The Super Mario Bros. franchise is world-recognized for its dedication to fun for all ages, while welcoming gamers of all skill levels. This holiday season the Nintendo Wii re-introduces video game fans to the gameplay style that they have been craving since the early 90s, as the Mario Bros. series makes its triumphant return to the world of side-scrolling adventure. Join us at http://WatchMojo.com as we take you through the seven things you may not know about Mario’s newest adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom!
From Ethioplanet.com:
One of the biggest announcements from Nintendo’s retailer briefing earlier this week was final release information for New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The multiplayer Wii remake of the DS’s second best selling game (next to Pokemon Diamond & Pearl) is due for release here on December 3, with pricing set at ¥5,800.
It appears that Nintendo held another retailer briefing today (I’m going to speculate that this one was for retailers in the Tokyo area). The manager of game shop Games Maya, a Tokyo-based retailer that often hosts major talk events and signings, was in attendance and provided a few more details on the New Super Mario Bros. Wii part of the briefing via his blog.
The biggest surprise from the event, said the manager, was that Shigeru Miyamoto himself held a live New Super Mario Bros. Wii play session in front of attendees. During the play session, Miyamoto said of the game, “It’s a Mario that will continue selling even after one year has passed.”
New Super Mario Bros. sold about 865,000 units in its first week here, then kept on selling and eventually crossed the 5.5 million mark. Wii is no stranger to this type of sales pattern, as evidenced by games like Wii Fit and Wii Sports, but perhaps Miyamoto was trying to take care of any possible concerns from Super Mario Galaxy’s more traditional sales pattern.
The Games Maya manager noted that the game’s red packaging stands out. Nintendo hasn’t provided a look at the packaging yet, but perhaps we can expect a color scheme similar to this promo image that popped up earlier this week.
Read more about Xbox 360’s new controller free gaming from Telegraph.co.uk:
Microsoft says the enthusiasm of developers and publishers highlighted the “widespread enthusiasm” for Natal, a gaming system based on the Xbox 360 that enables players to do away with a conventional controller and instead make natural gestures to control on-screen action.
Several major publishers, including Activision, Blizzard, Capcom, Electronic Arts and Sega, will announce at this week’s Tokyo Games Show that they are working on games that will complement the Project Natal platform and work with its gesture-controlled interface.
It has raised speculation that the gaming system could be in shops by the end of next year, sparking a new console war with rival platforms Sony and Nintendo.
“Project Natal could fundamentally change the way players experience sports games,” said Peter Moore, president of EA Sports. “Some of our top development teams are experimenting with these tools with the goal of delivering a completely fresh take on genres like sports and racing.”
Project Natal was unveiled at the E3 games show in Los Angeles in June. It is designed to work with existing Xbox 360 games consoles, and uses a camera, depth-sensor and microphones to track the movement of a player and replicate it on-screen.
“We see enormous opportunities with Project Natal,” said Yves Guillemot, chief executive of Ubisoft. “With the 3D camera, your body becomes the interface. Any barrier related to the use of pad controllers that may have existed for potential gamers is now abolished.”
Console makers and game developers have already set their sights on the next generation of gaming and entertainment solutions. Nintendo’s Wii, which uses innovative motion-controlled ‘Wiimotes’, has attracted a new audience to gaming, and other companies are keen to tap in to the casual gaming trend.
Sony is also working on its own gesture-controlled gaming interface, and demonstrated a prototype of the system at E3. Sony emphasised the accuracy of its system, claiming that it could track and replicate the movements of a player in real time, and even understand from their gestures how hard they had hit a ball, and map its flight using the angle of the player’s body.
Although Microsoft has yet to officially announce a launch date for Project Natal, the company’s chief executive, Steve Ballmer, said that a new Xbox 360 with “a natural interface” would be launched in 2010.
Ballmer later back-tracked on his comments, and Microsoft maintains that it is “not even halfway through the current console generation lifestyle”.
