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On Nintendo's 130th birthday, here are five books about its history
Today is Nintendo's 130th birthday. No, that's not a typo. The company's been around since before video games or even televisions. It started way back in 1889 making hanafuda — that's a type of playing card with flowers on it. In fact, the company still makes them, and you can even buy a set with Mario's face on the cards ($22).
Old Nintendo picture book highlights young Miyamoto, other Mario vets
When Chris Covell went to a "local library" recently -- local for him being "in Japan" -- he didn't grab just any book. Instead, he grabbed a picture book made for children named "The Stars of Famicom Games: How Video Games Are Made," wherein legendary Japanese developers like Shigeru Miyamoto, Koji Kondo, and Takashi Tezuka are caught in revealing images, behind the scenes of Super Mario Bros. 3's development. Beyond all the devs looking many, many years younger (the images were taken in summer 1989), the photos depict an all-star development team crafting one of the most beloved gaming experiences of all time. If your morning has been sadly devoid of EPROMs and late '80s Japanese haircuts, this conveniently translated feature is perfect for you. [Image credit: Chris Covell]
The Legend of Zelda celebrates 25 years with a symphony
The Legend of Zelda is 25 this year, and Nintendo is celebrating its birthday the way any young, virile adult would want, with a trip to the symphony (Don't tell Nintendo a bar would be cheaper). The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony Concert is scheduled for October 21 at Los Angeles' Pantages Theatre, featuring complete symphonic renditions of the series' classic songs as chosen by composer Koji Kondo. A full tour of the show will begin in 2012. The concert will feature a 70-piece orchestra, much like the one we saw during Nintendo's E3 presentation, above. Tickets for the Pantages concert will go on sale August 1, ranging from $35 to $150, depending on how much you appreciate your childhood.
Play For Japan: The Album helps rebuild Japan, available now
Announced last May and originally slated for a June release, Play For Japan: The Album is finally available for your listening pleasure. The album features original tracks by 18 of gaming history's greatest composers, including Silent Hill's Akira Yamaoka, Metal Gear Solid 4's Nobuko Toda, and if you buy the album from iTunes, Super Mario Bros.'s Koji Kondo. The album is already available via iTunes in the US, Canada, and UK, and will be available everywhere else (from iTunes and Amazon) starting July 15. It costs $9.99 USD, one hundred percent of which benefits the Japanese Red Cross' efforts in rebuilding Japan's infrastructure. It also benefits your eardrums. The full track listing is after the jump.
Rare DS signed by Nintendo vets being auctioned for Japan disaster relief
Kept in a glass case for more than four years, an original model Nintendo DS bearing the autographs of some of Nintendo's key players (and two literal key players) is being auctioned off by its owner to raise money for the Red Cross disaster relief effort in Japan. The red Mario Kart DS promotional system is signed by Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, along with composer Koji Kondo, Zelda series chief Eiji Aonuma, voice of Mario Charles Martinet and Martin Leung, a pianist who performs with Video Games Live and rose to fame thanks to a YouTube video of him playing the Mario theme blindfolded. Its current owner has vowed to donate 100 percent of their profit from the auction to the Red Cross and provide proof of the donation to the winning bidder. As of this writing, there are six days left to not only get your hands on a rare gaming collectible, but do something good for your fellow man in the process. Visit redcross.org for information on donating directly to the relief effort.
See the Super Mario Galaxy 2 orchestra live (on video)
For Super Mario Galaxy 2's soundtrack, Nintendo went all-out, recording the main theme with a 70-person orchestra. Footage of the assembled musicians playing the sweeping opening music has been released via the Japanese Nintendo Channel (watch it after the break), allowing us to see just how much more epic a piece of music is when you see it played by a room full of people. If you're wondering why Shigeru Miyamoto looks so bored, it's because there was no room in the orchestra for his banjo. Fans of Galaxy 2's music will be crushed to learn that Japan's Club Nintendo is offering a two-disc soundtrack for just 300 points with the registration of a copy of the game. It's possible for this bonus to make its way to other regions' Club Nintendos, as the first Galaxy soundtrack did in Europe, but we'd rather take such anomalies as delightful surprises, rather than disappoint ourselves by expecting them. [Via ONM]
SMG video update: Powerups, galaxies, and a live orchestra
The Super Mario Galaxy media frenzy continues with a bucketful of new videos. Naturally, we're emptying that bucket over your head, partly to douse you with fresh movies, but mostly for comedic effect.You'll find the streaming clips in the Japanese site's powerups and galaxies sections, yelling out with orange word balloons, "New!" You can watch them past the post break, too. Also on the list of updates for today, the third volume of Iwata Asks (Super Mario Galaxy edition) has some great footage of a live orchestra recording one of the game's songs while Koji Kondo and Shigeru Miyamoto watch, an overturned tea table likely nearby. According to the interview, 28 tracks in all have been recorded by the orchestra.It's likely just us -- in fact, we're sure of it -- but there's something about Super Mario Galaxy's main theme that reminds us of the Perfect Strangers opening credits, particularly the part where the song crescendos, "Staaanding tall!" Also, the action-platformer's music makes us break out into the "Dance of Joy" whenever we hear it, causing us to jump into the arms of anyone nearby. It's really quite embarrassing for everyone involved.
