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Nintendo of America opens new Redmond HQ
[TechFlash] We imagine the interior of Nintendo's new headquarters in Redmond, Washington to embody the four quadrants it's divided into: Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi and Wario. Unfortunately, Nintendo wouldn't allow press to take interior photos of the company's recently opened US headquarters, citing "security concerns," so we just don't know. Nor do any images exist of the "gigantic top-floor conference room" that's appropriately named "The Master Sword;" though, according to Techflash, it's said to resemble a Wall Street-style conference room more than anything you'd find in a Hyrulian office -- the 75,000 square feet of greenery on the roof would likely make Link feel more at home. As you can see above, Nintendo of America head Reggie Fils-Aime and Nintendo worldwide head Satoru Iwata were hilariously joined by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and her friends the Mario brothers for the building's opening ceremonies last week. "Hopefully this new building will help [employees] to be even more creative and productive, and continue to put smiles on the faces of our consumers," Iwata said of the new HQ. The beautiful facility -- detailed in several photos here -- is said to house 650 staff members. No official number of hidden Yoshis has been given.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 trailer floats in
The latest video excursion into Super Mario Galaxy 2 (after the break) features some very fancy aerial maneuvers by a gas-filled Yoshi. The side-scrolling segment of the game shown here requires Yoshi to float from Blimp Fruit to Blimp Fruit to stay aloft, and even relies on Yoshi's flutter jump to navigate between platforms around the stage. We can't help but notice that the stage itself is shaped like a cylinder. In fact, you might describe the level as "tubular."
Yoshi and Kirby decals eat your laptop logo
Let's all just agree that the above laptop decal is awesome. Created by LapTatt and available on Etsy for a paltry $14, it's just about the greatest Nintendo-themed laptop decal we've ever seen (not that there have been too many). Admittedly, it seems designed with the Apple logo in mind -- especially considering Yoshi's taste for brightly colored fruit -- but we imagine it would work just as well with almost any laptop logo. And, if Yoshi and baby Mario don't do it for you, you could always pick up a Kirby decal (in black or white) for only $8. See it after the break.
Show and Tell: Lunch in a box
We've spent a little time admiring amazing lunches before, but we haven't yet donated our weekly time in the community spotlight to the fine art of bento-making ... until today. Yes, friends, today we're going to make you hungry with these fantastic Nintendo-themed boxed lunches. Slice up some carrot and mold your rice into a ball, then head into our gallery and check out some amazing gamer bento.%Gallery-38877% Show and Tell is all about fan stuff, so long as it's Nintendo-related. We love to see your collections, your crafts, your frosted creations, your t-shirts and swag of all sorts.Just snap a few pictures, tell us what's up, and send it all to showmeit [at] dsfanboy [dot] com. We'll take care of the rest. Not a handy type, but found something neat? Send us a link instead.
Burger King offering free Wii toys in exchange for money, good health
It's that time again, everybody: time to sheepishly visit Burger King every day and buy a Kids' Meal for Nintendo freebies, all while trying to shut out thoughts of how disappointed your father would be to see you like this. Shame, shame.The fast food chain is giving away a bunch of different toys based on the Wii and its games, and all it wants in return is cash and a willingness to clog up your own arteries. We like the "Chain Chomp Launcher" the best, though the "Float and Go Boo" and "Light-Up Luma" are also nice. Plus, we can always keep telling ourselves we'll sell all this on eBay in the future for a small fortune. Yes, that'll do: it's an investment in our future. Pictures and details of all ten follow the break.
Top 5: Infections
After visiting friends and relatives this Thanksgiving, I was left with something special inside. Was it fond memories? Was it a deeper connection with those who I love? Was it several containers of leftovers? Sure, I received a fair share of those, but the most significant thing I received this Thanksgiving was the flu. I should have known. At least five different folks I saw over the course of the day claimed to be recovering from some form of the dreaded virus. Sure enough, by Friday evening I was sweating and freezing at once, aching all over, and debating on which end to point at the toilet (too much?). Whenever I get sick, I tend to feel very isolated. While everyone else was out enjoying their four-day weekend, I was tethered to the bed. But it didn't take long for me to realize that I'm certainly not alone. Everyone gets sick sooner or later, and no one is truly immune. In fact, even our video game counterparts have their fair share of sicknesses that affect their goals. And thankfully, just like said counterparts, the infections are usually brief. Here's our Top 5 sicknesses to avoid. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } The Top 5 is a weekly feature that provides us with a forum to share our opinions on various aspects of the video game culture, and provides you with a forum to tell us how wrong we are. To further voice your opinions, submit a vote in the Wii Fanboy Poll, and take part in the daily discussions of Wii Warm Up.
