Super Mario Galaxy 2 Offers More Fun than One Planet Can Handle
Posted on May 25, 2010 @ 1:41 PM EDT by: Hairball
One of the most beloved video game characters on Earth is ready to embark on a spectacular new mission. Available exclusively for Nintendo's top-selling console, the game Super Mario Galaxy™ 2 sends players on a remarkable interstellar adventure designed to please fans and series newcomers alike.
Like the original Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2 lets players take control of Mario™ as he travels to a host of imaginative planets, collecting Power Stars and striving to rescue Princess Peach™ from the malevolent Bowser™. This new installment enhances the action with an array of new power-ups, gravity-defying levels and inventive game options. For the first time in this series, players can hop on the back of Mario's pal Yoshi™, who aids him on his quest in select stages. Also, players now can choose to play as Mario or later in the game in select stages as his brother, Luigi™.
"Super Mario Galaxy 2 brings so many fun new elements to the franchise," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Our developers have created entire new worlds filled with great characters, inventive power-ups and that distinctive Mario charm."
New power-ups in Super Mario Galaxy 2 include Cloud Mario and Rock Mario, which enable Mario to create temporary cloud platforms or smash through obstacles as a boulder. With the Spin Drill, he can tunnel from one side of a planet to another. Items such as the new Dash Pepper and Blimp Fruit give Yoshi the power to move around in unusual ways, like running up vertical walls or floating to new heights. Yoshi can also use his tongue to grab enemies and items, or to swing across dangerous chasms. In addition to Power Stars, players can collect Comet Medals that unlock even more challenging levels.
For friends who enjoy gaming together and have an additional Wii Remote™ controller, Super Mario Galaxy 2 offers the Co-Star mode that was introduced in the original Super Mario Galaxy, but with even more ways to interact. This mode allows two players to team up and cooperate as they zoom from planet to planet, where the second player controls a Luma that can defeat enemies, grab coins and pick up Starbits. Super Mario Galaxy 2 also features in-game guides that illustrate how to perform certain moves and clear tricky levels, lending players of any experience level a helping hand as they progress through the game.
For more information about Super Mario Galaxy 2, visit www.supermariogalaxy.com.
Source: Nintendo Press Release
Nintendo Brings Multiplayer Excitement to the Mushroom Kingdom with New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Posted on November 19, 2009 @ 11:36 PM EST by: Hairball
From fans who grew up playing the NES™ console to gamers with a passion for the Wii™ console, generations of Americans have enjoyed the imaginative fun of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros.™ video game series. Now the launch of New Super Mario Bros. Wii heralds the first time in the history of the series that up to four players can compete at the same time, either cooperatively or competitively.
Packed with beloved characters and remarkable new features, New Super Mario Bros. Wii takes the classic side-scrolling adventure of the Super Mario Bros. series and gives it a manic multiplayer boost. Featuring free-form multiplayer action, players can save their companions from danger or literally toss them right into it. While controlling Mario™, Luigi™ or one of two playable Toad™ characters, players can jump in and join a friend's Story Mode game at the start of any level. The game also features two dedicated multiplayer modes, Coin Battle mode and Free For All mode, that let players easily select their favorite stages and compete across a variety of objectives. Each copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii comes in a red case with a foil-stamped cover.
Among the new features in New Super Mario Bros. Wii is Mario's ability to transform into Penguin Mario, which allows him to toss snowballs and slide on his belly at breakneck speed. Players also can hop onto a Yoshi™ character and use his tongue to eat enemies, items and fireballs. The game also makes use of the Wii console's unique motion controls, allowing players to tilt the Wii Remote™ controller to control seesaw platforms or shake it to send Mario skyward in his new Propeller Suit.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii introduces a new feature called Super Guide that offers players optional game-play tips if they are having trouble getting past particular parts of the game. Super Guide lets players watch as a computer-controlled Luigi character makes his way through any stage that the player finds difficult. At any time in the video, the player can take control of Luigi and complete the stage at his or her own pace.
"As the holiday season draws near, it feels especially appropriate to offer consumers a new Mario adventure that they can enjoy together with family and friends, for the first time in the series' illustrious history," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "New Super Mario Bros. Wii has something special for everyone, and lets players of all abilities explore the imaginative world of the Mushroom Kingdom like never before."
Since the series' debut in North America on the NES in 1986, more than 222 million Super Mario Bros. games have been sold worldwide. Mario remains one of the most recognizable characters in the entertainment world, and stands as a symbol of fun worldwide.
Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.
For more information about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, visit www.mariobroswii.com.
Source: Nintendo Press Release
Wii at $199.99 Beginning Sept. 27
Posted on September 23, 2009 @ 10:38 PM EDT by: Hairball
Beginning Sunday, Sept. 27, the world's most popular home video game system gets even more appealing. On that day, Nintendo's suggested retail price for its record-setting Wii™ drops by $50 to $199.99. The new $199.99 Wii price point delivers the full iconic Wii gaming experience, including the motion-sensing Wii Remote™ controller, Nunchuk™ controller and Wii Sports™ software, and furthers Nintendo's mission to expand the gaming universe by making video games accessible to more and more consumers.
Wii ownership also opens an avenue for players to the industry's most diverse and unique collection of home console games. Key upcoming releases include Wii Fit™ Plus, launching on Oct. 4, and the first truly multiplayer Mario™ title ever, New Super Mario Bros.™ Wii.
