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Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D to include easier mode, new content
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D will include an easier mode that will grant the chimp duo Donkey and Diddy Kong three hearts instead of two, as revealed in an update on Nintendo's UK site. The 3DS remake will also feature local co-op, though Nintendo didn't specify whether the multiplayer facets of the game were restricted to multi-cart play as opposed to download/single cart play.The game is slated to include content exclusive to the 3DS version, such as challenging "trophy levels" that are unlocked by collecting puzzle pieces in the platformer's original levels. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is due out May 24. %Gallery-184939%
Dad re-tiles Donkey Kong for his daughter, has Pauline save Mario
To a 3-year-old, it's a logical enough assumption: We can play as a girl, Princess Peach, in Super Mario Bros. 2, so we should be able to play as Pauline in Donkey Kong. Most seasoned players know this isn't the case, since Donkey Kong features a static game of boy-saves-girl – until now."My 3-year-old daughter and I play a lot of old games," writes Other Ocean Interactive creative director Mike Mika on Facebook, as picked up by Reddit. "Her favorite is Donkey Kong. Two days ago, she asked me if she could play as the girl and save Mario. She's played as Peach in Super Mario Bros. 2 and naturally just assumed she could do the same in Donkey Kong. I told her we couldn't in that particular Mario game; she seemed really bummed out by that."To put a smile on his daughter's face, Mika hacked the 2010 NES Donkey Kong ROM, using Tile Layer Pro, and swapped out Mario with Pauline. He shows off the end product in the above Donkey Kong: Pauline Edition video, though we don't need visual confirmation that this is the most adorable story we'll write today.
These old Nintendo promo videos are a national treasure
A collector of gaming antiquities has provided an incredible public service to the world, by uploading six extremely rare, extremely retro Nintendo corporate promotional tapes to YouTube. The six videos (above and after the break) were originally used as sales pitches to promote various products and live events, such as the Super Game Boy and the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, to retailers and potential venues.Beyond their value as hilarious distractions, however, these blurry, color-smeared glimpses into the past also serve as a reminder of our community's history -- one that must be preserved and cherished, so that our children may one day know how completely ridiculous everything was in the early 90s.Their tiny, adorable faces will look up and ask "Daddy, why are there day-glo pink triangles all over everything in these 'video tapes'?" To which we'll reply, "Hush, sweetie. Eat your gruel before Ag'rathas and his Labor Wardens start our next shift, here in the Salt Mines of Kuu'uultepth, which is in space because this is humanity's bleak future as a conquered people."
Nintendo reveals exact dates for Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign games
Nintendo's celebration of the Famicom's 30th birthday – the Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign – kicked off last week with the release of Balloon Fight on the Wii U eShop. Each month, Nintendo will release a classic game at a special $.30 price, for 30 days until the next eligible game debuts. Today, Nintendo released the schedule for the discount promotion: February 20: F-Zero (SNES) March 20: Punch-Out!!! Featuring Mr. Dream (NES) April 17: Kirby's Adventure (NES) May 15: Super Metroid (SNES) June 12: Yoshi (NES) July 15: Donkey Kong (NES)The Virtual Console doesn't officially launch on the Wii U until this spring, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed during the latest Nintendo Direct event last week. Despite that, Balloon Fight as well as several other games can be acquired through the Wii U eShop.
Buy Art Academy or Crosswords Plus digitally, get rare Donkey Kong: Original Edition [update]
Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! and Crosswords Plus both launch today on 3DS. You can get both in stores, but Nintendo has sweetened the deal significantly for eShop purchases, offering a free version of Donkey Kong that you can't get anywhere else.If you buy either game from the eShop and register it on Club Nintendo, you'll get a free download of Donkey Kong: Original Edition, a special version of the NES Donkey Kong that has been edited to add the "cement factory" level. It's previously been released only with a special Wii bundle in Europe and with Japanese New Super Mario Bros. 2 purchases.Neither of those games seem like particularly natural lead-ins for Donkey Kong, but at the very least, the offer will sway some people who planned to buy one of those games anyway, and will now choose to do so digitally.Update: The deal applies to more games than Nintendo chose to mention this morning. Style Savvy: Trendsetters, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, and Paper Mario: Sticker Star all give you access to DK Original Edition if bought digitally and registered before January 6. Thanks to reader Thomas for pointing that out.
Mechanical Donkey Kong game tests your barrel-jumping skills, patience
We've seen quite a few NES mods in our day, but we can't say we've ever seen one hooked up to anything quite like this. Built by DIY-er Martin Raynsford, this contraption / work-of-art makes use of an Arduino (naturally) to relay signals from the NES controller to the Donkey Kong screen brought to life above, which was constructed with near pixel-perfect accuracy out of laser-cut parts. As Raynsford points out, though, things are still a bit limited in the game's V1 state. There isn't much of an actual "game," for starters -- just Mario stuck in the middle with a never-ending loop of barrels / ball bearings that you can jump over. A second version is planned with a greater degree of control, but we're guessing the video for it won't be quite as hypnotic as the one after the break.