Overheard at GDC: "Greatest moment of my life"
"That was the single greatest moment of my life. He stood in front of me, he smiled, he took my game, he signed it, he shook my hand."-A passerby, talking on his cell phone about a chance meeting with Shigeru Miyamato, shortly after a presentation by game composer Koji Kondo.
Koji Kondo and GDC make beautiful music together
The Game Developers Conference has been trying to get Koji Kondo to come speak about game audio for ten years, according to an introduction by Tommy Tallarico. The wait seemed well worth it, as the famed Nintendo composer's first public appearance in the United States drew a standing ovation from the hundreds-strong assembled crowd today.Kondo, who has worked on the music for the Mario, Zelda and Star Fox series, among others, stressed three main points in making good game audio: Rhythm in game audio is not just having a catchy beat, but matching your beat to the animation and button presses in the game. "If the music doesn't reflect the rhythm of the game, it might as well be piped in from a source outside the room," Kondo said through a translator. Balance in game audio means not just balancing things like sound effect and music volume, but also bringing individual audio pieces in a game together as a single composition, with a defined introduction, bridge and ending. This is why Kondo always submits pieces to his director four or five at a time, so they won't be given equal weight but instead be balanced in the correct way. Interactivity in game music can be as overt as a faster tempo when time is running out in Super Mario Bros. or as subtle as slight phrasing changes in each trip through the overworld in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Kondo stressed that "this ability of the video game medium, which is not possible with CDs, movies etc., is a very interesting and unique feature."
GDC 07: Koji Kondo and the art of interactive music
Koji Kondo, famed composer for Nintendo, spoke to a packed auditorium at this year's Game Developer's Conference. Before the session began, giddy members of the audience snuck up to Kondo-san, a copy of Zelda or Mario in hand, asking for an autograph. To answer the question, "what are the main points of game music?," Kondo-san showcased the retro NES favorite Super Mario Brothers. By looking at how Mario jumped, and ran, Kondo-san was able to think about the rhythm intrinsic to the game playing experience. The length of Mario's jump can be exemplified by a eighth note: when a composer thinks of these kinds of attributes, music becomes part of the gameplay itself. If a game's soundtrack doesn't bother coordinating to the rhythm of game, Kondo explained, the game's soundtrack might as well come from an unrelated room next door. A second element to good game music is balance: thinking about left and right stereo balance is certainly one thing, but thinking about the game as a whole is crucial. Music can tell a story, especially when referencing familiar themes: when Mario picks up the Metal Hat in Super Mario 64, the music will play homage to the original invincibility theme from the NES Super Mario Bros. Through music alone, players will be able to understand how powerful Mario has become.
Nintendo's Koji Kondo joins Video Games Live lineup
If one plans to append adjectives to Nintendo's music composer, Koji Kondo, the word "legendary" makes for an obvious start. The Legend of Zelda, along with Star Fox and Mario, are just some of the properties Kondo has contributed to since joining Nintendo in 1984. Attendees of this year's Video Games Live concert will be pleased to learn that the man himself will be making an appearance and performing "one of his favorite melodies" on stage. Can't say we've heard that one -- could someone hum a few bars?The event, which brings GDC to a symphonic end, is being held at Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco on March 9 at 8PM. Other highlights in this year's show include Martin Leung with a new piano arrangement, an acoustic medley by original LucasArts composers (Monkey Island!), a Chris Kline Contra presentation and a performance by voice-over artist, Dee Baker. Get your tickets here, if you please.[Via Press Release]
Mario ringtone marks over two years on charts. Who knew?
While Nintendo's mascot hasn't really been burning up the console charts lately, there is one area where the Nintendo mascot has been unquestionably dominant . This week marks the 112th consecutive appearance of the original Super Mario Bros. theme on Billboard's Hot Ringtones chart. This continues an unbroken streak of chart appearances that has gone on since Billboard started tracking ringtone sales back in November 2004.The streak is made even more impressive when you consider that the chart only tracks ringtones that are actually sold by various major vendors. Add in all the nerds who've undoubtedly downloaded a free version to their bluetooth sets and the classic theme is probably even more ubiquitous.Personally, I'm cheap and lazy enough to actually use the built in ringtones on my phone, but I'm always curious to see what other people use. Have any Joystiq readers actually downloaded the Mario theme to their phones? What other video game ringtones have made an impression on you?
