We expect that most of you are at least several hours deep into Super Mario Galaxy, smiling with each new discovery and throwback detail. The more dedicated among you have delved in much further, biting right into the tootsie pop to feast on its chocolate center like Mr. Owl and his ruthless beak.
Our question today: How many stars have you so far collected in Super Mario Galaxy? Are you the shame of your neighborhood, having rounded up only a few in your journey? Or are you on the cusp of attaining all 120? Don't forget that if you're having trouble finding these shiny balls of plasma, you can always turn to Hardcore Gamer Magazine'svideo guides!
Having trouble getting all the stars you need to advance in Super Mario Galaxy? Hardcore Gamer Magazine has put together a near-complete collection of videos demonstrating the best ways to tackle each stage and earn your stars. This long list of clips takes you all the way from Dino Piranha to the final stage!
Sure, watching the tutorials ruins the fun of the game's exploration and figuring stuff out on your own, but we understand that some of you just want to get to the next galaxy to see what's waiting for you over there. If there's a particular group of planets holding you up, look to these videos for help!
Posted Jun 28th 2007 9:45AM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
This is yetanother confirmation of what every gamer has been waiting for since the first time we saw the Wii controller. At the Hollywood & Games Summit, panel moderator N'Gai Croal asked LucasArts president Jim Ward about the possibility of a Wii lightsaber game.
Ward's response was very encouraging. "We're all over that, and internally we have already played a lightsaber game on the Wii. It's a lot of fun, and we'll get there." He went on to say that "some stuff" would be out this fall. Start practicing your blind Force-guided waggling now.
Dude, we had no idea pachinko was so cool! We knew Japan was all into it, but we always thought it was some boring gambling thing. Turns out it's all a bunch of big people with huge chest muscles beating the crap out of each other in a post-apocalyptic wasteland! Man, when that guy punched the other guy like a hundred times really fast, that was some awesome pachinko! And then the other guy like exploded into a beam of yellow light! And the cool pachinko music was playing, and it totally got us pumped about pachinko!
We know the graphics aren't totally next-gen (look at the cardboard hair), but it must be super tough to render realistic pachinko visuals! We are going to buy Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken WiiRIGHT. NOW. We're totally ready for some pachinko mayhem! Watch the totally cool pachinko video after the break, and you'll feel the same way! PACHINKOOOOOO!
Posted May 17th 2007 11:35AM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
Another Western developer has signed on to make Wii games-- hopefully they can get the funding to make some original ones. WayForward mostly makes licensed stuff these days, of undetermined quality (we haven't had a chance to test GBA Unfabulous), but they are also responsible for the excellent Game Boy Color platformer Shantae and the clever GBA shooter Sigma Star Saga. Also Ping Pals, but let's not talk about that.
WayForward has actually had a Wii development kit since last year (they got access to some early pre-release duct tape) and they've been doing research and development since then. We know the licenses are coming, but we're really hoping that WayForward will have the time and resources to do some original stuff too.
No word if this is a real issue or a NeoGAF freakout, but if the perfect beauty of one of your Virtual Console games is in danger, it's our solemn duty to report on it. What is known is that Nintendo has issued an updated version of StarFox 64. What isn't known is what it does.
NeoGAFfer Nuclear Muffin (judging by the name, a level-headed character) reported that after downloading the update this morning, he found the game slowing down in the same way the original Nintendo 64 version. Again, no idea if this is true, or if it's a delusion created by someone trying to find an effect of this update, but it's terrifying if true.
Normally, we're all about accurate presentation of emulated games, but we have no problem with Nintendo fixing the resolution and speed of N64 games, because they totally need it. We really hope they haven't decided to unfix it.
Nintendo of Japan has put up a teaser page for its next big Wii release, Super Paper Mario. Considering that the US release date (4/09) is a week and a half earlier than Japan's, we're not sure which to blame for why their official site came up before North America's -- our laziness or their industriousness.
Along with the standard story and cast previews, there are three gameplay videos, with nine more promised. The movie clip showing what happens when Mario gets a star is definitely worth a watch. We've really grown fond of seeing the giant plumber kick aside warp pipes ever since he picked up the habit in New Super Mario Bros.
Keep an eye on the site as there are still two unrevealed sections. With the game's release being only a few weeks away, they won't be able to hold onto those last bits of hidden info for too long!
We brought you the story that an EA producer was not given access to Mii code for My Sims, and that according to him, no third parties were. The situation seems to have changed, because Sega Sammy is using the little guys and gals in its Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii. It's not the most exciting implementation of Miis, with no Fist of the North Star-style makeovers or actual in-game avatars-- in fact, it consists mainly of a Mii portrait tied to a character profile.
The game uses Nintendo Wi-fi as well, but for online rankings, which hardly counts as online play. We aren't ready to call that an implementation of third-party online play yet.
Coming from a licensed pachinko game, proof that it is possible for third parties to use Miis. Sega does what E ... Ain't?
