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Super Console Wars puts spin on mascot Gamepires
We've seen Mario in the Matrix, Luigi as a Braveheart, and what we thought was everything in between. Well, hold up, 'cuz now we've seen everything: classic game icons have been mashed up with Star Wars.Super Console Wars: The Gamepire Strikes Gold is that hybrid that with good and evil roles spread out onto each platform and various gaming mascots, ranging from Mario clone troopers vs. Princess Zelda to a VMU droid and GPU-enabled android (erm, peripheral).About two-thirds of the way through the 20-minute video, you're gently encouraged to wear 3D glasses to enhance your video viewing, but even without glasses, the parody stands as an amusing take-off of gaming standards, pop culture, and retro reminiscing. Obi-Wan Shinobi, indeed.[Thanks, Cradrock]See also: Super Mario Reloaded Ready for an "Oldschool Revolution"?
Nintendo updates European release schedule
Hot on the heels of some evidence that the guys and gals at Nintendo of Europe have been dragging their feet when it comes to release dates, comes a fresh list of their forthcoming titles. Things are looking considerably less dire here, but I still feel a bit sorry for those Europeans that were unable to import and had to wait so long for Trauma Center. It's almost criminal. Megaman Battle Network 5 Double Team DS (Capcom/Nintendo) - 14 April Tetris DS (Nintendo) - 21 April Trauma Centre: Under the Knife (Atlus/Nintendo) - 28 April Pokémon Link! (Nintendo) - 5 May Metroid Prime Hunters (Nintendo) - 5 May Super Princess Peach (Nintendo) - 26 May Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo) - 9 June New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) - 30 June Also worthy of note is the Euro release date of what is undoubtedly the biggest GBA game this year--Final Fantasy IV arrives on 2 June.
New Super Mario undelayed, out May 15th
The official website for the upcoming DS title, New Super Mario Bros., has been updated again. No more delays this time, instead Nintendo has managed to drop the brothers Mario on us a week earlier! Seeing as how the DS Lite is "due in May" in North America, we used simple logic, some grade school arithmetic, our intimate knowledge of the Gregorian calendar, and more than a little speculation, to arrive at the possibility that the DS Lite might accompany NSMB May 15th, just days after E3! Oh shiny DS Lite / Mario combo attack, you make us weak in the knees.[Thanks, Princess Zelda]
Have Mario send your mail (via stamps from Japan)
Sure, old Mario has been known to paint, play professional sports, and even do some actual plumbing work on occasion, but he'll soon be able to power your mail through the postal service in the Far East.10-stamp sheets of 80 Yen stamps are now available for pre-order in Japan, where gaming otakus will soon be able to adorn their snail mail with the likes of goombas, magic mushrooms, and mustachioed men. The set will be out next month.Has the government of a country like the US ever done anything this official to honor one of the icons of gaming? Perhaps when we have avid gaming advocates in Congress -- or even, dare we say, in the White House -- things will look a little different with game legislation proposals and the postage of unwanted junk mail.[Via GameBrink]See also: French stamps to feature video game icons (Super) Mario Bros. question mark and POW block speakers
Rumor: Mario Paint on the DS
1up editor Luke Smith recently posted about some tastey morsels that'll be running in the May issue of Electronics Gaming Monthly. Of these morsels, the tastiest to DS Fanboy readers (and Bloggers) is a rumor that the DS could be seeing an adaptation of the beloved SNES title Mario Paint. Considering how accessible the DS is to people who aren't hardcore gamers and the recent success Brain Training has enjoyed on the handheld, the idea of a Mario Paint game hitting the DS is a great idea. Using the stylus to swat flies would be too much fun!
Revealed: Revolution CPU and GPU specs
Matt promised to post on the Revolution's "Hollywood" and "Broadway" GPU and CPU tonight, and he has delivered with the goods. Supposed sources possessing development kits of all shapes and sizes have confirmed what the final specs are."IBM's "Broadway" CPU is clocked at 729MHz, according to updated Nintendo documentation. By comparison, GameCube's Gekko CPU ran at 485MHz. The original Xbox's CPU was clocked at 733MHz. Meanwhile, Xbox 360 runs three symmetrical cores at 3.2GHz.""Revolution's ATI-provided "Hollywood" GPU clocks in at 243MHz. By comparison, GameCube's GPU ran at 162MHz, while the GPU on the original Xbox was clocked at 233MHz. Sources we spoke with suggest that it is unlikely the GPU will feature any added shaders, as has been speculated. The 'Hollywood' is a large-scale integrated chip that includes the GPU, DSP, I/O bridge and 3MBs of texture memory." Matt also goes on to write:"Revolution will operate using 24MBs of "main" 1T-SRAM. It will additionally boast 64MBs of "external" 1T-SRAM. That brings the total number of system RAM up to 88MBs, not including the 3MB texture buffer on the GPU. By comparison, GameCube featured 40MBs of RAM not counting the GPU's on-board 3MBs. The original Xbox included 64MBs total RAM. Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 operate on 512MBs of RAM."So it's pretty much confirmed that the Revolution is a direct extension of the GameCube hardware, just upgraded, without all of the bells and whistles Sony and Microsoft seem to think that are needed in their next generation of consoles. All the specs in the world don't matter unless you have engaging titles on your console and thankful that has never been a problem when it comes to the house Mario built.
