Super Mario Galaxy Launch Party Diary

Although much has been said about the fever of Wii mania, nothing drives home Nintendo's timeless popularity like a Super Mario launch party. And I'm here to tell you: the Super Mario Galaxy launch party was Mario-rific!

While many people might expect a younger demographic waiting in line for Super Mario Galaxy, I was pretty surprised about the type of people standing in line. In addition to families, a lot of men and women who were kids at heart filled the line, a few of whom were even dressed up and donned in full Italian plumber wardrobes. There were also a lot of Metroid tattoos and Zelda T-shirts, and everyone wore a wristband given to them by Nintendo employees to indicate their place in line.

And I've never seen so many Nintendo DS systems in one place before. Everyone I saw had a fully charged DS ready to kill time. Everyone.

Not that anyone could actually hear the games they were playing; the on-site music was so loud that it was easily audible two blocks away. The DJ just fed into it, too, letting everybody know how cool Mario was and how close it was to midnight, when Mario Galaxy would officially go on sale. The line was pretty long, and part of the road was closed off for Mario's (and our) safety. Safety was the last thing on people's mind, though, with the wild entertainment and Super Mario Galaxy demos available well before launch.

Among those wild activities were a Velcro Wall and a Bungee Run for kids, and Nintendo even offered copies of Super Mario Galaxy for the high scorers. The kids stuck around for a while, but the low temperature in New York City had the parents hitting the line solo waiting to buy the game for the holidays. But I bet the wait will be unbearable.

The first guy in line had been camping there since 8am that morning, and he even had a sign letting everyone know he was first in line when the Wii launched. Meanwhile, I had arrived at 9:00, and there were already 323 people in front of me. There was no way the Nintendo World store could hold all the Mario maniacs, so when the doors finally opened, Nintendo only let in about 20 people at a time.

All in all, the Super Mario Galaxy launch event was pretty cool, and I was surprised with the kids' ability to stay awake out of pure love for Mario. It seems as though the children are getting a new kind of role model. But then again, who wouldn't want to look up to a mushroom-loving plumber?

Super Mario Galaxy to outsell Halo 3?

Nintendo Wii's new game is likely to become the fastest-selling Christmas gift as stores stay open late tonight so fans can snap up Super Mario Galaxy.

The latest adventures of the Italian plumber are expected to outsell Xbox's recent hit Halo - which itself had orders of 1.25 million.

The launch came as a new poll shows that the Mario character is more widely recognised worldwide than The Beatles.

Amazon Delaying Super Mario Galaxy Pre-Orders

This isn't good. From our faithful reader Ben, it looks like at least some Amazon pre-orders of Super Mario Galaxy are going to see a delay of one whole week.

I pre-ordered Super Mario Galaxy 2 weeks ago from Amazon.com.

Today I received this in my inbox:
"We wanted to let you know that there is an unexpected delay with your video game order you placed on October 25 2007 09:26 PDT. Unfortunately, we are unable to ship the product(s) as soon as we expected and need to provide you with a new estimate of when they may be delivered:
"Super Mario Galaxy" [Video Game]
Estimated arrival date: 11/20/2007

We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this delay."

I canceled my order so I can buy it tonight at a brick&mortar store tonight after work.

No pre-order coin for me, I guess.

Frankenreview, Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

The time has come. No more bullshit, no more trailers, no more promises. Next-gen is officially now-gen, as all the long-lusted, near-fabled releases are finally upon us. Since the Wii's launch, we've been treated to a few classic Nintendo franchises. But things just didn't feel right before the pudgy-but-steadfast plumber showed up and started kicking some ass...like he did in today's Frankenreview. So hit the jump to see why the critics loved Super Mario Galaxy so much, and what makes it so much more than another 3D platformer.

GameSpy

Super Mario Galaxy's graphics are out of this world. We've not seen such a beautifully vibrant game on the Wii. The strong use of bold colors married with the better-than-expected texturing makes for a great-looking game. It runs, as expected, very well at 480p in a 16:9 apsect ratio, and while a small part of us aches for a 720/1080p version of the game, we'll take what we can get. There's nothing else on the system that looks this good...

