Do you like video game music and jazz?

You DO?

Amazingly enough, WTMK is now featuring jazzy covers of Mario music from a new Canadian video game music band, Experience Points!  Funk-groove-swinging-jazz sounds abound throughout their album.  Tune in to WTMK today, and visit their site if you'd like to pick up a copy of Try Blowing On the Cartridge, their debut album.  Tracks from Donkey Kong Country, Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Odyssey, and more abound on their new release -- and you can catch some of them on WTMK: All Mario Radio, All the Time.

(P.S. Don't blow on NES cartridges -- the condensation in your breath can lead to oxidization of the contacts, causing Goombas to crawl out of your tv screen.)

Links:
WTMK - All Mario Radio, All the time!
Experience Points site - https://www.experiencepointsmusic.com
Bandcamp - https://experiencepoints.bandcamp.com

Twenty-five years ago, Donkey Kong was released on the Game Boy.  This was no mere port of the arcade original: while the first four stages feel likely mildly updated versions of the arcade game, the next 96 leave the arcade game far behind.  Save Pauline from Donkey Kong while guiding Mario through action puzzle stages featuring switches, swimming, hammers, springs, locked doors, and even Donkey Kong Jr.!  The game feels like a mix of Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Super Mario Bros. 2: the arcade mechanics return, mixed with Mario's ability to pluck and toss enemies at each other!

Donkey Kong for the Game Boy is one of the best Mario games ever made, featuring tight gameplay and great music.  It was also the first game to feature Mario's triple jump, Donkey Kong's tie, and Pauline's new look.  If you'd like to try it out, it's currently available on the 3DS eShop -- although if you track down a copy of the original cartridge and play it on the Super Game Boy, you'll get enhanced graphics and a special version of the game's final song!

WTMK will be featuring music from Donkey Kong for the Game Boy throughout the next week.  Tune in today!

Link: WTMK - All Mario Radio, All the time!

ChequerChequer is the latest artist featured on WTMK!  For the next few weeks, we'll be putting extra attention on ChequerChequer's remixes and covers of classic Mario tunes.  Tracks from Video Game Guitar Collection 1, 2, and 3 will be featured, along with Medley Mania Collection and much, much more!

Tune in to WTMK radio today to here all kinds of Mario related music; if you like what you hear, find more ChequerChequer's Youtube and Bandcamp pages.

Links:
WTMK - All Mario Radio, All the time!
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/chequerchequer
Bandcamp - https://chequerchequer.bandcamp.com

Multiple folks across the internet are complaining that the advertised sale on Switch Mario games isn't happening.  Nintendo put out a press release stating that Target, Best Buy, and Walmart.com would be offering digital downloads of several Switch titles for just $39.99, but Target and Walmart.com don't show the discount, and Best Buy is reportedly canceling website orders after they have been placed.

The press release did contain the phrase "while supplies last," but it would seem odd for digital download "copies" to run out on the first day of a week-long promotion.

If you wanted to take advantage of this sale, it might be a good idea to keep your eye on the websites for these three stores all week long.

Link: TMK Blog - "Mario Day Sale"

At some point a few years ago, someone noticed that the common abbreviation for March 10th looks a lot like Mario -- "Mar10."  As a result, Nintendo of America has been doing small promotions for "Mario Day" each year.  This year, multiple retailers are offering $39.99 digital downloads of popular Nintendo Switch Mario titles.  From March 10th until Marth 16th, the following games will be discounted on Amazon, BestBuy, Target, and Walmart.com:

Super Mario Party
Super Mario Odyssey
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Mario Tennis Aces
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

In addition, it looks like Gamestop and Amazon will be offering a special Switch bundle -- $329.99 for the system plus one of the listed games.

Link: Nintendo.com Sales and Deals - "Mar10 Day"

On April 16th, 2019, the unthinkable will finally happen -- Bowser will take control of the Mushroom Kingdom.

More specifically, Doug Bowser will become the new president of Nintendo of America, replacing the retiring Reggie Fils-Aime.  Reggie's last day will be April 15th, before his body runs off into the sunset.