New Super Mario Bros. info emerges
Some new information and screenshots for Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. on the DS have emerged. Jeux-France is reporting that the game will feature a whopping 80 levels, this according to Nintendo Power. Follow the link for a slew of new images and additional information.[Thanks, benhc911]
Actress talks to gamer about WoW dedication
The guys at LiquidGeneration went a step beyond stalking an actress and actually scored an interview with the WoW-playing USPS ad girl.Felicia Day is best known in TV circles as the potential slayer "Vi" during the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but she also found a bit of notoriety as "Angie," the USPS-usin' woman for a Postal Service ad campaign. All we're interested in, of course, is her love of Ultima VII, Link (over Mario and Undead Warlocks), and 5 man Strat runs for her Level 60 Gnome Warlock.Maybe it's not the greatest revelation since Dave Chappelle showed some knowledge of the MMO, but many male gamers still manage to find a way of expressing shock that a beautiful woman (especially one who's found a measure of success in Hollywood) enjoys an online raid or two. We're just glad that an actress is willing to be upfront about her love of games--even she sometimes uses it to avoid talking about bad auditions.[Thanks, James]
Shigeru Miyamoto to receive French honour
On the 13th of March, the French Minister for Culture and Communication will confer honours upon three game developers, admitting Michel Ancel, Frédérick Raynal and Shigeru Miyamoto to the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Recognising contributions to French arts and culture, the Order is part of the French chivalry system.At Chevalier (Knight) rank, Miyamoto and the French developers will be among up to 200 new members this year. They join such past luminaries as Leonardo diCaprio and Bruce Willis as well as Philippe Ulrich, co-founder of Cryo Entertainment. With several OBEs awarded in Britain to game developers, it seems that games are becoming recognised as art--enough to deserve national honours, at least.[Thanks, Shiggy]
The bestselling games of all time
Gaming Steve's asking the question "What is the bestselling video game of all time?", and better still, he's found some answers. Super Mario Bros. takes the Guinness Book of World Records' accolade, helped in no small part by its bundling with the NES.With innovative title The Sims taking the PC top spot and Pac-Man walking off with the coin-op crown, it's unsurprising to see that all three games have given rise to spinoffs, sequels and copycats galore. However, while Mario's still running riot, you don't see much of Pac-Man nowadays. The lesson to publishers? Bundling games, repurposing content and milking franchises may see you clear to the top spot, but you'll have to work jolly hard to outsell Mario.
Crazy Zelda cosplay
This collection of cosplay photos (roughly Zelda-themed, but with a liberal sprinkling of Mario) over at GAF runs the gamut from cute through to frightening. The capability of game fans to come up with inventive ways of making their favourite costumes is sometimes simply unbelievable.Many characters' costumes are lovingly designed by the original artists, and often overlooked in games, so it must be nice for the creators to see others appreciating their work like this. We hope the levels of "appreciation" don't scare the original designers as much as they scare us, though.[via 4cr]
Jamming on the Super Mario soundboard
Get your groove on, Electroplankton's BeatNES style, with this Flash-based Super Mario Bros. soundboard, appropriately dubbed "The Super Mario Bros. Audiosound Super-Synthesizer." It's simple: "pick music from the column on the left" and "play sound effects from the window on the right" to make your own Mario masterpiece. Even better, try playing through World 1-1 in your head, timing the sound effects from memory just so.[Via digg][Update: The soundboard is originally from the always superlative 4cr. Thanks, guys!]
Japanese Mario & Luigi commercial
"Mario and Luigi RPG TSOO!" Yes, it's a Japanese Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time commercial, rife with the Hot Mario Bros., adult faces super-imposed on babies and...what's this? In-game footage? In a TV commercial? For a game? Those Japanese people sure are kerrazy. [Via GamersReports]
Mario DS pouch
Hats off to whoever designed this neat little protective DS pouch. It would certainly go well with the flaming red Mario Kart system, or would that be a little too much? Now if only someone would do the same with Wario's cap or Toad's ridiculous mushroom helmet.
