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This year's Club Nintendo elite rewards are all downloadable games
Marking a change from the calendars, posters and other Nintendoodads, the 2014 Club Nintendo elite rewards for North America are all downloadable games. While that'll disappoint some of you, as a European I have to note on our side of the ocean it's all physical - and personally, not the most appealing selection either. So if you want to swap places... well, we can't, but you get the drift. As before, qualifying Platinum members can have their pick of one Gold or one Platinum gift, while Gold members have to make do with the golden selection. If I were so lucky, I'd pick one of Game & Wario, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Dr. Luigi and Earthbound from the Platinum games. On the Gold side, I'm totally in the mood for some Zelda 2. Sigh.
Record speedrun trumps Super Mario Bros. in under 5 minutes
Speedrunner "Blubbler" has set a new world record completion time for Nintendo's 1985 platformer Super Mario Bros, beating the previous best recorded time by less than a second. The world record run, seen above, shows Mario speeding through a handful of levels before warping to the final world and toppling Bowser with few pauses in between. Blubbler's final time is four minutes and 57.69 seconds, beating the previous record of four minutes and 58.09 seconds While Blubbler used an emulator rather than original NES hardware to achieve the record, no cheats were used during this playthrough. If some of Blubbler's methods left you scratching your head (the vine trick at the two-minute mark and the frame-perfect wall jump at 4:30, in particular), note that all of the tricks used in this world record run are quirks present in the original unmodified game. [Video: Blubber / Nintendo]
Recall past stages, enemies with these Mario prints
If we tried to roll our Mario memories into a neatly-compacted ball, the result would look much more crude then artist Christopher Lee's efforts. Each 16x20" piece in Lee's Mario Madness set of prints recalls the environments and enemies from one game from the Mario Bros.' NES trilogy, Super Mario World or Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins. The 190-piece sets were made using offset printing and come with an embossed, gold foil replica of Nintendo's Seal of Quality. Lee is also including his take on each game's box art with orders of the related pieces, but it's not just prints that are up for grabs here - Lee is including "a bunch of loose stickers and a single unopened pack" of Merlin brand stickers from 1989 in each order. He's also throwing vintage enamel pins into random orders, so make sure to practice whichever luck ritual you follow before clicking the order button. Both the stickers and pins are available while supplies last, so if you order late and don't recieve stickers, everyone else beat you to it. Grabbing your favorite piece from the Mario Madness series will cost $25, or you can cave and get one of each series for $100. Update: Lee has reached out to explain the relation of the Merlin brand to the stickers he's including in orders while supplies last. The post has been updated accordingly. [Image: Christopher Lee]
Next 33 1/3 volume to analyze Super Mario Bros' soundtrack
Publisher Bloomsbury announced that the next volume in its 33 1/3 book series will focus on Koji Kondo's iconic soundtrack for Nintendo's landmark 1985 platformer Super Mario Bros. Launched in 2003, the 33 1/3 series provides critical analysis of historically significant music albums, with past volumes featuring The Pixies' Doolittle, My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, and Led Zeppelin's IV. The upcoming Super Mario Bros. book marks the first time the series has studied a video game soundtrack. Written by Maestro Mario: How Nintendo Transformed Videogame Music into an Art author Andrew Schartmann, 33 1/3: Super Mario Bros. will explore how composer Koji Kondo "put to rest an era of bleeps and bloops -- the sterile products of a lab environment -- replacing it with one in which game sounds constituted a legitimate form of artistic expression." 33 1/3: Super Mario Bros. will launch in May 2015. [Image: Nintendo]
Video: An impressively unimpressive completion of Super Mario Bros.
