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Dojo update: Pikachu and Kirby get profiled
The Smash Bros. Dojo updated again, providing a few biographies on some familiar faces in the franchise. Taking a look at both Kirby and Pikachu, it's revealed that they both haven't changed much from the last game. We find that to be a very good think in Kirby's case, but we're not so sure about Pikachu. We found that every single person who used them couldn't help but be the cheapest player ever. Check out new images of Pikachu and Kirby in the gallery below.%Gallery-3347%Read - Kirby's bioRead - Pikachu's bio
Wii Warm Up: SMAAAASH!
We've got a very simple question for you today: who's your favorite existing Super Smash Bros. character? Is it Ness, or one of the many inferior filler characters they put in so everyone wouldn't just pick Ness?
Super Smash Bros. Brawl tidbit roundup
For those not compulsively checking the official Smash Bros. website daily for bare snippets of information, we here at Wii Fanboy have decided to perform the service of coalescing tidbits into tidbigs. Over the past week, a few interesting details have surfaced.Most of the reveals are item-based: you may now move freely with projectile weapons (finally!), and as detailed earlier here, the new "Gooey Bomb" item was unveiled. The most interesting new item, however, is the Smash Ball, which activates character-specific "Final Smash" attacks. Mario's is entitled the "Mario Finale" attack, which unleashes a spread-fire explosion attack, and we've seen Link's Triforce blade attack in an earlier video. Since most competitive Smash Bros. players contend without the randomizing effect of items, it'll be interesting to see if this affects higher-level gameplay.Also unveiled are some of Pit's (of Kid Icarus fame) attacks, which include a controllable arrow of light and limited flight capabilities (most likely the Up+B special). Brawl looks like it's coming together nicely ... do you guys agree?
Smash Bros. site reveals Final Smash item
The DOJO has updated with a new item called the Final Smash today, revealing what we're assuming is an insta-kill item in the game. It's referred to as a "kind of like a powerful and personalized hammer." So, after one obtains the item, they can then perform their character's personal own Final Smash maneuver, which should allow them to send an opponent (or perhaps opponents?) flying from the map to their death.And as you scroll down the page further, you'll see Mario in his Final Smash form. Remember when he shoots that huge fireball in all the videos we've seen for the game? Yeah, that's his Final Smash move.%Gallery-3347%
Wii Warm Up: Rumors are fun
We would put our journalistic integrity at risk by making a full-fledged post out of this stuff. Seriously, check the link: "confirmed reports" of Brawl and Galaxy release dates, new Mario Kart and Zelda for the Wii, a new original IP similar to Final Fantasy VII ... it's a Nintendo fan's wet dream. While we can't completely discount the fact that it's real, being constantly exposed to this drivel has to make one just a bit jaded.Rumors are fun, there's no doubt ... even if we know it's fake, it's nice to imagine. But who writes this stuff? What kind of odd psychological thrill do they receive, and why are Nintendo fans so willing to ignore the obvious and go along with it? Some of it is impressive (see the Nintendo On video), but it seems that Nintendo is eighteen times more susceptible to ridiculous rumor-mongering than the nearest competitor. Ah well ... it's kinda fun ... we guess. Your thoughts?
Wii Warm Up: The slow reveal of Smash Bros.
After a ton of buildup, the Super Smash Bros. Brawl website began updating this week, which is exciting in principle. The actual content of the updates, however ... well, let's just say we had already guessed that Mario and Link will be in the game. Today we get a small amount of news about a new item-- a Gooey Bomb that sticks to opponents.The whole development cycle has been like this-- we've gotten very little information of any kind about this game except what we already know (for example, the rules of Smash Bros.) It's kind of a tease. Of course, this just serves to build up anticipation of the final product.Would you rather get a huge blowout of info all at once, or do you enjoy letting the excitement build as you're fed tiny little morsels of information one by one? If you don't feel like talking about that, we suppose we could talk about the Gooey Bomb. One warning, though-- we've heard enough about banning items from "serious play" for one lifetime.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl still on for 2007
It's tough going to the party without a date. Earlier this week, Nintendo laid out its release plans up until September 2007, notably leaving a still dateless Super Smash Bros. Brawl out of the whole affair, forcing it to watch as Metroid Prime 3 marched to the ball with an alluring 20th of August on its cannon arm. With no solid release window in sight, the Wii's frantic fighter must have considered going on a lonely drinking binge and slipping into a coma until 2008. That is, until Reggie Fils-Aime administered an unforgiving slap to the face and instilled hope once more. Speaking at the recent Nintendo Summit in Seattle, the Nintendo of America president confirmed that the musically rich Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy would both be out before your Official Iwata Swimsuit 2007 calendar becomes worthless. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for DS was given similar assurances and will likely join the anticipated Wii duo in this holiday season's battle for shoppers. You'd best start stocking up on that financial ammunition.
