The 'Shroom:Issue LXVI
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| Issue LXVI | September 15th, 2012 | About |
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STAFF SECTIONS
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SUB-TEAMS
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MAIN SECTIONS
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A critical analysis of different events during the 65 year history of video games.
[read more]
A look at some of the forgotten or obscure characters of the Mario games.
[read more]
SPECIAL SECTIONS
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Commentary sections from the ones that make the decisions behind the Awards!
[read more]
The winner of Guess The Results! writes a special section for this issue.
[read more]
A report about the Mario Kart 7 tournament that took place during the awards.
[read more]
Director's Notes
Hey 'Shroomers, welcome to Awards Issue LXVI of The 'Shroom! We have several Awards-related sections this month.
We have the Awards Director Election that has begun. If you feel that you are capable of running the committee, consider making a campaign. Otherwise, you might want to consider voting for a campaign that is in the running.
Tucayo (talk) does an overview of the Awards Ceremony this year in his Anniversary Recap! He covers the planning period, the events, and the actual Ceremonies themselves. Please be sure to read this!
Twelve members of the Awards Committee have offered up their opinions on this year's ceremony in the Awards Committee Commentaries! Read up to find out their experiences in the committee, how they felt about this year's show, and suggestions that they might have for next year.
Gamefreak75 (talk) wrote a guest section due to winning the Guess The Results! game held in conjunction with the Awards. Be sure to read it.
The Core Staff felt it would be bad to simply go without honoring the victors at the 'Shroom Awards III Ceremony... And so, we tried our best to give out "physical awards" to those who won the votes in the various categories this year. Congratulations to all of those who won the Awards!
Please be sure to check back next month on October 20th, 2012 for Issue LXVII.
Until next month,
Sub-Director's Notes
There is nothing relevant to say for me this month, so here is a picture of mushrooms instead:
Activity Announcements
Hello all wondrous beauties! I am your Activity Director, Marioguy1, returning from a long break in which I had nothing to do with The 'Shroom. You may have noticed my absence last month as a side effect of said break. However now I am back and we have more activities planned. Well, not actually (or at least we're not revealing any), though we just came out of the awards season and that went excellently as I understand it. I believe this issue has a bit of an awards theme on it as well, if you spare a glance to the special sections.
Sorry if this section isn't as comprehensive as my usual sections are. I'll be back in the activity game with more announcements next month!
Section of the Month
| Section of the Month - Main Team | ||||||||||||
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HI, readers! I'm your hard-working Statistics Manager, Tucayo, and I'll present you the results of our second Main Team Section of The Month. As you surely read in our last issue, due to the several inconsistencies in the process, the Overall SOTM was scraped, leaving us with 6 Sub-Team SOTM winners. As with last month, you can check the rest of the winners in each sub-team's Director's Notes.
This month we got an average of 68 votes and the Main poll got 24 votes. Without more, last month's SOTM winner is none other than Toad85 (talk), going 2-for-2! In his A History of Video Games section he drifted away from Nintendo to tell us the story of another company many of us love, Service Games (AKA SEGA). He even showed us a bizarre ad for SEGA's first video game. Our historian in turn got 45.83% of the votes, runner-up Post-Damage Invincibility (talk) got 20.83% of the votes for his Character Comparison section.
Please remember to come back to vote on the Main SOTM poll, it only takes you a couple of seconds. This month's polls will run until October 13th. Thanks!
Awards Committee Director Election
The Awards Committee Director was a position formerly aqcuired by appointment or succession and with no term limits whatsoever. It has been decided that the Awards Committee will hold annual elections to allow for the community to decide who should run the Awards Show and schedule Anniversary-related events. Every year from this point on, an election for this position will start upon the release of the September issue and will end upon the release of the October issue.
What does the Director do?
The Director of the Awards Committee...
- ...Shall determine the method by which individuals are to be able to join the Committee.
- ...Shall be the official Host of the Mario Awards Ceremony.
- ...Chooses one individual in the community to be the Sub-director (and can either invite this individual to be their runningmate in this campaign or can appoint this individual at the beginning of their term); also appoints the Hosts of each other Ceremony. The Director can then delegate various tasks to these individuals as seen fit.
- ...Directs the Anniversary Planning Meetings that are held during the year and determines the schedule for said meetings.
- ...Decides the date of the Awards and maintains a schedule of events for the celebration.
- ...Maintains a sign-up list for presenters and enforces the rules that are established for presentations.
- ...Creates the polls for the Awards via the PollDaddy software and tallies the results of each poll after one month has passed since the voting period has begun.
- ...Sends the presenters the results for their Award.
- ...Receives presentations from those who have agreed to do one.
- ...Makes the topics for each Ceremony on Awards Day.
- ...Closes the Ceremonies upon the completition of the celebration.
- ...Along with the Awards Committee, considers and permits Special Events held in conjunction with the Anniversary and collaborates with other Super Mario Wiki Community projects.
If you think you might be a suitable candidate for this position, you can enter this election as a candidate.
How do I become the Director?
In order to become the Director of the Awards Committee, you need to be elected by a plurality of voting members of the community. You may become a candidate at any time during this election, except during a potential runoff voting period (which occurs when there are ties).
===Your Name / Potential Runningmate=== Your reasons why you should become the Director. ====Votes====
- You can enter your campaign into the election by filling out this form and posting it below. New campaigns must be listed at the bottom of the page.
- Should you become a candidate, you may opt to have a runningmate (who, should you be elected, will become your Sub-director). However, this is not requisite for a campaign. Should you enlist a runningmate, they must specifically agree to be your runningmate. You may not list somebody without obtaining their permission to do so.
- You can only nominate yourself and a runningmate. Entering another candidate into the election is not permitted, nor is listing a runningmate that has not given consent to such.
- It is suggested that campaigns are designed neatly and with proper grammar, spelling, and coding.
- After your campaign is set, people might add their votes to the Vote section of your campaign. As a user of the Mario Wiki, you have a vote as well, and you are allowed to vote for any candidate (including yourself).
- If you have the plurality of votes at the end of the election period, you will become the new Awards Committee Director. If there are two or more people that tie for having the highest amount of votes, then a runoff election between said candidates will occur. This procedure is called Overtime. If there is still a tie by the end of the new deadline, the election will once again be extended by one week. Overtime continues until one candidate has the highest amount of votes.
- Please take this matter seriously! Joke campaigns and profanity will be removed without warning. Additional steps might be taken against violators of this rule.
How do I vote here?
You can vote by going to the Vote section of a campaign and add this form to it. Remember to replace “Name” with your actual user name.
#{{User|Name}}
Alternatively, a user may cast an anonymous vote by using the form below. Note that people may see who voted anonymously when viewing the page history.
#'''X'''
You can only vote for one person at a time. If the election reaches Overtime and your candidate gets eliminated, you can cast another vote for any of the remaining candidates if you like.
Debates
A question and answer session will take place in #mwikiawards (which can be accessed either from the applet or through Mibbit) on Saturday, September 29th, 2012 at 7:00 PM EST (11:00 PM UTC).- Question & Answer over: Logs
If there are still questions left, feel free to ask one of Mario Wiki's admins.
Candidates
Turboo / Superchao
Hey everybody! This is Turboo, and I have decided to run for the position of Awards Committee Director again since I feel that this past year went well overall. I feel that I am qualified to lead the Committee for a second year and to implement some necessary improvements that will make 2013 even better than this year's ceremony!
As an example, here are some well-received changes that were implemented this past year:
- Changing the distribution of awards from 30 Mario/15 Fail/5 Userpedia/10 'Shroom to 25 Mario/15 Fail/10 Userpedia/10 'Shroom
- Partially outsourcing the Userpedia and 'Shroom polls, allowing for more informed choices
- Quality control on major awards such as the openers, closers, and A9
Experience
- #mwchat Operator
- Director of Mario Awards VI
- Awards Committee member during Mario Awards V
- Major contributor to Mario Awards III
Superchao
For my sub-director, I have chosen Superchao. His voluntary assumption of various management tasks makes him a good choice for the document manager role I intend to assign to the sub-director.
Experience:
- Global Moderator on the Super Mario Boards
- Official Organizer for Mario Awards VI
Plans
- Stricter regulation of the tokens; the TF2 tournament gave out too many, and we would like to prevent such a mishap during next year's ceremony.
- Opening a public suggestion box; with this, people outside of the Awards Committee can suggest potential awards which the committee will then review.
- We will be keeping the awards at a minimum of 60. Whether or not we expand will ultimately be decided by the committee later in the year.
- Due to complaints from several users about inconvenient ceremony timing, we would like to be open to timeslot suggestions this year. Again, whether or not the timeslot is actually changed depends on the committee's consensus.
- As with last year, we do not plan to limit committee sign-ups to a fixed number.
- Meetings will also alternate between Fridays and Saturdays again so they do not clash with the 'Shroom's release schedule.
- All in all, Mario Awards VI went very well and I was proud to be able to direct the Committee that oversaw the ceremonies. I would like to be entrusted with this position once more by the community in order to implement these plans that will make Mario Awards VII even better than the previous one. Thank you all!
Votes
- Raven Effect (talk)
- Super Mario Bros. (talk)
- Freakworld (talk)
- MySweetLord (talk)
- Smasher (talk)
- Lakituthequick (talk)
- Mario4Ever (talk)
- Pyro (talk)
- Bop1996 (talk)
- New Super Yoshi (talk)
- Tucayo (talk)
- Stooben Rooben (talk)
- Gamefreak75 (talk)
- X
Comments
Fake News
Editorial
Hehehe...how did this get here?
Hi guys! Welcome to the Fake News: now 25% more Fake and 60% less radioactive!
The Fake News Section of the Month for August goes to...
MrConcreteDonkey (talk)'s Shop Scout, with 88 votes! Runners-up were Pyro (talk)'s Travel Guide and Chivi-chivik (talk)'s Cooking Guide. Congratulations.
Congratulations to Baja (talk), who has been hired for the Weather Forecast!
Hey, everybody, and it's Pie! ...row.
I'm warning you, I'm not cherry flavored...
Anyways, today on a wonderful episode of Travel Guide, yours truly will be exploring the newly discovered World Mushroom! Although it may not sound like a gorgeous vacation spot, it's a great place for adventure and the only real harm you can get here is lose a couple extra lives. ...Oh yeah, and get squished by the Whomps.
The varying environments of World Mushroom make it a great place for exploration. Those pesky Star Coins will keep you here for quite a while, so make sure to get inexpensive hotel rooms, or you'll be killing a lot of coins off staying here.
Actually, wait. This place is a gold mine that never runs out. Everything from Gold Blocks to Gold Rings keep this place a paradise for the 49-ers. Also, Larry Koopa is here in World Mushroom as well. Ask him for his autograph! I did, and he blasted me with a wand! Yay!
(Kersti: YOU'RE STILL AN IDIOT)
...Wait, Kersti's here?
This has been another exciting episode of TRAVEL GUIDE! See you next time, and OLOLOLO STICKER STAR BOXART
Good day, everyone! I’m your sports analyst, McZaky29 bringing you the hottest action in Mushroom Kingdom sports.
My article this month was supposed to be about rugby, but the food at the concession stand was MUCH more interesting than the game. I missed the whole game of rugby, and am therefore reduced to baseball. This game took place in Jade Jungle, where the home team, the Ravens, took on the Pleasant Path Koopas. On the first play of the game, a player from the Koopas accidentally took his bat with him. He realized this when he was three-quarters of the way to first base, and used the bat to beat the first baseman. He would not return to the game. The pitcher avenged the first baseman by pecking the aforementioned Koopa until his shell cracked. Both players were arrested and dismissed from their team.
After three innings, the Ravens had taken a 9-2 lead over Pleasant Path. No one would score again until the top of the eighth inning. The singer of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” was so off key that he was killed kicked out of the stadium. The Koopas kicked off the eighth with a grand slam in the first four batters. The Koopas once again held Jade Jungle scoreless in the bottom of the 8th. Pleasant Path miraculously managed to drive in three more runs on an RBI double and a two-run homer. In the bottom of the 9th, it was full count, two outs and a runner on third. The ball was a grounder in between the second baseman and the shortstop. It looked like the Ravens would pull it off when the runner on third slipped and fell down. He was tagged out and the game would go to extra innings. The game would go back and forth and back and forth for 26 more innings. On several occasions did the two coaches beg and plead with the ump to call off the game, but it was denied each time. In the top of the thirty-fifth, the Koopas hit a solo shot to take the lead 29-28. The player who scored the run ran over to the Ravens dugout and started beating up the coach. That was the second player of the game dismissed from the Koopas. The Jade Jungle Ravens had tied it up at 29. They had a runner on second, when the powerhouse knocked it out of the park. The entire crowd stormed the field in celebration. Quite a few fans talked smack to Pleasant Path athletes, a few of them retaliating. A total of four players were released from the Koopas after the game, adding on to the two from in the game.
That’s all this month. Come back in thirty days for another great story. McZaky29, signing off.
Written by: 
Koohitsu
Welcome. You know, when I accepted this job, it was because I was a little short on money and wanted to make a few extra coins. This isn't coming along very well though, since my guests keep damaging the lounge. So now, after two months, all I made was, like, 200 coins minus... yeah...
In any case, for this month I have chosen a guest who will hopefully not cause any problems. To tell you the truth, I am actually quite a fan of this guy. He comes from a faraway land, where he is a local celebrity, and his heroic exploits are well known to everyone who cares enough. He is also very dreamy and handsome, and oh my god I want to touch his hair.
"Prince Peasley, I am like, so glad that you're hot."
"Heh."
"HERE! I meant that you're here! Glad that you're here!"
"The pleasure is all mine, my fair maiden. Excuse my flattery, but your beauty shines with the intensity of a billion suns."
"!"
"I think I need to go open a window! Immediately!"
"We do have quite the intense summer this year, do we not?"
"Yes, definitely! Summer! The summer is the reason for everything!"
"Anyway, first things first. Please tell us who you are, and what you are all about."
"Very well. I go by the name of Peasley. I am the son of Queen Bean, and Prince of the Beanbean Kingdom."
"You are also a great hero who captures the hearts of ladies everywhere."