Nintendo DSi XL bundles land on November 6th, just in time for the holidays
Looking to spring for a new handheld gaming system this Christmas? The Big N is doing its darndest to nudge you in that direction with a new spin on the Metallic Rose and Midnight Blue versions of the DSi XL. Both painted handhelds will be available in bundles alongside Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!. These will set you back $170 a pop for each package deal, and you've got about a week to search the couch cushions for spare coin. You know, just in case the Mini-land ruckus can't wait for Santa's delivery.
Retro Studios helped to craft Donkey Kong course for Mario Kart 7
When Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that Donkey Kong Country Returns dev Retro Studios was collaborating with Nintendo on Mario Kart 7, he stopped himself there. "But wait," we wondered at the time, "What does that mean?" As it turns out, it means that the Texas-based dev house helped to develop the game's Donkey Kong Country Returns-themed level. I played through the level this morning during a preview event at Nintendo of America's upper Manhattan offices, and can back up its Donkey Kong-ness. There were rotund wooden barrels with "DK" in capital letters on the side, some bats, plenty of palm trees -- what you'd expect to see in a level based around Mr. Kong. Unfortunately, it's unclear whether MK7 will feature other levels that were co-developed by teams outside of Nintendo, as company reps told me it's not something they're speaking about just yet, but we're hopeful for more when Mario Kart 7 launches on December 4.%Gallery-129866%
This RIFT 1.5 update trailer is approved for all audiences
RIFT's 1.5 update is barreling down the road at us, and woe to the unprepared who will not leap but be squashed beneath its weight. Also, we think that a giant monkey is throwing it whilst guarding a captured princess. In any event, RIFT's fifth major content update looks to be a game-changer in several ways, adding alternative advancement (planar attunement), master-level dungeons, and veteran rewards to the faithful. To celebrate this week's release of Ashes of History, Trion Worlds has put together an impressive trailer full of angels, demons, and the words "Trion Worlds presents" for our viewing pleasure. One interesting detail to note is the apparent addition of a giant spider mount, which will undoubtedly play favorably in the arachnophobic market. You can view the two-minute trailer after the jump! [Thanks to Ren54 for the tip!]
Trade your Club Nintendo coins for a big 3DS AR card
Your 3DS Mii is pathetically teensy now, suitable for posing next to hamsters and soda cans. But you could make your virtual self much more (virtually) substantial with the giant AR Card, available now from North America's Club Nintendo for 200 Coins. The 28.5" tall card has the question-mark block on one side, and Mario on the other, allowing it to be used for AR Mario images as well. Two other prizes were added to the lineup today: for ten coins, you can get a Metroid: Other M screensaver -- released almost a year after the game ... or for 400 Coins, there's a set of three Donkey Kong posters, in the same style as previous Mario and Zelda posters. [Thanks, Zonic505!]
The unsung, underpaid heroes behind Donkey Kong
A new feature on Gamasutra outlines the development history of Nintendo's breakout hit, Donkey Kong. While it's widely known that the game design was a Shigeru Miyamoto joint, the programming on the arcade title was actually contract work by a company called Ikegami Tsushinki. The only "credit" the company had was a message hidden in the ROM: "CONGRATULATION !IF YOU ANALYSE DIFFICULT THIS PROGRAM,WE WOULD TEACH YOU.*****TEL.TOKYO-JAPAN 044(244)2151 EXTENTION 304 SYSTEM DESIGN IKEGAMI CO. LIM." This message also showed up in Sega classics Congo Bongo and Zaxxon, proving that the same company developed some of the foundations of both Nintendo's and Sega's libraries. Unfortunately for Nintendo, the arrangement with Ikegami meant that the contractor had the exclusive rights to produce Donkey Kong boards and sell them to Nintendo. When the game became a hit, Nintendo ignored this agreement and made 80,000 new boards on its own, essentially violating copyright on its own game. Nintendo then went on to reverse engineer its own game to produce Donkey Kong Jr., with the help of a company called Iwasaki Giken, which (according to GDRI) probably went on to become Nintendo second party Intelligent Systems. This led to a lawsuit that ended in a settlement in 1990, and ruled that Nintendo didn't have the rights to the arcade Donkey Kong code -- a ruling that goes far in explaining why we haven't seen a re-release of the original version. [Image: The Arcade Flyer Archive]
World's smallest Donkey Kong cabinet delivers authentic arcade experience for tiny fingers (video)
This, friends, is a work of art. Above is a stunning, fully-functional recreation of the original Donkey Kong arcade cabinet -- and it's only 8.25 inches tall. The accomplished modder Bender posted his handiwork on the Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum and it's sure to wow even the most cynical of folks. At the heart of this build is a hacked up GamePark GP2X Wiz running MAME, but it's the attention to detail, including the printed vinyl decals and light-up marquee, that really pull this (supposedly world's smallest) 1/8 scale project together. Check out the gallery below and the pair of lengthy demo videos after the break. En garde Mr. Heck! %Gallery-122811% [Thanks, Brian]
The Brothers Mario return in GTA IV machinima 'Kong Country'
Machinima stars The Brothers Mario are back, and they've brought a new character with them: "Don Keykong," a mob boss who's bananas for vengeance. Along with all of the other cameos, there's even a music video for the gangsta anthem featured in the trailer. Being a plumber has never been so badass.