Smash Bros. Brawl site updates with some character profiles
The Smash Bros. Brawl website has updated again, this time giving us character profiles for two of the franchise's, as well as Nintendo's, oldest characters Mario and Link. Aside from that, nothing else appears to have changed from the first update we all saw yesterday. Which, we don't have to tell you, makes us sad.%Gallery-3347%
Smash Bros. website finally updates
After a day of wearing out our F5 key, the Super Smash Bros. Brawl webpage has finally made its promised update. Unfortunately, we have yet to find any huge megaton announcements. In fact, some of the content is a little too non-megaton-- like an explanation of the (unchanged) basic rules of Smash Bros.There is neat stuff to be found, though, most obviously in the form of a few screenshots that, while they still don't show any new or new-to-Brawl characters, do show off a day/night cycle. Also, the list of composers contributing to the game is massive-- a total who's-who of Japanese game music. Some of the composers, we're sure, are only credited for having created the music from Smash characters' original games. But Jun Fukuda and Masafumi Takada from Grasshopper Manufacture are on the list, and that is really exciting.The website promises updates every weekday, so don't let the somewhat underwhelming first day put you off. Keep checking the site for the inevitable character announcements and control scheme explanations!%Gallery-3347%[Thanks, Tigeron Starfire!]
Smash Bros. countdown counts down to ... nothing?
This morning's speculation has come true, as the countdown that counted down to nothing has left the fine folks at Nintendo Power holding the ball and dare not drop it. Turns out, the countdown at the SSBB site counted down to nothing and while our report earlier was made as pure speculation, new pictures of the latest issue by forum user Ben_X_02 confirms that Sakurai will indeed be publishing a blog. Personally, we're kind of disappointed and were hoping for something a bit bigger in the news department.[Via Joystiq]
Rumor: Smash Bros and Metroid Prime press conference coming soon?
The clues are beginning to come together: there's a countdown on the official site of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and some rumblings of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption news coming around May 20th. In this month once reserved for the mighty E3, it's been quite some time since Nintendo has held a major press conference. Finally, good 'ol Matt has made it perfectly clear in a recent IGN Mailbag: he's on his way to Seattle next week for some mysterious reason, and it's not for Starbucks.About freakin' time, Nintendo. For a company still claiming that the big three will release in 2007, they've been awfully tight-lipped about the impending trio. We look forward to bringing you some surely awesome news coming next week ... uh, you know, assuming that this actually happens.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl site countdown
It might not be the final countdown per se, but that hasn't stopped us from dancing around our computer monitors to Europe's epic song, Nintendo's official Super Smash Bros. Brawl website displayed on our screens. The teaser page reveals little, but promises much after seven days time. Who knows what treasures the site will be laden with after its scheduled relaunch? Playable characters like Sonic or Tingle debuted? A new trailer as grandiose as the last?! 32-player online support, no friendcodes, and a free pony?!!!Ever the pessimists, we're not letting ourselves expect too much from the upcoming curtain-raiser. Still, we'd like to hear your predictions on what Nintendo will be showing off at the site a week from now![Via Joystiq]
'The big three' ARE coming in 2007 (to Japan)
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo confirmed that they do in fact plan to release Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl by the end of this year, as well as pretty much every Nintendo game announced for the Wii. This corroborates an IGN report to the same effect, and is also totally, totally rad. Here's the full list of Nintendo's planned 2007 releases. Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race is slated for June 28, and the rest are all "2007": Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race Wii Health Pack Disaster: Day of Crisis Mario Party 8 Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Wii Music Super Mario Galaxy Super Smash Bros. Brawl Battalion Wars II Forever Blue Mario Strikers Charged Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Keep checking with us for news of the inevitable delays of about half of these. Seriously, that's a lot of first-party Nintendo games for just half a year or so. Aw, we just made ourselves sad with our own skepticism. Still, if half of this stuff does get released in Japan this year, it'll be great news and do a pretty good job of ending any drought that may or may not be happening.Update: fixed some italics and formatting.
