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Caption Contest: Real-life Super Mario party searches for Princess Peach
Mamma Mia -- it's 'a me whole lot of Marios! If we were you, Bowser, we'd return Her Majesty to Mushroom Kingdom at once. Okay, okay... in actuality, the above was merely Nintendo hyping the upcoming US release of its psychedelic-consuming plumber's first 3DS title, Super Mario 3D Land. So there's no need to worry folks, Ms. Peach is safe -- at least until you get your grubby paws on the game come November 13th, that is. Darren: "Mario has sabotaged the Beastie Boys' redux of Sabotage." Terrence: "Occupy Mushroom Kingdom." Joe: "Will the real Super Mario please jump up?" Mat: "Someone got the infinite lives cheat massively, massively wrong." Sean: "The Mario family reunion took a turn for the awkward when Luigi realized he was the only attendee out of uniform." Tim: "It's 'a me... your worst nightmare." Richard Lai: "I ate the wrong mushroom." Jon: "After defeating multiple Agent Smiths, Neo finds that he advances to level 2 in the Matrix..." Brian: "Moments later, the mob located a pet store, went to town on the turtle tank and escaped safely through the toilet." Myriam: "Where's Waldo?" Zach Honig: "Darn it, Myriam... you took mine!" Billy: "The first rule of Project Mayhem is..." Brad: "This would've made that lousy Super Mario Bros. movie a whole lot better." Amar: "King Hippo + $2 Taco Night = this" Richard Lawler: "And not a single flying Cape Feather was given that day." Josh Fruhlinger: "Another Sunday in Williamsburg, Brooklyn."
Super Pixel Bros is Super Mario for squares (video)
Is the complexity of regular Super Mario Bros. getting you down? Good news: modder Retro Brad has been putting a lot of time into his own version of the game, recreating levels of the original title on an 8 x 8 LED matrix, with all of its characters represented by a single pixel. Below that screen is an LCD, which lets users keep track of their score, lives and level, while a Monofonic Audio Chip offers sound effects played through a built-in speaker. All of this is housed in a portable eight-button system that, for the record, is decidedly less clunky than Nintendo's new circle-pad add-on for the 3DS. Video of Super Pixel Bros in action after the break.
Super Mario Balance Block is Jenga for goombas
You know, when you stop and think about it, Mario has had a pretty hard life. He's single-handedly saved pretty much everything that can possibly be saved, from princesses to whole entire galaxies, but it's still never enough. There's always one more mountain for Mario to climb, one more castle in need of conquering, one more koopa to coop up. Now, in what may be his most sadistic and tragically doomed challenge to date, Mario has been tasked to climb a tower that is destined to fall, in the form of Super Mario Balance Block, a table-top Jenga derivative due out in Japan this November. Not to be confused with that other Mario-infused Jenga derivative, Balance Block somehow augments traditional Jenga gameplay with Super Mushrooms, although we doubt Mario will be able to complete his impossible task, even with their help. Currently, it doesn't look like Super Mario Balance Block will be officially released stateside, however there are a few different import options in the source link, if that's your thing. You monster.
Nintendo to release Flame Red 3DS console next month, sunglasses not included
Better dust off your finest pair of shades, because this Flame Red Nintendo 3DS is on its way to the States. The console, which launched earlier this summer in Japan as the Red Flare, will hit stores next month (alongside the new Star Fox 64 3D game), joining a 3DS lineup that already features Cosmo Black and Aqua Blue. The company will also be releasing two new games this winter -- Super Mario 3D Land in November and Mario Kart 7 in December -- in the hopes of rectifying its disappointing Q2 earnings report with a strong holiday campaign. Only time will tell whether or not it has any effect on Nintendo's bottom line, but if you're interested in adding a touch of Santa-like cheer to your yuletide gaming season, you can grab a Flame Red console on September 9th, for $170. Find more information in the full PR, after the break.
With Wii U, Mario will use two screens and Zelda won't look like this
Yoshiaki Koizumi, producer of the Super Mario series, has his team working on a new Mario game for the Wii U, even though he didn't know what Nintendo's new console would even look like prior to its unveiling at E3. In an interview with Wired, Koizumi said now that he knows what the Wii U can do, he wants to "create a console game where two people are playing at the same time but can't see each others' screens." You know, much like how the internet operates, but without all those messy tubes. Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma also spilled some secrets about the HD demo Nintendo used to show off its new graphics -- mainly, don't believe everything you see. "You probably remember that when we introduced the GameCube, we showed a somewhat realistic Zelda demo," Aonuma said. "And what we actually created was the cel-shaded Wind Waker. So when we show a graphic demo, people think, 'Oh, this is what the next Zelda will look like,' but that's not necessarily the case." Secrets and lies, Nintendo. Secrets and lies.