It's-a Mario World: Yoshi Spinoffs
Remember last night when we broke into spontaneous discussion about Yoshi during our weekly Game Night assembly? Oh, that's right, you weren't there for some lame reason, opting instead to race computer-controlled players in a sad, lonely session of Mario Kart's single player Grand Prix. For shame. Just know that you missed a hell of a time, and although Yoshi was only mentioned in passing (i.e. the word "Yoshi" was typed once or twice), you still should have been there to see it happen. Maybe next Thursday, then?But isn't it high time we payed tribute to Mario's egg-dispensing, always-hungry dinosaur steed? Yoshi has been around since the prevalence of big, bulky cartridges, and while he has not always played a large role in Mario's adventures, his lovable character has spawned a handful of spinoff titles that exist almost entirely without Mario's help (well, sort of--only one of the Yoshi games have "Mario" in the title). Our new gallery spotlights Yoshi then & now, detailing all of his starring roles in between. Now saddle up, unfurl your tongue and gobble down everything in sight. It's-a Mario World is a weekly feature in which the ubiquity of Nintendo's flagship character is celebrated. Check back here every Friday to find out what strange and wonderful thing has got us tipping our caps. For additional Mario jollies, sing along here or express your U.S. nationalism by experiencing this strange flash game which finds president-elect Barack Obama and Super Mario World inextricably combined. Wow.
A brief history of Club Nintendo Awesomeness
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/A_look_back_at_Club_Nintendo_s_greatest_gifts'; By now, you've no doubt heard: Nintendo is rolling out Club Nintendo in the U.S. by the end of 2008. Wahey! Yeah, we know that Japan (generally speaking) gets the most excellent items when compared to elsewhere, but listen here, bub: it's free stuff. We're not about to complain, and nor should you (if you want to feel sorry for somebody, Australia's Club Nintendo scheme has gone AWOL, and check out South Africa's piss-poor Stars Catalogue).Anyway, as these are happy times for North Americans, we thought we'd reflect on some of the bestest Club Nintendo gifts and trinkets from both Japan and Europe to date -- some of which could end up in the U.S.! Hit the gray button to start DS Fanboy's whirlwind Club Nintendo Tour of Wonders! NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; }
Fantasy and reality mesh, make beautiful couple
We were bowled over by the last batch of sprite/real-life art we posted, but this new material, from DeviantARTist RETROnoob (who, at just 16, has a more impressive grip on Photoshop than most of us supposed grown-ups) takes the biscuit whole biscuit tin whole damn biscuit aisle. As we mentioned last time, this is pretty much what our daydreams look like, and we expect yours also. Yes, they do. Admit it! You're a bit odd too! Ha!Advance Wars, Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Kart: they're all here, as well as many more at RETROnoob's gallery. And here's the really, really important bit -- they come in wallpaper dimensions (or 1024 x 768, at least). Head past the break for more.
VC Monday Madness video wrap-up 4/7/08
Of this week's Virtual Console releases, there's really only one game I came out caring about. Which one is it? Well, you're just going to have to watch the video above, silly pants! Or, you know, head past the break for the other half of our VC Monday Madness coverage.
VC Monday Madness: Yoshi's Cookie and Bases Loaded
Well, that's nice. This week's Virtual Console releases aren't a total bust like the past few weeks have kind of been, as one of this blogger's favorite childhood games is available. We can't wait until after 9am PT, so we can get our grubby little mitts on these downloads.This week's Virtual Console releases are: Yoshi's Cookie (NES, 1 - 2 players, 500 Wii Points) Bases Loaded (NES, 1 - 2 players, 500 Wii Points) Be sure to stop by later for our video coverage of this week's Virtual Console games.
VC Friday: We can has Cookie?
Confection Craziness! Baked-goods battiness! Cookie Kooky-ness!Usually, we'll spend an entire morning grumbling and tutting when we only receive one new game for the PAL Virtual Console. Not this week, however, because the appearance of Yoshi's Cookie has given us a good enough reason to post one of our favorite NES-era commercials, complete with zombie children, desperate for braaaainssssss sugary biscuits.Hide your cookies! Hide ALL your cookies! (And then head past the break for gameplay footage). Yoshi's Cookie -- NES -- 500 Wii Points
Dojo update: The fine art of throwing eggs
Know what would make our morning here at the Fanboy Towers? A double dojo update, that's what. Know what could ruin yours? Spoilers. Both are after the break.