“We believe the Xbox 360 will be the entertainment centre in the home for long in to the next decade. Project Natal will be an important part of this platform, but we have not confirmed a launch date at this time.”
This game is being touted as one of the most important video games ever. Be sure to find out these 7 interesting facts about The Beatles: Rock Band:
From PocketGamer.biz:
1. More and more games
Almost all iPhone game developers we spoke to are increasing their number of releases. Maximum development cycles remain six to three months but many companies are also looking to release much smaller, viral games and entertainment apps. Dev times for these are anything from a couple of weeks to a month.
The thinking is so many games are being released on the App Store, there’s less point spending a long time polishing your game. Best take a shotgun approach and immediately support any success with fast updates and sequels.
2. Average prices will continue to drop
As more, smaller games are released, the average price of apps will drop as developers find it increasingly difficult not to launch at an introductory price of 99 cents. Most companies we spoke to consider $3.99 as an absolute price ceiling unless their game was a big license or triple-A title.
3. Micro-transactional slice-and-dice
Both the release bubble and price deflation will be reinforced by the introduction of micro-transactions in the 3.0 OS update. This is particularly the case as you will only be able to charge for micro-transactions on paid apps.
Once again, the idea will be to release at 99 cents and then make the real revenue selling in-game items that take the toil out of level progression. This, perhaps more than any other factor, will drive price deflation on the App Store.
4. Cheap games are long term suicide
The contrary attitude, particularly from more established developers, states that selling games at 99 cents - despite micro-transaction support - isn’t sustainable even for the smallest companies. Of course, there will be some examples of success, but the majority of examples of using 99 cents for both the razor and the razor blades will end in failure.
Indeed, one publisher claims that in terms of the top 100 games on the App Store, average prices are now rising as a segment of the audience comes to realise the best, most innovative games are defined by their $5+ price point.
5. Fragmentation raises its ugly multiple heads
Compared to the spaghetti junction of mobile development, the App Store will long remain an oasis of serenity but fragmentation is increasing. Developers already have to deal with the minor differences between the original iPhone, iPhone 3G and the two versions of iPod touch. The iPhone 3G S will add another option.
Most obvious is the much improved processing capability will enable higher quality games, at least in terms of bumping up the graphics. A more subtle point is because 3G S content is likely to be contained within the same download binary - we don’t believe Apple will allow a separate version for 3G S releases - the size of binaries will increase, perhaps doubling in the case of some titles, making downloads more cumbersome.
6. When to support 3.0 and 3G S?
Everyone loves the new features contained within the 3.0 OS. Micro-transactions, push notification, peer to peer connectivity, voice chat, streaming video and audio, even the in-built compass has its fans. And, of course, no game developer worth the name is going to turn down the option of more processing capability in terms of iPhone 3G S.
But the question of when to add support, especially for 3.0, is causing furrowed brows. In particular, Apple’s decision to charge iPod touch users $10 to upgrade means that 20 million of the 40 million App Store-capable devices will follow a much longer upgrade path.
The result is that while everyone is planning such content, they’re all waiting for someone else to prove such features are economically sustainable first.
7. The first million dollar iPhone game
We’re pretty sure it hasn’t happened yet, but there have been several rumours about a couple of iPhone games that cost over $500,000 to develop. More typically, studios are regularly spending $250,000 on their products. The one million dollar game will happen sooner than you think however. It will likely be an MMOG, and if it’s a success, be very afraid.
8. If you don’t have community, you’ll die alone
Social networks will be a single biggest push for future iPhone games with leaderboards and friend challenges viewed as necessary element: even the most simple 99 cent puzzler should have them.
Thirdparty middleware such as the OpenFeint platform - which just launched its 2.0 version and is already used by over 400 developers - offer far deeper features. It’s also cheap enough to quickly become the de facto standard in terms of the level of integration with Facebook, as well as lobbies and chat rooms that operate across the games of many different developers.
