Should've gotten there earlier....

Link: flickr

The sun is good for many things. I can't think of those things now, but I can think of a new good way to use the sun. The sun can be used to make the above mushroom rock back and forth, an attempt to no doubt get you to eat it. Dubbed "the Mr. Toad toy", this little gadget features a solar panel that allows the mushroom to bounce around when provided enough energy. However, Vampires need not be discouraged, as the toy will work with a simple flashlight as well. The toy measures 12cm or 4.72" tall from the base to the top of the mushroom cap. You'd think something like would cost you alot of coins, right? You'd be wrong, as the toys only cost 16.00 American coins apiece! Way better price than some falsely advertised cushion, if I might add. 


Wanna see this bad boys in action? Check out the YouTube videos at the bottom of the item's page.

Link: NCSX

Software sales coming at ya! Broken up by console:

Nintendo Wii

North America
1. Super Paper Mario
2. WarioWare: Smooth Moves
3. Wii Play
4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
5. Spider-Man 3

Japan
1. Wii Sports
2. Wii de Yawaraka Atama Juku
3. Super Paper Mario
4. Hajimete no Wii
5. Zelda no Densetsu: Twilight Princess

UK
1. Wii Play
2. Eledees
3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 
4. Red Steel
5. WarioWare: Smooth Moves

Overall, it seems SPM interest is down in Japan, sort of the same turn Legend of Zelda: TP took earlier this year. What's uplifting is where the game stands in America, though some may argue that the competition is scarce. SPM hasn't been released in the UK, but WWSM still stands strong in the top 5. Okay, moving onto the DS sales....


Nintendo DS

North America
1. Pokemon Diamond
2. Pokemon Pearl
3. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
4. New Super Mario Bros.
5. Mega Man ZX

Japan
1. TOEIC Test DS Training
2. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Motto Eigo Duke
3. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
4. Touhoku Daigaku Mirai Kagaku Gijutsu Kyoudou Kenkyuu Center Kawashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nou wo Kitaeru Otona no DS Training
5. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Eigo Duke

UK
1. Cooking Mama
2. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends
3. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
4. New Super Mario Bros.
5. Final Fantasy III

After looking at these, I must say I continue to be impressed by NSMB strong standing. I know I say that over and over again, but it makes me confident that Mario is still hugely popular in North America. As for Japan, the training craze continues, while the UK sort of mirrors North American trends. Fun fact: Mega Man ZX saw a jump due to a sale on Amazon.

Link: gamasutra.com

Mario Strikers Charged has been met with mixed criticism. I've seen reviews ranging from "decent" to "terrible" due to the single player. Official Nintendo Magazine (UK) totally changes that curve, though. Check out the score they gave that game, as well as Wario: Master of Disguise.

Mario Strikers Charged: 91%
Wario: Master of Disguise: 68%

I'm not too surprised by the WMD score (definitely not as much as Game Informer's score), but that MSC score just seems alittle too high to trust. What do you think?

If you need more info to gather a good opinion, why not check out MEGAߥTE's preview?

A lot of new screenshots and character art featuring Mario and friends..

 
 
 
 
 

Phew, that's-a lot of pictures. Man, I'm excited for this game, especially after seeing the Mario inspired level. See that and even more screens by clicking the link!

Link: famitsu.com

Wario's second DS outing wasn't a smash hit that we all expected, but if you could snag that game for free, would you? Well, if you are a Nintendo of Australia Club Member, you're in luck! NoAus is running a Wario: Master of Disguise competition that has some pretty simple rules:

1) Live in Australia (shoot, there goes my chance..)
2) Sign up to be a Nintendo Club Member
3) Tell NoAus in 25 words or less: What would you do if you were Wario for a day?

The deadline to enter is Friday, June 8th 2007 and they got three copies, so don't miss out!

Well, if I was Wario, the first thing I'd do is go on a diet. Can't have that skinny Mario showing me up!

Link: Enter Now!

Okay, that title is a bit misleading, but take a look.