"Well, I don't like to brag. But since you mentioned it, yes, I guess I am rather ravishing."
"Please tell me... I mean... the readers more about your heroic exploits."
"Certainly! I don't know if you heard about it, but I just returned from my latest journey: The glorious defeat of the Warlock of Mourning Mountains. I single-handedly laid siege to his tower for twenty-seven days, and then bested the vile sorcerer in a magnificent fencing duel."
"Yeah, I read about that. It must have been awesome!"
"It certainly was! Although I must express my surprise that you know about it. It was mainly a national affair, and those rarely make it in the news outside of Beanbean Kingdom."
"Well, I kind of... keep up with everything you do."
"...a fan?"
"I'm not supposed to tell you, or let it influence my line of questioning. I am a professional interviewer with integrity."
"I see. Them I will not dwell on it."
"On to the next question: Can I touch your hair?"
"Pardon?"
"HOBBIES! I MEAN WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES!!!"
"Well, to be frank, being the kingdom's resident hero leaves very little time to go after other activities, but if I had to be honest, there is one thing I rather enjoy when off-duty."
"Does it have to do with your hair?"
"I said off-duty, my pretty. Tending to the royal hair is an important part of my job as a hero. Just as integral to my performance as actually saving people."
"I see. What is it then?"
"Gambling!"
"Gambling!?"
"Yes, gambling."
"That's not very... uhm... I mean, it's unexpected. It doesn't seem very befitting for a hero like you."
"That is what it seems like at first glance, but if you delve deeper into it, you will find that being a hero and being a gambler are very much alike."
"I don't think I understand...?"
"In both, you are putting yourself on the line. Both bringing down fearsome monsters and gambling come with high stakes, and a small mistake can be fatal. The excitement you get from both is very similar."
"Ok, I guess that makes a little sense?"
"Poker is one of my favorites. And, without trying to praise myself, I consider myself pretty good at it."
"I'm not. I once played poker with my brother, but I kept losing. The guy has a 24/7 pokerface, I swear. I don't think it's my kind of game. If you're unlucky, you lose everything."
"Well, contrary to popular belief, it is not all about luck. You have to have a good strategy if you want to win this game."
"What is your strategy then?"
"Ahaha, I cannot just give away my strategy like that. If I did, I wouldn't be able to win anymore, now would I? But I suppose I can let you in on a little trick of mine."
"Oh yes, that would be great!"
"Are you familiar with what happens when I flaunt my hair?"
"You mean how it lights up the entire room every time?"
"Exactly that! Anyway, whenever fortune frowns upon me and gives me a bad hand, I casually flaunt my hair."
"And that makes you luckier?"
"No, but it blinds everyone else and I can go around and look at their cards."
"But... but that's cheating!!!"
"Is it really cheating? Or is it just getting creative within the boundaries of the rules?"
"No, I'm pretty sure it's just cheating."
"Poker is a game where you have to deceive your opponent. To win, you have to do whatever is necessary to achieve that goal. If they fail to guard against your strategy, they lose, and their loss is genuine. That is all there is to say."
"I must say, I wouldn't have taken you for someone with a naughty streak."
"I admit I am rather three-dimensional. Although some condemn me to a solely two-dimensional existence."
"Would you mind if I just interviewed you every month from now on, and never have any other guests ever again?"
"Would that not be terribly monotonous?"
"Not at all! I'm sure none of the readers would complain, and I'll make sure the ones that do will never reach my superior!"
"I am not talking about the readers, I was referring to myself. Sitting here and talking every month, excuse my frankness, but it sounds tremendously boring."
"I'm sure we can make it more exciting somehow! Let me just think!"
"My fair lady, I was very adamant when I said no. Please do not soil your honor as an interviewer and accept my refusal with grace. If I was to be responsible for impairing your dignity, it would break my heart."
"Please don't leave!"
"I must, lass. I must."
"Noooooooo!!!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Prince Peasley is gone. This interview is over."
"Forever."
Written by: 
Chivi-chivik (talk)
Hi everybody! Here’s your hostess, Chivi-chivik! And this is Cooking Guide, where we teach you how to cook excellent dishes!!
So, let’s go!
I went back to Zess. T’s. She was ill the last day...
Me: *super happy* Hi!!
Zess. T: Hello, miss.
Me: How are you today?
Zess. T: Thanks to your soup I got over that headache and got lots of energy!
Me: Great! Now let’s cook!! *picks up a book from the shelf*
Zess. T: Hey!! That’s my cooking book! *Comes near to me* Don’t touch it without my permission! *Looks at the page I was reading* ...
Me: The Icicle Pop looks fantastic...
Zess. T: Yeah. Do you know that there is a very interesting variation?
Me: *amazed* Really?!
Zess. T: Yes. It's called Hot Icicle Pop!
Me: There is not much variation in the name...
Zess. T: Shut up, please! The difference is in the pop’s filling! It’s filled of hot sauce!
Me: (O___O)...
Zess. T: The good thing is that the sweet and hot flavours mix together, and the experience becomes awesome!
Me: Okay let’s do it!!
Zess. T: I’ll need some Hot Sauce and an Icicle Pop.
Me: *Searches in her closets* Here it is the Hot Sauce!!
Zess. T: *Looks in the fridge* Yes, there was still an Icicle Pop! Let’s begin!
Me: *picks up her memo pad*
Zess. T: First unfreeze the icicle pop and put all the liquid into any container. Keep this in the fridge.
Me: *writes*
Zess. T: Pick up the hot sauce and put it in pop molds. Put this into the ice box.
Me: Okay...
Zess. T: Now let’s wait until it freezes.
--After all that time freezing...--
Zess. T: Take out the molds and take them out from the molds. As you can see it’s frozen. But don’t taste them!!
Me: *Was about to taste one*
Zess. T: *facepalm*
Me: ...
Zess. T: Well, take out the icicle resulting juice and put it in the molds, but just up to the half of the molds. Not put the hot part again and put all this in the ice box. Let’s wait again.
--After all that time freezing...--
Zess. T: Here it is!
Me: *picks one and tastes it* ... AWESOME!! The sweet and hot flavours mix together in my mouth! The cold decreases the hot in my tongue, so it’s even better!
Zess. T: I know.
Me: *mouth full of pops* Lotf of thankf for being here wif all of uf!
Zess. T: No prob, miss.
Summary:
Hot Icicle Pop
Ingredients: An Icicle Pop, a Hot Sauce.
- Put the hot sauce into ice pop molds and freeze that.
- Unfreeze the icicle pop and keep it in the fridge fro the moment.
- When the hot sauce is frozen, take them out (for a moment) and put the icicle pop’s juice into the molds up to the half, and put again the hot sauce parts. Freeze that again.
Effects: Freezes enemies first, then it burns them.
Thanks for being here reading, until next Cooking Guide!!
Written by: Toadbert101 (talk)
Okay *straightens tie*, here we go:
NEWS FLASH ... NEWS FLASH ... NEWS FLASH
Hey folks, your very dependable news caster, Baja, here! According to the recently built Mushroom Kingdom Weather Observatory, there is quite a forecast for any of your daily Mario Kart commutes. From the desert to the skies, there is something that is making your commute a hassle! Well enough of this blubbering, you're hear to see this broadcast (but I'm being paid by the word! Teehee!) and that's exactly what I'm going to deliver.
Everyone's favorite road, Rainbow Road, has just made the daily commuting times for citizens of Mushroom Kingdom so much easier! Stars, those invincibility-giving, speed-boosting, nail-biting item are raining down upon us! The travel times are increasing by the minute! No more gridlock, just ram into those pesky 'Sunday Drivers' and cacti and they'll fly off into whatever nothingness is above Rainbow Road! And you'll just be flying by! Such a better alternative to Grumble Volcano! We'll take you down to Rainbow Road now with Toadcaster, our racetrack reporter!
Baja: Hello, Toadcaster?
Toadcaster: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Baja: ... Toad...Caster?
Toadcaster: Woooohooooo!
Baja: Cameraman, give us a picture of Toadcaster, please.
*picture of Toad in a bike with the star item doing a teeter dance appears on screen*
Baja: Oh my. Well, as you can see, Toadcaster has found a star on the track and used it. And there goes another one...right after Toadcaster's item wore off...
Well, after that disturbing image, lets get to Grumble Volcano, arguably the most dangerous area there is! Fireballs are currently raining down upon the citizens of Grumble Volcano. And earthquakes are no stranger around here! So far there are two reports of injuries. Let's go down to our other friendly racetrack reporter, Castertoad!
Baja: Hello, Castertoad?
Castertoad: Hi! As you can see behind me, Bowser and Bowser Jr's bodies are being plucked from the molten lava that ensues from the Volcano every time and earthquake erupts.
Baja: Is this common?
Castertoad: Oh, quite. And that's nothing to say about the heat around here. You could fry a mushroom!
Baja: Really? What's that burn mark on your head?
Castertoad: Someone tried to fry a mushroom. Me.
Baja: ... I don't get paid enough for this job...
Well, here's a brief recap:
-Rainbow Road: Hypnotic stars are falling down on the track! Doubling the commuting times per minute! Wheeee!
-Grumble Volcano: Apocalyptic flaming fireballs and lava are spewing everywhere! Earthquakes are knocking whole mountains into the flaming depths!
And here's the daily bonus weather forecast, which is daily, so its not a bonus!
-Luigi Circuit/Neo Bowser City: Expect a very slippery and wet commute, the rain is pouring down so hard! And oil is raining down, too! Watch out for water and oil slicks! They're everywhere!
Well, that's all that's happening in the atmosphere for now, until later!
Written by: Travix Man (talk)
Hello, this is Chief TravixMan here today, to give you a scoop on the Mushroom Kingdom news. What's that, I'm speaking like a news person? Of course I am. After all, this is the Fake Police Blotter. I have one story for the month, due to being so late. Give a listen to this late story.
1. The Koopalings Strike Again!
The night in the Mushroom Kingdom was peaceful, and Mario and Luigi were out searching for coins. Suddenly, a large vehicle with seven Koopas swooped down on the Mario Brothers and attacked them. They lost their power-ups of the Super Leaf, and fell to the ground. The Koopalings then reveal to have kidnapped Princess Peach. "Now Father will be so pleased we have kidnapped his beauty." Ludwig Von Koopa sneered. "Hah hah! We got her! What do we do now, guys?!?!" Iggy Koopa yelled. "Run!" Lemmy Koopa squeaked. "Shut up! We wouldn't want them to hear our plans!" Morton grumbled. "I know what we should do!" Roy Koopa perked up. "What, beat them up?" Wendy said sarcastically. "No, throw bombs at them!" Roy screamed. Then they threw bombs at the two brothers, and flew away. The Mushroom Police Force is currently looking for them.
Well, even though that was short, we have our story! Tune in next time at the Fake Police Blotter!
HI, curious readers! I’m your erudite (or maybe not) Statistics Manager, Tucayo, and welcome to Ask Tucayo! *throws confetti* I don't have much to say this month, so let's get to the questions. Alexneushoorn wants to know:
What is it like writing for The Shroom?
Well, I've been doing it for over 50 issues, so of course I love it! It's great to be able to contribute to the part of the wiki that gets closer to the users, it's amazing to see The 'Shroom grow with every issue, to see the writers develop and eventually make it to the Core Staff. I also enjoy every single issue we put out, it's greatly satisfying when someone says we had a fantastic issue. I love writing for The 'Shroom, that's what brought me to the wiki and that's what has kept me here so long.
After getting emotional and telling you what you’ve already heard many times, let’s move on to our next question. Koopa K asks:
What is your favorite Mario Kart Track?
Well, thanks for asking. Last month I asked that same question to over 20 people, but no one seemed to care about my opinion on the subject, so thanks for asking. I’d go with Block Fort, but in case you meant a race course, I’ll go with Moo Moo Farm, with Koopa Cape being a close second.
And for our last question this month, Brock asks:
Tucayo: Should I buy my books in Mandarin because it's cheaper?
Abso-freaking-lutely. Wait. No. I have no idea. Maybe you should, but it'd be inconvenient if you don't know Mandarin. And honestly, who does? Thousands of ideograms and they all look like houses on fire… Anyway, since I care about your economy, buy them. If you can't read them, then just use them to fill up your bookshelves and amaze people by telling them you read them. They'll think you’re an interesting person. Or a weird one.
You know the drill, you PM me your questions and I answer them here. You can ask pretty much anything, from marriage counseling to Tetris walkthroughs. See you next month, BYE!
Fun Stuff
Director Notes
by Gamefreak75 (talk)
Congratulations to General bob-omb (talk) for winning the Fun Stuff Section of the Month for his August section.
Remember, school is cool.
Mystery Images
No, #3 is not a tooth.
Trivia
by Raven Effect (talk)
Did you know that…:
- The Prima Guide for New Super Mario Bros. Wii refers to Bowser Jr. as a bothersome Koopaling?
- In Super Mario Land the theme for the star is the Can-Can?
- Fire Mario was originally known as Firey Mario?
- That despite being much bigger than regular Para-Beetles the Heavy Para-Beetles actually fall when Mario jumps on them?
- That the Super Mushroom was originally known as the Magic Mushroom?
Quiz
By Post-Damage Invincibility (talk)
Hello Fun Stuff Fans! No, this quiz will not be on the new 3DS game. I'm shining the spotlight on the wonderful, devious character who once again was snubbed by Miyamoto and the developers for the bajillionth time! I'm shining it on the great intrepid treasure-hunter Wario! Super Mario 64 DS and Yoshi's Island DS: I give a lot of credit to these games for including this great character, both released less than two years apart. It showed so much promise. But six years have passed, and even though it was proven they go great together, Mario and Wario have neither adventured together or fought each other since. Quite a pity. I'm getting fed up. So enjoy a quiz not on goody-two-shoes Mario's New Super Mario Bros. 2, but my beloved badass Wario's Wario Land series. If Mario is The Beatles of videogames, Wario is The Rolling Stones. And don't you dare forget it, Nintendo.
- In Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, what is the first course to start you underwater?
- From late in the same game as the previous question, what image is on the bomb Captain Syrup tosses at Wario?