YouTube user NotEntirelySure has achieved the lowest possible score in a beginning-to-end, warp-assisted playthrough of Nintendo's 8-bit Super Mario Bros, finishing the game with an impressively unimpressive 500 points. The recent run beats NotEntirelySure's previous anti-record of 600 points. A low-score playthrough of Super Mario Bros. involves avoiding almost everything that isn't a platform, as stomped enemies and collected coins award points. The run also requires the player to remain in Mario's default small state throughout -- collecting Super Mushrooms and Fire Flowers add points to a player's score, and is thus forbidden. Other logistical issues make a low-scoring run even more difficult than one might think. Players are given points for every tick remaining on the game's timer after completing a stage, meaning that NotEntirelySure had to wait until the last possible second to grab the flagpole at the end of each level. A specific jump in world 8-1 (seen at 4:00) also proves troublesome, requiring the player to make a low hop followed by a pixel-perfect, frame-specific wall-jump in order to avoid collecting coins suspended above a bottomless pit without dying. Note that NotEntirelySure used an emulator to record the feat, meaning that it's difficult to verify if tools or cheats were used during the playthrough. An unintended death lends some credibility to the recording, however, and it's difficult to imagine anyone having the patience to wait for the timer to drain in every level without the aid of an emulator speed-up key. Congrats, NotEntirelySure! [Image/Video: NotEntirelySure]
Super Mario Bros. almost didn't have goombas
Goombas aren't just iconic staples of Nintendo's Mario universe, they're the first enemy players came up against in Super Mario Bros. That wasn't always the case, though. According to the first-ever Know Your Enemy video from GameXplain, goombas weren't originally planned for the game at all. The famous mushroom-heads were conceived of as a teaching tool so that players could organically discover that the key to defeating enemies was jumping on their heads without having to deal with the "tricky" koopas. There's plenty of other interesting details about the history of goombas in this video, so if you ever want to study up for a game of video game Trivial Pursuit, here is a good place to start. The more you know!
Mod lets you play 'Super Mareo Bruhs' inside Counter-strike
Behold, the Sourcemod Entertainment System, a custom-made plugin for Counter-Strike: GO that allows players to play "Super Mareo Bruhs" inside cs_office. With real controllers, cartridges, and a working power switch, the SMES is just like the real thing. With more flashbangs.
Super Mario Spacetime Organ lets you remix the plumber's world
The game may be pushing 30, but we get the sneaking feeling that the world has only scratched the surface of the original Super Mario Bros' gameplay potential. Chris Novello certainly offers a fairly compelling case for this, in the form of the Super Mario Spacetime organ, a strange and wonderful concoction that utilizes a homebrewed Illucia patchbay and the lovely Madrona Soundplane music controller, which let him play the Mushroom Kingdom like a musical instrument. Watch the video below as he manipulates the RAM to make Mario fly and jumps through the "Super Mario time machine" on the Soundplane's x-axis. It's not the most musical thing in the world, and certainly not for those who are sensitive to flickering chaos, but it does put those old Game Genies to shame. It also serves as a pretty novel use for a couple of rubber band balls.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 gets free SMB and SMB3 levels, available now
New Super Mario Bros. 2 is revisiting old Super Mario Bros. through free Coin Rush content, now available for download. To celebrate a massive 300 billion coins collected in NSMB2 worldwide, Nintendo released the free-for-now Gold Classics Pack based on iconic levels from Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3.The first of the pack's three courses looks to be based on 1-1 and 1-2 from the first Super Mario Bros. As for the second course, that looks like a mixture of offerings from SMB3, including the always-vicious arcade minigame. Finally, the third course invites players back to Bowser's castle, as per SMB1. As shown by the above Nintendo Direct, the pack offers NSMB2-themed twists on the two NES classics, including multiple routes.The nostalgia-stuffed DLC is free until January 31, 2013, after which it costs $2.50
Nintendo releasing three new 3DS XL bundles in Japan
If you live in Japan and aren't already red-shelling on a Pokémon or risqué edition 3DS XL, maybe one of these three new bundles will inspire you. For the minimalists: the Monster Hunter Tri G bundle complete with all-black 3DS XL (known as the LL in Japan), releasing November 1st for 21,800 yen (approximately $280). Following one week later (on the 8th) is the Animal Crossing: Jump Out bundle with white and pattern handheld, setting you back 22,800 yen (approximately $290). And, for the same price, the pièce de résistance of the trio -- a New Super Mario Bros. 2 bundle with black and embellished red XL, expected November 15th. If you're the importing type, or just want to see how good the Japanese got it, then check out the gallery below and pick your favorite.