Hank Chien reclaims King of Kong title
This is one of those stories we scarcely need to report, as we're sure you felt it somewhere deep in your bones, but there's a new (old) King of Kong. As the unmistakable feeling of the tectonic plates shifting below your feet will attest, the honor was taken by plastic surgeon Hank Chien with a Donkey Kong score of 1,068,000 in two hours and 45 minutes. Chien takes the title from Steve Wiebe (1,064,500) who took it from Billy Mitchell in September (1,062,800) who took it from Chien (1,061,700) who won the title in March of 2010, besting Mitchell's 1,050,200, which had stood for three years. In related news, Joystiq has recently broken its own record for "Most Stories About the Donkey Kong High Score in One Year" and you don't see anybody writing a frigging blog post about that.
Steve Wiebe publicly attempting to best his own Donkey Kong high score
After much back and forth earlier this year, currently, Steve Wiebe is sitting comfortably atop Twin Galaxies' worldwide leaderboard in Donkey Kong. But that's not enough for Chicago's Logan Hardware. The soon to be re-opened hardware store has hired Wiebe to not just teach a Donkey Kong class, but also to spend nearly five hours attempting to best his own high score on January 15. The public is free to attend the attempt, whereas the class costs $12 -- if you're looking to snap a pic with Wiebe or to have him sign your ultra limited edition laserdisc copy of King of Kong, ponying up the $12 is probably your best option. If that weren't enough, Logan's throwing in a free t-shirt and the chance to ask Wiebe what he really thinks of Billy Mitchell's hot sauce brand. And, surely, the answer to that last question is priceless.
Video: Sonic, Samus, Mario and more race to the finish line
Animator Steve Williams has made a plethora of 16-bit characters compete in a cross-cartridge race. Oh, Donald Duck, you have a turkey's chance of winning today.
Donkey Kong Country Returns review: Exactly as much fun as a barrel of monkeys
I used the Super Guide. There, I said it. I doubt I would have been so tempted under normal, non-reviewing circumstances, but I had a very limited time to get through Donkey Kong Country Returns, and I was getting pretty frustrated, and that happy little pig was standing there, waving a white flag and inviting me to put my feet up and let Super Kong carry me through the level. And I did. I mean, uh, I had to try out the Super Guide at least once for review purposes, right? The presence of the Super Guide in this game is actually very important. Retro Studios seems to have gotten it where previous games haven't: with the Super Guide in place, allowing players to give up after eight lives and see a recorded playthrough of a level, Retro was free to make this ostensibly kid-focused Nintendo franchise game as painfully difficult as it wanted to. And it's a difficulty worth at least attempting to endure.%Gallery-106186%
New Donkey Kong Country Returns trailer looks so tough a monkey's gotta do it
This new Donkey Kong Country Returns trailer means this game's not kidding around. Retro Studios may have borrowed Rare's colorful designs, but it added a vicious platforming challenge to Kong's new banana-collecting adventure. Guess it really is on like ... well, you know.
Stephen Colbert follows Nintendo's example, trademarks old catchphrases
Television comedic mastermind/pundit extraordinaire Stephen Colbert isn't one to sit on the sidelines while a hot new business trend passes him by. Inspired by Nintendo's recent (and timely!) decision to trademark the phrase,"It's on like Donkey Kong," Colbert explored the profitable possibilities afforded by other catchphrases with product ties, such as "Don't Front like Duck Hunt," which we ... may actually start using in our day-to-day lives. Check out the clip from The Colbert Report after the jump, and feel free to drop your own cross-promotional quips in the comments -- not like you guys weren't going to do that, anyways.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! review: Good things, small packages
By now, you'd think Super Mario would know better. Like Captain Kirk and Mitch Buchanan before him, any woman he romances is destined for danger. A kinder man would quit the dating scene altogether, maybe take up a hobby, and take comfort in knowing that he has spared some beautiful stranger the peril of knowing him. Not this guy. It's like he's got a hero complex or something. And so, in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!, there's Mario taking Pauline out of hiding for a romantic day at the Mini-Land amusement park, and there's Donkey Kong, right on schedule, snatching her away. Even though "mayhem" is not exactly the right word for the low-key puzzle game that ensues (and the exclamation point is just gratuitous), Mario's latest handheld adventure is nevertheless an appealing, though minor, entry in his canon. %Gallery-95771%