- From Wario Land II, how many hits does it take to A Turn the Giant Snake Red B Defeat him?
- True or False: Wario must be the first to make three baskets with the basketball to defeat the Basketball Bunny.
- In Wario Land III, what is Rudy the Clown known as to the player before his horrific revealation?
- True or False: Wario Land III is an oddity in which you actually want to avoid bubbles while swimming.
- In the Wario Land 4 Hotel Horror level, in which room can Wario turn into a Vampire Bat?
- What is the first enemy Wario encounters in 40 Below Fridge?
- Welcome to Wario World! Which Trapdoor (going by numerical appearance) involves traversing a crooked line of small, floating blocks in the Horror Manor?
- In Shivering Mountains, which treasure sits under a tall tree on a snowy ledge?
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Guess Who
- This character is not originally from the Mario series.
- This character's only appearances so far have been in two sports game spin-offs.
- This character can be unlocked in one of the two games by clearing a specific mission on the Mushroom Cup, among other methods.
- This character's type is "Tricky" in both games.
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Guess that Game
- This game was released in 1995.
- This game's remake was released in 2002 in all regions except Australia.
- Said remake added an entirely new hidden level for each world.
- This was one of the three completed games to utilize the Super FX chip.
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Mind Bogglers
By GreenDisaster (talk)
Hello everybody, and welcome to Mind Bogglers! In this new installment, you, as the reader, will have to find a certain amount of characters hidden inside an image placed by me, as the writer. As the holidays come closer and closer, I'd like to honor one of the many games that will be coming out, Nintendo Land, which is a game that contains minigames based around other Nintendo franchises. Hidden inside are some non-Mario characters, including Link, Ness, Samus, Kirby, and Pikachu. You have your characters, so start searching.
And the locations of the hidden characters: Answer
Word Search
By Gamefreak75 (talk)
Due to an error on my part, the word search was impossible because I accidentally repeated two lines. My apologies to anyone who tried to solve it, but couldn’t, but kudos to those, if there were any of you, who caught my stupid mistake and fixed the problem yourselves (it should have been obvious when Bowser’s Castle and Daisy Cruiser appeared twice in the word search. The “answers” to the fixed August’s word search:
With the Wii U announcement that would have happened by the time this issue goes up, why don’t we look at some of Nintendo's previous consoles?
Find the Differences
Original:
Edited:
Answer:
Hiding Koopa
By General bob-omb (talk)
Hooray! The Paper Mario series is finally getting another game! Can't wait to see what mess Mario has gotten himself into this time and ff course another koopa wants to join Mario on his new adventure, now if we can just find where he is...
Music & Artwork
Director's Notes (Smasher (talk))
Hiya. Nothing really new this time around, though I'd like to give a quick congratulations to both FunkyK98 and Fawfulfury65, as Screenshot of the Month and Sprite of the Month are Music and Artwork's Section of the Month(s).
Character Artwork of the Month (Rise Up Above It (talk))
This month's artwork slot goes to the deadly Bloomsday (Scumflower for PAL users(the one time I will prefer the non-PAL name)). The great hand-drawn art style was used throughout Wario Land: Shake It!.
Random Image of the Month (Paper Yoshi (talk))
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the September issue of Random Image of the Month!!
This month's Random Image comes from a very popular Mario platformer for the Wii, New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It shows Mario playing the minigame Power-Up Panels in single-player mode.
Said minigame appears in all red Toad Houses from NSMBWii; it takes place in a room with a grid containing eighteen panels decorated with question marks. Each panel has an image of an item, Bowser or Bowser Jr. on its back side, and players must take turns climbing the grid and punching panels, thus revealing the image on the back. The game is over when two Bowser images or two Bowser Jr. images are revealed, or when all item panels are hit. Players receive one item for every pair of identical panels with revealed faces.
Music Factoid (Post-Damage Invincibility (talk))
This week the Music Factoids is about well known gamer-made original compositions. These allowed creative gamers to shine and gave many young musicians their start. God bless the game, and enjoy some of these well-known fan-made tracks. Someone even composed the Wario Land 3 theme, which was prominently featured in Mario Power Tennis. To this day, the credits theme from that game still moves me, which you you listen to here as well; also uploaded by a Mario Painter.
[[1]]
[[2]]
[[3]]
[[4]]
[[5]]
That last one will make you want to break out the ol' Gamecube and play Mario Sunshine. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Sprite of the Month (FunkyK38 (talk))
This month, for y'all, I have this sprite of a Calm Hammer Bro. from Super Princess Peach: 
After a long summer, I think most of us are feeling the need to sleep more as we are roused out of bed MUCH too early to go to school/work/court hearings/etc. Hopefully, we can find time to sleep somewhere other than Calculus...
Pipe Plaza
Director's Notes (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello, everyone, and welcome to the September Issue of Pipe Plaza!! Before proceeding any further, I have something to say. Thank you so much for all your votes on the 'Shroom Awards, and thank you for choosing me as the Favourite (Sorry, Americans) Pipe Plaza writer. This may seem like a repeat from last year, but the feedback from everyone who voted really compels me to keep writing for the Pipe Plaza team, aside from managing the sub-team itself. Also, let's not forget those guys and girl:
Two of them – or only one, if you consider Marioguy1's position as NIWA News writer – may not be on the team anymore, but they did a lot for the Pipe Plaza, especially Marioguy1 (talk), who directed the Pipe Plaza for twenty-nine issues, fifteen of which with Super Mario Bros. (talk) as Co-Director. The other three writers continue to work hard for the Pipe Plaza, always producing excellent sections and never missing a deadline without a good reason. Furthermore, I'd like to thank everyone who voted for the Pipe Plaza on Favourite Sub-Team and for myself on Favourite Sub-Team Director. Even though we did not win, being among the top three is something to celebrate. Section of the MonthAugust's Section of the Month poll got 26 votes, 14 less than last month. The winner, with 12 votes (46.2% of the total) is... ...Upcoming Games, for the second time in a row!! Last month, Upcoming Games covered a few new details from the three (at the time) upcoming Mario games: New Super Mario Bros. 2, Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. The second-placed section was once again Mario Calendar, with 5 votes (19.2%). Forum Update got third place, with 4 votes (15.4%). Also, Upcoming Games is once again absent from the Pipe Plaza due to lack of news. It will return once we have more news on the upcoming Mario games. Well, I guess that's all for now. I hope you all enjoy this issue! Monthly Report (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello, readers, and welcome to this issue's not-really-monthly Monthly Report!! This is the Pipe Plaza Director, Paper Yoshi (talk), speaking, and I'm here to show you the wiki's statistics from both August and September, and then a comparison between both sets. I said this Report isn't really monthly because only eighteen days have passed from the day I got the August statistics to the day I got the September statistics; however, that will be fixed in future issues, while adapting to the due and release dates for each month. So, here are the site-wide statistics for August and September: (Credit goes to Stooben Rooben (talk) and Super Mario Bros. (talk) for the table coding. Stooben originally created it when writing this section back in Issues XXIII, XXV and XXVI, and SMB based his coding for Issues XXXIX, XL and XLI – which I am using in this issue – off of Stooben's coding.)
Community Report (Bop1996 (talk))Hello, welcome to September's edition of Community Report. Policy Changes and Updates
Proposals from the Past Month
Proposals and TPPs in Progress
Sitenotices from the Past Month
Promotions and Demotions
Featured (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello everyone, and welcome to Featured!! This section – whose last writer was the former Pipe Plaza Director, Marioguy1 (talk), back in Issue LI (June 2011) – hasn't been featured (get it?) on the paper for over an year, and so I decided to write it this month. Featured ArticlesThe new Featured Articles for 2011 and 2012 are:
Re-featured ArticlesThose are the former Featured Articles that were re-featured in 2011 and 2012:
FA NominationsThe active Featured Article Nominations are:
Failed FA NominationsThese are the failed Featured Article Nominations from 2011 and 2012:
Unfeatured ArticlesAnd now for the articles which lost their FA status! Those are the unfeatured articles from 2011 and 2012:
Unfeaturing NominationsThere are only two active FA Unfeaturing Nominations, which are:
Failed Unfeaturing NominationsAnd last, but not least, the failed FA Unfeaturing Nominations:
And that concludes this issue of Featured!! I hope you have enjoyed it! Forum Update (MrConcreteDonkey (talk))Hey, guys, it's MrConcreteDonkey, and welcome back to the Forum Update, your monthly update on the upkeep of ancient Roman forum...wait, no, that's not right. Anyway, in case you haven't noticed, August is over, so I've got to do something about the erosion of the cliffs of the...wait what? Top Stories: Glowsquid (Glowsquid (talk)) was reinstated into his position as a Global Moderator. Rule #9, a new rule, has been added, following a recent incident where a user revealed the personal information of another user. The rule is as follows: "In addition to the harassment rule, there is to be no posting of user's personal information without their consent. This includes, but is not limited to, their name, telephone number, address, medical conditions, et cetera. This does not apply to information that the user has already made publically available." Purity (Purity Essence (talk)) was unbanned, and, about a day later, was banned again - permanently. Bronto Burt (IceShadow1195 (talk)) was also unbanned. Statistics: In August, 15 square miles of land fell into the sea...uh...hold on... In August, 550 topics were made, along with 28095 posts. 46 new members joined, which ties with May for the highest so far this year. 135 was the most online, and that was on the 4th of August. Smasher (Smasher (talk)) –36685 Rat (Ralphfan (talk)) – 26246 MCS (Mileycyrussoulja (talk)) – 24965 Pinkie Pie (UltraMario3000 (talk))– 22147 Don Pianta (Superjeff64 (talk)) – 16233 Nabber (Nabber (talk)) – 16082 Solar Blaze (SolarBlaze (talk)) – 15875 Phantom L (Lily (talk)) – 15650 Baby Luigi (BabyLuigiOnFire (talk)) – 14187 Herr Shyguy (Shyguy27 (talk)) – 12273
Blue signifies the user is at the same position as last month. Red signifies the user is at a lower position than last month. Bold signifies the user is a new entry to the top 10. Mafia: Currently ongoing are Reverse Mafia's Pyro (Pyro (talk)), Epic Nitwit's (does he have a wiki account?) Mafia, Lakituthequick's (Lakituthequick (talk)) Mafia and New Super Mario's (New Super Mario (talk) Magnificent Mafia.
Well, that's all for my Fishing Update. Next time, you'll learn how to build a LEGO cupboard to store all of your fortune telling supplies in. Bye now! Tip of the Month (FunkyK38 (talk))When adding information to articles, make sure you don't go overboard using Wikipedia links. One or two is fine, if they are really needed, but try to steer clear of them. I stumbled upon an article that had a section about the music. Nearly every word in that paragraph was a Wikipedia link, from the style of the music to the instruments used. So, try to steer clear of Wikipedia links if you can. Mario Calendar (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello once again, readers, and welcome to this month's Mario Calendar!! After twelve months, we're back to where it all started: September. Exactly one year ago, I was announced as the new Mario Calendar writer for the Pipe Plaza, and this section has been featured in every Pipe Plaza issue since then, except this year's January issue. However, I will still write every issue from scratch, as if each one were the first Mario Calendar for the corresponding month. So, here are the Mario, Yoshi, DK and Wario games released in September:
And that's all for this Pipe Plaza issue! See you in October! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Critic Corner
Director's Notes
Oh bugger, I was a bee's dick close to not actually doing this this month. I felt so sick, the back my throat must've resembled a low-budget horror movie. In any case, this month is our bi-monthly writer’s time to shine… except only Nabber (talk) sent his section in, whereas Xluidi (talk) didn't send anything in. Thanks for your dedication, mate.
Just a more varied issue than last month, so enjoy. Now let me go back to resting.
Critic Corner Section of the Month
…right, this thing. Feeling too crook to write anything detailed, but basically congrats marioboy14 (talk) for winning by a landslide. Here are the details, now bedtime.
Marioverse Reviews - 21 votes (72.41%)
Dippy's Matilda - 4 votes (13.79%)
Crocodile Style Reviews - 4 votes (13.79%)
Nabber questions the value for money you get from New Super Mario Bros. 2.
[read more]
For his latest challenge, MCD deconstructs New Super Mario Bros.... while mini.
[read more]
Super Nabber Reviews
When I got New Super Mario Bros 2, Mario's first 2D platformer on the 3DS, I wasn't expecting much. In fact, I got it simply to review - and because I love coin-looting. The trailers for the game showcased vast amounts of coins being collected by none other than Mario, with all kinds of tricks such as Gold Flowers and Gold Rings to help him out. What I didn’t realize is that the Gold Flowers and Rings were pretty much all that was contributed to the game.
Oh yes, there's the raccoon tail, but while there are plenty of those in the game, they're never used except for the first level it's introduced in. Nintendo also brings back the Mega Mushroom and the Mini Mushroom, but these items are so rare and insignificant that I almost forgot to include them in this review. Mysteriously, despite the absence of actual Mini Mushrooms, there are plenty of tiny pipes in random levels. As for the Gold Flower? That makes an appearance in about three different levels. This is probably due to the fact that it destroys everything in its path and is incredibly overpowered.
As for the levels themselves? Not very good. If you’ve played either of the previous New Super Mario Bros, then you should know what to expect. The only difference is that the majority of the secrets (which seems to have drastically been reduced) are hidden in cheap ways, often requiring you to hit random hidden blocks or take unnecessary risks. Oh yeah, the Star Coins which are used to buy extra powerups and open new paths? Half of them are “hidden” right in the open, with nothing guarding them. Honestly, it’s pretty sad.
I suppose I should mention the bosses. To put it simply: they suck. Reznor was always an easy boss, but having to face him six times screams of laziness. The Koopalings are again employed for nostalgia, but the fights do little to deviate from each other. The final battle was especially disappointing, considering it was extremely similar to a fight in another game. Not only was it simple, easy, and unacceptably quick, it was boring, a good sign of a bad game. It doesn’t help that Nintendo makes you fight it twice with little change.