NintendoWorldReport

...the pseudo-linearity, aided by the automatic camera, makes it possible for the game to go back to its 2-D platforming roots rather than the wide-open, but less interesting seek-and-find nature of prior games. Occasionally, a handful of Star Shards must be collected to progress, but there is nothing approaching the tediousness of the blue coin collecting in Super Mario Sunshine. Players will absolutely want to collect all of the Power Stars.

GameSpot

It helps that practically every stage in the game has a great deal of replayability purely on its own merits. These levels are just inherently fun to go back to again and again...comets will enter orbit in some of these galaxies, and thus change the way you play in some bizarre way. Whether it's speeding up all the enemies in an area, putting you on a timed run, or having you race against a doppelganger Mario, there's a nice variety of change-ups to experience.

CVG

Galaxy also plays around with gravity and physics like no Mario game before it. You'll flip gravity to navigate giant block mazes, use a planet's gravity to propel yourself to a new platform and shoot into the stars...no matter where you run or jump gravity will twist and pull you towards the planet, allowing you to run all the way around it and even jump to other planets by hopping into their gravitational pull... It's not as revolutionary as Mario 64, but it certainly re-defines what we expect from a 3D platformer.

Eurogamer

It's simply an explosion of inventiveness - a total rejection of the cookie-cutter. There's almost no way of knowing when you go into a level what it's going to look like, what you'll need to do, or how long it will take. One star will be a cheeky diversion, the next a five-stage epic of delight and adventure.

Hmm... what can you say to all these near perfect reviews? Something cheesy. Like, Houston, your Mario Galaxy has landed on the Wii. No, actually that's horrible. But we'll leave it up as an example of what never to say when talking about the game.

Super Mario Galaxy

Mario, who was created by Japanese Nintendo game-designer Shigeru Miyamoto, is more than just a video game character; he is a cultural phenomenon.

Even if you've never played a video game, have no clue what a joystick is, and the term "duck hunt" means little more to you than men in cammo, you know who Mario is. And whether you'll admit it or not, you probably even know his theme song.

For more than 25 years, this little overall-clad Italian plumber and his brother, Luigi, have graced the screens of arcade machines, living room televisions and portable hand-held game sets throughout the world, bounding through sewer systems, jungles, and now, with this week's release of the newest version for the Nintendo Wii -- Super Mario Galaxy -- outer space.
Mario, who was created by Japanese Nintendo game-designer Shigeru Miyamoto, is more than just a video game character; he is a cultural phenomenon.

In 1981, when Mario first hopped on to the screen at your local arcade, he was known as Jumpman because, well, that's how he got around. The game centered on an enormous angry ape called Donkey Kong, with whom Jumpman shared the video game's storyline.

His mission was to rescue a girl who was taken hostage by Donkey Kong. The game went on to become the third most popular game of the decade and is regarded as the most difficult video game in history. Popular as Donkey Kong was, bigger things were on the horizon for Mario.

In 1982, Jumpman was renamed Mario and appeared in the sequel to Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. And in 1983, Mario was given his own game, "Mario Brothers."

Initially, the game met with little fanfare. By the mid 1980s, the once indestructible arcade revolution that had generated billions of dollars had reached its peak, and looked as if it was headed toward an inevitable "Game Over," taking Mario along with it.

But that all changed in 1985, when the first Nintendo Entertainment System was released. This new magic box brought the power and graphics of upright arcade games into living rooms and bedrooms across the world. And the game that came with every Nintendo was "Super Mario Brothers." While its "hero saves damsel" storyline was nothing new, "Super Mario Brothers" single-handedly revolutionized video games, breaking all sales records with more than 40 million copies. "Super Mario Brothers" was so popular that it still holds the title of the top-selling game of all time.

Super Mario Galaxy On Wii Scores Big

We all knew that Super Mario Galaxy was going to be a huge game on the Nintendo Wii, but no one expected it to get these types of scores from critics as well as popularity from the consumers.

