The move echoes a similar effort by Microsoft last month, which saw the company link up with NHL vet Pat LaFontaine's foundation Companions in Courage to bring hundreds of Xbox 360 kiosks to children's hospitals in the US. According to a statement, Nintendo plans to manufacture some 1,250 new Fun Center kiosks as part of the partnership, with the charity hoping to have around 500 of these in hospitals by the end of 2008. The first pair of Fun Centers will be donated later today to the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles during what Nintendo describes as a Super Mario Galaxy-themed launch event, while Mario will also be on hand, no doubt to discourage Bowser from crashing the party.
Nintendo, Starlight partner to help sick kids
The move echoes a similar effort by Microsoft last month, which saw the company link up with NHL vet Pat LaFontaine's foundation Companions in Courage to bring hundreds of Xbox 360 kiosks to children's hospitals in the US. According to a statement, Nintendo plans to manufacture some 1,250 new Fun Center kiosks as part of the partnership, with the charity hoping to have around 500 of these in hospitals by the end of 2008. The first pair of Fun Centers will be donated later today to the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles during what Nintendo describes as a Super Mario Galaxy-themed launch event, while Mario will also be on hand, no doubt to discourage Bowser from crashing the party.
Call of Duty 4 dubbed game of the year at Interactive Achievement Awards
The Orange Box's Portal made off with some shiny statuettes, as did fake instrument extravaganza, Rock Band. Super Mario Galaxy was deemed the best "adventure" game in absence of a "platformer" category (a sad commentary in itself), while Assassin's Creed got a hearty stab pat on the back for its fancy animation. The complete list of winners can be found after the break -- a list of whiners is sure to follow shortly.
Read [PDF link]
Continue reading Call of Duty 4 dubbed game of the year at Interactive Achievement Awards
Joystiq's Top 10 of 2007: Super Mario Galaxy
And the Good Egg Galaxy and Flipswitch Galaxy were the first day. And we said, "This control scheme is alright." And we captured stars and struggled with the camera: and it was so. And we called the game fun.
And the Honeyhive Galaxy, Loopdeeloop Galaxy and Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor were the second day. And we said, Dear God please do we really have to use faulty controls and race through a crappy Wave Race clone to get one frackin' star? And we persevered through and got the star. And we said the Bee Suit was cute and honey climbing was fun. And the camera decided to change our flight path and we kept falling off the level; and we saw that it was frustrating.
Continue reading Joystiq's Top 10 of 2007: Super Mario Galaxy
NYTimes names Mass Effect game of the year
Speaking of unambitious, for the second time in less than a month the New York Times copyeditors took a nap (albeit a minor one) on a video game-related story, which is slowly becoming inappropriate in covering an $18 billion-plus industry. There's no telling when reporter Seth Schiesel submitted his copy for this piece, but E3 2008 was already confirmed for the Los Angeles Convention Center last Tuesday, so the article's suggestion that "the solution for [E3] next year can be summed up in one word (or is that two?): Las Vegas" is just about 1,000 New York minutes behind the times.
Super Mario Galaxy DS video a hoax
About ten days ago, we got our first glimpse of a video showing a downloadable, Nintendo DS version of Super Mario Galaxy, supposedly hidden inside the Wii version of the game. We watched with rapt attention as the shaky-cam footage showed Mario and Luigi jumping from the Wii to the DS using a previously unknown, hidden galaxy and the DS' WiFi download capabilities. We were surprised to see low-resolution versions of Mario and Luigi running around low-resolution versions of familiar Mario Galaxy levels. We were shocked and hopeful when the video promised each DS star would be redeemable for 10 Wii shop points.
We weren't ready to definitively declare the video real or fake at the time, but now, after some digging, we're ready to set the record straight on this hoax. Read on for our evidence and thoughts on the matter.
Miyamoto: 'Ratchet & Clank' who? Lombax what?
Time magazine names Halo 3 game of the year
The next two spots on the Time list are held by The Orange Box and Rock Band, with both games getting their spots for presenting a bunch of things in one package. Rounding out the top five are Super Mario Galaxy and BioShock. With any luck, BioShock won't be missing from many mainstream lists just because it came out more than a month ago. Heck, we're hoping it doesn't get forgotten on a lot of industry lists.
Witness Super Mario Galaxy's deepest secrets
Super-super-super long jumps? Homing butt stomps? Freezing enemies with your best friend? All of these strategies are yours for the taking in Super Mario Galaxy! The spoiler-tastic video above shows off some neat tricks and glitches from Mario's latest 3D outing.
Some are more useful than others, and at least one reveals one of the game's biggest surprises, so those who haven't completed Galaxy should click with caution.
MTV muses on gaming with girlfriends/boyfriends
Although things start well with sharing the game -- switching off every other planet, and dividing play-time equally -- the plan goes a bit haywire when she visits home for Thanksgiving, and her beau just keeps on playing... and beats the game without her.
Of course, we think the answer is obvious: separate save files for separate people. Single-player games are hard to turn into shared experiences, especially when both parties desire equal play-time. Read about Katie's upsetting experience on gaming with a significant other, and share your own success/horror stories below.
GameTrailers compares Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Sunshine
Bad news, friends of the Lumas. After an extra week of reviews, Super Mario Galaxy has slipped to the number two spot on GameRankings, returning a certain ocarina-wielding Hylian to his long-held number one spot.
To commemorate the super-duper astroplumber's brief stint as king of all videogames, GameTrailers has whipped up a graphical comparison between Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Sunshine, the last of the home console Mario games. It's common knowledge that the Wii is just two Gamecubes duct taped together, does this mean Galaxy equals two Sunshines? You tell us.
Joystiq Holidaze: The $500 budget
In other, less interesting words, this is how we think you should spend your precious $500 (pre-tax for simplicity's sake) on the trio of current consoles. You know, the ones that are still expensive. In conjunction with our Black Friday deal round-up, you might just be left with some change.
Super Mario Galaxy soars with 500k units sold in US first week
The critical acclaim would seem to say that Super Mario Galaxy deserves all the sales it's getting. We also know that Galaxy sold 250k units its first week in Japan. Oh Mario, you just know how to print money.
Assassin's Creed tops UK charts
In other fastest-selling title news, Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy managed a number five spot, flying off shelves faster than any other Wii title before it. But what of the games in-between the portly plumber and the murderous flag gatherer? The aforementioned Call of Duty 4 wound up in second place, The Simpsons Game in third and WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008 in fourth.
Super Mario Galaxy highest rated game of all time
While all it would take is one less-than-flattering review to knock the game from its pedestal, we're sure Mario's position on top of the dog pile is enough to give Wii owners and Nintendo fanboys something to gloat about. That is, until M&M's Kart Racing inevitably seizes the throne.
[Thanks, Rubang B]
Mario brings his sexy back at 'Galaxy' launch party
The ringleader was too disoriented to command the crowd, perhaps punchy (it gets hot in those suits) as he latched on to an attractive mom. Urged by the DJ to bring his sexy back, we couldn't fault Mario for his diverted interest. But is it really cougar hunting season already?