I usually like to find some redemption in a game’s soundtrack, but I found myself listening to my own music instead. The whole soundtrack consists of maybe ten songs, tops, and nearly all of them are remixes of previous New Super Mario Bros. Unfortunately, the remixes actually make them worse, with extra vocals added in that make my ears bleed. The only song that might have been new to this game was in the final battle, but unfortunately the sound effects were too loud for me to hear it properly.
A note on some miscellaneous things. I did enjoy the 3D that was in this game, though only because I was taking careful note of its use. The 3D casts a barely noticeable effect, in which the background falls back and fades away. A few objects, such as pipes and castles, appear to be rounded slightly, and enemies pop out a millimeter when killed. It’s the one thing I actually enjoyed about this game, which is really depressing. Another thing I noted was that there were virtually no new enemies. The only thing Mario encountered that could be considered as “new” were dry versions of Goombas and Piranha Plants, which are exactly like their regular counterparts.
Many of the concepts in the levels were taken directly from New Super Mario Bros, too. Shrinking platforms, platforms that rise and fall as you step on them, the likes. The only new concepts I can think of off the top of my head were jets of fire that could temporarily be turned off. That’s it. Lastly, there’s another mode I haven’t mentioned: Coin Rush. This randomly selects three stages and challenges you to get as many coins as possible during a set time limit. It’s good to get a lot of coins at a time, but it’s not really anything special.
Nintendo issued a challenge to every player of this game to see if they can get 1,000,000 coins (minor spoilers ahead). This achievement takes time and effort to get, and only those who are really dedicated can meet this goal. So the reward is worth it, right? Amazingly, no. For your hard work, Nintendo gives you a golden Mario statue on your title screen. That’s it. For maxing out the coin counter to 9,999,999 coins? You get a notice telling you that you’re good. Way to reward effort. When you realize that it’s not worth grabbing a million coins, then you realize that there’s no replay value to the game.
That pretty much wraps up the game. If you’ve played either New Super Mario Bros. game, then you’ve pretty much played this game. While it’s good for a few days, it doesn’t have any lasting value. In fact, I knew what I was going to write in this review after only a few hours with the game. So my final score for New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a 6.5/10. If your money is burning a hole in your pocket, then you may as well spend it on this game, but I would honestly recommend spending your forty dollars on something more worthwhile.
Character Reviews
Guys, do you know that feeling? That churning in the pit of your stomach, the mad craving for Super Mario Galaxy? Well I felt that when browsing the Piranha Plant article and that explains why I chose this week’s review. This week I will be looking at Dino Piranha.
Storyline
I like the part where Dino Piranha hatches from an egg in the Good Egg Galaxy, but once again Nintendo has made a flaw that is inherent to many of their world bosses - they appear quite randomly. There is no prelude to Dino Piranha's appearance, you simply land on the planet and have to fight him. Though unlike other bosses, it does make sense why he would want to fight you - you broke his egg!
Design
I personally love the idea of a prehistoric piranha plant, and I think Nintendo did a really good job designing one. It has elements of a Tyrannosaurus Rex with the tail of an Ankylosaurus. Not to mention how they incorporated a strategy to defeating him in his design; very creative! Though when Dino Piranha is defeated, he looks really bad without the flower petals. Also, how does he see?
Humour
I think Dino Piranha is a bit funny, though they could have done better.
Potential
The potential I see in a Dinosaur + Piranha Plant mutant is as a world boss, probably of a prehistoric galaxy full of various prehistoric-styled enemies. He doesn't display any speech, and that is important in a galaxy boss, so I don't see the potential for that. On a side note, Dino Jungle.
Used Potential
Well, obviously Nintendo didn't do all I thought they could do, with the prehistoric themed Galax(ies). However they did include Dino Piranha as a world boss, which is what I see him being made for.
Total
I really like Dino Piranha, and don't think there's much that can be worked on. He really can only appear as a random encounter boss, and he makes a very good one. Nice job Nintendo, 9/10.
| Character | Who? | Storyline | Design | Humour | Potential | Used Potential | Overall |
| Fluzzard |  |
7/10 | 4/10 | 5/10 | 6/10 | 3/10 | 5/10 |
| Boss Bass |  |
4/10 | 2/10 | 2/10 | 4/10 | 8/10 | 4/10 |
| Lava Piranha |  |
8/10 | 6/10 | 5/10 | 8/10 | 6/10 | 7/10 |
Crocodile Style Reviews
| Darksiders II | |||||||||
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| Developer | Vigil Games | ||||||||
| Publisher | THQ | ||||||||
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, XBox 360, Windows | ||||||||
| Genres | Action role-playing game, hack and slash | ||||||||
| Rating(s) |
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| Available From | |||||||||
- Mature
- Eighteen years and older
- Seventeen years and older
- Fifteen years and olderOK, let's quickly punch up a new cardinal sin of game development while we have some time; you are not allowed to just automatically assume every last console gamer is rich enough to have a top-range high-definition television the size of two commercial kitchen refrigerator units, especially not in a game heavily dependent on text to convey important gameplay information. I could not for the life of my read half the text in Darksiders II even when leaning right up to the screen, partly because I was so sick that reading had become akin to shoving spark plugs into my eyes, but mostly was because the text was so fucking miniscule that a group of ants could be moving across the screen in convenient formation and they’d be worlds more noticeable.
You can probably guess from that rather weak opening that I'm not really on the ball with Darksiders II in general. To recap, Darksiders was a bland, repetitive, and oversimplified action game with a strange fetish for wearing the clothes of other, much better games, mostly the frilly garments of Zelda. It concerned the apocalypse mythos of Christian scriptures with the words 'liberal reinterpretation' in the boldest possible font hanging over it, putting you in the shoes of the least intelligent of the horseman War whose dress sense was in itself a global catastrophe. With that out of the way, we now follow Death doing what any good brother would do by trying to redeem his brother War after he accidentally caused the complete annihilation of the entire human race that totally wasn't the apocalypse, hoping to do so by seeking out the means to bring humanity back to life. I think the joke here is supposed to be the irony of the personification of the big sleep seeking to instead bring life back to those he spends his job and free time killing without mercy, but if that is indeed the case then the developers deserve a swift kick to the jaw for how predictably unclever that is.
What's more amusing is how Death seems to have more life to his character than his robot of a brother, albeit not that much more. Whereas War had all the personality of a scowling capsicum, Death instead has all the personality of a scowling eggplant with a throat full of hermit crabs, which is fitting since my throat felt the same way whilst playing this. When he isn't mumbling every line, he's insulting or threatening those whom he requires aid from only to express dispassionate frustration when they refuse to assist him; this is whom we in the business call “a cunt”. All the characters either speak in a clichéd “mysterious fantasy” manner, or indulge in trite sarcasm that has all the sophistication and wit of a nerdy 15-year old trying to fit into the cool kids club, which would be somewhat forgivable if the characters weren't all several thousands of years old.
Anyway, the story is bollocks so let's just move onto the gameplay. It's the same old repetitive hacky slashy God of War gameplay mixed in with the frequent Zelda-style dungeon, and like its predecessor it hasn't remedied how tedious that gets. To their credit they have introduced a secondary weapon slot to feign some semblance of variety, but there still aren't any really useful combos and you can get by just fine with the default attack pattern so gameplay still just boils down to spamming the square button a whole bunch, with the only degree of added complexity being occasionally spamming the triangle button instead.
Although like every other pissing action game of the modern age RPG elements have creeped their way even into the casual reaping of souls. Levelling up grants Death skill points that he can invest in any number of branching skills, all of which will go completely unused because the first Necromancer skill summons a bunch of ghouls to maul enemies at an alarmingly rapid rate. Getting one of the bonus upgrades for it returns all of the Wrath spent on the attack allowing you to just keep spamming it, so there's literally no reason to use anything else. There's also a similar skill later on involving crows that can return health to you, but I'm not a pussy so I never used it. This made all the boss fights cake walks aside from the puzzle-based ones, and those ones were even easier; worst of all is that the cutscenes always deal the final blow against bosses for you. Hands off my fucking kill, game, that was my handiwork so I deserve the goddamned satisfaction!
War always looked like a walking rubbish bin, but Death takes a more simple, restrained approach to his appearance, at least until you get some new equipment and start playing dress up with him. In true RPG fashion you can buy or randomly find new equipment, “new” meaning the same handful of models with randomised stats and some “manly” buzz word prefixed to the name. Of course I couldn't actually read what each item was supposed to do, so I always wound up just picking the ones with the most green arrows next to them until I looked like a complete spastic, even at one point looking somewhat like The Prince from Sands of Time if he were one of the sand creatures and casually wore the skulls of his enemies as facial decoration. Hang on! Am I playing Diablo?! Shame on you, Darksiders II, your older brother's already on probation for all those games it ripped off, why did you have to go and tarnish the family name further? But unlike Diablo, the micromanagement only creates a sense of unneeded dull routine to the central HIT THINGS style of gameplay that Darksiders II is based around, and the fact that you are just going to be hitting things undermines the purpose of the statistical approach to weapons anyway.
Lumbering around the yard like a Frankenstein of far better games that saw success in the past few years, Darksiders II just feels so heartless, insubstantial, and padded especially given how ridiculously long it is. To hold up a 20-hour game you have four puzzle-solving equipment, three airlifted from the first game (including the fucking portal gun) and one taken from Spirit Tracks, so that's variety out the window. The game has large open areas in a few of its world with very little that's candy for the eyes, but it encourages you to just fast travel everywhere anyway so what the hell was the point? The game has an excessive reliance on fetch quests to drag the game on, doing that Skyward Sword thing of requiring you collect three magical McGuffin, then another three, and so forth until they've literally layered fetch quests within fetch quests to make up the majority of the game's playtime. This is not how you make a grand epic, this is testing how long my patience can hold out before I repurpose the game disc as a coaster for my glass of cough mixture.
But what really sets my tits alight is how the story nullifies a lot of your progress through the game, and so many of the things Death does don't seem to matter. Early on you have to awaken some colossi by collecting three magical crystals for reasons too boring to elaborate, but then it gets corrupted and you have to destroy it in one of the game's most underwhelming segments, only for the dickhead that sent you in the first place to bring it back to life immediately afterwards by turning himself into only one crystal! Good to know that entire segment of the game was for nothing, game! Later you have to travel all across the underworld to find three spirits to get an audience with the lord of the dead which also forms one of the power-ups, only for that asshole to kill all three of them before your eyes. Don't shove bubonic rats up my nose for running your bloody errands, Darksiders; I get enough of that already with the 'Shroom core staff!
I never saw the end to Darksiders II, and that's not just because I was too sick to bear playing it for more than a few hours every few days. I won't say it's not a very mild improvement over its predecessor, but those are hollow words at their absolute best considering how utterly putrid that game was; it's a complete bore to play, with its run time and repetitive gameplay only accentuating how little creativity and ideas the developers actually had. Besides, why would you even make a game glorifying the horsemen of the apocalypse in this day and age of paranoia? People don't want to be reminded about the possibility of complete global socio-economic collapse and the complete destruction of everything we hold dear, it seems like bad marketing to me to somehow say this is something we should embrace with glee. No, a genuinely smart developer in these troubled times would tie the horsemen to target-painted walls for the player to hurl dodge balls at them, being rewarded with peace, longevity, and long-term financial security every time they reach a certain amount of points; if a hermit crab happens to fall out, you can keep that as a bonus prize!
Should Have Been
Hey, guys, it's MCD, and welcome back to Should Have Been. Thanks for voting for me as Issue 64's Critic Corner Section of the Month! It means a lot to me, especially when I was up against great reviewers like Dippy, Nabber, Xpike and everyone else.
Now, if you're here, I'm guessing you know that New Super Mario Bros. 2 has been released in the past month. So, as always, we'll be covering a previous game in the series because I'm behind on everything! I can't see myself doing a section on New Super Mario Bros. 2, as I don't want to buy this game, because, quite frankly, it looks bad. So, without further ado, what should have been in New Super Mario Bros.?
What should have been in- wait, I've already asked that
New Super Mario Bros. was...alright. I don't think it was a masterpiece, but I guess it was enjoyable. I always felt it was somewhat lacking in something. Unfortunately, it's been quite a while since I played it, and my old DS is out of charge and the charger's broken, so I can't really give a better starting paragraph that that.
Okay, so, starting off, I felt the Tower boss fights were...well, not good. It was just the same fight with Bowser Jr., the only change being he got a new attack somewhere around the third world. The only thing that changed was the arena, and, in my opinion, this was lazy on Nintendo's part. I think the Bowser Jr. battles in the later worlds should have given him some new attacks, as opposed to just reusing the same Koopa Shell-throwing attack. I don't really have much other problems with the Bosses in the game - I especially liked the Bosses in the castles all being different from each other, as opposed to just the Koopalings. I'd go as far as saying this game has my favourite bosses in the New Super Mario Bros. series. Though I thought a few of the Bosses didn't really fit the worlds they were put in: for example, I've got no idea what Petey Piranha has to do with ice, and I'm not sure how a Mega Goomba fits into a forest world. I think a Mega Goomba would've been a much better boss for World 1 (though that does beg the question of what to do with Bowser - but I don't think leaving him until World 8 would be a huge problem), and Petey Piranha could be moved to World 4, where he would fit a lot better. Perhaps a new boss could have been introduced to World 5 - I'm not sure why, but I feel King Boo could be fitting enough for that world.
It may be just the amount of time since I've played the game, but I don't find many of the levels in the game memorable. The only one I really can remember is the sewer level in World 2. From the sequel, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, I can remember the level on the boat, the level with the giant Wigglers, the level with the Parabuzzies...and that's just from World 5. I think the levels in New Super Mario Bros. should've included more memorable levels, with more unique gimmicks.
I also didn't like that how you couldn't gain access to some worlds unless you beat a certain boss when you were tiny. I think I did use a Warp Cannon or two when playing through this game, but, otherwise, I'm sure I went through most of the worlds - except World 4 and World 7, because you have to defeat Mummipokey and cold-as-ice Petey Piranha as Mini Mario (yes, the smaller than small one) to gain access to these worlds: this really confuses me: 1) Who would use a Mini Mushroom to defeat the boss of a world? and 2) Why couldn't it just go 1, 2, 3, 4 etc.? Yes, you only have to go through six worlds to beat the game, in this way, but I'd much rather have eight worlds, as that'd equal more gameplay, and more fun, usually. It's a shame for me, because, personally, I'm quite fond of forest levels, and World 4 of this game looked great to me. I think, instead of keeping two worlds secret, the game should've progressed through each world, regardless of the powerup you used to defeat the boss.