Bob Hoskins is not the biggest Super Mario Bros. fan
In a recent interview with Guardian, legendary actor Bob Hoskins went on record about the highlights of his prestigious cinematic career. In one section of the quickfire Q&A, Hoskins talked about one of his greatest film achievements to date: "What is the worst job you've done? Super Mario Brothers. What has been your biggest disappointment? Super Mario Brothers. If you could edit your past, what would you change? I wouldn't do Super Mario Brothers." We're having trouble comprehending why Hoskins is so hostile towards Cinergi Pictures' 1993 blockbuster -- we think it set the bar for video game-to-movie adaptations. It just set that bar very, very low. Like, low enough for Street Fighter to hurdle over with grace and ease, which is saying something. [Thanks, Chris!]
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}
Iwata: Nintendo to plan first-party game launches around third-party publishers
Nintendo clearly understands the importance of the international economy's fragile supply and demand formula, as evidenced in statements made during a recent investor call. Italian plumbers and pocket monsters are, in the case of Nintendo games, highly sought after properties that are somewhat constrained in supply. The result of this, of course, is high demand for Nintendo's games -- such high demand, in most cases, that third-party game sales on Nintendo's consoles are outstripped by first-party. Nintendo, however, hopes to appear mindful of stepping on toes. When asked about potential release dates for 3DS versions of Super Mario and Mario Kart, Nintendo head Satoru Iwata noted, "We want the other companies to be successful." He continued, "In order to accomplish this goal, we would like to decide on the dates after we know the release plans of other companies' games so that we are able to consider how we can maximize the sales of our titles without affecting the sales of other companies in the short term." It's also possible that Iwata is just blowing smoke to avoid answering specific questions about release dates for major franchises, though our mothers always told us not to expect the worst in people.
Super Mario gets a Portal gun, you monster (video)
Before Portal 2 there was Portal, and before Portal there was Super Mario Bros. Bring these together and you get a mushroom-chomping Italian plumber ruling the 2D world -- outside the cold confines of Aperture Science -- with the infamous Portal gun. The next logical step? Turn this into a first-person game. Go on, Reggie, make it happen.
Miyamoto talks Super Mario 3DS, hints at the raccoon's return
In a recent interview with Edge, industry legend Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed two of the suspicions we'd developed regarding the handful of Super Mario 3DS details revealed during the publisher's GDC presentation. First, he explained, "It's a combination of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario on N64." Which makes sense, considering we knew it was being developed by the team between both installments in the Galaxy series. He added that the device's 3D capabilities makes platforming a bit smoother, explaining, "The floors floating in space: in 2D it's difficult to judge the distance, but in 3D it's really easy." Second, remember the tail that was springing out of the logo? That wasn't just some sad remnant of a half-deleted Wingding -- it was, as you probably expected, an appendage. Miyamoto explained, "The tail you mentioned on the logo – it's what you think it is. You probably know what's going to happen using that character." Who, Tanooki? Yeah, we know that guy's style. He's gonna get right in our trash cans, mess up our yard and then fly off into the crisp, night sky. We'll have our opportunity to get reacquainted with that ringtailed jerk relatively soon -- Miyamoto explained, Super Mario 3DS is "completely original, and coming this year."
Super Mario reimagined as a first-person game, conquers the castle of our hearts (video)
You've seen Super Mario evolve from a modest 2D sprite into a 3D world-exploring superhero mechanic, but have you ever seen life through his eyes? Here's your opportunity, as a fanmade animation treats us to a first-person view of the intrepid Italian's adventures through the familiar World 1-1. There are kill streaks, achievements like "headbanger" and "pole dancer," and some extremely realistic sound effects to set the mood. The priceless video follows after the break.
'Super Mario' 3DS teased with tail logo
During Nintendo's GDC keynote today, president Satoru Iwata teased the previoulsy confirmed Super Mario Bros. game for 3DS with a logo. Does that tail look familiar? The game is being developed by the Super Mario Galaxy team, and while Iwata wouldn't offer any more details, he did promise more would be revealed at E3.
Kinect used to control Super Mario on a PC, redefine convergence (video)
If, like us, you've been waiting to see Kinect in control of a truly marquee game, your wait has now come to an end. The same fella that brought us the Kinect lightsaber has returned with a hack enabling eager nostalgics to enjoy a bout of Super Mario controlled only by their body contortions. OpenKinect was used to get the motion-sensing peripheral -- originally intended exclusively for use with an Xbox 360 -- to communicate with his PC, while a simple NES emulator took care of bringing the 25-year old plumber to life. The video awaits after the break.
Nintendo rolls out orange and green DSi bundles especially for Black Friday stampedes
Black Friday is one of those new school traditions we can really get behind: the consumer's holiday, where trampling an elderly person is perfectly acceptable as long as you end up with a $40 netbook. Well, Nintendo's getting in the spirit this year with two new orange and green DSi bundles for your shopping pleasure. The bundles serve to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the famous Super Mario Bros. games and come with Mario Party DS. The bundles will be available on November 26th (yes, that's Black Friday) for $149.99. Full press release is below.
Mario gets roasted by gaming's all-stars
He may be stout, moustached, and not the world's highest jumper, but Mario knows "he'sa tha best!" Even during his brutal roasting by gaming's greatest -- he keeps a cool head! Also, he talks a ton of smack.