IGN Entertainment released its latest GamerMetrics report, and it'll come at a surprise for Mario fans. The GamerMetrics list gauges reader interest in games through surveys and user activity on IGN's sites, including IGN.com, TeamXbox.com and Fileplanet.com. While the first two games listed aren't a surprise to anyone (Halo 3, GTV IV), it's the lack of Super Mario Galaxy (on the list) that perplexes me. This could be blamed on lack of information, but interestingly enough, Super Smash Bros. Brawl did crack the top 5, which hasn't even had a full roster announced yet. Of course, Mario fans need'nt fret; Super Pario Paper Mario comes in at number two on the list of games that have been released. Below I've included the top five in both categories.

Top 5 unreleased overall

1. Halo 3
2. Grand Theft Auto IV (360)
3. Mass Effect
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Top 5 released overall

1. God of War II
2. Super Paper Mario
3. Crackdown
4. Pokemon Diamond
5. Guitar Hero II (360)

Of course, maybe SMG came in at number 6. I guess the world will never know...

Link: gamasutra.com

Scan from a magazine showing off DK Jet and Mario Party 8.

First person to translate gets 10 coins. :)

As nerds, most of us have a tradition of not going to prom night, unless the hottest cheerleader in school asks us (or any girl for some). We'd rather stay home, enjoy some Wi-Fi action, and be content in the fact that we just saved ourselves cash to pick up some sweet import Mario stuff. However, what if your prom theme was Super Mario Bros.? What if the nerds took over the prom? That's exactly what happened at Chelsea High School, where students remade their ballroom to reflect everything Mario Bros. The large NES controller I pictofied (after the jump) was wired to work acurrately with the original Super Mario Bros. game, which was being projected onto a nearby wall. How cool is that?

I just have one gripe: The kids that grew up with Super Mario Bros, like me, graduated a few years before our dreams could come true, oh well.

Link: thelastboss.com (Note: article uses vulgar language and content, discretion advised)

   

Two cool screenshots from Taiko Drum Master DS showing off some 8-bit Mario love. I wasn't sure if this was something worth importing, but it seems that Mario may have just sweetened the deal for me...

Link: watch.impress

Somehow, I missed these yesterday...Anyway, Media Create published the top 50 best selling games in Japan for week ending 4/29 5/6, and below are where Mario-related titles stood in the ranking.

CURRENT | LAST | SYS | GAME | WEEK |TOTAL
02./03. [WII] Super Paper Mario(Nintendo) - 90,151 / 310,182
04./12. [NDS] Yoshi's Island DS (Nintendo) - 58,948 / 791,132
06./08. [NDS] Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: Mini Mini Big March! (Nintendo) - 57,741 / 233,477
08./14. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) - 51,681 / 4,419,592
12./20. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (Nintendo)

If you'd like to see what other game titles made the list, check out the link below.

Link: neogaf forums

Going through the ESRB site, I noticed that they posted recently a rating for Mario Strikers Charged. The game will be rated E10+ for crude humor and mild cartoon violence. I think it's safe to assume the crude humor is going to be provided mainly by Wario. Currently, Nintendo has the game scheduled to release "Summer 2007" on their press site.

Link: ESRB.com

I had a chance to play DK King of Swing DS at last year's E3.  Oddly, the game seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth.  It's back now with a Japanese release date of July 19th.  The latest Famitsu, a weekly Japanese gaming mag, shows off new screens of the game.  Unlike the first game, the sequel's graphics try to mimic the original pre-rendered look of Donkey Kong Country.  Along with gameplay shots, there are a few amusing screens here such as DK playing DS on a DS and DK talking to the Peanut Butter Jelly Time banana (okay, not really).

On the same page is something even more exciting: screens of Ouendan 2.  For those not familiar with the game, Ouendan was the spiritual predecessor to Elite Beat Agents in Japan, starring a male Japanese cheer squad who help people in need by motivating them through their cheers.  This issue shows off the new design of the cheergirls as well as a first look at their rival cheergirl squad.  Even more amusing is a cameo by what appears to be Mario Bros lookalikes!  Their hats say "Water Bureau."  I'm not sure how they tie into the story, but the game is guaranteed to be a blast, and their inclusion makes things even better.

Link: Famitsu scans

Unless you didn't get a Wii, anyone reading this board has probably already beaten, or at least played, the main story of Super Paper Mario. However, how many can say they went to the Pit of 100 Trials and lived to tell about it? I am proud to say I only know of two people: Me, and Stephen Totilo from mtv.com. Unlike me, who simply yelled at the TV as I progressed, Stephen contemplated how "the Pit" takes gamers back to the "good old days" of Pac-Man, where the thrill came from just trying to hang on as long as possible. Overall, it's a great article that'll carry you through his experience, and maybe even give you an itch to enter the Pit, or try it once more.

