Mailbag
18 Jan 2005
Deezer
Deezer
Out of time
Lizard Dude
Lizard Dude
Post #99,999
David Dayton
David Dayton
Back like a bad headache
Chupperson
Chupperson
With a gun
MEGAߥTE
MEGAߥTE
Nintendo ranter
Sapphira
Sapphira
PM2 GET
Mushroom Boy
Mushroom Boy
TMK mascot

Got something you want us to answer next time? Send it in!

I just noticed something. You notice how the Jolly Roger Bay painting was of bubbles in the Japanese SM64, and the American version had a painting of a ship instead? Well, the Japanese bubble painting is used in the American SM64DS! Might want to add that to the SM64 Mario in Japan page.
- Kyle G.

Deezer: That is correct. We are still looking into other parts of the game and how it compares to both versions.

Lizard Dude: Hmm, didn't even notice myself.

David Dayton: I noticed that when I played. I need to go back and get those last few crummy stars.

Chupperson: I noticed the first time I saw it.

Now you can't say Luigi isn't in Super Mario 64. Hah!
- Pishi

MEGAߥTE: Yes we can. SM64DS is not SM64.

Chupperson: Indeed. In fact, it's substantially different.

Deezer: Luigi isn't in Super Mario 64.

Sapphira: Nope.

Lizard Dude: Nada.

David Dayton: Whatever they said.

on the box art for nba street v3 for the gamecube, there is mario, luigi, and princess peach, with the word allstars. I wonder what this means? if they are playable, then i'll have to get it to see mario cross out MJ. I think they put them in there since when they put mario or link in a game, it rule. IE soul calabir and super mario 2. And your site also rocks. Best mario site ever.
- Michael B.

MEGAߥTE: Yes, we know. You won't get to see Mario "cross out" MJ, though, because EA did not get the rights to use MJ (perhaps one of the few rights they haven't purchased recently in their quest for world domination). The Mario characters and a Mushroom Kingdom-themed court will be in the game, but the Mario characters will be their normal size, which looks pretty funny beside the regular players, particularly when they spike the ball on other players' heads.

Deezer: "Cross out"? I should start watching basketball again.

Lizard Dude: Mario in an EA game makes me cry.

David Dayton: I saw the footage of Mario, Luigi, and Peach... the funny thing is that Peach looks much better in motion than either Mario or Luigi do.

Ummmm, hi?
1) Why does Peach say Mama mia in MP4?
2) Why doesn't Luigi save Daisy?
3A) Does anybody here actually OWN a DS?
3B) How 'bout an Xbox?
4) How come there was like an adventure mario game a year, and now theres one like every three years and their usually crummy, ie SMS?
5a)How many of those lovely adventure games does DS plan to make?
5b) Would you call SM64x4 for DS an adventure game?
6)Am I the only one who likes SMW and PM2?
7) Some of ur game genies things are faulty. I tried one for SMW called "flying ability", but its like, it takes a while to jump, u cant jump high, and when you do, its like slow motion. Any way, I tried this on SMW, and on the title screen, where theres like that demo, in the demo, Mario couldnt jump fast enough, and he was small, so he was killed by the koopa. Then, that special cup map screen music came on, and after a sec, if u didnt go to game select, it would take you to the demo level, Groovy was it? And u still had that jump, and u had 2 play it, and there was some sort of wall where the demo always ended, and i dont kno wat would happen if i ran into some enemy thing. The only way to get out of the demo was by reseting it.
Okay, im done. but please try and explain question 7.
- sorta-kinda Zanna728

MEGAߥTE: 1) Peer pressure.
2) From what?
3A) Yes.
3B) No.
4) You might want to check your time line. Major Mario games didn't come out every year.
5a) I don't think the DS is planning on making any games. AI is not that advanced yet.
5b) Action/Adventure Platformer, I guess.
6) No.

Chupperson: 2) Really, since Tatanga, nothing much seems to have threatened Sarasaland. It's not like Daisy goes poking around in haunted mansions.
3A) You bet.
3B) Hah, not a chance.
4) When I really look at it I'm surprised how few major Mario games there really are. And besides, SMS rocks.
5b) I'd call it a 3D platformer/adventure game.
6) You mean both at once?