More Brawl taunts than you can shake a mocking stick at
Spoiler alert: Video shows every playable Brawl character Serving the fans out there who're determined to watch every bit of Super Smash Bros. Brawl code executed before the game ever hits the US, Youtuber Zero9teen has posted a video collection of nearly every jeer from all the characters in the game. We say "nearly" because there are a few secret taunts, like the Japanese-heavy Lylat Cruise chats, that still need to be found and added to this compilation. Luigi pretty much steals the show (08:15), but the rest of the video is worth watching for Zero Suit Samus's plasma whip tricks (01:45) and Yoshi's cute antics (04:35)![Via NeoGAF]
A very Mario Christmas
How sad we are to see the holiday come to an end. No more Christmas tunes and hot cocoa just doesn't taste the same to us anymore. If only we had a giant mural like the one above to visit for an instant jolt of that Christmas feeling. It's a HUGE mural, if we may say so, and came out looking fabulous. [Via Go Nintendo]
Yoshi's Island for a Baby Mario-sized price
Artoon is in the news right now for the Mistwalker-assisting work of founder (and Sonic the Hedgehog character designer) Naoto Oshima. But before Oshima was designing blocky, vacant-eyed adventurers, he served as producer on a fairly high-profile Nintendo project: Yoshi's Island DS. In case you have yet to see how the creator of Blinx: The Time Sweeper handled the sequel to one of the most beloved Mario games ever, Amazon is giving you the chance to check out the game for a painless $15. The critics got a kick out of it, at least. And if you're going to buy one game about taking care of babies, it may as well be this one and not ... one of the others. But be quick about it: this deal expires at the end of the day.
A Hot Summer Yoshi DS for the cold winter
We do love our limited-edition DS systems -- even (maybe especially) when they're Phat. There's nothing like the combination of out-of-production hardware and extremely rare colorways to drive our interest and eBay prices. This "Hot Summer" Yoshi DS was part of a series of six wireframe-emblazoned systems available only in the summer of 2005, and only to Club Nintendo members. Only 200 of these Yoshi systems were produced.And now it's available to anyone with $500. If you truly want to be rebellious and rock the Phat, this is totally the way to do it. By spending a ridiculous amount of money.[Via GameSniped]
The DS Life: Betrayal!
The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handhelds and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.He doesn't hear the heavy door being pushed open, nor does he notice that thin stripe of outside light across the room extending its reach to the leather loveseat he's made himself so comfortable on.He is too engrossed with his new game, astonished with its colors and graphics. The steps of the intruder's boots click towards him on the hardwood floor, heel to toe. Only when the surprise guest stops in front of him and politely coughs does he pause to look up ...
Yoshi to Mario: 'I thought we were friends'
It was a heartbreaking moment, the first time we were ever forced to jump off Yoshi's back to save our own selfish skin in Super Mario World. We reached for him over the edge of the platform, watching as he fell further and further away until he was nothing more than a tiny green dot in the distance. In hysterics, we yelled out to him, Last-of-the-Mohicans style, "I will find you!"After the thousandth time we nonchalantly discarded Yoshi, though, leaving an imprint of our boot on his dinosaur nose as we leaped to higher ground, we'd been too desensitized by his many sacrifices to regret any one particular death. Sometimes, we even celebrated it: "That's what you get, you little jerk. That's what you get for making us chase you around and lose our feather."But this faux motivational poster, spotted at Aeropause, calls our attention back to the cruelty and sadness of the technique. Seeing those teary eyes and outstretched arms is killing us inside. It's all made worse by Mario's refusal to even turn around and acknowledge his friend's ill-fated demise. The Koopa Paratroopa flying away in the background is clearly upset with the whole scene. We wouldn't be surprised if the event haunted him for the rest of his life, eventually leading him to alcohol and drug abuse.[Via Aeropause]
Get festive with this tiny Yoshi
You know what your Christmas tree needs? More tongue -- and by that, we mean more Yoshi. Luckily, poorlulu of Etsy has your back; you can get all the ornamental wool tongue Yoshi that you need ... or even a Mario, if you so prefer. We do not, however, recommend that you lick or otherwise ingest the Yoshi. Wool just does not go down well.