A warning to our readers: This article may contain spoilers, so click at your own risk.

Link: mtv.com

What happens when you take Luigi, Mario, stars, and Leather? You get one, or in this case two, stylish DS case(s). Part of Nintendo's in-house "Switchand Carry" series of DSLite cases, these babies are guaranteed to add 10 cool points to your overly nerdy life. The one on the left can house your DS as you play it and carry up to 3 DS games. The one on the right is bulky and can house your DS, multiple carts and maybe a few styluses (styli?) even. Notice the quality stitching, especially on the Nintendo DS logo.

The cases will set you back 14.99 American coins apiece, which is pretty steep. That, however, did not stop me. :)

Update: Now with more UK, less talk!

Sure, we know Mario's selling strong here in the USA, but how's he fairing with our overseas counterparts? Here is a list of the top selling software in the UK, Spain, and Germany. Take special note that this isn't console specific:


United Kingdom
(Note: UK sales are ending 5/4/2007)

1.  Spider-Man 3
2.  WiiPlay
3.  God of War II : Divine Retribution
4.  Singstar Pop
5.  The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion
6.  Buzz! The Grand Quiz
7.  FIFA 07
8.  Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
10. Pokémon Ranger
11. Final Fantasy III
12. UEFA Champions League 2006 - 2007
13. TMNT
14. Harvest Moon
15. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training
16. Grand Theft Auto : Vice City Stories
17. The Lord of the Online Rings: Shades of Angmar
18. New Super Mario Bros.
19. The Sims 2
20. Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars

Spain
1. Pokemon Ranger
2. Hotel Dusk: Room 215
3. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training
4. WiiPlay
5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
6. Horsez 
7. New Super Mario Bros.
8. Animal Crossing: Wild World
9. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
10. Pro Evolution Soccer 6

Germany
1. The Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar
2. Harvest Moon
3. Pokemon Ranger
4. The Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar
5. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
6. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training
7. Diddy Kong Racing
8. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
9. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
10. Mario Slam Basketball

Horsez > New Super Mario Bros.? This truly must be the end of days. Overall, I think Mario's doing pretty well overseas, except in Italy, where no Mario title is in the top 10. If you want to see which games are, click below and have a gander.


Link: gamesindustry.biz

Enterplay (not to be confused with Interplay) has announced a new line of trading cards that'll feature Mario and Friends. The company is probably best known for their line of Nintendogs cards. If those cards are any indication, these will be priced at 2.99 American coins per pack. According to their horribly designed website, the packs (or "paks") will include trading cards and other fun stuff that'll draw inspiration from Mario's adventures, friends, and foes.

No release date is given, but sometime this year isn't a bad guess.

Link: Enterplay LLC

(Note: Video has some subjective content, viewer discrection advised)


YouTube user Chris Preksta directed this intelligently done video about Luigi's sparadic tomfoolery, including messing around with Ms. (not MRS.) Pac-man. Though the idea isn't new, the film delves into Mario and Luigi's last name (in this case staying true to the Segale bloodline, albeit misspelled), and how Luigi is destined to always live in Mario's shadow. To boot, the film won "Best Short Film Winner" at the 2006 GenCon Film Festival

I thought this video was pretty funny, but why do people insist Mario's gloves are puffy? Oh well, that doesn't change the fact that this video uses some awesome art, video, and sound clips (especially around 2:30 in).

Link: The Luigi Story (YouTube Video)

EW.com's Geoff Keighley caught up with Mario's dad, otherwise known as Miyamoto, and got some surprisingly candid answers to questions ranging from social issues to Twilight Princess's sales. Though most of us picture Miyamoto and Iwata swimming in a pool of money, the interview reveals that Miyamoto enjoys thought provoking movies, such as Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of our Fathers. He also acknowledges how age is catching up to him, and talks about a few games that didn't live up to his expectations. Click below to get the skinny on Nintendo's main man!