Nintendo Wii turns red with glee for Super Mario's 25th anniversarii
First of all, put away those credit cards, American readers, this is so far a Japan-only affair. Nintendo's celebrations of Mario's 25th birthday are extending beyond custom DSi and DSi LL consoles to a repainted Wii machine and a pretty sweet bundle to go with it. The sporty red number above includes one of the newfangled Wii Remote Plus controllers -- which can do MotionPlus tracking without the additional appendage -- along with a similarly rouged-up nunchuck, and, perhaps best of all, a preinstalled copy of Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Edition. That's still the game you know and love, but it now comes with bricks embellished with the number 25 on the front. You'll catch a screenshot after the break, while the Japanese audience can expect the tasty bundle to drop on November 11 for ¥20,000 ($241). Hey, if you really want it that bad, you've got a whole month to figure out an import strategy.
Nintendo shows off special edition Super Mario Bros. DSi and DSi XL
Yeah, Super Mario Bros. was kind of a big deal, and we can't fault Nintendo for wanting to celebrate: September 13th marked the 25th anniversary of the game's launch, and Nintendo is pushing out special editions of the DSi and DSi XL (pictured) to celebrate, along with some pretty sweet swag. We mentioned the handhelds this morning, but now we've got a couple pictures -- way to play it subdued, Nintendo. Unfortunately, the consoles are for Japan only, but what we're particularly digging is this Super Mario Collection Special Pack that Nintendo will be launching alongside. The pack will include a version of Super Mario All-Stars for the Wii, a soundtrack CD, and a "Super Mario History, 1985 to 2010" booklet with some unreleased materials like initial development planning sheets handwritten by Shigeru Miyamoto himself. Again, announced for Japan only. Sounds like the import industry is going to be hot this October when these things land! %Gallery-103649%
Nintendo 3DS ships in Japan February 26, US and Europe in March, auto-generates Mii from camera (update: video!)
Enough with the rumored prices and launch dates for the 3DS already, let's get official. Nintendo just announced a February 26 ship date in Japan for ¥25,000 (about $298). It'll then land in the US and Europe in March for an undisclosed amount. Launch colors are aqua blue or cosmo black. At a press event in Japan, Nintendo demonstrated the ability to take your picture using the 3DS' front-facing camera and then automatically converting the image into a Mii -- you can edit it too using Mii Studio on the 3DS. You can even merge two photos into a single image if you choose. Images can then be exported as QR codes in wireless "tag mode" or as a file to the bundled 2GB SD card. Ninty also announced a special edition Super Mario DSi LL (no hardware changes) set to launch for ¥18,000 in Japan on October 28th. It also confirmed that a Wii Remote Plus is in development (it'll be announced at a date some time in the future) and a partnership with Fuji TV that will trial 3D video streaming to Nintendo's new handheld. Finally, a virtual console-style store was show serving up downloadable Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to the 3DS. Update: Nintendo just launched its 3DS microsite in Japan with a bit more product detail including new feature overview and software lineup videos found after the break. There you'll see a built-in pedometer with activity graph and what looks like background multitasking (or at least a state save) letting you launch other apps and then return to a game at the exact same point you left it. Nintendo also demonstrates the Mii Plaza app that lets you collect and view Miis from 3DS owners you pass throughout the day (even when the 3DS is sleeping); Augmented Reality gaming with six AR cards included in the box; a long-press home button for in-game access to web browsing, WiFi toggle, and more; a Book app; and note writing / diary software.%Gallery-103589%
Massive Mario collection will make your inner 5-year-old jealous
Remember when you were 5, and you went to McDonald's one day with your parents and they got you the Happy Meal with the windup Luigi toy in it? Remember how ecstatic you were that you had a real version of Mario's bro in a plastic bag along with your cheeseburger and fries, and remember how you went home and played with it all day until it stopped winding and you completely forgot about it until you had to clean out your desk drawer for college? Well, 11-year-old Oscar Bown has that times a thousand. The kid's collected over 1,000 bits and pieces of Mario-related paraphernalia, and you can see most of them in a video after the break. He's got everything, from Mario Monopoly to Mario band-aids to pretty much every single vehicle toy from Mario Kart. Just saying: Whenever he eventually leaves for college, that desk drawer is going to be pretty full.
Eye Mario System enables your face to control any NES game (video)
We'll be straight with you -- prior to this fine day, we'd never heard of the whiz kids at Waterloo Labs, but we'll be keeping our focus locked on their initiatives from this point forward. Why, you ask? Just look at that bloke above, who is in the middle of asking Mario to leap over a tunnel with a simple eye movement. Granted, we've seen eye-controlled interfaces before, but there's just something -- shall we say... inspirational -- about being able to control your favorite NES titles with your own face. Better still, the crew is providing the full blown how-to down in the source, and if you're not a fan of strapping an array of electrodes on your person, you still owe it to yourself to peek the video past the break. Oh, and it's good to see these guys still have to blow on their NES cartridges to get 'em to work right -- misery adores company, eh?