The addition of Xbox Live Arcade-style achievements and gametags as in OpenFeint v2.0 will only increase developers ability to hold player within the games that use it.
9. Discover more discovery channels
Getting people to find your game on the App Store is a big hassle for developers and while we’re sure Apple will continue to improve this on device and through iTunes, publishers will aggressively push such features too.
We expect to see this in terms of in-game channels and the rise of publisher subscriptions - via micro-transactions - and offers delivered in-game via push notification. Shared community features also provide great opportunities for cross-selling.
In addition, there have been rumours that Apple will allow developers to bundle games in a similar way to the 2-for-1 deals currently used by mobile publishers to shift back catalogue.
10. Piracy
Not widely spoken about, especially on the record, but iPhone piracy is certainly out there and growing. One developer told us he thought it was running at about 25 percent on iPhone - compared to 90 percent for his Java games.
Both Apple and developers will have to think and act smartly to ensure a lid is kept on the one issue that could derail the otherwise cloudless sky of iPhone development.
Cooperative multiplayer Super Mario? I’m in. Check it out:
I cannot wait to try this game:
Starring all your favorite characters from the original! Check out the clip from GameTrailers.com:
From Gametab.com:
Nintendo has dropped a bob-omb of release dates for 2009 (via Videogamer). While mostly vague launch windows — some of which will still likely be missed — New Play Control! Pikmin and Mario Tennis will hit Europe February 6 and March 3, respectively, with the US getting both sometime in March. Other notable titles include Pokemon Platinum (March 22 for US, sometime 2009 for Europe) and Punch-Out!! (first half of 2009 for both regions).
Additionally, the Big N said Europeans will be able to welcome the DSi into their homes sometime this spring or summer — not exactly the most narrow window there, and nothing we haven’t already heard since president Satoru Iwata said the portable would be launching worldwide by summer 2009. Check out the the full list for Europe and US after the break.
Note: titles without release dates are already available in the respective region.
DS
Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir (Feb 2 Europe)
Walk with me! Do you know your walking routine? (Feb 20 Europe, 2009 US as Personal Trainer: Walk with Me!)
Pokemon Platinum (2009 Europe, March 22 US)
Rhythm Paradise / Heaven (2009, Europe and US)
Mario and Luigi RPG 3 (2009, Europe and US)
Kirby Super Star Ultra (2009 Europe)
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (Feb 16 US)Wii
New Play Control! Pikmin (Feb. 6 Europe, March US)
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (March 3 Europe, March US)
Punch Out!! (First half 2009, Europe and US)
Wii Sports Resort (2009 Europe, first half 2009 US)
Sin & Punishment 2 (2009, Europe and US)
Another Code R and Endless Ocean 2 (2009 Europe)
New Play Control! Pikmin 2 (First half 2009, Europe)
Meridian4 (http://www.meridian4.com) and Frogames have a solution for the cold weather blues; reserve your copy of Penguins Arena, their action-packed, non-stop battle for survival FPS (First Penguin Shooter) from Steam and receive 20% off the regular price.
Anyone who pre-orders Penguins Arena will receive 20% off the purchase price of $14.99 until its release on December 18th.
About Penguins Arena
It all begins when a penguin legend comes to life in the form of Sedna, the ancient Penguin Goddess. Global warming, pollution… Penguin tribes are endangered. Sedna utters them that there is room for but one tribe. And so the purging begins.
Penguins Arena is a thrilling and innovative First Penguin Shooter with very short rounds and where the magic of reincarnation, combined with the supernatural ability to return to the game as a ghost, ensures that your character has every chance to change your tribe’s fate.
Save the Penguins, Save the Planet!
* 5 different weapons and bonuses
* Up to 4 different penguins tribes
* 14 different Icebergs battlefields
* Cute and colored cartoon graphics
* Short rounds and furious, intense gameplay
* Player interaction, even after death
* Reincarnation system
* 10 Steam Achievements to unlock
* Multiplayer game (LAN or Internet)
Check out some gameplay footage:
PLAY