Link:ew.com

Do you know Super Potato? If not, don't cry too hard- it's a retro game store that's got rare classic games at prices that feel just right (unlike those game stores that don't sell retro games). Usually when they expand, people can expect more of the same love, but this time Super Potato's Akihabara location stepped up their game; they've opened up a retro arcade, complete with the sweet Mario memorabilia you see above. This is the subject of Chris Kohler's most recent blog post in his series "Kohler in Japan." Make sure to check out the entire series (linked below), if just to see the skill-crane machines piled high with Super Mario Bros. toys.

Link: Game|Life

The June 2007 issue of Nintendo Power decides to tackle just how all those overpriced Virtual Console downloads stack up against each other in sales. After much debate, NP decided to slice up the pie per the game's system origin. So, below are the best sellers for SNES VC games in the North American region during February:

1. Super Mario World
2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
3. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
4. Super Castlevania IV
5. Donkey Kong Country

For comparison, here are the titles that released up to 02/07 that aren't on this list:

F-Zero
SimCity
R-Type III: The Third Lightning
Contra III: The Alien Wars

I wish they gave some solid numbers for once. I mean, they gotta have'em, but why they don't ever provide numbers to back up their rankings (for any system) boggles my mind. To clarify, these aren't total sales since release, rather how they sold for that individual month. Still, I guess the prospect of seeing a Bowser Attack isn't enough to crack SimCity into the top 5.

Also, here are the top 10 games for Wii and DS titles through February (according to Nintendo Power):


Wii
1. WiiPlay
2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
3. WarioWare: Smooth Moves
4. Sonic and the Secret Rings
5. Rayman: Raving Rabbids
6. Madden NFL 2007
7. Red Steel
8. Call of Duty 3
9. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
10. Excite Truck

NDS
1. Diddy Kong Racing DS
2. New Super Mario Bros.
3. Mario Kart DS
4. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!
5. Kirby: Squeak Squad
6. Nintendogs: Dalmatian and Friends
7. Yoshi's Island DS
8. Animal Crossing: Wild World
9. Big Brain Academy
10. Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends

It's good to see New Super Mario Bros. is still in the top 3!


Link: neogaf forums

Imagine this: You are a cosplayer who loves Mario, but could never seem to get the hat right. You see these awesome, one of a kind Mario and Luigi hats (above) and they are perfect in every way. Actually, they seem a little too perfect. But you, being the gigantic Mario fan that you are, pre-order the hats and throw caution to the wind. Months later, once your order's getting ready to ship, the merchant sends you a message that reads like this:

"Late last year, NCS started preorders for Mario and Luigi Hats but the manufacturer neglected to mention that the "Hats" would actually be cushions shaped like hats. As in, they're not really wearable. Due to the error, NCS has contacted every customer who preordered the Mario Hats to reconfirm their orders. We're guessing most people won't want them if they're not wearable but they could sort of turn into hats if you attach a chin-strap with alligator clips and don't mind looking like there's a Mario or Luigi Cushion sitting on top of your noggin like a big loaf of bread."

Alright, enough hypothetical situations; this is exactly what happened over at National Console Support, Inc. and most customers were none too happy about it. However, if you'd still like to order the wearable cushion hats, it'll cost 29.00 American coins. They measures 35cm or 13.77" across making "it oversized and exaggerated" (ed: their words, not mine)

I'd still buy it, then again, I'd buy anything that had Mario on it.

Link: NCSX

Titles that feature Mario are in bold.

1. (1 / 1) Dragon Quest IX-NDS
2. (2 / 2) Final Fantasy XIII-PS3
3. (3 / 3) Biohazard 5-PS3
4. (4 / 5) Metal Gear Solid 4-PS3
5. (8 / 7) Odin Sphere-PS2
6. (5 / 6) Monster Hunter 3-PS3
7. (6 / 9) Zelda no Densetsu: Phantom Hourglass-NDS
8. (7 /10) Super Robot Taisen: Original Generations-PS2
9. (14/15) Super Smash Bros. Brawl-Wii
10. (16/16) Shining Wind-PS2
11. (10/11) Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors-Wii
12. (9 /14) Everybody's Golf 5-PS3
13. (11/ 8) Devil May Cry 4-PS3
14. (12/12) Lost Odyssey-Xbox 360
15. (17/20) Final Fantasy Tactics: Shishi Sensou-PSP
16. (19/17) Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII-PSP
17. (15/19) Doubutsu no Mori [Animal Crossing]-Wii
18. (18/18) Final Fantasy Versus XIII-PS3
19. (21/21) Super Mario Galaxy-Wii
20. (20/23) Gran Turismo 5 PS3

Quite a list, alot of PS3 titles are up there.  Which leads one to wonder if history could be repeating itself? I believe once there's more information on Smash Bros, it'll climb higher, and same goes with Super Mario Galaxy(if NSMB is any indication, it's going to make buckets and buckets of cash).