Sapphira: 1) People tend to adopt lingo that their friends use, and vice versa. For example, I use ";___;" all the time, which I picked up from Deez. I know others here have adopted some of my lingo, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.
2) She hasn't needed to be rescued since SML.
3A) I don't (not yet), but others here do. Did you not hear about the contest MB won? My, people are so unobservant.
3B) Hahahaha, no.
4) What Chup said. All of it.
6) Of course not.

Lizard Dude: 5b) 3D platformer, that is all. Adventure games are games like The Secret of Monkey Island, The Longest Journey, Syberia, etc.

Sapphira: I think of adventure games as ones that have deeper storylines, though not nearly as complex and ever-present as ones in RPGs. But that's me.

MEGAߥTE: "Action/Adventure" is a commonly used high level category under which "Action," "Adventure," and "Platformer" all fall.

David Dayton: 1. She's trying to avoid being stereotyped.
2. Just wait...
3. Of course I own a DS.
4. The only time that we ever had anything close to getting a new Mario platform adventure on a yearly basis was the Warioland series.
5. The DS will make none. However, I am awaiting the Peach platformer for the DS.
6. Nope.
7. Don't use one.

Did you know this: Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door has a reference to the Fire Emblem series, which Marth and Roy are from. Paper Mario series was developed by the Fire Emblem development team (or Team Emblem), a division of Intelligent Systems. Yuka Tsujiyoko, the woman composer who scored the Fire Emblem series up to Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, also scored the Paper Mario series. The reason why Marth and Roy were in SSBM as hidden characters is because of Japan's requests. Lip's Stick in SSBM is a reference to Panel de Pon. Also, the Tamagon trophy was the only trophy that was dummied out of the U.S. version of SSBM, due to Christian themes. As for the Japanese to English section of the Super Mario World page in TMK, the Funky Course has nine green berries and six red berries in the GBA version of Super Mario World, but the Japanese and English version, for the purpose of indicating the historical evidence of difference between the Japanese SFC and English SNES versions. Final Fantasy is my favorite game series, and Mario series has declined far down in my game series chart, but I still have respect for it because I raised on Mario. On a side note: The January 11, 2004, mailbag stated that my favorite Nintendo character is Siglud from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu, but that is incorrect. That character is actually Ira (a.k.a. Ayra), a female character from that same game.
1) Is Luigi in Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door?
2) What do you think about Marth and Roy being in SSBM?
3) Will the Tetris A-Hack procedure (i.e. replacing the Panel de Pon cast with the SMW2: Yoshi's Island cast) apply if Nintendo Puzzle Collection comes to North America?
4) Will there be a Super Smash Bros. 3? (The chances have been reduced by the resignation of Masahiro Sakurai.)
5) If characters from Panel de Pon were to appear in Super Smash Bros. 3, will Nintendo of America dummy them out of the U.S. version? (I do not want Lip to make an appearance in Super Smash Bros. 3.)
6) On what system do you think Super Smash Bros. 3 will be on?
7) What type of Super Smash Bros. aspects do you prefer to request (playable characters, trophies, stages, items, Adventure mode levels, or music arrangements). (I prefer to request musical arrangements.)
8) What is your favorite non-Mario Nintendo game? (Mine is Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu.)
9) What is your least favorite Nintendo game? (Mine is the original Panel de Pon, not Tetris Attack.)
10) What is your least favorite non-Mario Nintendo character? (Mine is Lip of Panel de Pon. I hate Lip and Tamagon more than Yoshi.)
11) What music from what game do you want remixed for Super Smash Bros. 3? (I would like remixes of music from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu.)
12) True or False: No one at TMK ever played the Super Famicom game Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu.
13) Did you get a chance to see the Super Mario Bros. movie in theaters?
14) Does your computer run on Windows XP?
15) Did you beat Event 51 of SSBM? If yes, what character did you use to beat Event 51 of SSBM? (I used Roy.)
16) Would you like to learn to play the Super Mario Bros. theme song on the piano?
- David H.

