That was quick indeed!

Already time to consider one of these.

I found this collection of videos posted by gamepro and had to share, the common thing making them all related is their use of Nintendo’s mascot Mario trying to flog various products. Just look at this commercial for milk:

That never happened when I was playing Super Mario 64 (OK I lie it did, after I drank some expired milk). At least it has a positive message. The others are all negative (McDonalds, Sugary Cereal, Mac and Cheese), but still good for a laugh. Check out the full list here.

Although I knew about a few of these, overall this list created by tech radar is pretty interesting for someone who’s curious about other things their Wii can do. Here’s one if you like the blue glowing:

2. Add a smooth, constant blue glow to your WiiThe blue lighting around the disc slot normally only glows when the Wii’s got some sort of announcement for you, and disappears once you’ve read it. However, you can lend your lounge a sci-fi feel by making that tastefull glow permanent. Just email your own Wii - using the system in the tip above - but never read the message (which can take up to an hour to arrive, incidentally). As long as it stays unread, that cheeky light will keep on twinkling.

Erm.. great, except you’ll always think you have Wii mail or there’s a new update out! You can read the list here.

If you’re a gamer who lived outside of Japan during the 16-bit era, then you may be familiar with a game called Super Mario All Stars. This game was a compilation eventually bundled with most Super Nintendo systems, and what a great inclusion it was featuring four or five Mario platformers in one. The included games were Super Mario Brothers, SMB 2, SMB 3, Super Mario World and Super Mario Brothers: The Lost Levels. Have you ever wondered what the Lost Levels referred to?

Super Mario Brothers: The Lost Levels is, in reality, the real Super Mario Brothers 2. The game was originally released in Japan in 1986 as a direct follow-up to the highly successful SMB, however there was a problem with the game. It was much harder than the original. So difficult in fact, that Nintendo felt it wouldn’t succeed outside of Japan. Nintendo decided then to take another game, Doki Doki Panic, change the graphics and a few gameplay dynamics (bosses, levels) to Mario universe and release Super Mario Brothers 2 (known in Japan as Super Mario USA).

At this point I could keep typing, having completed both Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario USA and doing my own research many years ago, but since I just don’t have the time here’s a few choice links:

• Doki Doki Panic (Wikipedia)
• Super Mario Brothers: The Lost Levels (Wikipedia)
• Super Mario Brothers 2 Madness (The Mushroom Kingdom)
• Retro Review: Doki Doki Panic (Loot Ninja)

Planning on buying a Nintendo DS? I’d wait if I were you; there’s a new model around the corner! Although not a brand new system, the features it has are worth waiting for (if not then you could also wait for the DS lite to price drop). Features of the new model include:

- Slightly thinner (because they removed the Gameboy Advance Cartridge slot)
- Screen sizes increased from 3″ to 3.25″
- Online store similar to Wii (possibly with the same point system)
- VGA resolution (0.3MP) camera for games
- 3 megapixel camera for taking photos
- SD Card slot (for storing downloaded content and photos)
- Enhanced audio playback including the ability to adjust pitch and speed

I always did wonder why Gameboy (all type) games weren’t available for the Wii but it makes sense now - they’ll probably be available for the DSi, keeping them portable (like they were designed to be). The GBA games will probably be available as well (that’s pure speculation on my part). I imagine the front camera will be accessible by upcoming games, meaning there could be Eyetoy style games around the corner (and maybe for the Wii via DSi). I just wished I had some press photos to put in this article.

There’s a lot of potential for this system, to me it actually sounds good - worth having in addition to a PSP and definately complimentary to the WIi. The Japanese release date is the 1st of November, with the rest of the us expecting it in 2009.

EDIT: Found some pics and more information (in Japanese) from here.

I know the expression “Nintendo NES” isn’t correct but it’s not easy fitting the whole Nintendo Entertainment System in the titles. Anyway I found this cool post over at Topless Robot about some NES covers which don’t make any sense and can certainly be misleading.

The game, according to the cover art: An explosion-fest maybe mixed with some sort of future football-type game. With bombs and explosions. Aces!

The game, in reality: A puzzle-y game with lots of explosions. Seriously, you just firebomb the shit out of those 8-bit levels.

You can read the whole list here.