Mario Bros. - Virtual Console

Nintendo Everything: Through the many interviews of Iwata Asks, weve found out some very interesting things about Mario. Weve learned about plans for a rifle, beam gun, and rocket in the original Super Mario Bros., heard why Shigeru Miyamoto included coins in the game, and received a ton of other interesting tidbits.

With role-playing games claiming the first two overall spots and six of the top ten, buying RPGs was obviously the hip thing to do in Japan this past week. - RPGLand

Doctor Octoroc gives us 8-bit renditions of our favorite christmas themes... with a video game twist!

Nike and Honda aren't the only people doing hybrids now. Dave Bondi's AKASHI figure is a great smash-up of two of the worlds most noticeable characters, Mickey and Mario. The physical features of both melt together seamlessly as each lend a hand into creating something new. AKASHI stands a proud 9? tall and is limited to only 200 pieces.

Kotaku writes: I'm a fan of game-music, music inspired by games, and music made by games. It's all good, or at least it can be. So my interest was piqued when reader Jim emailed to let us know that indie bands Kaki King and The Mountain Goats had gotten together to record a six-song EP entitled Black Pear Tree. Among the songs can be found Nintendo-inspired goodness Thank You Mario Buy Our Princess Is in Another Castle. Coming in at a bit more than three minutes, the song sung from Toad's perspective features striking piano and drumming overlaid by The Mountain Goat's John Darnielle singing. The mix kinda sinks its hooks in, and the finale with King's and Darnielle's duet adds just the right amount of sweet to make you want to go back and have a second listen. Give a listen on the jump.

To celebrate the launch of Mario Super Sluggers, Charles Martinet, the voice actor for Mario, Luigi, Wario, and more will be in attendance at the Nintendo World Store in Manhattan on August 24th, signing autographs and giving out a mysterious special gift from Nintendo to those who purchase the new Mario sports title.

9th Dec, 2008 Just what in the hell is going on with Mario and Peach? It was so simple back in the old NES days of Super Mario Bros. She got herself kidnapped, he went after her with the help of Luigi, and all ended happily ever after. Or so we thought. The thing is that it didn't really. It's become ever more apparent that since that first rescue things have only ever got messier, dirtier and more manipulative in their relationship. Far from the innocent damsel and hero set-up that appeared

Creator of Game Icons Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Nintendogs To Discuss His Creative Process. Videogame development legend Shigeru Miyamoto will make a rare public appearance at the 2007 Game Developers Conference (GDC) for his first keynote since 1999. Dubbed The Spielberg of Video Games by Time Magazine, Miyamoto, Nintendo's Senior Managing Director and General Manager, Entertainment Analysis & Development Division, will present the talk, A Creative Vision. In this session, he will reveal how a singular creative vision drives his work, not only in terms of his world-renowned software like the Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda series, but also in generating key technologies, including the current global phenomena, Nintendo DS and Wii. GDC, CMP Technology's annual conference dedicated to the art, science and business of games, takes place March 5-9, 2007 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

In 2003 about two dozen video game designers and engineers gathered in a room at Nintendo's (NTDOY) Kyoto headquarters to divine the future of the video game console. The company was three years away from launching a new machine, but hadn't decided on any of its core technologies yet. Naturally, the talk was heavy on chips, graphics, and software. Then someone mentioned moms. Though kids had long been the main audience for Nintendo's consoles and games such as Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, discussion quickly turned to what the company could do to woo mothers. After all, this critical constituency signs off on major purchases by its kids, and the idea of extending a console's franchise beyond hardcore gamers to novices had an obvious business appeal. When that happened, we talked about basic concepts and goals, not about the technical specifications of the console, recalls Shigeru Miyamoto, who heads Nintendo's entertainment analysis and development unit and is the mastermind behind some of its best selling games. Among the items up for consideration were affordability, low energy use, a wireless controller free of unsightly cords in the living room, and simplicity of use that even Mom or a younger sibling could jump in once in a while.

How much would you pay for Super Mario Bros. 3? Chances are you paid full retail for it on NES and then maybe you paid $34.99 for it when it came out in October of 2003. How much would you pay to play it on your Wii? Nintendo president Saturo Iwata addressed the Virtual Console pricing in a talk he gave in Japan. Games will cost between 500 and 1000 yen, this converts to between $4.50 and $8.99 for Virtual Console games over here. Those prices stay pretty competitive with Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade prices, which has gamers paying between $5 and $12 for Arcade titles.