Something else about the worlds is that the overworlds...quite frankly, are very boring. This was improved in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, thankfully, but I think they could have been improved as early as this game. I mean, something this boring is a huge downgrade from the great overworlds of Super Mario World and even Super Mario Bros. 3. My main problem with the overworlds is that they were way too linear. Also, the imagination of the creators when thinking about placing objects in the overworld barely ever extended past Mushrooms, trees and Blocks - which, of course, there aren't already enough of in the levels themselves. The overworlds are all just long, linear chunks of land, on which Mario starts at the left and makes his way to the right. I mean, they could've swapped that around a bit - just to be different, for once.
Something else that I feel could have been better in this game that was improved in the Wii sequel is better replay value after the game has been beaten. I mean, you didn't unlock Luigi at the end at the game, he was playable from the start (which is another thing I commend the game for, and should have been in the later games of the series). There was the challenge of getting all the Star Coins, but what do they unlock? Mushroom Houses and, occasionally, more levels. You could argue the same thing happens in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but there are a few differences, and they make the Wii game's system much better.
First, in NSMBWii the levels are unlocked by collecting all the Star Coins in all the levels of a world, unlike spending an amount of Star Coins, as in this game. In addition, in the Wii sequel, the levels that are unlocked are much harder levels, in a brand new World, World 9; whereas, in New Super Mario Bros., you just get new levels in old worlds, which you can play at any time in the game, and are as difficult as the rest of the levels in the World, which is normally pretty easy, unlike NSMBWii. So, if I lost you for a second there, basically I think, in this game, collecting all the Star Coins in a world should have unlocked harder levels in a brand new World, unlocked after the game - à la New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Yeah, I think I went on for a bit there. So why don't we settle down, and look at what enemies should have been in this game?
What enemies should ha- okay seriously stop that
Beta elements
No, we aren't there yet. Go back to the last one.
to get to beta elements you must read should have been as mini mario
Still what enemies should have appeared in this game?
STILL KING BILL- Whomps, Pokeys, Hammer Bros., Paragoombas - anything that only appeared in one level – I think these enemies should've appeared more in the game - for example, Whomps would've worked well in any fortress; the Boss of World 2 is a Pokey, yet they only appear in one level in the whole game; Hammer Bros. are annoying to fight against, but are still cool enemies; Paragoombas...they're nice too!
- Amazing Flyin' Hammer Bro. – Everything about this enemy is awesome. Nintendo needs to bring it back!
- Spike – They included a snow version, but not the normal one? That's a little strange.
So now we move on to...
Beta elements
So, anyway, New Super Mario Bros. (or Super Mario Bros. DS, which was apparently its working title) has quite a few beta elements.
Starting off, Mega Goombas were going to be a regular species instead of a boss, and were the result of a Goomba picking up a Super Mushroom. Considering the existence of Super Dry Bones and Super Piranha Plants in the final game, it can be assumed this would've worked on most enemies. There was also planned to be a Mario and Luigi co-op mode, which did eventually happen, in New Super Mario Bros. 2. The Blue Shell can be obtained by defeating a Blue-shelled Koopa Troopa in the final game's VS. Mode, but not in the Single Player mode - however, in an early version of the game, this was possible in Single Player, although you had to Ground Pound to enter it.
Originally, there were three Item reserve spots, as opposed to just one. Spindrift was, at one point, an enemy in the game, but it was replaced by those blue spinning spring platform things. The Mega Mushroom was originally just a Super Mushroom from Super Mario 64 DS, and then was updated to its final design, but with the palette of the Super Mushroom. A Manta Ray was once seen in an unused VS. Mode level, though it's unknown if it was an enemy or just background scenery. Sprites and graphics from Wrecking Crew can be found among mini-game data, and, apparently, were going to be used in a single and multiplayer minigame. Also, a snowball-throwing minigame, which was used in multiplayer, was also going to have a single player mode. Mario was able to punch and kick in an early version of this game, and also be able to sideflip. Mega Mario could run, and there was a point counter. World 3-B, a sky level, was apparently meant to be a desert level. Finally, some of the worlds appeared to be themed differently - World 4 was called "ancient", and World 6 was called "machine".
That's all, folks! PM me on the Super Mario Boards if you want to suggest a game for me to cover in an upcoming Issue. See you next month!
HI, readers! I’m your marching Statistics Manager, Tucayo, and welcome to another installment of Retro Feature! The 'Shroom has been around for over 5 years; in all that time we've had 166 writers. Some writers merely adopted The 'Shroom, but others were born with it (ok, I had to insert that Batman reference).
So, before I introduce this month’s Retro Feature subject, let's go all the way back to January 6th, 2007 and take a look at Issue I. The first proper issue of The 'Shroom debuted with 9 sections. 4 of those sections have been moved to Sub-Teams, 2 have disappeared, one is a Sub-Team and another is the Editor’s Notes. That leaves us with one section, From The Mushroom Vaults. Aside from the Director’s Notes, this section is the only Main section to have debuted in Issue I and still appear under the Main Team in the Sign-Up page. Once a quintessential section of The 'Shroom, appearing in 25 of our first 26 issues, FTMV has only appeared 3 times in the last 42 issues.
The user who first wrote FTMV was 3Dejong (talk). One of the most prominent image uploaders back in 2006, 3D joined The 'Shroom before it released its first official issue, and wrote FTMV for the first 9 issues. He also directed 2 Fake News issues (IX and XII) and wrote the Fake Interview, Obituaries, Headline News, Poll and Updated Info.
Anyway, back to FTMV. 3D usually gave readers tips/cheats/walkthroughs on two different games and included a Monthly Challenge where he would propose a certain challenge for readers to complete. Sadly, this feature wasn't very successful. Without further ado, here's 3D's FTMV from Issue V, where he told readers how to clear the Star Road as well as random Super Princess Peach info. As a bonus, if you can beat the Monthly Challenge in this section, you'll be mentioned in the next Retro Feature. And I’ll give you a trophy.
From the Mushroom Vaults: Our Heads are in the CloudsWell, once again you click that enticing link at the top of the ‘Shroom Main Page. Sucker. But, of course, you know that this page brings you to some of the most in-depth game info you’ve ever seen outside a walkthrough. Or you just might be some n00b clicking around. This month, the first feature will walk you through how to access all points of the Star Road, and access the *secret area* as well! The second feature covers some random Super Princess Peach info, including how to nab the annoying Starfy (or Starfish) for your Glossary. Without further ado, let’s begin! ‘’Veni, vidi, vici.’’ ~ Myself, after conquering Bowser in SPP Starstruck!Ah, the Star Road. Well known, but near-impossible to find by yourself, let alone discover the secret which it holds. Never fear. Read on to unlock its mystical secret! Star World One is very, very easy if you know what to expect. Just use a Spin Jump (press “R”) to crush the blocks. Plenty of rewards, but what you really wanna do is get the key. Just keep right by the right wall to break into the key’s cubbyhole. Star World Two is a very easy water level. A star will fall from the screen as the level begins, and a Blue Yoshi hatches. Either use the star or have Yoshi eat it and mature immediately, then swim to the end. There’s a space under the rock with the pipe at the end; go under it for the key. Star World Three is the smallest Mario game level. Ever. For all time. It’s only ONE SCREEN LONG. But the key is hard to find. There’s gotta be a catch. Don’t use Yoshi if you want the key; instead, bop Lakitu with a blue block and go up, up, up to the key at the top of the level, above Mario’s eyesight. Yellow Yoshi is introduced here, too! And now, the very confusing Star World Four. Grab Mr. Red Yoshi, fill him up, then gulp a Blue Shell. Fly across the level, but when you start seeing platforms with tubes and Koopas, begin flying under them. Sooner or later, you’ll come across a huge bridge of “!” Blocks. Race over them, grab the key, and bingo! Another Star World down. Thought Star World Four was complicated? Hold onto your Nintendo socks, because this one is at least two times harder. (If you haven’t guessed by now, it’s good wisdom to have all the switch palaces stomped.) Come into the level with a cape or a Blue Yoshi, then fly along the level ceiling until you see the rows of “!” Blocks. Continue along them for the key. So, now what? You’ve gone through both exits of the levels, what’s the prize? Why, the middle tower of the Road with open, exposing the entrance to the Top Secret Area! Shhh! Confidential Matters!Don’t tell no one, but our spies, after delving through 3D’s computer, have discovered the mission of the next FTMV: to help you through the Top Secret area! Come back next month to reveal the secret of the Top Secret Area! Peachy KeenAnd now, our second feature. First thing, how to cook that Starfish’s goose: A Fish! A Fish! My Kingdom for a Fish!The Starfish appears in three levels: 2-5, 5-4, and 6-4. Each time, it appears in a different pose, and a different plan must be used. To destroy it, each must damage it once in each level it appears in. And now, a quick look at the boss’s precise weaknesses and tattles to help you to reap the Bonus Levels, Toads, and money gained from them extra-quick: Brawlingly Big Boss BattlesI Feel
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Puzzle Pieces:
- Puzzles A/B/C/D’s pieces 1-5 are available here.
Minigames:
- The minigame levels for Toad Jump/Tote/Shot are available to buy, along with a few levels to get you going. After the game is completed once, the bonus levels contain extra levels for Peach to play.
Monthly Challenge
This time around, just beat “Welcome to Yoshi Tower!” from YIDS and get all 100 points. That’s hard enough. Not even I was able to do that.
So long. And remember to come back every month for new cheats and hints! Or else... I know where you live... Wait. You do live at 1337 Mario-Freak Drive, Wallawalla, Washington, right?
64/\/\3 0\/3|-!
That was it for this month's Retro Feature. Remember, if you can beat the Monthly Challenge above, just send me a PM and you'll be mentioned in the next Retro Feature. 8`/3!
Trunkle vs. Trunker... Hmmm... Did this developers of Superstar Saga ever play Banjo-Kazooie? First, let's start with Trunkle.
Physical Appearance
He is essentially a huge rock with a tree on his head. The similarities to Trunker cannot be ignored. He is like a mobile, menacing version of him. His eyes are dark and scary.
Powers & Abilities
He his high defense, and like Boss Boombox, when attacked enough he can split into four little versions of himself. However, Boss Boombox might have had many smaller boxes inside of him. It is unknown how Trunkle accomplishes a mini-clone split. If the tree on top of his head is attacked enough, the Bros. may prevent him from splitting into several smaller Trunkles. Easier said than done, however, as the defense on his tree is high. If he does split, the Bros. must pay close attention to which one has the berry. Eventually he will go down.
What about Trunker?
Physical Appearance
Trunker is found in a beautiful oasis near the starting point of Gobi's Valley. He wears a turban. He is very thirsty and is in horrible shape when BK first meet him. Kazooie asks his infamous question, "How's your nuts, bark breath?" After Gobi is freed, Gobi runs to Trunker's shade for relief. He takes not of Trunker's suffering but he needs to store all the water he can in his hump. That is, until Banjo pounds his hump, and he spits the water into Trunker. Trunker then grows very tall and BK can reach the Jiggy.
Powers and Abilities
He can grow tall and help Banjo and Kazooie reach their prize when he is properly hydrated.
Winner
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Yes, Trunkle is the winner! He can actually move, he is not planted to the ground. And he can attack in multiple ways to put the more famous duo's lights out! Trunker is so helpless, even though he is on an island oasis surrounded by water, he can't drink any! Why did Banjo and Kazooie wait for the camel? Why didn't they just splash all the water that surrounded Trunker into him? Who knows, who cares, kthxbai.
What's up, Brawlers? FunkyK38 here with the latest issue of Brawl Tactics!
This month, I will be reviewing the Mariokart stage Mario Circuit!
Mario Circuit is a medium-sized stage. The sides and top of the stage are quite deep, so you can go a ways back there and fight others without worrying too much. This also means you will have to do a bit more work to launch your opponent to a KO, but you do have help. I'll get to that later. One thing I must mention, though, is the camera work. It's not an instantaneous "follow-player-1!!!" camera. It will zoom in on periodic points of action, but if you move around a lot, it won't follow you all that closely. So going from an up-close fight to standing on opposite sides of the screen probably isn't the best idea. Just sayin'.
This stage takes place on the figure eight part of the Mario Circuit. You have two parts to work on: the raised part of the track and the ground. Both present unique obstacles, but let's start with the bottom first. This is where you will get most of your items. Be sure to check under the level parts of the upper track, as items seem to fall there more often, and they can pile up. This is a good place to launch a stage-sweeping Final Smash, like Samus' or Mario's, as your opponents can get caught in it if you are crafty about it.
You can't forget that this IS still a racetrack, so you WILL have racers zooming around frequently. Shy Guys play this role, and they can do a lot of unnecessary damage to you if you're careless. These guys pack a lot of launch power, and if you don't watch out for them, you WILL be in trouble. You have a big JumboTron screen behind you to watch out for them, so be smart and use it! If you can trap your opponents in front of them, you will have a big advantage.
Okay, let's talk about the top part of this stage. Mainly, our friendly Shy Guy racers! You CAN knock them off of the track if you have an item and very good aim. Or you can use Pokemon/Assist Trophies/Final Smashes/etc. to do the job for you if you're lazy. It's nice not having to worry about them, but if you DO manage to knock all of them out, enjoy your victory only a moment! Once their "lap" finishes, a whole new team of racers will begin their assault upon you! A good strategy is to leave one or two of them on the track. That way, they're much easier to deal with than a whole group of them.
The racers up here will launch you further up than the ones below, but they can also launch you off the sides into OBLIVION if you are not careful. In case you are not aware of the large screen behind you that tracks their positions on the track, you will get a small warning: a couple red arrows on the left side of the stage, telling you "hello, here they come!" If you still don't see them coming, well... You need to be a little more observant.
That's all for me this month, Brawlers! Hope this gives you the guts to jump into the action! See you next month in BRAWL TACTICS!