Downloadable Mario 3DS games go on sale leading up to New Super Mario Bros. 2
Nintendo is building to the first-of-its-kind downloadable launch of New Super Mario Bros. 2 by letting us download some older Mario games on the cheap. The "Month of Mario," as Nintendo calls it, puts one 3DS Virtual Console game on sale a week, from this Thursday through the August 19 launch of NSMB2.You'll be able to get Super Mario Bros. (NES) for $4 from July 26 to August 1. Starting August 2, Super Mario Land (Game Boy) will be $3. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy) will be on sale for $3 on August 9. Mario's Picross (Game Boy as well) will be $3 the next week, starting August 16. That's a dollar off the normal price of each.That's also a lot of Mario games to play before ... another Mario game!
The Game Archaeologist: What if World of Warcraft had never happened?
As you know well by now, I do love me some "what ifs?" from time to time. In an industry as volatile and unpredictable as this one, it's not hard to imagine a world where, say, Ultima X did launch or where Bill Roper is coming off his fourth straight successful game or where a different studio secured the rights to a popular IP over another one. Perhaps the king of all MMO "what ifs" deals with the former (yes, former) king of MMOs. What if World of Warcraft never happened? Putting aside our own personal reaction, which may range from heartfelt relief to severe heartburn, we should look at this question without bias or emotion. Today I'm going to step way, way out on a limb and talk about an alternate universe where one of the biggest MMOs of all time simply did not happen. In that universe, how did the MMO industry unfold from 2004 on, and what would we be looking at playing today? Maybe it's an impossible mind exercise, but I've been mulling it over for a while, so here are six outcomes that I think are quite likely.
Transmog Inspirations: WoW meets Nintendo, part 2
I give up. I can't for the life of me create a transmog for Princess Peach. I've tried and I've tried, but there just aren't enough pink clothes in the World of Warcraft to piece together a convincing Peach. I'm sorry, Mario, but you're going to have to settle for some other princess. Princess Poobah? Princess Theradras? Princess ... I can't think of any more. Someone call Anne! Anyway, this week I decided to put together a few more transmogs based on Nintendo characters. A lot of readers were asking for more, so I made one for Princess Zelda, Toad, and Roy (you know, from Fire Emblem and Super Smash Bros. -- everyone loves Roy!).
Kickstarter seeks funds for many Lego bricks to make Super Mario Bros. world 1-1
Kickstarter achieves its true potential today, as Zachary Pollock asks for $26,400 to buy Lego bricks to complete a model. It is an especially cool and extravagant model, however. Pollock plans to build the entirety of Super Mario Bros. world 1-1, a project that requires an estimated 780,000 1x1 bricks.In addition to creating a showpiece for Lego conventions, Comic-Con, and PAX, Pollock has lofty goals for the project. It will "test the waters for a foundation I would like to start that will work with children doing healing art projects using Lego bricks." Should the "epic Mario" sculpture be successfully Kickstarted, construction will take place in "building parties" in Portland, and will result in a totally huge, amazing thing.
Nintendo showing Wii U Mario game at E3
In an article about the Louvre's 3DS integration, Spanish newspaper El Mundo said that Miyamoto revealed plans to show a new Super Mario game for Wii U at E3. However, without a direct quote, it seemed likely that he had been talking about the Wii U and the (confirmed) 3DS Super Mario game, and the two had become conflated. The other, less likely option, is that Miyamoto had let slip the existence of an unannounced game, which is out of character for anyone at Nintendo.However, that's exactly what happened. Eurogamer received confirmation from Nintendo. "In a recent interview, Mr. Miyamoto confirmed that a new Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii U system will be shown at this year's E3 Expo," the Nintendo representative told the site. "We'll have more to announce about our plans for the E3 Expo at a later date."During the last E3, Nintendo showed a Wii U game (above) based on New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It's possible that demo may have evolved into this new game, or it could be something totally different. All we know at this point is that it's a "Super Mario Bros. game."