Super Mario Galaxy has 97 Metacritic points making it the highets rated next-gen game out there right now.

Super Mario Galaxy is even topping the likes of Halo 3 as well as Call of Duty 4.

The game released in Japan last week and has managed to sell over 250,000 units over there already. It is releasing in North America this week.

There have been few review scores which have given Super Mario Galaxy below a near-perfect score and this Metacritic points score proves it. Whether or not Super Mario Galaxy will be as big of a hit in retail in North America as it was with critics remains to be seen, but it surely may move some Wii units this holiday season

Super Mario Galaxy Creates Reason To Blow Dust Off Wii

Now, while I’ve certainly had my fun bashing the PS3, I’ve had even MORE fun bashing the Nintendo Wii, which has consistently made me wonder why I got so damn excited about Wii Sports in the first place. You and I both know that the system hasn’t had a good game since Twilight Princess (ed note: Paper Mario, FTW), and the company has teased gamers for awhile now with their next big first party titles that wouldn’t be coming out for months. (And first party games are honestly all the system has to offer—and please don’t send me any lists of third party games that are already out but suck. I know those games already and they blow).

But now, one of the most highly anticipated games of the year is coming out tomorrow, and gosh dernit, I’m actually super psyched to do some Wii-mote twirling again.

Super Mario Galaxy, that globe trotting adventure that sees Mario jettisoning to distant planets all in the quest to recover those precious, precious stars, looks like a real gem of a game that harkens back to Super Mario Bros. 3 if anything. Its huge quest, outfit changing ensemble, and all around colorful gameplay already makes me crave the thrill of what it was like to be a kid again with nothing to do on a Friday night but play a Mario game and eat Tombstone pizza on the floor.
Super Mario Sunshine, which was good, but basically just Mario 64 with a water gun). The whole shift in gravity affects Mario’s very own sense of jumping, and if you know Mario, then you’ll know how much the art of the jump has played a part in the series since, jeez, Donkey Kong! (And if you’ll recall, Mario was actually aptly called, Jumpman back then).

Also of awesomeness is how immense the game is claimed to be. Sure, you have to collect 120 stars again (What else is new?), but unlike Mario’s past 3D adventures, Luigi is actually in this game, too. That’s right, beat Bowser with Mario and prepare for an all new quest of “Your Princess is in another castle,” with the slimmer, trimmer brother.

Honestly, I haven’t been this excited about a game since Eternal Darkness, and I was REALLY excited about that game (and it delivered on all fronts).

Pick it up tomorrow if you can. I hear some retailers are actually pushing it back the to 14th.

Mario Galaxy sells 250k in first week

The long-awaited Wii title outsells most of the rest of the top ten

Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii has rocketed into the Japanese software chart at number one, selling over a quarter of a million units in its first week on sale, according to the latest data from Media Create.

That represents a number that's almost equal to the rest of the top ten put together, despite Ace Combat 6 entering the chart at number two, and Final Fantasy Tactics A2 continuing to sell well.

The Xbox 360 flying action game sold 77,000 units, and was one of three titles in the top 30 for Microsoft's platform, otherwise dominated for the most part by DS, which accounted for over half of titles.

The full list is as follows:

1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
2. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (360)
3. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
4. Super Robot Wars Scramble Commander the 2nd (PS2)
5. DS Literature Collection (DS)
6. DS Nishimura Kyotarou Suspense Detective Series: Deadly Intent (DS)
7. Wii Sports (Wii)
8. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (DS)
9. World Soccer Winning Eleven DS: Goal to Goal (DS)
10. Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon: Time Expedition Party (DS)

Secret Super Mario Galaxy character exposed

A secret, playable character in Galaxy has been discovered and all the spoiler-filled details have been made known.

The official Super Mario Galaxy strategy guide has revealed that upon completion of the plumber's forthcoming outer space adventure, players will be able to take control of a secret character. A scan, containing all the details of the spoiler, is available below.

Click here for spoiler

The secret character's only playable, as the scan above explains, once all 120 stars have been acquired, once all purple coin missions have been completed and once Bowser has been defeated for a second time.