Hell-o everyone, it is Toad85 again, with another exciting edition of “A History of Video Games”
We’ve finally hit 1989. Ah, that swinging time of post-Berlin Wall culture. George H.W. Bush becomes President, Tiny Tim runs for mayor of New York, movies include Field of Dreams, Glory, and Ghostbusters II, and most internet celebrities are kids.
But in the Video Game world, Sega is looking for another shot to take down Nintendo. Like Little Mac in the corner, Sega plans on how to take the title… wait bad example, that’s a Nintendo game. How about Sega being like Olimar, picking up the pellets of their failed ideas and using them to make a brand new Pikmin colony… wait, that’s another Nintendo game. Okay, Sega’s more like the lone Mii in the plaza that no one wants to buy fro… DOGGAMNIT WHY CAN’T I MAKE AN ANALOGY THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE A NINTENDO GAME.
You get the idea. Sega’s the underdog, Nintendo’s the overdog, they go head to head in ’89. No analogy need be made.
PLAY THE ARTICLE.
CONSOLE WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE BITS
So Sega’s far from being in the toilet, but they’re far from making a dent in the console market. Well they kind of did in the PAL region, but Sega didn’t give a flying feather about them.
Sega had always employed its maxim “if at first you don’t succeed, throw more stuff at ‘em”. But now, the timing was right for another attack. After 4 years of being on the American market, and 6 years in Japan, the NES’s dominance was finally beginning to crack. A steady stream of quality titles wasn’t enough to satisfy American or Japanese audiences. They wanted more; a new console that could be a worthy successor to the now-outdated NES. However, Nintendo was sitting pretty on their hefty profit, and weren’t in any hurry to make a 16-bit console anytime soon. With this gap in the industry that needed filling, a few companies were making jumps to satisfy gamer’s need for faster, better-looking, and more advanced gaming experiences.
The first companies to bring a next-generation console to market were NEC and Hudson Soft. Their collaboration project, the Turbografx 16, had gone to market in Japan in 1987. Though it didn’t have full 16-bit processing capabilities, it certainly looked the part with beautiful graphics and crisper gameplay than the majority games on the NES. Hudson was planning on bringing the console to the U.S.A. late into 1989, which left SEGA with some valuable time to bang out its own machine, which would be dubbed the “Mega Drive”.
Unlike former NES developers like NEC and Hudson, Sega had experience dealing with 16-bit technology via their arcade exploits. The Mega Drive would be a compilation of all the developers knowledge of the tech put together into one box. The Mega Drive went to market in time for Japan’s holiday season in 1988, and while its first year was a flop, 1989 led to Sega’s first moderate success in the console market: 400,000 units sold. Hayao Nakayama, who was directing Mega Drive production, invigorated his employees with the phrase “Hyaku Mankai!”, which means “One million times!” in English. Nakayama’s goal was to sell 1,000,000 Mega Drives the next year, and at the rate Sega’s place in the market was growing, it wasn’t out of the question.
With success in Japan, Sega was ready to launch the system in America, with the new Christian-friendly name “Genesis”, pack-in game Altered Beast, and new President of Sega of America Michael Kratz. However, when the Genesis hit American shores, there were three big problems that had to be addressed.
First of all was a lack of third-party developers. Pretty much everyone at the time was either under Nintendo’s direct control, making their own console, or not giving a crap about the console market. So Sega’s in-house developers, as they had with the Master System, had to fire on all cylinders and bang out as many quality games as possible. Instead of using well-trusted third-party brand names like “Mega Man” or “Castlevania”, Sega relied on the purchasing power of celebrities from King of Pop Michael Jackson to Hall of Fame baseball manager Tommy Lasorda.
Second, Sega had an awry advertising budget. Aside from being pitifully small, what few ads did run only said “Brings the arcade experience home!” Which, of course, only spoke to those gamers that still played arcade games, and not to those looking for a new console to replace their busted-up Famicom. Kratz devised a strategy to not only get more orders for the Genesis, but also drive down Nintendo’s sales. The advertising budget skyrocketed, and Genesi (Geneses? Genesises?) were proudly splashed across magazines and television screens. Ads proclaimed the glory of “blast processing”, and claimed that the Genesis "did what Nintendidn’t".
But not even crazy commercials could bring up sales, and Nakayama’s dream of “Hyaku Mankai!” was fading fast. What Sega was missing quickly came to light: a true mascot. Okay, there was Alex Kidd, and sure, there was Altered Beast, but Sega didn’t really have a singular character to rally behind. Meanwhile, their main competition each had their own cartoon character that brought in the big bucks: Nintendo had Mario, and Hudson had Bonk. In order to really succeed as a brand, Sega needed its own Mario.
So what did they do to rectify this severe breach in their game market? Why, they hold a competition! Sega held an in-house contest to see what new character should take the slot of Sega’s new mascot. Some of the 200 nominees included an armadillo, a bunny rabbit that could use its ears to throw objects, and an overweight Teddy Roosevelt in pajamas. But the winner was a design submitted by Naoto Oshima. Oshima, who hours before had shouted “DRUNK ARTWORK!” and downed a case of beer, held in his hand a scribble of a hedgehog character who was supposed to run faster than the speed of sound. Obviously, Hayao “Hyaku Mankai!” Nakayama loved the idea. And so “Mr. Needlemouse” was born.
Unfortunately, just about everyone else in the company believed that “Mr. Needlemouse” was a stupid name. So he was rechristened “Sonic” and given a blue paintjob to match the Sega logo. That ought to appease everyone, right?
So Oshima was teamed up with budding programmer Yuji Naka and his “Sonic Team”, and work on the first Sonic game commenced. Inspired by none other than the plumber in red himself, Naka crafted a game that could be easily described as “Mario on amphetamines”. With fast gameplay, tight jumps, and rigorous platforming, Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the fastest-paced games of its time.
And not only was it fast, it had attitude. Sonic was harder than any released Mario game at that time (unless you’re one of the unlucky Japanese players who got Lost Levels), and Sega planned to play it up. The hedgehog was designed with Michael Jackson’s rebellious style and Bill Clinton’s assertiveness. Sega, with Sonic’s leadership, was to be the older kid’s alternative to Nintendo. Sonic was in-style. Cool. Hip. Mario was old news. 80’s stuff. Boredom in 8-bit form.
But when Sega tested the game in the States, they got a little feedback that wasn’t so positive. The most easily seen issue was the artwork. The 90’s was not like now, where Anime is growing in popularity around the world and you’ve got guys like User:Uniju :D espousing its wonders. Twenty years ago, depending on how close you were to a metropolitan area, Japanese cartoons were either completely unheard of or totally unwanted. Also, Sonic was a monkey-fighting hedgehog. I doubt anyone in America at the time had ever even heard of one.
So Sega of Japan, in response, did some pretty ridiculous stuff, such as putting Sonic in a rock band and giving him a human girlfriend not named Elise. When Sega of America heard of all this crap going around, they just said something to the effect of “screw it, just hand over the rodent to us. We know what the heck we’re doing.” Marilyn Schroeder, one of Sega of America’s directors, was put in charge of Americanizing Sonic. The rock band and human girlfriend were the first things to go. Then the Anime artwork; Sonic was given a more “western” feel. She also softened up Sonic’s hardcore personality a bit, to make him more accessible (read: marketable) to kids of all ages. Sega of Japan was a bit pissed, but they trusted Schroeder would pull their mascot through.
Sonic the Hedgehog was released officially on June 23, 1991, to mild success. However, Sega needed a bigger dent in the video game market to compete with the NES, and Sonic alone wasn’t cutting it.
And here’s where Tom Kalinske came in. Formerly head of Mattel, Kalinske had recently saved the Barbie toy line almost single-handedly. He was hired as President of Sega of America in 1990, and he wanted a say in Sonic. Much like the North in the American Civil War, Kalinske utilized a three-part plan to push Sega, and particularly the new Sonic franchise, into the lead:
- 1 – Sega was going to lower the price of the Genesis from US$199 to US$149. This way, Sega could reach some of their more stingy customers, as well as undercut Nintendo’s prices.
- 2 – Move the development for future Sonic sequels to North America. Since Sega was primarily targeting the States, Kalinske thought it best to have the company’s flagship series developed by people who knew what American tastes were like.
- 3 – Bundle the Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog instead of Altered Beast.
This plan, especially the last part, was not particularly welcomed in Japan. Sega was relying on Sonic sales to boost the company; they weren’t going to just give away their biggest seller for free! And if you’re selling a free Sonic game, why also cut the console’s price?
Kalinske’s idea, though, was that if consumers would get a free game with their console, and pay less while they were at it, Sega’s boosted console sales would bring in any profit lost from giving the free game in the first place. Reluctantly, Sega complied with Kalinske’s plan in time for the 1992 market.
And boy did it work. Sega’s share in the market shot up to a record high of 55%, and Sonic had topped Mario as the franchise to beat. In a matter of a year, Sonic had gone from being “DRUNK ARTWORK!” to a merchandising phenomenon. Additionally, as a result of increased Genesis sales, Sega was selling more software than ever before. In 1992, Sonic got a sequel, and subsequently went viral everywhere from America to Japan to New Zealand. But would Nintendo take this sitting down?
Alright, thanks again to User:Lily for the artwork at the top of the page. Thanks to the readers for being literate. Also, thanks to my high school for allowing me to catch up on writing this and having teachers that don’t give a darn what site I’m on. And thanks to TomSka for not suing me for stealing your joke. You’re the best.
This is Toad85 signing out, and that’s the way it was.
Feeling cold? Last month I looked into the Angry Sun and got sunburns in places that I didn't know the sun could touch, so I've decided to review something a bit cooler this month (get the pun?): Baron Brrr.
I've seen this coming for a while now. I was resisting at first, but I couldn't stop myself forever. I have no officially inserted the first Super Mario Galaxy character into this section. Baron Brrr appeared as the boss of the Freezeflame Galaxy - a gigantic Li'l Brrr with the power to create icy shockwaves. He appeared only once in the entire game, not even returning for a comet. For a such a cool character, Baron Brrr is really being given the cold shoulder.
Super Mario Galaxy is now five years old, and Baron Brrr has not received any mention since. I think that qualifies him for this section, an under-appreciated character from a game which is slowly getting older. Baron Brr has faded into the snowy blizzard of obscurity.
HI, London! Errr... MarioWiki! I'm your musical Statistics Manager, Tucayo, and I am here to bring you this year's Awards Recap.
This year's preparations began in January, with our largest Awards Committee so far. Around 30 people signed up to help in this year's ceremony. They were all directed by Turboo, who took over Ralphfan's role after the complications that arose with the latter. Turboo was aided by Awards Sub-Director, SMB; and Official Organizer, Superchao.
The first thing the AC had to deal with was the number of the awards. After much discussion, they settled for an unprecedented reduction in the Mario Awards, bringing them down to 25 awards. Fail and Userpedia Awards got a 5-awards increment, leaving them at 15 and 10, respectively, and 'Shroom stayed at 10.
There is always controversy surrounding the AC and this year was no exception. Former Awards Director, Ralphan, and FireEevee were kicked out of the AC for their misbehavior and lack of cooperation. Pyro and Skulldug (the latter of whom wasn't in the AC) were banned from getting tokens and prizes after cheating in the Mafia game.
Now to the actual ceremony. This year's hosts were Turboo, SMB, Gamefreak and myself; hosting the Mario, Userpedia, Fail and 'Shroom Awards, respectively. The ceremony kicked off at 4:00 pm (ET) with the Userpedia Awards. Highlights of the ceremony included SMB's intro, telling the story of Userpedia; a great U1 script by Snack; a satiric and cameo-filled script by MCD, where he revealed New Sherlock Mario had shockingly won Best Written Fiction; SMB's second Lifetime Achievement Award and much more. For the full details you'll have to check the forum.
Next were the amazing 'Shroom Awards, hosted by the moth handsome Koopa around. There were also many surprises and memorable moments, like SMB yielding his Favorite Main Team writer award or General Bob-Omb winning Favorite Fun Stuff Writer. But there were also the predictable results, like Fake News winning Favorite Sub-Team for the third year in a row. Presenters included Crocodile Dippy, with a detailed S1 script; MCD, whose presentations would have killed you had you not been looking; Bop, who presented two awards; SMB, presenting the final award; and more great presentations.
Then came the Fourth Fail Awards, hosted by Gamefreak75. Some of the presenters were Uniju, Toadbert, Paper Jorge, Edo and more. Some of this year's unlucky winners were Birdo, Goombario, Wendy O. and Mario Pinball Land. As always, it's nice to see you're not the only one who hates a certain character/game. Or worse, when you see some of your favorite games/characters are really hated. I'm talking about Mario Golf.
To close the night we had the main attraction of the night, the Sixth Mario Awards. After letting five awards go, like Favorite PM Partner, we were up for a two-and-a-half-hour ceremony packed with great scripts and some shocking results. And for the first time ever, two Favorite Game presentations! And of course, the classic bloopers. These votes covered everything from Waluigi's Taco Stand to the "fucking dragon from SMG2." But of course, no ceremony is complete without the never-ending rants against new games. Super Mario Galaxy 2 won a bunch of awards, including Favorite Game, which cause a massive uproar by some users. Well, that's the way things are.
But the awards festivities weren't limited to the ceremonies. We also had four other events. The Team Fortress 2 tournament, won by Garlic Man, Gorden and S-Y; the Mario Kart 7 tournament, won by Lakituthequick; the traditional Guess The Results, won by Gamefreak; and the Mafia game, won by the Werewolves, Mafia, 3K and MM15. SonicMario won the Overall MVP. As of now, prizes are being picked by those with enough tokens. No one better take the two remaining iTunes cards, I want one
To end this recap, this month we have the first ever Awards Director Election, so be sure to vote and participate in the debates. That's all from me, thanks to everyone who made this Awards possible, and be sure to check out the AC Commentaries. BYE!
Awards Committee Commentaries
by Awards CommitteeHello everybody! For this month's Awards-themed issue, the Core Staff felt that it would be appropriate to invite the members of the Awards Committee to write about their experiences, their thoughts on how the ceremony went, suggestions for next year's Awards Show, and such. Here are those commentary sections.