Link: BusinessWire: Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime to Retire: Doug Bowser Named New President

A "sticker sealed" copy of Super Mario Bros. was recently purchased by a group of collectors.  These copies are said to have been sold during the early NES test launches in New York and Los Angeles, and are sealed with a sticker instead of shrink wrap.  The title was certified as authentic and graded by Wata Games, a company specializing in grading retro video games.

What's a bit odd about this is that it seems like a bit of circular publicity.  You see, this sale was announced by a press release from Heritage Auctions, an auction house that auctions off retro video games.  One of the buyers of the game is the co-founder of Heritage Auctions.  Heritage Auctions makes a point of selling games that have been certified by Wata Games.

It's almost like this is a publicity stunt to get collectors excited about buying certified collector's items from Heritage Auctions.

(Wata Games does have some neat articles about obscure game releases though -- like this page about black box NES variants!)

Links: Heritage Auctions Press Release

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey was released in Japan in late December, and it may be off to a fairly slow start.  Famitsu sales data tracked by the site Game Data Library indicates that the game has only sold about 20,000 copies in its first month of release.  Sales could always pick up, of course, but it's not quite lighting up the charts at the moment.

Nintendolife wrote about this, noting that the game is currently one of the worst selling Mario titles ever released -- we'll have to see how sales do over the next few months!

Links:
Game Data Library
Nintendolife's Article

If you've been thinking about getting a copy of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe but haven't wanted to spend $59.99, you might be in luck.  It's currently available for $39.99 from "Daily Steals" on Facebook Marketplace.  You may have to wait a bit, as the special offer requires five buyers (you "join" a group of other buyers; once five people join, they ship the items).  Additionally, the copies could be from one of several different regions ("USA, UK, MSE, UAE, LTN"), but the Switch is region free so that shouldn't be a problem when it comes to playing the games.

Link: Facebook Marketplace - Daily Steals

Walmart and Target are currently selling Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Party, and Super Mario Odyssey for about $45 each.  If you're interested, you should probably grab them now.

Link:
Walmart - $45.49 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Target - $45.49 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Target - $45.49 Super Mario Party
Walmart  - $45 Super Mario Odyssey
Target - $48.99 Super Mario Odyssey

Did you know that Retro Studios once wanted to make a Mario Football game?  If that had ever happened, we might be using it today to make Super Bowl predictions!

Link: A Retropective: The Story of Retro Studios (IGN/N-Sider)

Two Mario 3DS themes have been added back to the My Nintendo rewards site: Mighty Mushrooms and Spotlight Yoshi.  The themes aren't new, but they're only 100 platinum points each!  If you have coins to burn, each theme can be claimed up to five times.

Link: My Nintendo Nintendo 3DS/Wii U software/digital content

If you're playing the Switch version of New Super Mario Bros U., you might have noticed that the jump button doubles as the mid-air spin-twist move.  If that's messing up your game, it's possible to turn it off!  On the title screen, hold in the left joystick for a few seconds.  If you hear Nabbit shout, then the jump button will only work for jumping!  You can still spin-twist in mid-air, but your jump button is free!

During Nintendo's third quarter financial results briefing, it was announced that the upcoming animated Mario movie is currently scheduled for release in 2022.  In related news, the Nintendo World expansion to Universal Japan should be opening in 2020.

Link: Nintendo Corporate Management Policy Briefing /
Nine Months Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ending March 2019 [PDF]

As part of a recent refresh of TMK's social media posts on Facebook and Twitter, Tumblr support has been rolled in.  You can't escape from the Mario Madness now!

Link: TMK's Tumblr

Today is the last day to spend points in the Wii Shop channel.  While adding points was disabled last year, any points in your Wii account must be used before the end to day.  After January 30th, purchases will be disabled on the Wii Shop (although downloading previous purchases will be possible, at least in the immediate future.)

While there are many Virtual Console Mario titles, don't forget about Dr. Mario Online RX (sans online) and WarioWare DIY Showcase!

Several new characters have been added to Mario Tennis Aces, and Boom Boom (of Super Mario Bros. 3 fame) should be appearing soon.  You can unlock him by playing in an online tournament in February.  He should be unlocked for everyone by March.

Now I just need to go get Luma...

This is a test post to see if new updates to Twitter and Facebook are working. 

WTMK was down for a bit earlier this week, but everything should now be back to normal.  Let us know if there is anything you'd like to hear on the radio!