MEGAߥTE: 1) Yes.
2) They're Nintendo characters, so why not?
3) No, back when they announced the game to the press, they included Panel De Pon.
4) Nintendo would be infinitely stupid to not capitalize on their most popular series from this generation. We only have to hope that whoever directs the next version will pay as much attention to detail as Masahiro Sakurai.
5) I don't see why.
6) They really need to have SSB on both DS and Revolution. Nintendo is already making an anime version of Smash Bros. for DS featuring the Shonen Jump characters.
7) Characters and stages.
8) Super Smash Bros. Melee.
9) You seem to harbor a lot of unwarranted hate.
10) The dog from Duck Hunt.
11) StarTropics music.
12) False.
13) Yes, I was able to catch it in a second-string theatre.
14) No.
15) Yes. Jigglypuff.
16) We really should ban people that send questions that number in the double digits...

Chupperson: OH GOSH, DOES THIS MEAN MARIO PARTY HAS A CHRONO TRIGGER REFERENCE BECAUSE THEY HAVE MUSIC BY THE SAME COMPOSER?!
2) Um, they're pretty cool.
6) I agree with MB.
11) Zoness from Star Fox 64.
13) No, thank heavens.
14) No.
15) Yes. Jigglypuff.
16) Since I already know how to play it, would that be a "no"?

Sapphira: 1) Yes.
2) I'm indifferent.
3) That would make sense... Didn't Ninty take that off the upcoming USA releases chart?
7) Characters and stages. Music choice is nice, but not essential to my skill.
8) Ocarina of Time or Wind Waker, I suppose. A bunch of other games are awesome, too. So...I don't know; I can't pick absolute favorites.
10) Dude, don't diss the Yosh-ster; Yoshi's awesome.
11) Anything from Paper Mario that they haven't already done. (The first PM, not the second one; as much as I loved ALL the music from PM, I was a bit disappointed with the PM2 music.)
13) I still haven't seen it EVER. Don't know if that's a good or bad thing, though, from what I've heard. XD I'm rather curious to see what it's like, though.
14) Yes.
15) Yes, and I don't remember.
16) What Chup said.

David Dayton: Luigi is in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. Roy and Marth are welcome additions. I'm betting that if NPC ever makes it over here (which seems unlikely at this point), it will retain the original Japanese themes and graphics.
I expect a new SSB around the time of the next Nintendo system. If it comes, I'm sure Nintendo wouldn't "dummy out" Panel de Pon characters. If more trophies, stages, characters, and orchestrated music (especially a new Jungle Japes tune) appeared, I'd be happy.
I'm ignoring the last few questions. A brunette is calling me.
I'm rather fond of the Zelda series (especially Link's Awakening). I'm not altogether fond of the GC Custom Robo game. If forced to pick a "least favorite" character, it would probably be one of the 350 Pokemon, as I only really know about 87 of them.
I'm skipping the rest of your questions as a brunette is calling me.

Deezer: 3) Sapph is right, NPC has been off of NOA's release list for quite some time.

Here is a little trick in M64 I like to call "professionals don't like waiting ". Ok, in Rainbow Cruise when you start out, turn around and long jump to the pole...that actually was just one little trick, the real one is to go across the 3 spinning platforms and ride the carpet until you have to jump onto the small white platform. Don't follow the carpet, instead jump to another platform with a pole in it, climb the pole and get in a hand stand position. Turn around so your facing 3 blue blocks. Jump to the middle block. stand on the right block and face the other 2 blocks. Jump on the middle block then on the next, when your doing your flip dive onto the donut lifts. then jump on the docking platform connected to the ship. This trick is a hard shortcut, proffetionals only, do not attempt if : you have never played this game, suck at it, is pregnet, has a history of heart problems, broken limbs, and or under 5"3. Side affects may include vomiting, nasea, indegestion, headaches, heart attacks, sweaty palms, food poisening, shrinking, excellerated facial hair, devolution, likeness for red, and death.
Your friend ,
- Yoshi Mastar

MEGAߥTE: I think "afflicted with bad grammar" is missing from that warning list.

Lizard Dude: I liked this letter.

David Dayton: Jump, jump, jump, don't die.

Deezer: I love lamp.