Super Gumby Bros. Brawl trailer
They haven't yet invented a number that accurately estimates how many times we've watched the Super Smash Bros. Brawl trailer that debuted at last year's E3 event. 15 bazillion? 32 robillion? 299 karmakarmakarmakarmakarma-chamelion? Nay, these numbers do not even begin to scratch the surface! Sgsugar's claymation remake of the trailer is more of a homemade project than a high-value production, but its stop-motion action is no less awesome. The misshapen models, amateurish sets, and inconsistent lighting only serve to increase the video's plasticine charm. Solid Snake's absence is disappointing but easily forgotten when the two-minute clip is filled with scenes like Pit firing an oversized arrow from his malformed bow or Wario's flatulent send-off. Jump past the post break for Sgsugar's clay-animated adaptation and Nintendo's original Super Smash Bros. Brawl trailer.See also: Super Smash Bros. Brawl gets hand-drawn and hilarious
"Marco" pasta is a good match for mushroom sauce, litigation
NeoGAFfer Chittagong found this bag of pasta in a Citymarket in Finland. The package is sending a very clear message, and that message is "It's-a not quite me, Maaaario!" Apparently when Mario and Luigi took off on their Mushroom Kingdom adventure, Mario's less-famous identical brother Marco stuck around and devoted his time to making delicious dried pastas. Either that or some unscrupulous company has shamelessly ripped off Mario's likeness. We'll leave it up to you to determine which is more likely-- that this is the work of an unknown relative of a fictional character or of real-world jerks. Hey, maybe Marco will show up in Good Smash Friends Battle for the Nintenco Wuu!
Sonic & Mario finally team up for a game
Once embittered rivals, Mario and Sonic were at each others' necks during the 16-bit console wars, both of them vying for the Top Mascot prize that awaited the victor at the end of the battle. Tensions eventually eased between the two combatants and their respective companies, and after years of respectful neutrality, Nintendo and Sega are making their friendship official with a game that joins both franchises.Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will be released during the holiday season this year for the Nintendo DS and the Wii. Mario, Sonic, Luigi, Tails, and the rest of the extended casts will be competing in events set in arenas modeled after the venues of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.Hisao Oguchi, Sega Corp.'s President and CEO, had nothing but praise for the project: "For the first time, two of the world's greatest games' characters come together to compete in the world's greatest sporting event and we couldn't be more excited." While we can't imagine anyone from the Mario troupe besting Sonic at the 100m run, the blue hedgehog might have trouble with swimming competitions if he has to stop and replenish his air supply with bubbles too much.This might not receive the same fanfare as a Sonic appearance on Super Smash Bros. Brawl would, but maybe this is just a hint of what's to come from Nintendo and Sega? There's not much at the video game's official site yet, but head over there to check out forum discussions and sign up for email updates.
The big three still on for 2007 [update 1]
According to IGN, "According to German magazine Gamefront, "According to a Japanese retail conference" (translated from German)"", Nintendo has released a list of first-party games tentatively scheduled for release in 2007. The full list can be found after the break, but it's quite notable to see that the big three of Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl are still scheduled to be released in 2007.Keep in mind, we still expect one of these games to be delayed into 2008, but the longer we go without hearing that news, the better. Also noted as that Disaster: Day of Crisis (recently screenshot-icized) is also slated for the Year of the Boar. Can it be true?[Update 1: Holy crap. Melee came out six years ago, Jason, get a grip.]
Wii Warm Up: Old-school flavor
As much as we want to believe that the Wiimote is the end-all-be-all for video games, we have to concede that there are several genres in which a traditional controller is a more appropriate choice. Nintendo has already noted that Super Smash Bros. Brawl will use a standard controller, but ... which is it? Though Gamecube controller support has yet to be officially confirmed, we have to assume a player may choose between the GC standard and their own classic controller, offered for twenty dollars.What's the problem? Well, the classic controller sucks. If you want four-player Smash (and my God you do), you'll need to spend an additional eighty dollars on peripherals that you might never use again. Furthermore, as it plugs into the expansion port, you have to deal with the awkward Wiimote just sitting in your lap. On the flip side, how many retailers have been carrying copious quantities of Wavebirds? They're still out there, of course, but Nintendo may have to conduct a Wavebird relaunch campaign for those of us who don't already have the gear. What are you hoping for, and how do you think Nintendo can pull it off?
Sonic confirmed for SSB: Brawl?
People have speculated for quite some time on what out-of-company characters would be joining Solid Snake in the upcoming Super Smash Bros: Brawl. Sonic was an obvious choice, of course, but check out the above picture, seen in the Swedish Nintendo mag +N.Yes, readers, we know, it's still quite dubious. Still, we can't resist such a beauty of a rumor. Now we just need a NiGHTs 2 confirmation, Goldeneye on the virtual console, and the ability for the Wii to hack into our brains and overwrite our senses with direct input from the game.
New Smash Bros. trailer reveals return of Fox
Just like we thought, another trailer for Super Smash Bros. Brawl was unveiled in Japan today and, in a way, it revealed a new character. In the trailer, we not only see a lot of the new characters' attacks (is Snake's sneaking pose going to be useful?), but also new environments as well (destructible FTW). We've included the trailer, You Tubed for your convenience, embedded into the post after the break.[Thanks to all who sent this in!]
