This is the original Japanese commercial for Super Mario Bros. It’s really odd conceiving that the appeal of Super Mario Bros. once had to be spelled out and pitched to people to get their interest.

It’s also weird because I don’t think Super Mario Bros. ever had a television commercial outside of Japan, and even when the NES came out in the US, none of the commercials from the launch period drew attention to SMB (it actually wasn’t a launch day game in the US!) and as far as I know it wasn’t even mentioned until later sets came out that included it.

The first screenshot is from New Super Mario Bros. Wii for Wii.

The second is from New Super Mario Bros. U for Wii U.

I’m quite sure that most of the critics claiming that there isn’t a clear graphical improvement between these two games, and panning New Super Mario Bros. U for supposedly having “the exact same graphics” as its console predecessor either isn’t paying attention, or simply decided in advance to be unimpressed by this game, and possibly the Wii U console in general.

Too bad it’s not real.

No game.

Screw you.

Mario Kart turns twenty years old this week.

I play as Luigi, or Koopa when he’s available.

I actually don’t like the original Super Mario Kart or Mario Kart Super Circuit.

People go off on me when I say this and accuse me of just disliking the games because of their graphics being less advanced than other games in the series.

I played these games WHEN THEY WERE NEW. I don’t like the way the karts steer, the crazy rotation the camera does while it’s steering, and the way the race only takes up the upper half of the screen in Super Mario Kart.

I can’t believe what a good job they did making this ad look like it came from a gaming magazine in the mid 1990’s.

MIDNIGHT TONIGHT…

I still think New Super Mario World would have been a better name.

New Super Mario Bros. U sounds like I should get some kind of certification in princess rescuing for beating it.

I hoped for A. In fact I’ve been daydreaming about a Mario game resembling this specific piece of fanart for over a year.

Nintendo reveals B at E3 2012.

Not bad.

Beat Super Mario 3D Land a few minutes ago. That last confrontation with Bowser cost me 25 or so extra guys. No, I never used the “help” boxes. I did it all legit.

This game all on its own salvaged my evening, or rather my entire day. Especially with the neat surprise you get after the credits roll.

This is one of the “postcards” you can unlock in the game that they actually let you keep and post online via the 3DS browser.

I don’t know why, but something about the Goombas in this artwork I find oddly endearing.

It’s Mario!

I don’t know why, but I REALLY love this image and every version of it, especially the clay-like logotype on the title.

This seems to be the “full” version.

It reminds me of art for View Master reels that tried to accentuate the depth of the images on the packaging.

I’m still hardcore spoiler free on both Super Mario 3D Land and Skyward Sword, I haven’t even glanced at any post E3 2011 screenshots or trailers. I basically know nothing about either game that can’t be inferred from the info released at E3 2011.

I love the Super Mario 3D Land boxart.

I particularly dig the logotype. It looks almost like clay.

Also, I turned away during all the Zelda Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3D Land footage form last night’s media briefing. I’m the sort who likes every little thing possible to be a surprise.

I can’t understand why some gamers these days, who are generally well into adulthood, are whining that Super Mario is “old and stale” or “needs to be retired” or that every sequel title that comes out is a “rehash” regardless of what new ideas, themes, or mechanics are added to differentiate it from earlier games in the franchise.

NEWS FLASH: When you play the same game in the same franchise and genre for upwards of a decade, there’s a good chance the titles are going to start to feel repetitive or like little is changing as you grow older.

Generally the games I see get this sort of heat are cartoony games such as Super Mario that are aimed primarily at children.

As offensive as it may be for some people to hear this, Super Mario Galaxy 2 or the upcoming Super Mario 3D Land is not going to be the eleventh or twelfth Mario game its target audience will have played. More likely it may be their third or even fourth.

Mario and Mickey Mouse both have a lot in common as,

A. Their adventures tend to be charming, well made, and entertaining.

B. THEY WILL ALWAYS BE NEW KIDS TO ENJOY MICKEY/MARIO WHEN THE OLDER ONES LOSE INTEREST

In other words, there’s a revolving door audience of children who won’t be sick of experiencing a modernized or updated version what an older person has already experienced a thousand times already.

A good kid-friendly video game however, unlike a kid-friendly cartoon, tends to retain its audience well beyond childhood. So while Disney can keep making Mickey Mouse toons with fairly similar plots and action and kids will be happy; with Mario for instance we have adults who’ve played Mario games since childhood ragging on Nintendo for “rehashing old concepts and mechanics” in Mario games, meanwhile the actual target audience who might have played their first Mario game within the last decade is perfectly satisfied.

No, this isn’t a matter of Nintendo “pandering to children who don’t know any better”, its a matter of some adult gamers taking something too seriously that’s not meant to be approached as anything other than an interactive cartoon-like experience.

Then there’s the gamers who will take me calling Super Mario a “children’s cartoon” as an insult, but that’s for a different rant.