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Why aren't we sick of Mario?
Let's face it, Mario is a video game geriatric. The Italian plumber has been around for 26 years, ever since he had a role as "Jumpman" in the Donkey Kong arcade game. He may not be as hip as Big Daddy or Master Chief, but that doesn't mean we love him any less. If anything, it only makes us love him more. As the debut of Super Mario Galaxy inches closer and closer, we can only be certain of one thing: it's going to do well. In fact, we'd go so far as to estimate it will sell a ridiculous amount (you heard it here first!). But, the question is, why? Why are red-blooded Nintendo fans so in love with Mario games?Fortunately, the folks over at GameDaily have taken it upon themselves to answer this question, with a list of "Ten Reasons Mario Games Never Get Old." Our favorite reason on the list? His outfits!"Whether hopping around in a frog suit or donning a bee suit like an extra from Blind Melon's 'No Rain' video, Mario's got quite a wardrobe. The helpful abilities that come with them are definitely handy for beating enemies." After checking out the list, be sure to tell us your own reasons for loving the iconic Nintendo franchise after all these years.
Somebody's top ten NES games
Most "Top Ten NES Games" lists, of which there are two hundred released every second, turn out predictable and entirely skippable, but through the power of creative video editing, ScrewAttack managed to make their tally of favorites something worth the time spent watching it. You don't have to take our word for it! Dun-un, dun!As expected, their list isn't perfect -- if it were, River City Ransom would occupy at least seven of the spots, leaving just enough room for Super Mario Bros. 3, Mega Man 2, and an emergency copy of River City Ransom. But it would be naive to think that any collection of NES games with "Top anything" written in proximity would satisfy everyone, unless, of course, it was a list of Top Gun titles (all two of them). So feel free to comment with your own selection of "Absolutely Best NES Games Ever."
Today's non-Halo game video
If you're reading this at all, you're not playing Halo 3. ScrewAttack sees this as an opportunity instead of a problem, offering its list of the top ten upcoming games to buy that don't include Master Chief. The list includes few surprises, but we like having them all in one place. (Be warned that they swear a couple times, in case you work where that's frowned upon. And you don't have headphones. And you're watching game videos instead of working.)Since it's a video, so you don't even have to concentrate on any more words. Well, no more words but these: see the video after the break.
Breakfast Topic: Top ten WoW goals
Saturday was a memorable day for me. It was the day I hit 40 with my draenei priest, and was at last able to mount my Brown horse and ride off into the, uh, twilight. My goal had been accomplished, and it was time to shift gears. Saturday was also the day that I finished my first piece of my Spellfire set on my mage, another goal I had been working towards for more than a month. Having spent so long getting her to that point, I felt an odd sensation afterward. There was this emptiness where the drive to reach my goal had been. I thought to myself "why do I do now?" It took me a couple hours of contemplation to realize that my next goal should be to level my warlock, since she is already so close to 70 as it is. Now with a new difficult goal in mind (being that I tend to bounce from one character to another rather than focusing on one), I felt I had a gaming purpose as I set out to adventure in Azeroth. I'm not really sure if this is just something I do or if others organize their playtime like this. I have other goals, but not nearly as pressing. Now a while ago James wrote in about a forum post he encountered talking about a top ten list for goals in WoW. I am not sure I have a list of my own that goes to that extent. More like a top four list if anything. Do you have a top ten list of things you want to accomplish in the game? [via James]
Carrie Underwood sets iTunes record
The question of Sanjaya's hair-styles aside, American Idol is a music phenomenon. Carrie Underwood's American Idol Gives Back recording of "I'll Stand by You" just became the first iTunes-exclusive track to debut in the Billboard Hot 100's Top 10 according to Country Standard Time. "I'll Stand By You" is set to appear at #6 on that top ten list for the week ending May 12th. Apparently there have only been six on-line releases to debut in the Top 10 and "I'll Stand By You" is "the only track to do so without having been serviced to radio for airplay", selling nearly 125 thousand copies since it debuted in late April. iTunes will donate net proceeds from "Idol Gives Back" singles and videos to the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund.