Which of these titles are you looks forward to?

Link: GameFront

(Note: YouTube Video has excessive bleeped cussing)

What happens when Mario and Friends leave the Mushroom Kingdom? Mario turns into a 'Shroom addict, Peach wishes for something more, and Luigi wears a tie. Gotta love the music (done by Luke Roberts) and use of SMB gameplay. Though the ending leaves much to be desired, it's worth the entire 5:22, if just to see Kenny Velez's art come to life.

Link: YouTube

Why didn't this surface earlier? It demands to be placed into the Mario PC Cameos!

Sam and Max pay tribute to the Super Mario series by featuring the signature coins (Pic1), moves (Pic2), and talk (Pic3) to provide yet another hilarious take on the plumber we have all come to know and love. I didn't play the game, but the episodes got big hype each time they came out.

I've heard rumblings that my linkage makes some PC's crash. I'm using html "a href" links, nothing more. Anyone else running into these problems??

Link: GoNintendo

Finally, someone is putting Arts class to good use. What we have here is a genuine "? Block", made from Perler Beads to form a 3D representation. Unfortunately, only the front has the actual question mark, with the other three sides featuring the brick block pattern. It measures approximately 3" by 3" by 3". Etsy will even send you a piece of wire to hang it up, how cool is that?

All this can be yours....if the price the right.

What other lovely Mario items would make a fine compliment to this?

Link: Etsy

What happens when the Abel Sisters start designing for Nintendo's Merchandise?

We get this.

Simple, yet elegant. I bought it last week, but decided to hold on until today to post about it. If anyone finds any Mario T-shirts, please post links here. I suggest checking out the rest of the Gaming section of HT for Ninty goodies. They some Four Swords- inspired Link shirts, as well as Racoon Mario, Tanooki Suit Mario, and Frog Mario from SMB3.

The Time 100 was published earlier this week, and Miyamoto was included on the list. What's infuriating, to me, is that they get Johnathan (Fatal1ty) Wendel to write the article, who opens with "I vividly recall playing on my Nintendo from the age of 4" which is the equivalent of asking Charles Barkley to critique a Tennis match. His article written about Miyamoto is basically moreso about the Wii, mentioning nothing about Mario, Zelda, Pikmin, or even Donkey Kong. Sure, to guys like you and me, Miyamoto is synonymous with those titles, but to the average TIME reader?

I dunno, and not to toot my own horn, but before the Wii was released I wrote this article for  gamersmark.com about Miyamoto. Though I'm sure mine needs professional editing, I'll let you decide which does Miyamoto more justice. Don't worry, I won't cry TOO much.... :'(

Link: TIME

That's right, let's see Mr. Love place this baby around his neck (1ups for the first person to Photoshop that!). What we got here is a DIY Mario Clock, that's worth more than those crappy ones they make and sell on Ebay.

The kid made it with paper print outs of the Mario stuff, paint, and some other crap. Hey, he gets a "B" for effort, and it looks cool and all, but wouldn't be better if, say, he had something more like this?

Now I wanna WILL make a Mario clock!!

Link:The Wiicast

http://mariostrikers.nintendo.fr/

...The FRENCH one, that is, so don't think we US of A'ers are getting a Wii-Online title anytime soon. What's up with that, NoA?! Is it because we didn't buy enough copies of Brain Age?!!

All that's there is some concept art, lighting bolts, and a trailer (or possibly the game's intro) that teases us of graphics the game won't hold up to during regular gameplay, according to a review by NGamer, it only achieves gamecube+ graphics. Looks like fun, to me, but when will Nintendo unleash Camelot on more sport games than Golf and Tennis, or was IGN right when they said CSP is pulling Nintendo support??

Okay, I loved the Mario toys Wendy's put out before (moreso than those Active MD's ones that came out around September), but these top them all. Starting this month (I presume sometime this month) Nintendo and Wendy's are teaming up once again to bring us...

