The Super Mario Marathon that we posted about yesterday pulled in $10,645 to this point, and they are still going, for childs play. Congrats to them and good luck to there continued success. Below is the rundown of what they have accomplished so far.

Friday, June 27
3 pm to 3:17 — Super Mario Brothers begun and beaten. Four lives lost in 17 minutes.
3:17 pm to 3:50 pm — Super Mario Brothers 2 begun and beaten. Four lives lost in 23 minutes.
3:50 pm to 5:27 pm — Super Mario Brothers 3 begun and beaten. “A ton” of lives lost in 1 hour, 37 minutes.
5:35 pm to 6:23 pm — Super Mario World begun and beaten. 4 lives lost in 48 minutes.
6:23 pm — Super Mario 64 begun

Saturday, June 28
5:47 am — Super Mario 64 beaten, 122 lives lost in 11 hours, 10 minutes
6:02 am to 8:41 pm — Super Mario Sunshine begun and beaten, 127 lives lost in 14 hours, 39 minutes.
9:09 pm — Super Mario Galaxy begun.

Sunday, June 29
2:42 pm — Super Mario Galaxy beaten, 232 lives lost in 17 hours, 31 minutes.
Combined: 47 hours, 42 minutes, 524 plus “a lot” of lives lost.

UPDATE:The Marathon is over and the final tally is $11,142.50.

Check Out Thee Official Site HERE

Link

Wired: You said you get your inspiration for your games from hobbies and parts of your life. Give me an example of where an idea for a game came from.

Miyamoto: Well, I think in the end I could say that my inspiration comes basically from my own interests. So, for a concrete example, Nintendogs was a game where that came about because of the joy and the fun that I discovered in the different aspects of raising and training a dog. Now, in the cases of Super Mario Galaxy, again, not so much a hobby but coming from my interests, looking at kind of the joy of discovery and surprise in the creation of kind of maybe an Escher-like world where you have strange angles and things like that, as well as kind of the different types of fun you can have playing with the effects of gravity. So, those are not necessarily hobbies, per se, but things that interest me.

Thompson: Where exactly did the idea for Donkey Kong come from?

Miyamoto: Actually, when I’m designing a game, I start with the game system. So, Donkey Kong was based kind of on this idea of almost like a collage where you have a defined area, and you would essentially within that area be able to paste — and this is in terms of the graphics.  Within that area, you’ve got specific elements that you’re pasting in there. The game system of Donkey Kong was the idea of you’re in this square, which of course is defined by the TV screen. And, originally the idea was that it’s a maze that you’re moving around in. And so in thinking of what types of art or graphics would go well in terms of representing this movement around kind of a maze, the idea was, well, if we have something big that you’re working toward, that serves as a clear objective. And so something big, a gorilla, gorillas are big, that would be a good point on screen.

Read More »

Partnership with Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation Brings Fun Centers with Wii Consoles to Hospitals Nationwide

REDMOND, Wash., June 24, 2008 � Determined to help lift the spirits of seriously ill children and their families, Nintendo of America Inc. and Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation have committed to placing hundreds of popular Fun Centers, now featuring Wii� game systems, in hospitals across the United States and Canada this year. Nintendo of America is manufacturing 1,250 new Fun Centers in their first run, and Starlight expects to have about 500 of them placed in hospitals by the end of the year. In a continuation of the organizations’ 16-year partnership, the portable Fun Centers with the new Wii technology will be enjoyed by thousands of hospitalized kids.

Read More »

Portly plumber Mario can lay claim to being the greatest gaming icon of all time, beating off stiff competition from the likes of Master Chief, Solid Snake, Lara Croft and Sonic the Hedgehog in GAME.co.uk’s Greatest Games of All Time vote and securing an impressive 11% of the overall top 100.

His 1995 Super Mario 64 at number 5 is his highest ranked title, while other Mario games in the top 25 include Mario Kart Wii at number 13, the beloved NES (and later SNES) platformer Super Mario Bros. 3 at 16 and the stunning Nintedo Wii game Super Mario Galaxy at 21.

In comparison, arch-rival Sonic the Hedgehog’s best entry is at number 19, while only three Sonic titles made the cut, one of which, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, also stars the moustachioed, squeaky-voiced Nintendo mascot.
Read More »

German, Spanish, Swedish software sales – Week ending June 8th
June 17th, 2008

Germany

* 1.Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
* 2.Wii Fit (Wii)
* 3.Mass Effect (PC )
* 4.Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (PC)
* 5.Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)
* 6.Lego Indiana Jones : The Original Adventures (PS2)
* 7.Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
* 8.Grand Theft Auto IV (360)
* 9.Race Driver Grid (PS3)
* 10.Wii Play (Wii)

Spain

* 1.Wii Play (Wii)
* 2.Mario Kart (Wii)
* 3.Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (PS3)
* 4.Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)
* 5.Ninja Gaiden II (360)
* 6.Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
* 7.Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS2)
* 8. Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (360)
* 9.Big Brain Academy (Wii)
* 10.Race Driver: Grid (PS3)

Sweden

* 1.Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (PS2)
* 2.Mass Effect (PC)
* 3.Ninja Gaiden II (360)
* 4.Grand Theft Auto IV (360)
* 5.Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)
* 6.Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
* 7.Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2)
* 8.Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures (PC)
* 9.FIFA 08 (PS2)
* 10.Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii)

Link

I just received an email concerning a Mario Marathon for charity. Here is a little about it:

The event, beginning June 27th, will see the team play through 22 years of Super Mario titles, beginning
with 1985’s “Super Mario Bros” and ending some days later with the Nintendo Wii’s latest Mario adventure,
“Super Mario Galaxy”. They estimate the event will last nearly 60 hours, during which they hope to attract
a large internet audience.

I am all for charity and gaming. Put them together, what a mighty fine marriage. We will post the live stream here, when it starts, we may even put up a link to it so you can keep track of it through out the weekend. Remember this is a donation event, so please i feel free to donate. All donations go towards Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play Charity.

Here are just “Some” of the stats you can find with the new feture of the Nintendo Channel:

Super Mario Galaxy – played 5 million times at 25 hours per person.

Lostwinds – played 48,689 times at 3.4 hours per person.

Wii Sports – played 24 million hours at 33 hours per person. 21 million times played with 28 times per person

Japanese stats:

Wii Fit: Duration 20:37, 20.26 sessions
Wii Sports: Duration 30:00, over 28.44 sessions

Zelda 3: Duration 9:44, over 7.51 sessions (21,282 registered sales)
Zelda TP: Duration 50:10, over 21.36 sessions

No More Heroes: Duration 10:44, over 5.12 sessions

RE4 Wii: Duration 33:23, over 15.41 sessions
Umbrella Chronicles: Duration 14:54, over 8.61 sessions

Dr. Mario WiiWare: Duration 14:09, over 9.24 sessions (13,931 registered sales)
FF:CC My Life As A King: Duration 21:14, over 8.89 sessions (33,810 registered sales)
Star Soldier R: Not enough data/Data withheld

Everyone’s Pokemon Farm: Duration 8:03, over 17.98, but… 44,779 registered sales

VC sales information:

Read More »

1 Call of Duty 4 (Multiformat)
2 Zelda Ocarina of Time (N64)
3 Final Fantasy VII (PSone)
4 Grand Theft Auto IV (Multiformat)
5 Super Mario 64 (N64)
6 007 Goldeneye (N64)
7 Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
8 Metal Gear Solid (PSone)
9 Half Life 2 (Multiformat)
Read More »