We might sound sarcastic, but we're happy to see different kinds of games come to the Wii. This latest title from Sega Sammy is a collection of pachinko and pachislot (pachinko plus slot machine) simulations, called (deep breath!) Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii (Fighting Pachinko/Pachislot Victory Way! Sammy's Collection Fist of the North Star Wii).
It's based on the same popular Sega Sammy pachinko games that have been released on the DS, PS2, and PSP, and contains a bundle of pachinko and pachislot boards. And, of course, it carries the license of the classic, brutalFist of the North Star manga and anime series.
This one is interesting for the same reason a lot of Wii games are: Wiimote controls. Apparently, you can use the Wiimote steering-wheel style to control the speed of the dropping balls. We admire the novel Wiimote use! It also has online ranking, in case competition motivates your pachinko-playing.
Jissen Pachinko/Pachislot Hisshouhou! Sammy's Collection Hokuto no Ken Wii (Fighting Pachinko/Pachislot Victory Way! Sammy's Collection Fist of the North Star Wii) comes out on May 24th in Japan, and probably never anywhere else. Any pachinko fans here? Do any of you import these kinds of things?
So, you folks over across the Atlantic pond, you have a bit of a step up on us statesiders. You know, except for those exorbitant prices. Anyway, when you purchase wonderful Nintendo products, you may redeem your purchases for "star points", which can then be used to obtain various wallpapers and doodads.
Recently, Nintendo revealed that these star points would be redeemable for Virtual Console points, but the conversation rate was not yet specified. However, German mag N-Gamer has apparently uncovered the secret, and come up with a less than satisfying rate: 4 to 1. Since DS games are occasionally offered for around 4500 star points (DS games are typically around 45 Euros), that means approximately 100 star points per Euro. This amount of star points, under a 4:1 rate, would purchase 1125 VC points. If you simply used 45 Euros to purchase VC points directly, however, you could get over four thousand.
Yeah, it sucks, but at least it's an option if you've got nothing else to grab. Be sure to grab it soon, too: Nintendo Europe has recently stated that star points have an expiration date of twelve months.
While checking out the Wii Forecast channel, keen observer Josef Faulkner noted that the star formations pictured looked very much like true-to-life constellations. In fact, he found that they were, going so far as to identify such constellations as Ursa Major and Orion.
Sounds great, but we want to know about gamers in other parts of the world. Do the star formations dynamically change depending on region?
A recent scan from the Japanese magazine Nikkei Business shows a few of the very early prototype controllers for the Wii. The far left version is certainly closest to the final product, though perhaps more TV remote-like. The lower-right shows a Gamecube-like controller that doubles as a throwing disc for your dog, and the upper-right shows some sort of twist-mechanism device. But the center? What in the world could that have been used for? Certainly, Nintendo's mantra of simplicity is effective, but a one-button wonder could hardly have managed Twilight Princess, we think.
After the hundreds of fan-made controllers that were going around the web pre-TGS '05, it's interesting to see what Nintendo themselves were dreaming up. Anyone think of something similar?
Well, Nintendo sort of promised us Virtual Console updates on Mondays, and no, they technically didn't lie. Late last night, Nintendo added a single new game, Super Star Soldier (of TurboGrafx-16 fame), available for 600 points. For those of you who aren't familiar with the title (you know ... everyone), Super Star Soldier is a vertically scrolling arcade shooter, resplendent with eight whole stages and seven whole bosses. There are even two-minute and five-minute time attack modes! Golly!
Cynicism aside, those old 2-D shooters are fan favorites, and may add a lovely bit of retro to your gaming life. Anyone excited? Or just pissed that Nintendo is on its merry way to breaking its ten-game-a-month promise?
Have you been a long-time poster at Joystiq or one of its awesome network-affiliated sites, only to see others have stars placed next to their name (or negatives) and wonder what exactly dictates that rewarding or stripping of star(s)? Well, Joystiq's Vlad Cole has broken down the star system to show you exactly how it works. These guidelines apply to all the Joystiq network sites:
Value: Does the comment enhance the topic at hand and add new perspective to the discussion? Is it a good question or interesting insight?
Impartiality: This is hard, especially for Fanboy sites such as this, but as much as we loudly proclaim this system to be the superior, it detracts from the discussion at hand. It's OK to be touched with Fanboyitis, however try to curb it as best as you can as to not damage the topic at hand whilst commenting.
Civility: This is just common sense. We all have opinions and want to share them, however as human beings we have the ability to exercise civility, even during the most heated debate.
Other: Humor, wit, and bribes of cold, fresh chocolate milk. We like chocolate milk.
As such, these are the guidelines followed when hiring Bloggers for the network (you have no idea how much chocolate milk it took for me to get the job), so keep that in mind should you one day wish to kill me and take my place. Vlad is answering as many questions as he can over at Joystiq, but if you post any questions here, we'll try as best we can to answer.
We expect that most of you are at least several hours deep into Super Mario Galaxy, smiling with each new discovery and throwback detail. The more dedicated among you have delved in much further, biting right into the tootsie pop to feast on its chocolate center like Mr. Owl and his ruthless beak. 
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