WiiToys! (to view, click "Coming Soon")

Of course, even though there's no true "Mario" game out on the Wii, leave it to Nintendo to find a way to tie Mario into this. Looks like he's pretty excited to be riding that turtle shell (maybe even too excited), but how exactly are we going to move it with that Wiimote? Also, check out the disc shooter in the corner, in all it's NEW Super Mario Bros. Concept Art glory. I hope the other disk feature other Nintendo Wii games (or maybe a few miis??).

Hrm, any suggestions for future toys? 

Extra Lives if you figure out what each one is. Poison 'Shroom if you think Red Steel should've been a disc(it'd probably still have terrible graphics and controls)...

These are a bit old, but I didn't see any posts about them:

(click to enlarge)


There are some more here.

What do you all think? I like the way the game is looking so far. I mean, it's gotta be better than Mario Party Advance, right?

I haven't posted about my reviews and other articles at Nintendo World Report for a while, so here's a collection of the non-Mario stuff I've written over the past few months.

Reviews
- Final Fantasy VI Advance
- Gunpey DS
- Happy Feet (GC)
- Honeycomb Beat
- Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja
- Kororinpa: Marble Mania
- Qwak
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC)
- Trioncube
- Wii NES RetroPort
- Wii Play

Impressions
- Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
- Pokémon Battle Revolution

GDC 2007 Specials
- Eiji Aonuma Presentation
- Eiji Aonuma Interview
- Keiichi Yano Presentation
- Keiichi Yano Interview
- Koji Kondo Presentation
- Other Japanese Developers' Presentations

Film student Billy McLellan sent us a link to his 10-minute short film entitled "Super Mario World: Level 1." Based on Super Mario Bros., it features the Mario Bros., Princess Peach, Toad, Koopas, and even some special effects!

Koji Kondo, music composer for fan-favorite Super Mario and Zelda games, gave his first speech in the US at the Game Developers Conference earlier this month. Here are several recent interviews with the living legend.

- Wired - Game|Life interview
- Scoring Nintendo: The Koji Kondo Interview (Game Informer)
- Game Daily interview
- Koji Kondo: An Interview With a Legend (IGN)
- Video interview at Advanced Media Network

Also, Nintendo World Report has more info on Koji Kondo's GDC 2007 Presentation.

Just in case you folks missed it, Wario: Master of Diguise was released at some point last week.

I am underwhelmed.

Deezer, I'll write a review this time, really.

Yes, I'm attending GDC in San Francisco.  As you might have heard, Nintendo cannot talk about their future plans at the show due to a pending Nintendo stock sale from the Japanese government.  Even still, there are several games playable including Super Paper Mario and Mario Strikers Charged.  Koji Kondo and Shigeru Miyamoto are also speaking.  Also on Friday night is a Video Games Live concert where many people including Koji Kondo and the Video Game Pianist will be performing.  I have a backstage passes thanks to Tommy Tallarico, and I'll be checking out their rehearsal.

Today, I attended talks from Keiichi Yano (Gitaroo Man, Ouendan, Elite Beat Agents) and Koji Kondo.  I also played all of the Nintendo games available.  I'll be posting impressions tonight as well as summaries of the talks either here or on Nintendo World Report.  For now, however, I just wanted to post a link to the raw photos and videos that I took today.  Unfortunately, I don't have a nice DV cam like Chupperson, but I did take several video clips, particularly of Super Paper Mario.  There's also some interesting Ouendan prototype footage and Ouendan 2 teasers.

There will be plenty more to come over the next couple days.

The Sun, a newspaper and website from the UK, recently had an interview with Charles Martinet.  Martinet's voice has been featured in hundreds of games, commercials, and other venues.  Though best known for his Mario voice, he also mentions some of his other roles in games such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Men in Black.

Some very interesting details were revealed.  Martinet recounts the story of how he almost didn't become Mario because he was too busy enjoying the beach!  He also explains how the voice recording process works and how much he enjoys it.  The voice of Mario speaks very highly of the fun he has playing Mario games and Nintendo in general as well as their fans.

The article itself is just a summary of the longer audio interview.  The Sun also posted the 11 minute audio interview of "Charlie," which is chock full of the voice actor doing voices for various Mario characters and is a must listen.

That's right... the first annual WTMK Christmas Special is now streaming out over WTMK!

That is all.