Live top ten: Sin City descends
Last week, Crackdown came on strong with bronze position on the Live top ten. Now it's swapped spots with Rainbow Six: Vegas as Call of Duty 3 continues to be just shy of the podium. GRAW 2's mulitplayer demo makes a return to take the Crackdown demo's position, which moved to 7th. Madden refuses to budge at sixth while Lost Planet and Oblivion get nudged to eighth and ninth, respectively. GRAW rounds out the bottom of the list while last, and obviously not least, Gears of War retains its top spot over all of Xbox Live-dom. Do you feel slightly confused? If so, our simple, yet eloquent list awaits your review after the break, complete with last weeks standings in parentheses.
DS snags two slots at top of '06 charts
It's always nice to be reminded that it's not just about us. Y'know, the hardcore devotees the folks who cackle over zany niche titles, when we're not busy whipping it good in something a little more mainstream. Awesome as we are, we're not the only ones who drive the DS market ... and the list of the bestselling games of 2006 (in the U.S.) serves as a great little reminder. The DS grabbed two of this year's top spots with New Super Mario Bros. and Brain Age, which took 2nd and 10th, respectively. Numero dos behind Madden '07 is a pretty big deal, and surely not all of the people who bought New Super Mario Bros. would consider themselves Nintendo fanfolk, and that's almost certainly true of Brain Age, as well. The DS may not be recognized as the top system in the U.S., but we're still in your lists, stealin' your slots. And, of course, that money.
Top 10 awful achievements
Let's face it, some 360 achievements are pretty difficult to get. Others are pretty easy. However, there are some that are too easy or too hard. And of course there are those that are just stupid (here's looking at you Kong). GamersReports has taken our distaste for crappy achievements and combined them with our love of easily digestible lists of information. The product of this peanut butter/chocolate creation? A top ten list of the worst achievements on the Xbox 360, of course! Even better, Joystiq went to the trouble of recreating this list, which we will delicately lift for our own personal gain. It's the American way. Behold: Mini-Games (Enter the Mini-Games mode); Madden 2007 Pyromaniac (Jack used fire to scare off enemies and get out of harm's way); King Kong The Graduate (Earn the highest score on every drill in Training Mode); Rockstar Table Tennis Tactical Instructor (Top marks in every Story Mode mission); Chromehounds Play Some Online (Compete in each of the online game modes at least once); Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 Food Bank; Feeding Frenzy Game Master (Finish the entire game without continuing while using default settings); Smash TV Complete 99 Stages (standard mode); Bomberman: Act Zero Transmissionary (Answer all calls from Otis); Dead Rising World Champion (Multiplayer: Climb to the top of the universal leaderboard); GRAW Do you agree with this list? Any others you'd care to throw up there?[Via Joystiq]
Japanese software sales, August 21 - August 27: OMG edition
Commentary will follow after you regain control of your jaw. Software - This Week | Total Sales 1.) Final Fantasy III (NDS, Square Enix) - 503,051 | NEW 2.) New Super Mario Bros. (NDS, Nintendo) - 65,556 | 2,901,264 3.) Rune Factory (NDS, Marvelous Interactive) - 42,210 | NEW 4.) Brain Training 2 (NDS, Nintendo) - 41,784 | 3,073,195 5.) Cooking Navi (NDS, Nintendo) - 37,326 | 384,045 6.) Tamagotchi 2 (NDS, Bandai Namco) - 30,504 | 430,934 7.) Mario Basketball 3-on-3 (NDS, Square Enix) - 30,355 | 233,762 8.) Animal Crossing Wild World (NDS, Nintendo) - 30,023 | 3,149,130 9.) Brain Training (NDS, Nintendo) - 22,866 | 2,736,150 10.) English Training (NDS, Nintendo) - 17,465 | 1,401,669 That's right. Every single game in the top ten is on the Nintendo DS. I mean, we knew this thing rocked faces in Japan, but this is ridiculous. Leading the pack is the sold-more-units-than-pancakes-at-IHOP Final Fantasy III, selling over half a million in a few days. Rune Factory, another newcomer, is doing well at spot number 3, and the rest are familiar faces. We truly believe that if the political party of Nintendo were to run for office in Japan, they would win in a landslide victory. [Thanks, DownloadingData!]