Both new and veteran players in America can jump into this new Mario action when it arrives on Nov. 15.
And beginning Oct. 2, consumers in select cities will have a new, convenient way to decide which Nintendo adventure to tackle next. On that day, a novel series of sampling events called "World of Nintendo" kicks off in Long Beach, Calif.
"Wii has reached more video game players than any game system before because it attracts everyone—both men and women, and people of all ages," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Our research shows there are 50 million Americans thinking about becoming gamers, and this more affordable price point and our vast array of new software mean many of them can now make the leap and find experiences that appeal to them, whatever their tastes or level of gaming experience."
The inherent social nature of Wii is fully demonstrated in a groundbreaking way with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the first Mario game ever to allow four players to take part in the action at the same time. That same dynamic is propelling the enthusiastic response for Wii Sports Resort™, while the release of Wii Fit Plus includes everything you love about Wii Fit™, along with new multiplayer elements and the ability to customize workouts to fit individual needs.
See below for full details on the World of Nintendo events that are scheduled to take place in Long Beach, Philadelphia and New York throughout the month of October.
Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.
For more information about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, visit www.MarioBrosWii.com.
Source: Nintendo
New Mario Games Announced at E3 2009
Posted on June 2, 2009 @ 4:56 PM EDT by: Hairball
Nintendo has unveiled several new Mario games for the Wii and Nintendo DS. Super Mario Galaxy 2, a sequel to Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story were revealed in videos at the E3 show.
Game profiles:
New Super Mario Bros. Wii™: Developers at Nintendo have dreamed of creating a simultaneous multiplayer Super Mario Bros. game for decades. The Wii console finally makes that dream come true for everyone this holiday season. Now players can navigate the side-scrolling worlds alone as before or invite up to three others to join them at the same time on the same level at any point in the game for competitive and cooperative multiplayer fun in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. With the multiplayer mode, the newest installment of the most popular video game franchise is designed to bring yet another type of family entertainment into living rooms and engage groups of friends in fast-paced Super Mario Bros. fun.
Link: Video (from Nintendo)
Super Mario Galaxy™ 2: This upcoming adventure for the Wii console marks the first time a second 3-D Mario game has arrived in the same console generation. In the game, Mario rides his trusty dinosaur companion, Yoshi™, to new stars and the fantastic worlds found there. This 3-D platforming adventure provides longtime video game fans with a fresh round of out-of-this-world challenges in the style introduced in the critically acclaimed original. The game is planned for 2010.
Link: Video (from Nintendo)
Mario & Luigi™: Bowser’s Inside Story: Nintendo revealed Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, a new chapter to the popular role-playing franchise that places players into the belly of the beast – literally. Players will get to enjoy trademark hilarious dialogue in the fall of 2009 as they juggle two concurrent storylines. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is playable on the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems.
Link: Video (from Nintendo)
Source: Nintendo
Wii & Nintendo DS Set New Industry Records
Posted on January 16, 2009 @ 12:38 PM EST by: Hairball
Before 2008, no video game system had ever been purchased by ten million Americans in a single year. But according to independent sales data released today by the NPD Group, the Wii™ console from Nintendo did just that, even during these economic times, with 2008 unit sales of 10.17 million. The Nintendo DS™ portable handheld system came in a close second, with 2008 unit sales of 9.95 million. Each of them broke the previous yearly unit sales record set in 2007 by Nintendo DS with sales of 8.52 million.
Consequently, Wii represented 55% of all next generation home console sales in 2008, while Nintendo DS claimed 72% of all portable system sales in 2008.
"Our type of entertainment has now moved to the point where there is no longer a question that if you offer consumers an expanded definition of what a video game can be, and deliver that idea with quality and affordability in mind, millions of new people will start playing video games," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Concepts like Wii Fit, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band never would have seemed feasible just a few years ago, and now they're driving growth for our the entire industry."
NPD data released for December and all of 2008 also included the following:
* The industry's top 4 selling games of 2008 were: Wii Play™ at No. 1, Mario Kart™ Wii at No. 2, , Wii Fit™ at No.3, and Super Smash Brothers™ Brawl, at No. 4
* Industry annual revenues jumped 19% in 2008 over 2007, and Nintendo products were responsible for 99% of those additional retail dollars.
* Nintendo DS set another industry record for system sales in any month, with 3.04 million units sold in December.
* Wii broke its own monthly record, set in December 2007, by selling 2.14 million units last month.
* In December, Nintendo titles filled 20 of the top 30 spots on the best-seller list. Six games made for Nintendo systems placed in the top 10, including Wii Music™ for Wii (No. 9), which has now sold 865,000 units following its launch in October 2008, and Mario Kart DS for the Nintendo DS (No. 7), which has sold a total of 4.3 million units 38 months after launch.
* Activision's Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero® World Tour, and MTV Games/EA's* Rock Band Special Edition Bundle all sold more units on Nintendo platforms than any other platforms in 2008.
* More 3rd party units were sold for Wii than any other home consoles in December for the 2nd consecutive month.
* For the year, more than 132 million games were sold in America for play on Nintendo systems.
For more information about Nintendo, visit www.Nintendo.com.
Source: Nintendo Press Release