Well, the Opera web browser for the Wii is here... and I'm using it for this blog update. Now to see what TMK stuff we can get working on this thing...

Anyone having any problems?

That's right, WTMK has been updated... and we're taking Christmas requests!

What music in any Mario game is most fitting for Christmas?

Let us know -- a special Christmas Update is coming shortly... possibly with a few surprises.

I'll let this comic from the Opera website do the 'splainin.

Super Mario Galaxy, promised by Miyamoto to be released "within the first six months" of the Wii launch, now looks like it might be delayed until Xmas 2007, according to Computerandvideogames.com's sources.

While this doesn't directly concern Mario, it appears that the Wii's Forecast Channel is now available all over the world... just go into system settings and do an update.

...'cause no matter how far away you roam,
If you want to be happy in a million ways,
For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home...

Well, I'm back home for my lengthy Christmas vacation.  Aren't you all excited?

Military Madness has been downloaded, the Wii I won in a contest arrived, and I have a pile of stuff to unpack.

How is your life going?

(Yes, I'll do a WTMK update soon. Perhaps tonight, even.)

SuperMarioLegacy.com is taking donations to buy Wii systems and games for hospitalized children. Visit their Wii Drive 2006 page for more information and different ways you can help.

It seems that Target is selling New Super Mario Bros., Yoshi's Island DS, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis for $24 each this week.  This is a rather good deal for NSMB, especially. 

At a Wii launch in Japan, someone showed up dressed in a fairly nice Luigi costume.  He helped launch the system and sell the first game.

The problem was that he wasn't an NCL employee... just a random guy in a nice Luigi suit.

(Deezer, care to help translate?)

http://arena.nikkeibp.co.jp/col/20061202/120007/index2.shtml

With the Wii launch only days away in Japan, a few individuals have gotten a hold of systems as well as copies of Odoru Made in Wario, also known as WarioWare: Smooth Moves.  Five videos have been posted on YouTube showing off several different microgames, and are worth the look.

- 9-Volt & 18-Volt
- 9-Volt & 18-Volt #2
- Penny
- Ashley
- Mona

In particular, the 9-Volt video features several games based on Nintendo games and toys ranging all the way from their playing card manufacturing days to recently released and even unreleased games.  Some are based directly on classic gameplay, while others are completely remade.  Not to spoil the surprise, but the boss battle is something very special.

Nintendo has also opened up their website for the game, which features blog posts by characters from the game.  WarioWare: Smooth Moves is not scheduled for release until January 16th in the US.

It probably took me a good 20 seconds to realize it, but the article on page 44 in Game Informer #164 used the screen shot featured on our Mario Picross info page. Nobody from Game Informer contacted us about it, but I guess that's not really surprising. Nevertheless, it's always flattering to see popular publications using our images.

Well, the Wii has been out for a couple days now, and with part of that time I have managed to put together my rudimentary documentary of me getting a Wii.
I was the 21st person in a Wal*Mart that supposedly got 19 Wiis, so I had to look elsewhere. Watch the videos for the semi-exciting stuff that happens!
Part 1
Part 2

Hey there, everyone.

I was at the (somewhat insane) Universal Citywalk Wii launch event last night, and I handed out a lot of TMK stickers -- somewhere between 150 and 200.  This means that these stickers should be popping up in photographs all over the web.  If you can find a photo with a TMK sticker, post a link in here... please!

Also, if I met you last night, you're really cool. Trust me on that.

Long live Nintendo World Report!  As many of you may know, I not only work on this site, but I write for Planet GameCube.  Or I used to, because Planet GameCube relaunched yesterday with a new design as Nintendo World Report.  You can read my Mario reviews and impressions here, but I also write about many other games.  I know many of you enjoy my reviews, so go ahead and check out my other articles, including the two reviews I posted today:

Reviews

- Bomberman Land Touch!
- Children of Mana
- Clubhouse Games
- Elite Beat Agents
- Final Fantasy V Advance
- Mawashite Tsunageru Touch Panic
- Pac-Man World Rally
- Pokemon Trozei!
- Sonic Riders

Impressions

- Big Brain Academy
- Bomberman Land
- Excite Truck
- Kirby Squeak Squad
- Star Fox Command
- Super Monkey Ball Adventure
- Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Wii Play
- Wii Sports

Specials

- Nintendo Fusion Tour

According to sources which may or may not be correct, today is Shigeru Miyamoto's 55th birthday.