Macintosh intro one of the top 10 best presentations ever
We all know that his Steveness is a master showman. His patented Reality Distortion Field often gets people to take out their wallets before he has even uncovered whatever product he is showing off. That is why it should come as no surprise that his 1984 keynote, introducing the Macintosh, made this top ten list of presentations. Martin Luther King Jr also made the list, so Steve isn't in bad company.Dear TUAW'ers, I thought it would be fun to ask you what your favorite Stevenote was. I have to pick the 2006 MWSF Stevenote, since that was the first one that I saw in person. How about you?[via iFlipFlop]
10 ways to pimp your MacBook
Our friends at Uncrate have put together a list of ten things that every MacBook user should have. The list covers everything from RAM (don't kid yourself, you need 2 gigs) to a few different cases that are both fashionable and attractive (much like me).On a related note, I would like to ask the world to please stop using the word 'pimp' in various contexts. It is so last year, people, and I think we can do better.
Top Ten Most Beautiful Mac OS X Applications
Top ten lists are all the rage recently and Phillip Ryu gives us a unique one--the top ten most beautiful applications for Mac OS X. He's got a nice write-up and I agree with most of his choices. 10. Transmission9. Voice Candy8. Podcast Maker7. Transmit6. Quinn5. AppZapper4. Acquisition3. Coverflow2. Newsfire1. Delicious LibraryI would add to his list RapidWeaver and Comic Life, both programs that have impressed me with their ease-of-use and well-designed user interfaces. What apps would you add in your own top ten list of most beautiful Mac OS X applications?
Another list of ten top things: game weapons
GameTrailers does the "top ten" thing and rattles off their list of the "Top Ten Game Weapons." But they didn't just go around giving honors to any old weapon willy-nilly. They stipulated, "flaming fireballs and magic spells are out, but blowing things up is definitely in." Their understandably FPS-heavy list breaks down like this: 10. Cerebral Bore (Turok 2 & 3): Turok 3 was a bore, amirite? 9. Chainsaw (Doom): did they ever figure out why there was a chainsaw on Mars? 8. Spreadgun (Contra): you don't use the spreadgun, do you? Wuss ... 7. Railgun (Quake 2): the do-it-yourself super weapon of hobbyists everywhere. 6. Laptop Gun (Perfect Dark Zero): gets the "remember when this game was good?" nod. 5. Energy Sword (Halo 2): you cheap bastard. 4. Ice Beam (Metroid): the retro, non-FPS Metroid vote (not that Retro). 3. BFG (Doom): the granddaddy of all big fuckin' guns. 2. Red Turtle Shell (Mario Kart): the dark horse weapon of the list, and a proven way to destroy a friendship. 1. Gravity Gun (Half-Life 2): alright, we gotta give it to them, the gravity gun is some serious weaponry. Undoubtedly, some of you are boiling over with rage that _______ wasn't included! Though the Joystiq staffers don't agree on much ("tastes great" ... "no, less filling") we did unite in our disappointment regarding the omission of Mario's mushroom-mushing derrière. Want to relive all those soft-focus memories with these weapons of mass enjoyment? Check out the full video embedded after the break.[Via Evil Avatar]
Mike Wendland's Top Ten reasons why he's glad he switched
Mike Wendland, tech writer, switched to the Mac 4 years ago and he is very happy with his choice. So happy, in fact, that he has compiled ten reasons why he is still overjoyed with his switch.The one that isn't standard fare (most are along the lines of 'it just works') is that Microsoft Office runs better on the Mac.So, switchers, why are you happy to be on a Mac?
Open Fire, a free casual Mac game
BlueTorch Studios in partnership with BlueGill Flame have released the final version of Open Fire, a casual top down shooter similar to the Linux game Barrage. Open Fire, which has been created using Unity's game editing software, was the winner of Unity's Dashboard Widget Competition. Keeping with the theme of the game's widget beginnings, the developers plan to create a widget version of the game so that office workers can play while their boss isn't looking. Currently the game is available in both Universal Binary Mac and PC versions. One of the coolest features of the game is its online top ten leaderboard which you could, at the very least, consider a (weak) justification for spending so much time playing the damn thing! Must. reach. top. ten.
Ten reasons to love your Mac Book Pro
Being obsessed with Apple to the degree that I am cuts you off from reality. I think that everyone knows Apple's product line as well as I do, and that if you have a choice of computer you will be getting a Mac.Sadly, that isn't always the case, so it was refreshing to see this post listing the top ten reasons that a recent switcher loves her Mac Book Pro.It makes me think back to my first Mac, and the way it made using a computer fun again. Excuse me, I'm getting a little misty eyed.