Participants
- Turboo (talk)
- Super Mario Bros. (talk)
- TheGreatBlockyBoo (talk)
- Gamefreak75 (talk)
- Tucayo (talk)
- Stooben Rooben (talk)
- Groden (talk)
- Bop1996 (talk)
- Crocodile Dippy (talk)
- Hypnotoad (talk)
- New Super Mario (talk)
- Raven Effect (talk)
Turboo (talk) (Awards Committee Director, Mario Awards Host)
To start off, I'm very proud of all the work the committee members did this year; you guys were great, and I hope you join next year as well.
This year's show was also great, aside from a few blunders; we plan to fix those, though, namely by regulating the tokens better, creating a public suggestion box for the awards, and drawing attention to the Userpedia and 'Shroom nominees. We also have plenty of other suggestions in store, which will be revealed once I launch my campaign.
That's about it; there was nothing major going on this time (which is perhaps a good thing, since past ceremonies have had... problems afterward), though I hope we can improve next year and make this the best one yet!
Super Mario Bros. (talk) (Awards Committee Sub-director, Userpedia Awards Host)
Hello everybody! For this commentary, I will simply write some thoughts I have about the Awards Committee.
Overall, I think this year went over relatively well despite some rocky beginnings. I think that the end result was a fun day for everybody on the Ceremony Day and that the efforts made during planning meetings were not in vain. I have a few suggestions for next year, of course:
- Ensure that the community and the Awards Committee Members are respected all throughout the process. The main purpose of this event is to bring members of the community together to celebrate a historic day in the wiki's history, and we cannot forget that.
- Try to make the meeting schedule a bit flexible. Having it too rigid disenfranchises individuals and makes it inconvenient for certain people to attend. Perhaps have an alternating Friday-Saturday schedule like we did this past year.
- Make sure that the integrity of the voting process is upheld as opposed to simply looking for ways to artificially raise vote counts (specifically with the community awards). We should investigate ways to make sure that more votes are educated votes rather than guesses made by random visitors and that the amount of uneducated votes are decreased.
- Define the role of Sub-director. It was hard to help out this year as Sub-director when the role was not even defined and its duties not made clear.
Thank you, and I hope the next year is successful!
TheGreatBlockyBoo (talk) (Awards Committee Organizer)
Well, as one of the Folks In Charge, I can say that it all ended up going very well! My personal experience in the awards committee is probably unique, but I'll talk about it anyway.
Considering I got invited by Ralph and came in after the major debates had happened, I didn't end up contributing much to the initial stuff like pushing for Ralph's demotion due to his dictatorial manner. What I did end up doing was just voting and participating a lot, and eventually I ended up handling documents. And managing that meant poor SMB didn't have anything non-UP awards to do... ehehehe.
Anyhow! As it turns out, results tallying isn't too awful, especially if you have j-pop playing on loop for half an hour while doing so. :V After tallying there wasn't really much subdirecting to do, except for helping manage things during the awards chat. And that didn't become much of a problem due to Turb being great at the whole "direct the events" part of things.
Opinions on how it went? Well, I feel it went spectacularly. We took care of the issues of needed backups ahead of time and avoided any last-minute rush jobs, and on the day of the ceremony everyone either posted in time or had theirs posted in time. Despite the lack of posting in the ceremony threads compared to last year, the levels of activity on chat showed that we certainly had a lot of people paying attention... although the eighty percent "I dunno what the awards are" reply shows we reeeeally need to work on it. Aheheh.
As for opinions on the committee members. First off, I feel Turb did a spectacular job as a director - she kept things reasonably on-topic, but didn't try to control the results of votes and such. Additionally she did a great job managing everything on the ceremony day. On the same token, Gamefreak, Super Mario Bros, and Tucayo all did great jobs of coordinating their ceremonies and getting all the presentations they managed posted on time. I also think we had a very good committee overall this year - removing the usual 13/15 person cap really helped us get more opinions and ideas in, and our committee members were overall sensible and helpful folks. So I'd like to thank the entire AC again for helping make this a great Mario Awards VI.
Gamefreak75 (talk) (Fail Awards Host)
Being on the Awards Committee this year was great. Even though this is actually my third time being on the committee, it was still a good experience. I remember the first time I was on the committee, I was actually a replacement and only attended two meetings. On the second year, I along with the help of others, managed to expand upon the Fail Awards to what they are today, but I was merely a normal committee member. This year was different though, because for more than half the meetings, I kept record of the attendance sheet and the meeting logs. I was also very glad to be the host for the Fail Awards this year as well, since that is definitely my favorite category and I think it went splendidly.
I hope to be on the Committee next year, if possible.
Tucayo (talk) ('Shroom Awards Host)
I've been helping the AC for three years now, and I have to say, this year was as entertaining as the previous two. Or maybe even more. I wasn't around for the meetings and that, since, like last year, I wasn't formally in the AC, I was just hosting the 'Shroom Awards. I actually thought they weren't going to invite me again, but they did! It was a nice surprise.
Oddly enough, this year I got really nervous/excited before the ceremony started, even if it was my third year hosting the Shroom Awards (and last, don't worry). There was no need to worry, everything went on perfectly; everyone was on time and the presentations were top-quality. But even if the organization was really good, there's one thing I didn't like: the results of the Community Awards didn't reflect the current situation of The 'Shroom and Userpedia. And this was greatly discussed after the ceremony ended, with all kinds of solutions being suggested. Restrict the voting to guests, make us host the Community Awards and all kinds of solutions that would have rendered our previous efforts to maintain the 'Shroom Awards useless (because it was actually hard to stay at 10 awards, but we managed it). But I'm sure whoever is elected AC director won't do that to us, and I'm also sure that whoever is the next 'Shroom Director wouldn't let that happen. We're already discussing better categories for the Shroom Awards and ways to help readers cast an educated vote in both the Userpedia and 'Shroom Awards.
After all that rant, let's get back to this past ceremony. It was great. I love Awards day. Chat is packed, forum is full of activity, you get to see many users that you wouldn't otherwise see, you get to know more users and you get to share your hate for certain games with more people. A great day, it always is. and before this turns into a section of its own, I'll conclude. Thanks a lot to Turboo, Superchao and the rest of the AC for organizing the Awards in such a perfect way; and, of course, thanks to SMB for so gracefully coordinating us in the Shroom Awards organization. Be sure to follow the Awards next year.
Stooben Rooben (talk) (Team Fortress 2 Tournament Co-host, Awards Mafia II Co-host)
So you're wanting to know how my time on the Awards Committee was this year? Funny thing about that: I wasn't exactly planning on being a member at all this year. But I ended up signing up for the Committee and having a really good time this year.
When sign-ups for the Awards Committee opened up this year, I skipped out because I didn't want to contribute much of anything to this year's ceremony. I had considered hosting a Team Fortress 2 event on Steam, but wasn't sure if there were really enough players to warrant one. I also considered that there may have already been plenty of events for the community between Guess the Results, Awards Mafia, and the Mario Kart Tourney. A few weeks passed, and I had heard about some of the progress the Committee had made in that time. It sounded like the Committee was making decent headway this year with expanding some awards and redesigning others. Plus, with the amount of friends I had on the committee, I started to feel like I was missing out on something big. ...And I was!
I eventually sent a PM to Ralph about signing up to the committee late, which he, of course, approved. Upon getting access to the AC Board, I saw talk of expanding the overal number of awards this year to 60. I was pretty excited for that, but at that point, Ralphfan was adamantly opposed to it, actually going as far as overriding the vast majority of support from the Committee to have 60 awards this year. Arguments and drama briefly ensued, but Ralph was soon replaced by a new directing staff. Turb, SMB, and Blocky were the new people in charge of the Committee, and they made every effort to make this year as big of a ceremony as possible.
I was pretty amped up about the size of the ceremony this year (60 awards! That really is quite a lot to manage), so I decided to contribute more this year than I intended to originally. I attended many of the chat meetings this year, although I didn't contribute much content to them. I guess I just don't have much to say about Mario anymore. The awards I was interested in contributing to, were taken care of on nights that I couldn't appear. But hey, everything was getting done in an unbelievably fashionable manner, so who was I to complain? I was pretty impressed, honestly.
I then went forth with hosting a TF2 Tournament with Groden, and I also signed on to co-host Awards Mafia with Smasher. I eventually agreed to create 2 presentations as well, but that wasn't the part I was particularly excited for this year, for some reason. I really, really wanted to make the Mafia and TF2 events have an amazing turnout.
The first thing I started setting up was the TF2 Tournament. I knew I couldn't host something of that caliber on my own, so I asked Groden if he would help. He kindly obliged and was eventually added to the Awards Commitee himself because of this. The first thing we had to decide on was, how long should the event be? One day seemed kind of underwhelming after the fairly large crowd of people getting hyped at the thought of the event. We considered doing it for 2 days for a while, but since we assumed rewards would be team-based at the end of each day, we didn't want to have any ties. So, 3 days was what we ended up deciding on. Once we got the dates set (the last weekend of July), we had to figure out a rotation of maps and events to keep everyone entertained and happy. This was probably the hardest part to manage, because both Groden and I wanted to host unique events that would be fun, and not just standard rounds of control-point, payload, capture-the-flag, and deathmatch. We figured people would get bored of that. After tossing around a lot of ideas (such as a giant-sized Soldier to fight, controlled by Groden) and setting down boundaries (like no matches on the Dustbowl or Thundermountain maps), we eventually came up with an expansive roster of matches for everyone to participate in. 12 real matches, plus 6 mini-games, over the course of 3 nights. Once the rotation was finished, we gathered sign-ups. We managed to get 20 people to sign-up, although, not all of them actually appeared at any matches. (However, we had a larger turnout of people than just 20, because many people decided to act as replacements during matches.) Before the first night, Groden and I took turns picking players to assign to our teams (we were supposed to be "Team Captains" for the first day of the event). I dunno what happened, but I guess Groden ended up picking the...er..."better" players first, since I told him to go first. Teams ended up stacked (as in, my team didn't seem to stand a chance against Groden's team), and people were quickly growing unhappy. We knew the event would crash and burn if we continued like this, so Groden and I made a snap decision to allow Team Captains to change after each match; that way, teams would more likely stay balanced, since different people would always be picking. However, since many tokens that were awarded (for prizes) were based on team-reliant goals, Groden and I also decided to lower the standards required to acquire tokens. This turned out to be a somewhat bad judgment call, as TF2 players ended up receiving an insanely high amount of tokens (there were more tokens than there were enough prizes for...and that was just for one event!) Needless to say, we crashed the Anniversary's prize economy, but it didn't remain a problem for too long — the Committee quickly worked together to make prize distribution fair to everyone.
Anyway, the TF2 event ended up being a lot of fun for everyone who participated, especially since teams were typically balanced (barring a few VERY stacked rounds). We played hide-and-seek as Spies (that is, Spies hiding from Pyros), killed 50 giant, angry eyeballs in 1 hour, had a massive Sniper battle...oh yeah, and we played several particularly amazing rounds of serious matches. I think Granary and Goldrush turned out to be the best matches in the entire event. ...I feel like I'm getting long-winded here, so I guess I'll hurry along. We managed to have enormous matches on our local TF2 server that almost never occur. It was a ton of fun for everyone, and I can't wait to host another event like it again. Hopefully Groden would be up to co-hosting, because I don't think I could have done it without him this year. He did great at keeping things sane and fun for everyone. Thanks, pally!
After that was over, I had about a week to get everything organized with Smasher for Awards Mafia. (This was kind of my fault due to procrastination, but the TF2 event did require a lot of focus.) I can not count how many PMs Smasher and I shot back and forth to each other to get things organized — we constantly made jokes about flooding each other's inboxes, it was so frequent. We wanted to keep the game enjoyable to as many people as possible, so we decided to give every role at least one power. However, I was adamant about not going overboard with powers and items like I did in my "MW Werewolf: Take III" game. We quickly decided which alliances to include, and past there proceeded to create character's roles for the game. We wanted to represent series and works of fiction that different parts of the community enjoyed, but we couldn't even cover them all. However, we did end up with an extremely impressive list of roles and powers, many of which some players went on to thoroughly enjoy. Certain roles seemed overpowered compared to others, but we designed every role to have fair counters. Smasher and I also introduced a new concept to the game — Locations. During the Day Phases, players could visit one location of their choice, possibly finding a treasure that could aid them in the game. Some players were very lucky and found their treasure within the first few tries. ...Others...(I'm looking at you, Tucayo)...were not so lucky, even being unable to find their location after a dozen attempts. Some players had very ineresting strategies this game, too. The Aliens seemed like they were going to be a huge threat early on, but a fiasco involving a member of the Alien team and the Robot team (an opposing, "good guy" faction) quickly led to the destruction of the entire Alien team. The "fiasco" was caused by two players leaking the names of several enemies in the game, essentially through methods of cheating. Smasher and I were extremely upset over this, but even more so, I think we felt bad for the players who were caught in the crossfire; particularly, the Aliens and Robots, who had an otherwise fruitful game ended very quickly for them.
However, other players, such as SonicMario (who was actually a temporary fill-in), ended up being tremendous sports. SonicMario came into the game past the halfway point, and was quickly converted from Innocent to Werewolf. The poor guy was the only Werewolf left at the time, though, so he didn't exactly seem optimistic about winning the game. However, careful strategies and use of his powers led him to overthrow a swarming amount of enemies (Robots, Innocents, Mafia, and Independents) and claim victory for the Werewolves. Amazingly, it was only his second time playing a Mafia game. Smasher and I were both absolutely floored by how well he did. And honestly, I'd go so far as to say SonicMario made the game its most enjoyable for me. He played extremely well with practically nothing on his side, and managed to win. It was an awesome performance to see as a host.
I also owe Smasher some serious cookies or something for all the hard work he did in the game. I think I glossed over that, but he really worked his butt off with this game. He handled almost all of the actions that happened during the night phases, and even handled many of the daytime lynches. I had to dump my responsibilities in the game on him a couple times, but he carried on like a trooper. I'd like to co-host with him again some day, preferably with more time to work the game's details out beforehand, so we're not stressed.