Gather round children, time for a story from me, Yoshi. The story of, The Legend of the Lost Codes! Greetings friends, family, grandma's, Canadians. Long ago when the Mushroom World was young, my friend brought over a game genie. We used it for SM All-stars, with forgotten secrets. We created a new world of terror and confusion. Mario was turned into a butterfly like creature, zigzag holes engulfed the land, strawberries where 45% off at Safeway... I also received many gifts ... the great guide of SMB3, Tips and Tricks magazine, the legendary codes that would let me poses my system, I also kept the Game Genie for myself hoping to recreate this world. But something happened ... the codes where lost and soon forgotten, the guide and mag was destroyed, and the game genie became useless without its precious codes. All was lost...
Until one day I found the SMB3 guide, but it was just the last page and world 3 title. The mag was reclaimed but still many pages where missing. It did have a guide for the first few stars for SM64 and shots of SM64 beta ... that's right! pictures of SM64 as it was being made. I wish I could scan them but I have no scanner and the pictures would be too small anyway.( aprx 1 x 1-1/2)
If anyone knows the game genie codes for SMB3, please tell me. I don't expect some two bit site to have codes like how to get 100 1-ups or get stuck in the wall. That's why I'm coming to you, the greatest Mario site ever. These codes made holes in SMBLL that you can walk over, Mario on the SMB3 map page be a glitched butterfly thing, the files (where it says 1-2 or w 6 , etc.) be pictures of ... well pictures. Many other things. Myself, and two other of my friends are the greatest Mario Bros. players (for a fact at SSB ) at least in the California Bay Area. We need them...This is also directed to anyone who might know the codes, it would mean a lot if you knew them...
PS I shall talk about the SM64 pics later, time 4 sleep.
Your friend,
- Yoshi Mastar

MEGAߥTE: GSCentral probably has them.

Deezer: *has Safeway flashbacks*

Lizard Dude: I liked this letter, too.

David Dayton: Grr... Game Genie... Then again, a GameShark will allow you to unlock the Stage Select in SM64.

Hey, thanks for replying to my last letter, I never woulda guessed I would have made it in. As MEGAߥTE replied, I really didn't give reasons as to how Nintendo is making poor console decisions, but those points were hit by you. Nintendo has lost their fanbase, with so many rehashes, and little new stuff. Also, they can't seem to intergrate quality and innovation. Look at the Sony EyeToy. Sure, it's not promoted as heavily as Nintendo's innovations are, but it sells better and has a better reputation than Nintendo's innovations like Donkey Konga or Four Swords. Nintendo is making their innovations too kiddy, in my opinion, and if they would have marketed it to a mainstream audience they could be doing this right. I saw no sports games utilize the GBA connectivity. Picking plays secretly should be a top concern in football games so your opponent doesn't have a chance to anticipate your play. But does EA include stuff like that? Not from what I know, and since I don't play many sports games (and haven't since the NES days) if they do have it included it wasn't promoted right. I would have liked to see Donkey Konga have more real songs than stupid remixes of Pop Goes the Weasel and Bingo. These are the bad decisions Nintendo is making, and I don't see them lasting so much longer, and it sickens me. Also, this time around, not even with innovation, Nintendo dropped the ball so many times. No online games? Sure, it isn't the most fun or consumer-friendly (moneywise) thing to do, but you need to be your competition plus more to survive. You can't be a second pillar and expect to beat the top dogs. Smaller disk? Sure, the compression rate is so much greater on the 'Cube, but many developers haven't tapped into it's potential, or have too many CG cutscenes, which I assume aren't compressed as nicely as game files (case in point, Resident Evil). I predict RE4 will be on one disk because all the cut-scenes are done in game, thus needing no video files to be compressed. I don't see your point with the Nintendo Seal of Approval, because, while it may be gone, it still hasn't been forgotten. I think Gamecube needs more crap to be put on it, because people like a larger library, like with the PS2. For every good game, there are 20 Barbie and SpongeBob games. Sure, Nintendo has a nicer library, but what it more attractive to a new gamer, a library of over 400 games, or one with 100? I also disagree with your standing on third-parties, because they make it so hard for them to develop games for Gamecube. They have a weird format compared to the same DVD medium the other consoles have, and, if I'm not mistaken, have a larger licensing fee than Sony or Microsoft. I won't even mention how they can't even keep exclusive titles on the Gamecube. I do relize this has basically nothing to do with Mario, but I wanted to get my thoughts out there to MEGAߥTE. Thanks for the insight in the last mailbag, and I hope to be put back in it for the next round.
P.S., that stuff about Sapphira was a light-hearted joke, and was intended to be made fun of. It does make me proud that you guys are so protective of her, like she's your sister =P. Also, JJ wasn't so bad in this mailbag, and as long as he could at least keep it relivant to the letter instead of just saying "I stopped reading at 'really long and kind of stupid.'" Also, where is the concept art page Sapphira said you guys have? I haven't found it yet.
- Eric

