Mailbag
05 Oct 2001

J.J. 110% male

Got something you want us to answer next week? Send it to tmk_mailbag@kontek.net.

Me and my friend really need to know this. I always thought that the Clown thingie Bowser rides in SMW and later games was called a "Clown Copter," but your site calls it a "Clown Car." I was very sure about the name "Clown Copter," but I can't seem to find any official Nintendo comment/label about the vehicle online or in my manuals. Perhaps it is in an old NP or the SMW guide....

I've seen Clown Car and Clown Copter... which is right? Or has Nintendo never given it a name?
-The Younger Plumber

J.J.: The SMW guide refers to it as the "Clown Car."

I've read about a Japanese game show about Nintendo games. Do you have any info about this?
-AOL user

J.J.: Yes. In Japan, there are a variety of game shows for children that feature kids competing in Nintendo tournaments. They usually play games everyone is already sick of, like "Mario Kart." There are always plenty of Japanese celebrities on hand as well, I guess so older kids will watch. Basically, the shows are just one long commerical.

I want to know what happened to your fan fiction section. There were some great stories in there, why did you stop writing in it? The last stories were added in 1999, that was 2 years ago!
-Ann H. Reed

J.J.: Listen Ann, we can't just magically make fan fics appear. There aren't any new fan fics because no one has been submitting any.

Do you know where I can get a copy of the old Super Mario World comics printed in Nintendo Power magazines? Those were the greatest things ever, I have wonderful memories of them and would like to read them again. I know they published a book with all of them together, but is it still available anywhere?
-Pierce

J.J.: Ho ho, you are a lucky boy indeed. You can order the "Super Mario Adventures" comic book online, at Nintendo's online store.

This isn't Mario related but why did Capcom make Zelda? What will come next, a Mario game from Konami??
-Matt Koopa

J.J.: Never write again.

1) "Mario Sunshine" looks cool and all, but what's with Nintedo and backpacks?

2) One of the cooler elements in "Sunshine" is that he runs around in a nice open world full of buildings. But, what happened to the semi-medeival Mushroom World? Did it modernize or is Mario in some new world?

3) Have you seen the screenshot of what appears to be Peach using Toad as a sheild in SSBM? I find this practice disturbing, yet somehow hilarious.

4) What is Nintendo going to do when they dry up the well of older Mario games for its "Mario Advance" series? Will they release a BRAND NEW MARIO GAME? Or will they do something fairly cool like rereleasing Super Mario Land 1+2 ala Enix's "Dragon Warrior 1+2"

5) Speaking of "Dragon Warrior", in DW3 the Medal Master looks like Mario, as least the illustrations of him do... check out either issue 146 or 147 of Nintendo Power to see what I mean.
-Mike

J.J.:
1) To get to the bottom of this question I phoned Kevin Lobb, who is some bigwig who works at Nintendo. Kevin told me that the backpack elements in Luigi's Mansion and Mario Sunshine are part of a new era of gaming which he enthusiastically described as "the backpack genre." He then began screaming wildly until I hung up the phone in disgust.

2) I am strongly opposed to the setting of Mario Sunshine. MARIO DOES NOT LIVE IN A FREAKIN' CITY!! THIS BETTER FREAKIN' CHANGE!!

3) Oh Toad, what a rascal. Living in Princess' dress all along.

4) There will be new Wario games, but no new Mario adventure games for the GBA.

5) Yes, as you can see from this little chart I made, there are a lot of Mario look-alikes in the videogame world:

I looked the previews too Mario Sunshine. Mario has some dumb water pack? Why does Mario need water. If he's thirsty buy a Soda. Besides that is Mario sunshine really an adventure? It looks like a stupid plotless game Rare would come up with.
-A different Mike

J.J.: I agree.

Will there ever in this whole entire world another Mario movie?
-Jeremy

J.J.: No, thank god.

Here are some questions I want you to answer:
1. Is everyone operating the TMK site male? If no, which ones are female?
2. Are there any minorities operating the TMK site?
3. What is your favorite video game song?
4. Have you ever played Mario games via emulator?
5. Other than the Mario series, what game series does Deezer D like?
6. How would a side-scrolling look like on the N64 or GCN?
7. Why did Nintendo of America changed the name of "Mario Story" to "Paper Mario"?
8. Why did Sony make its own game console, Playstation?
9. Who did the voice of Yoshi in the SMW cartoon?
10. Have you ever been to Japan? If yes, when?
11. Do you know Japanese?
12. How long have you been a fan of Mario?
-Richard

J.J.:
1) Yes, we are all male.
2) No, we are all white protestants, except MEGAߥTE, who is half Asian and half white protestant.
3) Hmm, that's a better question that I am willing to give you credit for. My favorite video game tune is probably the "Flash Man" level music from Megaman 2.
4) Obviously
5) He doesn't.
6) Play Yoshi's Story and tell me.
7) At one time it was known as "Paper Mario Story," but because of the grotesque acronym, it was changed to simply "Paper Mario."
8) To make money, duh.
9) Josiah Cressner
10) NO
11) Deezer does... to a point
12) It is actually a very interesting story. When I was 5, I went to Costco with my mom, and they had a playable display of the original NES and SMB. I was so amazed by the technology, which by 1989 standards was very advanced. It was at that exact moment that my interest in Mario first began.

This my first time writing to the Mushroom Kingdom. I was just wondering, other people are, too; will Luigi be a playable character in SSB Melee? I mean, he was in the first game as a secret character. Shouldn't he be on the main roster with all the other fighters? Captain Falcon and Ness were both secret characters in SSB and now they're both main fighters. Why not Luigi?
-Edman

J.J.: Yes, he will be in SSBM. Stop phoning me.

Well last week I asked for a picture of how a NES Cartridge fits into the system. I just can't tell by seeing pictures of the system alone, there is no obvious slot on top like N64, or SNES. The reason I am asking is that NES was before my time and I have never seen it, just show me a picture please!!!
-Yoshi21

J.J.: Hee hee, that is very cute. The NES had a little door in the front that you had to open to plug the game into the system. You then closed the door, out of paranoia that something would go wrong if you didn't. The game is completely contained inside the system, so an NES that is playing a game looks exactly the same as one that's empty. It seems so primitive by today's standards, I know.

How come birdo is named ostro in smb2 for super mario all stars?
-vidgmchtr

J.J.: TYPO!!!

What exactly does the game enhancers do? Do they actualy crash the machine or what?
-Snoopy

J.J.: No, but the Nintendo propaganda machine wants you to believe they do.

What would happen if you crashed a car into a GIANT cube of jello while driving at 75 mph with all safety features off and no seat belt on, and you had 3 little kids, plus the dog peed on the tires and you have to go to the bathroom, and you have a wife with a baby in her belly, and you have to return some video's to the store, and you have a doctor's appointment in 30 seconds, plus you are allergic to grape and the jello is grape, and the whole world blows up?
-Some Person

J.J.: The Carter Administration.