Insert Coin: 'Epic Mario' aims to build entire Super Mario Bros. Level 1-1 with Legos (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. What's cooler than Super Mario Bros. and Legos? Why, Super Mario Bros. with Legos, of course. That's the premise behind Lego artist Zachary Pollock's "Epic Mario" project, which aims to recreate the entire Level 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. using one Lego block at a time. At one brick per pixel, Pollock's project is expected to come in at around six feet tall and 90 feet wide once completed. He also estimates that he's going to need "just over 780,000 Lego studs" and some significant coinage -- to the tune of $26,400. Unfortunately, money just doesn't come from punching bricks in real life, and Pollock is turning to Kickstarter to get all the extra coin he needs for the project. This isn't the first time Legos were used to re-imagine a beloved classic -- heck, it isn't even the first Mario level to get the blocky treatment. That doesn't make the concept any less amusing, however, and Pollock promises to hold brick-building parties and take his project on the road to various conventions if it gets funded. Check out the potential project in all its blocky glory in the video after the break, as well as an update on our last Insert Coin project, the Berlin Boombox.
Mari0 is getting six-player online multi mode; you don't need friends anyway
Mari0, the Super Mario Bros./Portal platformer crossover, has been ruining friendships from a few couch cushions away since launching last month, but now its scope for poisoning even the truest of bffs is broadening. Developer Stab Yourself is working on an online multiplayer mode for Mari0, with a brief taste of the inevitable frustration, angry words, broken screens and even more irreparable relationships to come in the demo video above.No word yet on an expected release date or details, but the video shows six whole friendships come to a grinding, chiptuned halt -- that's six players and 12 possible portals, folks. We hope you meet new people easily.
WoW Meets Nintendo: Make your group stand out with transmogrification
Back when I used to cosplay, I absolutely loved cosplaying in a group. Not only does it ensure you'll always have a friend to help you get through doors, but cosplay ensembles are guaranteed showstoppers. There's just something about strength in numbers that gets the one-up over even the most expertly crafted costume. So the other day I had this thought: Why not transmog as a group? With your guild or maybe just a few friends, you could pick out a transmogrification theme and then do some activities together -- maybe hit up the Raid Finder and carry the group with your sheer awesomeness. As for a theme, it could be anything that suits your fancy. Maybe a novel series, or a historical era. Hmm ... Maybe your favorite video game characters?
Worlds collide as Super Mario Bros and Portal become Mari0 (video)
Remember when the amalgamation of Super Mario Bros and a Portal gun seemed like the most amazing, yet impossibly lucid pipe dream? As it turns out, the cake named "Mari0" by developer-house Stabyourself actually wasn't a lie. But lest you thought this just a redo of Super Mario Bros with a skosh of Aperture science thrown in, you'd be oh-so-wrong. How's about four-player co-op, in addition to a level editor and a bevy of hilarious modes that'll put a new twist on an old favorite. And could it get any better than available for the sweet sweet price of free? If that's not a ringing endorsement, we don't know what is. If you're still reading this, we're unsure why you're still here -- get your game on at the source link below.
Super Mario Bros. and Portal collide in 'Mari0,' now available
Everyone can pack up and go home, because the pinnacle of all human achievement has been reached. Mari0, that Super Mario Bros./Portal mashup we caught wind of last August, has been completed and is now available for free on PC, OSX and Linux.Developed by Stabyourself, Mari0 is a complete recreation of the original Super Mario Bros., with one vital difference: This time, Mario is packing an Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. The game features simultaneous four-player co-op, a level editor, 33 hats for Mario to wear, free DLC, a Minecraft-esque toolbar for on-the-fly block creation and a slew of other hilarious modifications.