Happy birthday, Shigeru!

(I'm starting to think we should have put together a TMK Birthday Package and shipped it to Japan.  Remind me to scan in my Miyamoto autograph at some point, folks.)

Yoshi's Island DS, which came out on Monday, is good but not great according to IGN. Apparently what's most surprising about the game is its lack of surprises:

"Everything about Yoshi's Island DS, from the story, background, player interface, musical theme, visual style and - most importantly - game and level design, is tightly centered around what Nintendo did for the original Super NES game more than a decade ago. [...] The Nintendo DS game takes all of this and essentially rearranges it. It's not so much a "new" game as it is a "rearranged" one."

Though most other critics are generally saying the same thing- that the new Yoshi's Island is so extremely derivative of its SNES predecessor it basically plays more like a level expansion set than a legitimate sequel- the game is still getting quite good reviews on the whole. Metacritic currently has its mean score at 84 out of 100  based on ten reviews, only one of which is decidedly negative (EGM's).

There have been an abundance of Mario T-shirts available for sale in recent years, so yet another design shouldn't be any surprise.  Except this one from Dolce & Gabana.  It costs $175. 

Throw in the recommended pre-worn jeans to go with the shirt and you'll be set back $520.  That's more than the Basic model PS3!  Not only is the shirt terribly ugly (it looks like they simply printed a magazine ad), it's not like most gamers are especially fashion conscious or have bucket loads of cash.  Will anybody actually buy this abomination?

Here are some the videos that The Wiities Crew on the Dojo of Pain made for Ubisoft's promotion of Red Steel.  Which video is your favorite and why?  Please don't just pick mine because I'm a global mod on the forums.  Check them all out.  Then vote in the forums.

Amir0x's "A VERY BEARD DAY"

Felito's "Red Steel Training Montage"

Haichi's "Dojo TOURNAMENT LESSON 2"

Luigison's "Remember to Focus your Wii"

Meteoratc's "Red Steel Training"

Official Dojo of Pain Video "Remote-Controlled Sword"

Official "Red Steel Trailer"

I'm posting this for three reasons.  One, as part of a little friendly competition between our group, The Wiities Crew.  Second, we could win a Nintendo Wii form Ubisoft's Dojo of Pain if our videos are viewed 30,000 times.  Thirdly, I thought you guys might like to see our videos.  I know some people here have already left positive comments on mine.  If you have a YouTube account please rate and comment on our videos as well. 

If you're interested in Red Steel check out the reviews it got at IGN and Gamespot.

Thanks.  Now go vote.

Edit: 
  New Video:  Warning!  This video contains a short skirt and some blood/gore.  Emergency: Break in Case of Ninja

The Japanese Wii site was updated today with new Smooth Moves videos: one "personal experience" video and one TV commercial, each showing how much fun you'll have if you're a Japanese girl. Smooth Moves, or Dance Made in Wario as it is known in Japan, launches with the Wii there on 12/2 for ¥5,800.

The Wii arrives this coming weekend.

I have a Wii reserved at a local Gamestop, but they tell me they are only going to get enough copies of Twilight Princess in for preorders... the problem being that I refused to preorder Zelda.  As a result, I'm probably going to head to Wal-Mart at 10 pm and pick up both a Wii and Zelda there, where there will not be "only enough copies to satisfy preorders."

Does anyone else find it ridiculous that stores won't have at least enough copies of a launch title to be able to sell one for every system they have?  Or that I'm going to have to go to Wal-Mart to buy both my Wii and Zelda, as picking up my preorder would result in not having a game to play?

It's nice to know that WTMK ver 4.0 (or is it 4.1?) is going fairly well, thanks to the capable hands of MB.  Now to get some additional music added, find more commercials, and generally go further insane.  I do hope I can figure out why Winamp doesn't want to display album titles.

I'm still surprised at the lack of a Mario game for the Wii launch.

Last Sunday's Robot Chicken included a comical skit featuring Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi.  In the three-minute clip, the brothers visit Vice City from Grand Theft Auto.  You can download a high quality DivX version here or watch it on YouTube here.  Be aware that the show is intended for mature audiences only.  This is not the first or even second time Mario has been featured on the nostalgically-funny Robot Chicken.