And here at the List we all wish our beloved creator of Mario, Link, Pikmin and of course, Wii Music Shigeru Miyamoto a truly wonderful birthday. Just think: By the time the next presidential election rolls around the guy will actually turn 64!
Well that isn’t a very nice attitude to have now is it 8-Bit Vader? The truth is that me and my pals here at the List have been invited to help put the final nail in the coffin provide our old friends over at Nintendorks.net with our invaluable insight and expertise on all things Nintendo (and maybe even some other stuff) from now on. Now what does this mean for you my dear, faithful reader? Well…nothing really. We aren’t going anywhere and I’ll continue to update regularly until the police find my lifeless, nude corpse at my computer desk surrounded by empty bottles of discount I.P.A. You can look forward to the same high quality self indulgence that we’ve blessed the internet with these past few years only now under both the Shigeru’s List url and the legendary banner of Nintendorks. In fact, I’ll probably be cross posting all of the larger pieces such as news and reviews on both sites but keep the random little mini updates exclusive to my little baby here.
I know, I know. It all sounds too good to be true but please, try and contain yourself. You’re embarrassing us.
R.I.P.
*Cough*
“Thank you all. Please be seated. *Ahem*. Ladies and gentlemen, like many of you here today I came across Nintendo Power at a very young age. For me personally, it was the third grade and I was eight years old when I first heard whispers of a magazine that was all about Nintendo and filled with maps, special codes and strategies. These rumors spread like wild fire across the black top during recess but that’s all they amounted to at first: Rumors. Some kid knew a guy from another school who’s brother supposedly had described some book he’d seen as having the small clay Mario you see beside me plastered across the cover. More words were spoken of free pull-out posters and comic strips as well as contests that gave away prizes like t-shirts, toys and most importantly: Nintendo Games. It all sounded too good to be true of course and these second hand (third and fourth even) stories were all I had to tide me over before the truth of the matter would finally be revealed to me. It was a cold, overcast October afternoon when this kid I knew opened his backpack to reveal the beautiful image of a grown man in full body armor holding the decapitated head of Dracula by his hair.
I was hooked.
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No you’re not reading your calendar wrong. Earlier today Nintendo unveiled its new online “home” for their famous mascot cleverly dubbed www.Mario.Nintendo.Com. A webpage filled with lazily written summaries for every retail and downloadable 3DS and Wii title featuring the fat plumber (isn’t this already IGN’s thing?). They’ve even added a little scroll at the bottom of each page suggesting other games you might be interested in based on the one you’re currently browsing. What’s that, guys? If I really like Super Mario Bros. 2 then I might also dig Samurai Showdown IV? Um, ok. There are actually a couple of cool little bits to be found on the site including a fun take on “Memory,” featuring familiar faces from the mushroom kingdom and also a quiz to test your Mario knowledge which you should have no trouble burning through if you’re above 6 years old and have ever played a Nintendo game in your life.
Check out the card game by clicking this and have a go at some Mario trivia right here. I’m positive you have nothing better to do.
Do you see what I see?
I’m starting to think that all this talk about the next Nintendo console having a screen built into the controller is absolutely legit. Just look closely at this early Nintendo 64 controller/console prototype from the mid 90’s (at the time dubbed the Ultra 64). Notice anything that didn’t make it into the final design? Also, there’s the fact that Nintendo has made a habit over the years of trying out some seemingly crazy ideas that maybe at the time didn’t initially live up to their full potential (Virtual Boy) – Only to return a generation or two later once technology and cost had caught up to truly deliver a quality product (3DS). Thankfully, the time of speculating will soon be over.
Well, holy shit. Those things are fucking awesome. In the most recent entry in the long running “Iwata Asks” series, the Nintendo president and Shigeru Miyamoto yap at great length about the upcoming 3DS (can you feel the excitment?). But even more compelling are the revelations regarding the company’s previous attempts at bringing 3D technology to the masses. It really is a great read and there are plenty of surprises about Nintendo’s history in there for even the most educated fanboy.
Or at least all of the cash that I’ve been tossing into your backyard for just about my entire life. After buying and downloading a ridiculous amount of games over the past year (and sometimes even playing them), my reward from Club Nintendo arrived in the mail today! The big surprise was the slick question block box that it was shipped in. That’s just fucking awesome. Also, I’m not gonna lie. I’m curious how much this bad boy ends up going for on Ebay.
Its been 15 years since you left gamers scratching their heads in confusion and rubbing their eye sockets in terrifying pain! I’ll be celebrating this day with a sealed copy of Virtual Baseball that I just ordered off of Ebay because I’ve somehow managed to convince myself that I have a disposable income. Congratulations on becoming Nintendo’s most infamous failure!
Which drives me up the damn wall because he’s been in some of my favorite games over the past 15-20 years. Not just the sports or mini-game collections either – Wario’s headlined his own series of awesome side-scrollers ever since he was introduced in Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins (now, that’s a great game).
Anyway, since I can’t seem to get away from that dude’s shit eating grin (and since the Virtual Boy I ordered arrived on my door step yesterday), I figured “What the hell?” Let’s keep this Wario Week rolling with a look back at his 1995 3D adventure, cleverly titled: Virtual Boy Wario Land.
Sonuvabitch.
Ever since Nintendo announced their upcoming 3D portable system, I’ve become nostalgic for the company’s first attempt at the third dimension: The Virtual Boy. Yeah, the one that failed horribly and sent it’s creator and founding Nintendo designer, Gunpei Yokoi to an early grave (It’s o.k. Gunpei, I know that was no accident).
