Voice of Mario Charles Martinet has told Gamer.tm that he believes Super Mario Galaxy to be the best Mario yet, and has also claimed that Nintendo is the best company in the world to work with.

Also worth a small mention is the soundfile Martinet did for them, which is linked to near the end of the newspiece.
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GameRankings, known throughout the industry as the definitive source for game score averages, has Super Mario Galaxy ranked #1 after 31 reviews, with an average score of 97.9%. The previous #1 ranked game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, had an average score of 97.5% from 30 sources.
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Nintendic's Steven Smith gives counterpoints to Variety's review of Super Mario Galaxy. Smith explains how Variety has missed the points on the innovation, story, control and particularly visuals of the game.

Smith concludes his arguments by writing that Wii is "where gameplay is king, not muscled visuals." He notes that none of the pretty PS3 exclusives - Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (89%), Folklore (74%), Lair (54%), Warhawk (84%) and Heavenly Sword (79%) ¿ has broken the 90% threshold at Metacritic - the level for which any game to be considered as an "AAA" title.

Smith compares those sub-90% titles to Wii exclusives Super Mario Galaxy (97%), Twilight Princess (95%), Resident Evil IV: Wii Edition (91%), and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (90%) - which have all surpassed the "AAA" marker on Metacritic.
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16th Nov 2007 Super Mario Galaxy is a near perfect game. If you dont already know that, then youll find out soon (And you will be making the effort to find out, wont you?). More than merely being an all round fantastic experience though, the game acts as a timely reminder of some elements of game design all too frequently missing now. It also points out a couple of new ones which should be taken note of immediately. Its not just the fact that Super Mario Galaxy marks both the return and ... » Read More

Mario Party DS sold almost a quarter of a million copies in its debut week to top the Japanese software chart.

Another new entry, Shin Sangoku Musou 5 for PS3, or Dynasty Warriors 6 as it will be known in North America, entered at No2 after shifting almost 200,000 copies, while the Xbox 360 version debuted at No5.

Mario Galaxy, last week's best seller, dropped to No3 following second week sales of 75,000 copies, down from 251,000 sold the previous week.

PS3 exclusive Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction entered at No10, while just one PS2 game, NBA Live 08, made the top 30.

01. Mario Party DS (DS) - 235,000 / New
02. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (PS3) - 188,000 / New
03. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 74,000 / 325,000
04. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS) - 23,000 / 215,000
05. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (Xbox 360) - 22,000 / New
06. Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles (PSP) - 19,000 / New
07. Wii Sports (Wii) - 15,000 / 2,197,000
08. DS Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Shin Tantei Series: Kyoto Atami Zekkai no Kotou - Satsui no Wana (DS) - 13,000 / 129,000
09. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (DS) - 13,000 / 690,000
10. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3) - 12,000 / New
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This week's edition of the regular Critical Reception column examines online reaction to Super Mario Galaxy, the long-awaited Wii entry in Nintendo's flagship franchise that some critics are calling "an exceptional game by any standard."

Since the release of the Nintendo Wii late last year, perhaps no title has been as highly anticipated as Super Mario Galaxy. Galaxy's release has become even more important at this point in the Wii's lifespan, following the recent announcement that Nintendo's other likely holiday hit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, would not see release until 2008.

Early previews and trade show demos for Super Mario Galaxy were almost universally met with a positive response from gamers in the months leading up to the title's release, and the retail release of Super Mario Galaxy appears to be no different, earning a Metacritic-averaged score of 97 out of 100 from critics.
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In the run-up to the release of Super Mario Galaxy, Nintendo is continuing the wide array of promotional techniques by this time announcing how Mario is far more recognisable than many famous stars. Despite being featured in numerous popular magazines and appearing on TV regularly, a survey released today by Nintendo to celebrate the launch of Super Mario Galaxy on Wii has found that Super Mario is more recognisable than Paris Hilton and Justin Timberlake.

The survey was taken by over 1,000 adults, and 69% recognised gaming's most iconic Italian plumber, whilst 53% could put a name to the face of paparazzi favourite Paris Hilton and 51% could identify Justin Timberlake. Other notable stars that failed to be as iconic as Mario (in this rather skewed survey) included Beyoncé Knowles (31%), Sienna Miller (11%), Nicole Ritchie (20%) and Akon (10%).
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In addition to the first day sales figures, some early numbers from Famitsu have been released for the whole week, including hardware sales that show a massive leap for the PlayStation 3 following the launch of the new White model, plus a price drop. Due to the increase in adverts for Wii Play and Wii Sports, both games launch back into the Top 10, whilst Super Mario Galaxy holds up quite respectably in its second week, also helping to keep Wii sales at a healthy 35,000. Check out the numbers below:

1.) Mario Party DS (NDS, Nintendo) - 242,000 | NEW
2.) Dynasty Warriors 6 (PS3, Koei) - 176,000 | NEW
3.) Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo) - 78,000 | 335,000
4.) Dynasty Warriors 6 (360, Koei) - 27,000 | NEW
5.) Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (NDS, Square Enix) - 24,000 | 235,000
6.) Castlevania (PSP, Konami) - 20,000 | NEW
7.) Wii Sports (Wii, Nintendo) - 18,000 | 2,091,000
8.) Nishimura Kyotaro (NDS, Tecmo) - 16,000 | 112,000
9.) Wii Play (Wii, Nintendo) - 15,000 | 1,648,000
10.) Mario Kart DS (NDS, Nintendo) - 13,000 | 2,528,000

Nintendo DS - 82,000
PlayStation 3 - 56,000
PlayStation Portable - 55,000
Wii - 35,000
PlayStation 2 - 9,400
Xbox 360 - 7,000
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Nintendo's anticipated Wii platformer aiming to beat away challenges from the likes of Bioshock, Orange Box and Call of Duty 4.

This time last month MCV was reporting that EA's The Orange Box was looking to be the odds-on favourite to become the most critically hailed title of not only the year, but also of all time.

However, Nintendo's massively anticipated and critically acclaimed Wii platform romp Super Mario Galaxy looks set to surpass even The Orange Box's achievements by capturing the highest average review score of the year.
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Super Mario Galaxy currently has 97 Metacritic points, making it the highest rated next-gen game available. It is even topping the likes of Halo 3 as well as Call of Duty 4.
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The beautiful visuals and compelling gameplay in this week's release of Super Mario Galaxy for Nintendo Wii is also appealing to younger children who haven't polished their coordination skills. While teens and adults will want to hog the game for themselves, Super Mario Galaxy offers a new mode that allows children to enjoy the same experience with an older family member.
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The Bitbag writes, "Well how do you think Shigeru Myamoto got all those moves programmed into Super Mario Galaxy?

Nintendo paired its video game character Super Mario with former Apollo astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin in preparation for the company's upcoming Wii game, "Super Mario Galaxy," which launches on Nov. 12."
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GameSpot's next Live Gameplay Marathon arrives November 12, and features the Nintendo mascot's first cosmic encounter.
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Super Mario Galaxy, Assasin's Creed and Crysis lead the pack of new releases for the week of November 12, 2007!
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Yes, The Game Of The Year (GOTY) discussion is already beginning! Spike is hosting its 5th annual Video Game Awards this December in Las Vegas, and this morning the nominees were released on Spike.com. What's in contention for Game of the Year? Orange Box, Halo 3, BioShock, and Mass Effect.
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Nov 9, 2007 Weekly Xbox 360 sales jumped phenomenally in Japan during the week ended November 4 to outsell Sony's rival next-gen console. The latest data from Media Create shows that weekly Xbox 360 sales rose from 3,718 to 17,673, while PS3 sales fell slightly to 17,434. The rise in 360 sales is most likely attributable to the successful release of Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, which sold almost 80,000 copies in its first week on sale to enter the Japanese software chart at No2. In ... » Read More

According to IGN's GamerMetrics, the current top ten most-anticipated titles are as follows (ranked by percentages of mindshare among IGN's audience):

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) 5.00%
2. WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008 (PS3) 3.11%
3. Assassin's Creed (XB360) 2.63%
4. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) 2.54%
5. Mass Effect (XB360) 2.33%
6. WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008 (XB360) 1.99%
7 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3) 1.91%
8. Assassin's Creed (PS3) 1.86%
9. Rock Band (XB360) 1.70%
10. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) 1.29%
11. Crysis (PC) 1.24%
12. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii) 1.13%

In addition, GamerMetrics analyzed IGN's traffics of Assassin's Creed for different SKUs (see the image below) and forecast that the game will sell 1 million units for Xbox 360 and 350,000 units for PS3 by the end of the year.
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Via Ripten:

"The rumor being spread about the big box retailer breaking the street date for Super Mario Galaxy, is just not true. We spoke to managers in Boston and Pennsylvania, both of which assured us that there has been no word passed down to break the release date. The only time they have broken the release date is when a game does not have a hard release date already set. Super Mario is not one of those games."

More after the jump.
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Best Buy stores selling Super Mario Galaxy early? It appears to be so.
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Kotaku reports:

"If you live in the New York area you may want to head to the Nintendo World Store at Rockefeller Plaza on Sunday. Nintendo will be throwing a launch celebration for Super Mario Galaxy. The festivities start at 8 pm and they are promising a DJ with dancers, a velcro wall, and get this: Lasers! Even Halo 3 didn't have fancy lasers! Of course Mario himself will be in attendance to greet fans, and the store will open at midnight to sell the first copies. Oh and they will have 250 Wii systems available for purchase."
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