17 Oct 09 New Super Mario Bros. Wii Attempts To Bridge Casual/Hardcore Divide

When Nintendo returns to its roots next month by releasing a new, 2-D, side-scrolling Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii, it's trying to do more than simply hop on the retro bandwagon many publishers have ridden in recent months. Speaking at a roundtable discussion in New York this week, Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto talked about how they're trying to satisfy fans of the series who want challenging gameplay in addition to attracting new or casual players just looking for an entertaining platformer. Quoting: "... you can play the story mode single-player all the way through from beginning to end, and at any point along the way, you can add players from the world map and have up to four players cooperate to complete the levels. And beyond that, there are two dedicated multiplayer modes, one of which is free-for-all, which lets you select the stages from story mode ... so you can easily find the stage you like. And then there’s also a coin battle mode which is a competitive multiplayer mode, in which you’re actually competing for points and you’re getting ranked based on how many points you’ve collected. The free-for-all mode has kind of a similar feel to something like Mario Kart where you just happen to have four people over and you want to sit down and play a quick match in your favorite level."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tagi: mario bros game, new super mario bros, super mario bros, mario kart, nintendo game, wii, battle mode, d side, game designer, story mode, slashdot, mths, ayers, world map, mth, super mario bros game, modes, match, peoe

21 Oct 09 Stand Aside Dying Babies, Sega Mega Drive Makes a Comeback [Headlines]

In one of the odder front pages we've seen, The Daily Mail wants to tell you about the four most exciting consoles today: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and, of course, the Sega Mega Drive. [UKResistance via Kotaku]

Tagi: sega mega drive, daily mail, wii, xbox 360, babies, xbox, headlines

10 Aug 10 At Gizmodo Gallery: Charity and Prizes [Gizmodo Gallery]

If you're not already on your way to the NOW OPEN Gizmodo Gallery to see all of the amazing gadgets we've brought together, here's another reason to come: sweet prize giveaways.

Here's how it works—donate over $10 or bring a brand new toy for Toys for Tots, and you'll be entered into the drawing for prizes. Want some incentive beyond helping the needy and unfortunate in these financially trying times? How 'bout all this cool stuff?

• Dyson's Han Solo blaster-looking Root 6 hand vac
• Lego, Lego, Lego
• A cornucopia from Logitech: two premium Kinetik laptop cases, two PureFi sound docks, some V550 mice, two pair of ClearChat headsets and more.
• A few Zunes (Obama's secret favorite portable player)
• Xbox 360
• SanDisk Sansa 8GB Fuze, 8GB Clip, 8GB Ultra MicroSD card and more
• Over a dozen pieces of certified excellent geek apparel from Gama-go
• Agent 18 iPod cases, Ten One Design Pogo iPhone stylus and a pink mStation Orb dock
• SmartShopper personal shopping list maker
• Hercules Wii Accessory Pack
• Several beautiful TokyoFlash watches
• A few crazy Thanko USB gadgets
• The lovable Wi-Fi beanbag Chumby
• Wicked Laser to start some forest fires
• Not enough for you? There's even more to come...

Special thanks to all those companies mentioned above for donating products for our fundraiser!!

We'll also publish a gallery of winners later on, so everyone can see how charitable you are. It's for a great cause, unless you hate children. We really hope to see you, even if you are a cheap bastard!

Tagi: brand new toy, mentied, cheap bastard, chumby, prize giveaways, tokyoflash, forest fires, ipod cases, persal, hand vac, dozen pieces, smartshopper, wii, accessory pack, dys, reas, xbox 360, laptop cases, trying times, toys for tots