Nintendo Sage - Week in Review - 10/31/10

Happy Halloween!

Welcome to the very first installment of The Nintendo Sage Week in Review. In this segment, recurring every Sunday, we will filter through all of the Nintendo related news coming through the internet warp pipes over the course of the previous week to find only the most important items and shine a spotlight on them for your reading pleasure. How do we determine what's important and what's not? Drool. Yeah, you heard us

right, and we'll throw in foam and froth for good measure. If the news is of the particular variety to elicit any of these bodily fluids from a legitimate Nintendo fan, then you can bet we will include it in our week in review spotlights. The frothier the better. Zombies ain't got nothin' on us! The mad, devoted Nintendo fan base! We've been drooling for decades and frothing since at least 2003. So grab a bucket, a towel or whatever else you'll need to keep yourself dry and let's get rolling!



(Proof of our frothing madness!)

The most drool worthy news coming out of Nintendo last week was the announcement that on December 12th, 2010 Nintendo of America would be bringing over the Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle which was recently released in Japan and went on to become the top selling game in that market during it's release window. The bundle is epic awesomeness. At $29.99 MSRP it will include a Wii game disc containing the SNES version of Super Mario All-Stars (16 bit renditions of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3), a soundtrack disc containing tracks from allegedly every game in the Mario Bros. series and a 30 page art book showcasing never before seen, behind the scenes design sketches used during the development process for the games.

It looks like the bundle will be arriving in a very nice, deluxe slipcover styled casing. Inside will rest your standard Wii DVD like games cases for the game disc and soundtrack along with the art book. The design on the front is simple, stylish and brazenly "Mario" red. Fans will no doubt be eager to pump the soundtrack which contains at least one track never before released on CD. Unfortunately, the bundle will be arriving in limited numbers so I would advise you to PRE-ORDER NOW wherever you do your pre-ordering.

If you are a longtime Nintendo fan, Super Mario All-Stars needs no introduction. Every game in the compilation is of course a classic with some of the most colorfully impressive graphics, exquisite audio, and masterfully constructed gameplay to be released during the 16 bit era. For those of you who have never played it, it contains the definitive versions of all of the aforementioned games along with the only U.S. release of "The Lost Levels" which was the real 'Super Mario Bros. 2' in Japan. (Our Super Mario Bros. 2 was adapted from a previously released Japanese game called 'Doki Doki Panic' for the U.S market exclusively and was later ported to Japan as 'Super Mario Bros. U.S.A.') For a more thorough breakdown and analysis of 'Super Mario All-Stars' for the SNES, please look forward to our Retro Review coming up on Wednesday in celebration of the games impending arrival. In the mean time click on the link below to view a Japanese advertisment for the game to help get you salivating. Got your bucket ready?

 

                               Super Mario 25th Anniversary Wii

...and that's about it. It was a pretty slow week for Nintendo as far as big announcements go. Oh sure there was other news, but none of it nearly foam inducing enough for the likes of us. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to wipe the froth off my keyboard. Visit us tomorrow for the start of our new ongoing editorial "You know you're hardcore when..." where we will detail the finer points of being a "HARD-CORE" gamer. Every day this week we will be rolling out new ongoing features for the blog so check back daily and of course we will also be right here again next Sunday for another Nintendo Sage Week in Review!

Trick or Treat!

-The Nintendo Sage

Nintendo Sage - Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to The Nintendo Sage blog. Here we are at the beginning and isn't it just so exciting? This site is to serve as a gathering place for fans of gaming culture in general and especially for those out there with a soft spot in their hearts for Nintendo. The blog will be updated daily by me, The Nintendo Sage himself. There are more gaming blogs and websites on the internet than PSP's collecting dust on Gamestop shelves. (That means there are alot! Ouch!) Most of them are what I call forward looking. That is, they report on news stories as they break, provide in depth previews for games months before release and are always looking to deliver the most cutting edge, up to the minute content and information available on the web. This site looks in the rear view mirror. We will discuss gamings finest moments in all of their glory, dissecting them, analyzing them, sharing our feelings about them. You can expect commentary spanning the whole map of gaming culture from memorable scenes in your favorite games, to stories about midnight launches, to discourses on a games soundtrack, to what it means to be a "Hardcore" gamer and sooo much more. There will be retro game reviews. Spotlights on forgotten gems that deserve to be played. Even comic strip adaptations of your favorite classics from yesteryear. Gaming is fun. This place is about that fun. Oh sure, we'll be doing some looking ahead. Games on the horizon that are worth noting. We'll sort out all of the worthless junk to only focus on the stuff coming up that really matters. That means you probably shouldn't expect an in depth spotlight on Carnival Games 2. Keep your eyes open for 'The Power List'. A list of all of the important games coming up for Nintendo home consoles. The Power List will be updated regularly and we will spotlight games from that list, with our thoughts, in the form of blog posts. I have been around from the beginning so I have a lot to say, (how else do you think you can become a sage?), but this site is for you. Please, comment on EVERYTHING! Your thoughts are just as important and valid as my own and this site is intended to be a discussion rather than a lecture. All of you gamers out there who ever saw the end credits scroll up after an epic journey are just as worthy to voice your opinion as I am.... so voice it! Have you ever wished you could find a place where you could spend your time amongst friends talking freely about videogames? This is that place! We are gamers. We are one family. We have all shared the the same moments of joy, excitement, agony, frustration, suspense, horror, adventure, defeat and triumph even if we were playing alone in our living rooms. Even if we thought we were journeying by ourselves, we really weren't. Somewhere, someone was on that same journey. Someone else discovered the same hidden chest, got stuck in the same place, couldn't beat that same boss. We are journeying still. This is where we gather. Kick up your feet and join the conversation. Visit often to see what's new. Everyone in love with the game, this site's for you!

-The Nintendo Sage

Nintendo Sage - Press Start

Congratulations!

"You have done well to find this place. If you are here it means you have travelled far. Did you cross the fields of Hyrule? Journey up the World Tree? Traverse Angel Land on your quest? Or perhaps you hail from a more distant place. Lylat system? Tallon IV? Did you travel the Star Road? Are you weary? Please, please sit down... make yourself comfortable. There are many winding paths that make their way to the foot of my cavern. Every one laced with wonder. Here, whet your palate with this. Hm, red potion.. ha ha... good, yes? Yes... let me tell you a tale truer than life is true. Oh I know you are busy. Life is calling you back outside into the sun and clouds, but no matter. Time holds no persuasion here. No will to press on. Surely once you step across the threshold and again into daylight time will flow for you once more, but for now relax. Hear my story and glean what truths you may from it's telling. Perhaps you will see reflections of your own tale recast, or echoes of memories you thought had been lost to the void. For my tale is the all-tale. The story shared by all who ever began at the beginning... World 1-1 and journeyed perilously one leap and sprint and backflip and barrel roll at a time through everything that came after. One story, one tapestry shared by many and if you are here... then you too are a part of it's weaving. You have played a role, or a few, or many. You too possess a portion of the tale that is waiting to be told and I am eager to hear it. As are countless other eyes and ears and mouths who look in upon us now within the shadow of this rock. Within this cavern lost to time. Each one holding their own thread within the tapestry. Each one with a story to tell. Listen then to these words of wisdom from a sage of the earliest order! See what truths there are to be remembered! Speak your portion of the tale as you are burdened to speak it! One voice. One story. One name carried on the winds and deftly tucked away into our hearts.... Nintendo.... a song from the past... a light gleaming in the far horizon... Wonder is timeless as is the legacy we carry. Sit and let me tell you a tale....."