MEGAߥTE: I generally agree with your sentiments, but I think you're overly negative. Nintendo's problem isn't innovation, it's execution. They have the right ideas, but don't completely follow through, or often don't meet the high standards they once set (though that's still higher than most developers). As for the Donkey Konga songs, I think America got the worst selection of tunes out of the 4 versions (Japan, US, Europe, Australia), so you can blame NOA for that (and lots of other poor localization decisions). I absolutely disagree that there should be more crap on the GameCube. We still need to keep some semblance of quality. It may be true that without that stuff, particularly in the US, the system could never reach #1, but that's a chicken-and-egg problem. When you're talking about hundreds of games, 100 versus 400 isn't going to make a difference qualitatively. The problem is getting people to realize how good the available games actually are. There are only a few key games that are system sellers and the rest aren't going to affect consumer choices that much. Thus, keep the trash away so people don't waste their money. Your developer medium argument doesn't make sense since the GameCube discs are basically mini-DVDs that are encrypted and the developers have units that read unencrypted burns. The licensing fee may be an issue, but I think Nintendo may have remedied that with the Nintendo DS. It seems to me that the PSP game licensing may be more problematic. The problem with exclusives has to do with greedy executives more than developers, so really there isn't much that can be done about that. I definitely agree that the lack of space potentially hurt development, but there really isn't any reason more stuff couldn't be put on two discs since they're so cheap to manufacture. BTW, it was announced last year that Resident Evil 4 would be released on two discs.
I also wanted to clarify my last response based on feedback I'd gotten on it. I think the DS touch screen was a great idea, just that the stylus itself sucked. I did not mean to infer that the use of a touch screen on a game system sucked.
I think Sapphira was referring to game art, which isn't the same as the concept art you were looking for. There's not much concept art out there... I guess we could scan in the stuff from the Mario Mania Player's Guide...

Lizard Dude: I'm not protective of Sapph. She can fend for herself.

Sapphira: Quality. Is. Better. Than. QUANTITY. 'Nuff said. I hope this doesn't make me seem ignorant, but what IS the difference between game art and concept art? I've always heard and seen them used interchangably. They're protective of me? And, well, I AM Chup's sister. ...Yes, just ignore the location difference... >_>; LD: ;___; Well you didn't need to put it THAT way... *sniff*

David Dayton: I am so tempted to ignore the entire message just because of the use of the "word" kiddy.

Chupperson: Eric: You're wrong.
Sapph: Concept art is the stuff they draw when conceptualizing the game, when they're coming up with ideas for how things will look, and such. Production art, or game art, is the finalized renders or drawings, used extensively in promotional materials.

Hey y'all.
I'm not sure if anyone has noticed this before but it was kind of surprising considering Nintendo Of America's "No Religious Items" policy for the Nintendo Entertainment System. I found this by accident. I was playing the version of Super Mario Bros 3 that has the reworded "N-Spade" and Princess letter and I was in level 6-4. I used the P-Wing just for fun and flew straight up the screen and to the right. About 3/4 of the way through the stage I came across a cross shape made of the golden blocks! The top block has multiple coins in it. I've noticed that this is the case in Super Mario All Stars as well. Anyways, I thought I would point out that interesting little tidbit to you guys.
Keep up the hard work on the site...it is truly well made.
Sincerely,
- Paul B.

MEGAߥTE: I don't find that surprising at all... Not all crosses have to relate to THE cross, and there is nothing here to indicate that it does. Also, Link had a cross on his shield until A Link to the Past (which, ironically, was called Triforce of the Gods in Japan).

David Dayton: Wait ... are you implying that this cross wasn't in the original version of SMB3?

Mushroom Boy: I think it's time for you to go find that brunette.

The Mushroom Kingdom \ Mailbag \ 18 Jan 2005