Source: Aussie Nintendo

Super Mario Galaxy Japanese Retail Copy

Before popping in Super Mario Galaxy this afternoon, I had to dust my Nintendo Wii. Besides the occasional Wii Sports game, the machine hasn't gotten much use. It's kinda just sat there in the living room, waiting for games — not mini-games, but games. After an unnecessarily long drought, the games are finally starting to hit. Third party-wise Zack & Wiki, which is fantastic, dropped, and today sees the release of Super Mario Galaxy in Japan.

Played through the game a far bit with Crecente at this year's E3. The Wii-mote controls were tight, the graphics were great and the game was a helluva good time. With this being the first console game in the Mario series since 2002, SMG has been written up in detail after every public showing — more so recently with the actual game in demo kiosks across America. Yes, the Wii-mote controls are still tight, the graphics are still great and, yes, it's still a helluva good time. Well, once you begin the adventure part. Everything leading up to that is a bit of a drag.

Like others I'm sure, my earliest gaming memories were of Mario jumping on turtles and throwing fire. Mario was doing stuff. So, when I pop in a Mario game, I want to do things, which is probably why I've never been into titles like talk-heavy Super Mario RPG or Paper Mario, regardless how wonderful those games are. Mario as a platformer made a deep impression on me as a kid (and the entire industry). Not so interested in what Mario has to say! Would rather have the little guy jump around, throw fire and hop on turtles. So, SMGis that in space! Sign me up.

And once you get to that part, it's grand. However, as anyone who has played the game can attest, there's about 10~15 of cut scenes and dialogue. Great, so there's a comet passing over the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser takes Peach to space, some lady named "Rosetta" ("Rosalina" in English) helps Mario, blah, blah. Do. Not. Care. It's two~three minutes of exposition dragged out to a length three or four times that, followed by a separate tutorial that seems overdone. And yes, the cut scenes are pretty, but who plays Mario games for cut scenes? The first ten minutes were unnecessary, dull and not fun. But once you clear that, damn is this game fantastic.

Source: Kotaku

Super Mario Galaxy leaked weeks early?

Warning, this story (or elements of this story) may or may not be true. Regardless, it's almost worth reading this great big Pandora's box of silly over at game board megalopolis NeoGAF, if only to ogle the blurry photo of the allegedly leaked disc (did these guys get their digital cameras out of a cereal box?). Oh, and if you're willing to brave the dialogical effluvia (Warning #2, above link may contain strong language), to have a look at some of the most "creative" Mario avatars going.

News site Evil Avatar -- where I first noticed the story courtesy GameTab -- isn't hedging any bets. They pulled their summary for reasons unknown after reporting the leak and citing Qj.net (who in turn cite "reports from the NeoGAF forum") concerning an EB Games employee who may have leaked the game using an in-store demo copy. The Qj.net story is still up, as is this abstrusely sourced entry at PS3News.com.

A demo copy? Huh?

According to Qj.net, the Nintendo store demo has a 10-minute time restriction, but that 10-minute limit only applies when played on a store's proprietary demo machine (don't ask me how or why, unless it's simply a hardwired kiosk reset). Plug the game into a consumer-grade Wii, however, and surprise! It rather astonishingly plays the entire game.

Counter-claims affirm the leak is real, but that the pirated copy throws errors. Said counter-claims are just a couple anonymous message boarders, i.e. survey says consult your magic eight-ball for verification about any of this. (I'll chime in again if/when my Nintendo contact gets back to me.)

If it is true, of course, it's a fairly devastating three-weeks-early blow to Nintendo. If it's not, it's an amusing example of (a) terrific viral marketing, (b) internet hype, or (c) some serendipitous collision of both.

Super Mario Galaxy ships to stores on November 12.

Source: PCWorld Blog

Update - Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy hitting retailers in the next four weeks or so, the creative brains behind the project recently discussed the game in the Creator's Voice bringing with them new videos and an orgasmic orchestrated theme.



Game Orchestral Music Recording



Source: Wii japan site