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Super Mario 3D Land comes with new 3DS firmware
Japanese Super Mario 3D Land carts have started dropping into 3DS slots, and early reports from the country indicate that the game comes packed with brand new firmware for the system. What does the firmware update do, you wonder? Apparently, it makes the portable's friends list a bit more functional -- a button will now allow you to join a friend's game in progress. It seems that the update isn't an early release of the upcoming November one, which brings a variety of features. The firmware update also adds a modification to the console's ability to play flashcarts, a notorious game piracy culprit on portable consoles. Like most game-based firmware updates, the cart requires the update before allowing the user to access Super Mario 3D Land, so, uh, resistance is kinda futile. It's unclear whether the same firmware update will be present on US and EU carts when the game ships in the coming weeks, but we've asked Nintendo for clarification and will update the story if we hear back.
Yes, of course Shigeru Miyamoto is involved in Super Mario 3D Land
Like with previous Mario titles, the little plumber's creator is once again involved in Nintendo's next project, Super Mario 3D Land. In a recent Famitsu interview (translated by 1UP), Shigeru Miyamoto explains his role as "general producer" on the title, saying that he was uninvolved until about halfway through the project. "I kept my distance from the project at first, but became more deeply involved midway -- I don't think it'd be satisfying as a Mario game to everyone unless I made myself known on the little details," he says. Miyamoto further details his work on the project, specifically citing his work as helping to "fine-tune the numbers" behind things like Mario's iconic jump or run speed. He also points out that Mario's upcoming 3DS game draws from the world of Super Mario Bros. 3, while the "New" Super Mario Bros. titles drew from Super Mario World's foundation. Neat! "The New Mario series was an effort to get back to the core of it," he adds. "And this game is kind of an in-between -- it's 3D, but it's a Mario that lots of people can play." To that end, Super Mario 3D Land will feature a hint system akin to other recent Nintendo first-party titles, which Miyamoto teases briefly. But you wouldn't need such a thing, right?
Super Mario Land 3D media is overpowering
If you can watch the latest Super Mario 3D Land trailer without being overcome by waves of profound, heart-swelling joy and nostalgia, then congratulations. You are now prepared for a career in politics. %Gallery-137152%
Super Mario 3D Land preview: New tricks
I imagine the pre-production on Super Mario 3D Land was some kind of Frankenstein experiment, where a group of developers in full-on white lab coats picked apart previous Super Mario titles for their choicest features to create Super Mario 3D Land. It's really an amalgamation of previous efforts, though it doesn't deter the game from establishing an identity of its own. %Gallery-135960%
Super Mario 3D Land features SpotPass item trading, 'Assist Blocks'
While there's no word on an implementation of the "Super Guide" feature in Super Mario 3D Land, a Japanese retail display box reveals the presence of "Assist Blocks." These winged blocks will act sort of as a Super Guide analogue, dispensing helpful items to players having a hard time. They even visually refer to Super Mario Bros. 3's "P-Wing," an item that allowed players to bypass whole stages. The box also reveals a SpotPass feature for the 3DS platformer. You'll be able to exchange items with other players through the 3DS's internet connection -- which is good, if you're doing your best to avoid the (completely imaginary) shame of relying on the Assist Blocks.
Kirby? Mario? Zelda? It's a Nintendo gameplay video-splosion!
OK, so last night's Nintendo TGS keynote may not have had a mountain of relevant info for us stateside. But it had a lot of moving images we've not seen before, and we'll take that entertainment over boring old information any day of the week. We've got all the good parts just after the break with new screens from Super Mario 3D Land and Kirby's Return to Dreamland, plus video of those two, and clips of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Mario Kart 7. Can human beings overdose on joy? We pray that they can not.
Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, and more dated
Not content with the mini-flood of 3DS news out of last night's Nintendo 3DS Conference? Nintendo of America has some exciting news tailored to American tastes, including release dates for its two biggest upcoming 2011 releases. Super Mario 3D Land will travel into America (and into your screen, thanks to the 3D effect) on November 13; it'll be followed by automotive adventure Mario Kart 7 on December 4, which now has a gyro-controlled first-person mode. You know, for the real feeling of being atop a tiny go-kart driving into a banana peel. Check out a trailer after the break. Additionally, the Wii's Mario/Dragon Quest board game, Fortune Street, is teaching us Slime economics on December 5, and the DS Fossil Fighters sequel is coming November 14. What we won't see this year is Paper Mario for 3DS -- that, along with Luigi's Mansion 2, is slated for 2012.%Gallery-133429%
Nintendo's Comic-Con lounge stocked with Mario, Zelda, Rhythm Heaven, and more
To keep you from ever having to look at an actual comic at Comic-Con, another game company has announced its lineup of playable demos. You'll be able to play a great deal of Nintendo's recent and upcoming 3DS lineup, most of its Wii lineup ... and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 on DS. Nintendo will have both a normal booth at Comic-Con, #5135, and a "Nintendo Gaming Lounge" at the adjacent Marriott Marquis & Marina hotel. This "Gaming Lounge" will feature playable demos of Super Mario, Kid Icarus Uprising, Mario Kart, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Shinobi, and more 3DS games. In addition, you'll be able to try The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Rhythm Heaven, Fortune Street, and more on Wii. Bring your DS and/or 3DS when you go. From 4-6 pm on July 21, Nintendo will host a Pokémon Black/White meetup. The Lounge will also have a giant Pokédex 3D AR marker of Reshiram for you to take commemorative pictures with, and a "gallery" of oversized AR Cards. There will even be downloadable maps for Dragon Quest IX!
Super Mario preview: 3D plus 2.5D plus Super Mario Bros. 3
The new Super Mario for 3DS is an interesting new take on 3D Mario gameplay ... in that it largely restricts the level design to 2D. Or, at least, 2.5D. There are plenty of sections where you move in and out of the screen, sure, but for the most part, you're following corridor-style paths from left to right. Where previous 3D Mario games were about exploring spaces, Super Mario is in general about navigating to the end of the level. It's a mix of the styles of classic and 3D Mario. It also makes more of an effort to integrate the 3D effect into gameplay. But the parts that don't really deal with that are a lot more effective than the ones that do.%Gallery-125677%
Super Mario 3D trailer is just the best
Keep close track of your pants, dear reader, because any lapse in attention could result in them being charmed clean off of you by this trailer for Super Mario 3D. A 3D leaf transforming Mario into a 3D Tanooki? Can the human heart explode from joy?
Super Mario 3D leaps to 3DS before the end of the year
During Nintendo's E3 2011 press conference, president Reggie Fils-Aime took to the stage and confirmed that Super Mario 3D, the 3DS title briefly teased back at GDC, would launch before year's end. Also, the Tanooki Suit is back -- gameplay footage showed a blend of 2D and 3D gameplay, highly reminiscent of Super Mario Galaxy. It makes sense, since the same team is handling the 3DS game.%Gallery-125677% p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Lucida Grande'; color: #333233}