I guess what I enjoyed most this year was not the ceremony itself, but the interaction with other people. I've...never really paid much attention to it before on the committee, honestly. I think that might have been due to dealing with staff stresses unexpectedly most years, whereas this year, I was able to participate like a normal person. I voiced my opinion, but I didn't have to make the final say. The parts that I did contribute to were completely stress-free events, too: A forum mystery game, and an online massive-multiplayer cartoon war game. Co-hosting with Groden and Smasher were both awesome experiences, and I have to give them both serious creds for dealing with my ridiculous work schedules and always being late to everything. I also enjoyed just being on the AC and seeing everything at work, too. Turb, SMB, and Blocky were on-the-ball when it came to keeping track of the things that keep the ceremony running: the polls, the nominations, the statistics, and the deadlines. And the other AC members that I consider my pals? It was nice to contribute to a community project with them, if only because I don't spend as much time around here these days as I used to. And because I'm grateful that this community has brought me friends and people I enjoy hanging out with. It might sound silly or sentimental, but I think that kind of thing is what fuels a huge community get-together like this.
Groden (talk) (Team Fortress 2 Tournament Co-host)
Well, to be truthful, I was only a member of the Awards Committee because Stooben wanted me to help organize the Team Fortress 2 tournament. So, I suppose I'll talk about that a bit.
It is very exciting hosting a tournament in our Team Fortress 2 server, since we usually get no more than 4v4 games, 5v5 at best. It was our biggest event to date, topping Free Strange Day. The biggest we got was 10v10, but that is still 10 more players than a generous day. It was also unique because it was the first time we set the server configurations to a more competitive scenario outside of messing around for the sake of training. In particular, shotgun spread was very predictable, the player would not score random critical hits, and we had a cap for Heavies and Pyros so as to keep balance and encourage other classes, as we were worried people would go "easy killer" classes in order to get more points, and by extension, tokens.
Although, it was not as jovial for Stooben and I, since we had a bit of a panic over severely unbalanced teams after the first round of Gravel Pit. I guess what happened was I claimed more veteran players than Stooben. What made it even worse was how competitive scoring worked; you just had to beat your opponent's capture amount and time rather than finish the entire game. Because we had a perfect defense, when it was our turn to go offense, we just had to capture one point in about five minutes, which we did in about one or two. In simple terms, my team was doing good, and because of the game rules, it was setting a ridiculous standard for the other team to compete against.
After that, most of the players were outraged at the stacked teams, including some threatening to quit if we didn't fix it somehow. So Stooben and I decided that every round has new team captains to pick players during the 30 minute intermissions between rounds instead of each day. Some rounds were very horribly stacked in one captain or another's favor, but it would change the next round, so people were not too upset over it. This plan worked out more, since many players had to leave temporarily or could not even attend, so it was allowed to change; about half of my team would've had to leave at some point, I remember. We had only about 4 reserves, so in the end, this sudden decision ended up working a lot better for us all. We did away with scoring based on your team's skill to compensate as well, but lowered the amount of points you needed to get a token (a decision Stooben and I would come to regret).
I remember the tournament for the unique mini-games, although a few players ignored them because they were not "serious matches". In hindsight, it would've been better if they did not count for tokens because so many people missed them, yet it decided somewhere around 300-400 tokens (in one event alone, it was 100; some veterans got 80 in some other matches like Katana Duel). Regardless, they were pretty damn fun. Sniper Warfare provided some fun moments with arrows, bullets, and piss flying about. The Medieval Challenge and Katana Duel was just a simply chaotic all-out brawl. Our longest one, 30 Monoculi in 30 Minutes, actually took us about 50 minutes, bleeding into intermission heavily. Martiniman and I simply rocked Oktoberfest with a pocket combo, and Hide & Go Seek was a fun makeshift mini-game we did. Managed to get a couple people to shit themselves hiding from all the roaming Pyros bursting fire, trying to find them as Spy.
Outside of all of that, I almost completely ignored the awards; I only followed about half of the first ceremony and looked at stories some friends told me to read, but that was about it. So, I guess I don't have much to say about how they went. I will admit it was to some extent my fault that the TF2 event caused a disastrously massive amount of tokens to be distributed, though, haha. I am definitely looking forward to next year. Hopefully we get more people, and the people we had get even more experienced at Team Fortress 2 so we have more intense matches.
Bop1996 (talk) (Awards Committee Member)
This was a fun year. Even though there were plenty of challenging phases scattered throughout the entire process, the overall experience was quite pleasant. My experiences in the super-secret underground Awards Committee board were generally pleasant, even though there were some rough patches here and there. The meetings were defintely busy, and kept me on my toes every week. The ceremonies were fun, even though I didn't really care all that much about the results. The peripheral events were fun as well. Guess the Results, esepcially, turned out quite well for me, despite the amazingly poor effort I put into it. In the end, it was a fun experience, and I look forward to next year.
Crocodile Dippy (talk) (Awards Committee Member)
Wow, I almost didn't write this. I found myself so sick this month that simply touching the keyboard made me feel like I've run a marathon. But yeah, let's talk about the awards committee of this year. Well it was my very first time in the committee, I was invited in by the initial director Ralphfan (talk) before he was replaced by Turboo (talk), who promptly put me in charge of the awards committee's Twitter account not long after her ascension since she knew I sometimes managed the 'Shroom's Twitter account (also because I asked her if I could do it).
Anyway, I was primarily focussed on the 'Shroom awards, so let me just say right now that this year's 'Shroom awards were lacklustre at their absolute best. I remember us agreeing to the categories we chose due to a lack of better ideas, but I displayed after the ceremony this year that we all really could've done a lot better. Hopefully we can actually discuss with the awards committee ideas rather than monopolising the nominations ourselves, but live and learn.
Speaking of which, despite my primary interest being the 'Shroom awards, I missed the committee meeting for that awards category because I had surgery scheduled that week and would be stuck in a hospital for a week with no internet… or dead, which fortunately wasn't the case. So what a great deal of luck I have! And then I wrote the presentation for Favourite Director for the 'Shroom awards, so a lovely journey all things considering.
Why did you read this? It's so boring and you'd have to be equally boring or my dad to have read this far. Well now that you did… it doesn't matter, does it? Just enjoy everyone elses boring stories and let me sleep, I'm still coughing up what I'm guessing might be my liver right now.
Hypnotoad (talk) (Awards Committee Member)
Although I don’t have much prior experience as this is the first year I’ve paid much attention to AC, and only the 2nd year I’ve participated in making a presentation, I’d say that the anniversary and its festivities were quite enjoyable!
Despite finding myself quite frustrated with meetings last year, I decided to (eventually) join the 2012 Awards Committee. Since this time around I was actually present before meetings actually began, rather than popping in halfway, I felt more comfortable and found the entire process much easier to work with. Decisions and votes were relatively painless and discussions flowed with relative ease. I wasn’t aware that people could be so passionate about which characters ended up in the polls or not, but as I stayed through more meetings, it began to make sense. Everyone wanted the best for the Ceremony and Events, and lively discussion was the way to get everyone’s ideas out there and make good compromises.
This year I participated in the 3 day TF2 Tournament. I was honestly quite nervous that it would be taken too seriously and that I’d do terribly, but it was quite the opposite. Everyone was laid back (barring the bumps in the very beginning) and played just like they do all other times. All of the different modes we played were quite enjoyable, too. As for the ceremony itself, I decided that I would make some drawings for a presentation again. And, just like last year unfortunately, I was surprised with a sudden lack of internet for 3-4 weeks right before the ceremony, which put me in quite a time crunch. I was able to finish, though, and I personally think quite successfully! I’m hoping I have enough creative juices by next year to make an even better presentation.
Another thing to note is that this year, it seemed like a lot of the discussion on who people want to win, if they’re surprised at the winners, etc. took place at the chat party rather than the forum. Personally, I actually liked that, since it helped quell some (not all, ahaha) of the post conflicts, and allowed people to discuss things rather than throwing out a statement and quickly moving on.
As for suggestions, I really don’t have too many! I really liked how this year went and don’t think much should be changed at all. The few things that could be improved are probably some more coordination with game events and advertising of the polls and nominees. Other than that, there’s really nothing else to complain about. Congratulations Turb, SMB, and Blocky on a great job running the AC, and a further congratulations to the AC itself and everyone who participated through hosting events, making presentations, and even voting, on a job well done and a successful anniversary!
New Super Mario (talk) (Awards Committee Member)
My experiences with the Awards this year were great. The committee is great, and it's a great community project. I plan on joining next year also. My connection to the chat meetings wasn't working this year, so I hope I can attend more next year now that I fixed that problem. Although there were a few bumps in the project, it was overall a very fun experience and I look forward to the 2013 awards!
Raven Effect (talk) (Awards Committee Member)
I very much enjoyed being part of the Awards Committee; it felt very good participating and helping set up something that brings the entire community together. And though it is true that there were moments of frustration those moments were few and far between and at the end of the day it was a great experience and I recommend that anybody who was thinking about trying to join this year should try to join next year because I know I will join again as long as the committee director will allow me to.
Well, here is another guest section for your viewing, but don't expect anything to extravagant. Anyways, I am writing this section because I somehow won the Guess the Results. This is my third year participating in this event, but this is the first time I ever placed first. Last year, I got second place, losing by 1 measly point, but ended up getting the most trifectas. I don't even know about the GTR competition two years ago, there were only like 3 or 4 people participating and I probably got last place. This year, not only did I manage to get the most trifectas, but I also got the most points: 413 out of a possible 900 (?), which is the highest I have ever gotten. So, uh, I think that pretty much covers it…
Wait a minute, I'm forgetting the most important part about winning any competition: bragging rights!
*insert long speech about me gloating*
That's basically it, so see you guys around.
Author's Note: I did not do my research when coming up with these numbers, so they're likely wrong. Oh well!
Welcome! This year, The 'Shroom Awards was retained at a total of ten awards— given the attempts that were made throughout the year to reduce it to five or to get rid of it, this is quite impressive. 'Shroom Awards III went well, had a variety of presenters, and came with some surprises! Tucayo was the host of the event and wrote opening and closing posts for the ceremony. The categories and nominees were suggested by the 'Shroom Core Staff to the Awards Committee and were officially approved by the latter body.
This section intends to have some sort of "award" for the winners of each category– due to the difficulty of actually giving out tangible, physical awards, the Core Staff determined that it would be best to have Award templates that the winner of each category may choose to put on their user page. So here they are! Congratulations to the winners!
'Shroom Award 1: Favorite Director
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Super Mario Bros. (talk) has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony!
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'Shroom Award 2: Favorite Sub-Team
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Fake News has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony! |
'Shroom Award 3: Favorite Sub-Team Director
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Super Mario Bros. (talk) has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony! |
'Shroom Award 4: Favorite Main Team Writer
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New Super Mario (talk) has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony! |
'Shroom Award 5: Favorite Fake News Writer
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Gamefreak75 (talk) has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony!
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'Shroom Award 6: Favorite Fun Stuff Writer
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General bob-omb (talk) has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony!
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Pyro (talk) has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony!
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'Shroom Award 7: Favorite Music & Artwork Writer
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Fawfulfury65 (talk) has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony! |
'Shroom Award 8: Favorite Pipe Plaza Writer
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Paper Yoshi (talk) has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony! |
'Shroom Award 9: Favorite Issue of the Past Year
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December 2011 has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony! |
'Shroom Award 10: Favorite Event
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Special Holiday Issue LVII has won a 'Shroom Award in the Super Mario Wiki Awards Ceremony!
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Hello everyone! I'm honored to be allowed to write a Special Section for the 'Shroom!
Today I'm going to write about my experience during the Mario Kart 7 Tournament, hosted by Pyro (talk)!
The first race. I was nervous. Could I make it? Since I had dinner. Had to run away from it. Announced I'd run away 2 minutes beforehand. Great preparation.
Then the race started. I don't exactly know how it went anymore, but I know I proceeded. Actually, everybody proceeded, since we were with only four people, and four would go to the next round.
Rrrround 2. Again, troubles with dinner. But things went better this time, as there were six people this time. I became first, YamiHoshi.nl (talk) became second.
Round 3, the Finals. I only had one opponent, because the rest didn't show up.
It was me VS. YamiHoshi.nl (talk), and she is a tough opponent, believe me.
The first course, DK Pass. Starting nice, then Yami was in first, then I hit her with a Red Shell and became first myself. Staying first for a while, then I drove into a snowball, and Yami freely passed me.
In the second lap, Yami crashed into a wall in the tunnel, not having great handling by using a Super Leaf, so I could pass her. Then at the zigzags, it was a neck-to-neck race, won by Yami. However, her victory was of short living, getting hit by my Green Shell. For the rest of the lap, nothing special happened.
Then out of nothing, a Green Shell appeared in Yami's view and hit her. It was my Shell. Then I finished. 3-1 for me.
Second course, Waluigi Pinball. Another good start, Yami immediately taking the lead, keeping it until accidentally hitting a wall. She got the lead back fairly quick, in lap 2, by passing me with a Slipstream, dodging any incoming Red Shells with a Banana. For the rest of the whole race, she stayed in first, and finished first. 4-4 tie.
Third course, announced in chat as follows:
<LTQ>: course 3 is SK jungle
<MKGirlism>: DK Jungle.
<Pyro>: sk jungle? woh, made me think "SKMarioman?!"
DK Jungle, apparently. Another neck-to-neck start. Then, right before the water with the Screaming Pillars, I trapped her into a banana, making her fall down in the water. I was first for a whole round, and this time, Yami didn't fall in the water, by she dodged the new banana, and used a Golden Mushroom after that. For another lap, I was in first, getting ink on me once, but not much else. It was 7-5 for me.
The last course was Luigi's Mansion. Got a Red Shell on me inside the mansion, letting Yami pass. Nothing special happened untill the end of lap 2, where I got a Lucky 7, and shot everything I had at her. Hit with 3 things, only 2 had effect. Hit with Green Shell, Blooper and Star, of which the Star hadn't effect. After being in first for one more lap, I had won. 10-6.
I am very happy to have won, and I want to thank my family for their patiece at dinner.
See ya later!
