New Super Mario Galaxy 2 Trailer Looks Intergalacticly Good

May 23rd looks like the date that gamers will have their first true Mario sequel in years. “Super Mario Galaxy 2,” co-staring everyone’s favorite dino-buddy Yoshi, will hit stores before the summer, and based on the trailer above, it looks like it’s going to live up to its predecessor. Between this, “BioShock,” “God of War,” “Mass Effect,” and who knows what else the year holds in sequels, 2009 is shaping up to rival 2007 as the best year in gaming… well at least in terms of sequels anyway.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Review: What’s Old Is New Again

Every once in a while, there’s a game that comes a long that revolutionizes the video games landscape, and without a doubt, the original “Super Mario Bros.” is the best example of that, ever. It, single-handedly, pulled the video game industry out of the rut that it had dug itself into by the mid 1980s, and turned it into the thriving business that it is today. There’s something simple and amazing about that game that many have tried to replicate, but none have ever really been able to achieve. Now, almost twenty five years after the original hit the market alongside the NES, Nintendo has released a Mario’s first 2D console game in almost fifteen years, “New Super Mario Bros. Wii.” It’s a game that’s created in the same style as the original, but takes it to a whole new level for this generation of gamers. [Continue Reading]

Mario And Sonic At The Winter Olympic Games Review: Going For Gold

Sometime in the late 1980s, my parents went on a trip to Jamaica without me. I assume they had a good time, and completely understand them not wanting to drag me, a seven year old, and my brother, we’ll say thirteen at the time, around a tropical island with them. I get that. So, when they returned, seven year old me was only really concerned about what they brought me back. Much to my surprise, my parents seemed to have gotten something right, and they brought me back a Nintendo game, instead of some lame painted rock… or at least that’s what I thought until I started to play it. The game was the NES port of the Epyx “classic” “Winter Games,” and God, was it bad. Okay, maybe it wasn’t bad, but it was boring, and I could never really figure out the controls, especially for figure skating. Fast forward to the present day, and if my parents were to head to the Caribbean this holiday season, and bring me back a winter games themed video game, namely “Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games,” I think I would be singing a slightly different tune.

Comparing “Mario and Sonic” to “Winter Games” is like comparing apples to oranges, in that the only two things they have in common is that they are both comprised of a collection of winter themed games, and that they are both, in fact, video games. It stops there. “Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games” just has so much more to offer. [Continue Reading]

15 Things That Have Happened Since Mario’s Last 2D Console Game

No matter how you slice it, Mario is best remembered for his 2D adventures that he first appeared in so long ago. However, for some reason, up until this week’s release of “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” he had not seen a 2D console release since 1990’s “Super Mario World.” Sure, Nintendo’s handhelds have gotten a ton of 2D love from Mario, but the consoles had been left in the dust. It’s been almost twenty years since our red plumber friend has run back and forth on a TV screen, and a lot can happen in that span of time. For example: [Continue Reading]

Video Game Art From Across The Ocean: A Conversation With deviantART’s Orioto

If you guys didn’t know, TrueGameHeadz not only care about video games, we also care about art, and the creators of these games (that we like to tear apart) as well.

Browsing deviantART, one of the hotbeds for hot artists worldwide, we came across this artist who touched our hearts with the Wacom. He doesn’t design for major games yet, but he can capture what’s true about some old school titles that make us all stop and stare. Without further ado let me introduce you to Mikael Aguirre aka Orioto. I’m sure you’ll find inspiration in his work.

[Continue Reading]

Live Retro Play Theater: Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES

Coming up at 1 PM EST today, I will be kicking off Memorial Day Weekend for those in the States (or ending Victoria Day week for us Canadians) by attempting to beat “Super Mario Bros 3″ for the NES live on Livestream. However, there will be a twist, I won’t be using any warp whistles – take that The Wizard.

This game doesn’t need much of an introduction; if you visit this site, chances are you have already played this game. It’s Mario, he eats mushrooms, stomps on turtles, gets special power-ups, and saves the Princess.

Just a little forewarning, I haven’t played this game in years. I might appear a little rusty and I don’t even remember beating the game! So if I’m playing sloppy, you know why. [Continue Reading]

Top 10 Reasons The Video Game Industry Is In Trouble

Yes I will do it! I’m the bearer of doom and gloom. Someone has to do it. While most publications are rife with BEST this and that about the industry, few are looking at what ails it. I intend to rectify this with my list and hopes for the fixes of my favorite hobby. Without further ado…

10. Sequelitis

Yes, the industry has gotten sick with it. Following Hollywood tit for tat video games, for the most part, have become wholly un-original. Before you come stampeding my way with torches, let me explain. I don’t mean original as in a new genre or way to play a game (ducking Wii-motes). I mean original as in a new IP (Intellectual Property). What happened to getting excited over new characters? All of the gaming icons we know were once new. Instead of creating new characters, we get the same ones for the fifth, sixth, and eleventh installments.  I subscribe to the financial reasoning of betting on a name that people know, but it also smacks in the face of how that character became popular in the first place. No! I don’t want to play as Dante anymore, at least not for a while. I’m tired of hopping around with Mario, can I get a new character? Everyone talks about how this year was so great for gaming, but virtually every game on the Best Sellers list is a sequel – GTAIV, MGS:4, DMC 4, GHWT, Rock Band 2, GOW2, Res: 2, Mario Kart, etc etc  (You know these titles so well I can abbreviate them) How about a year without any sequels and totally new IP? Wouldn’t that be refreshing… [Continue Reading]

Freeman/Mario ‘08 – Games’ Best Write-In Presidential Candidates

With election fever sweeping the country (as well as splitting it almost in half), everyone has an opinion about who should be elected President next Tuesday. However, with only two major parties on the ballot, and a handful of independents, what if none of the nominees are still right for you? Well, you can always write-in your own candidates – anyone or anything you want – it’s your vote.

I’ve put together, what I think is the strongest possible ticket from the video games, and would be the best choice for the country, you know… if they were real. If elected, a combined ticket of “Half-Life”’s Doctor Gordon Freeman and “Super Mario Bros.”’s Luigi Mario have a really good chance of putting this country back on track, headed towards greatness.

Here is what each has to offer us: [Continue Reading]

No Wii Can’t: The lack of games for Nintendo Wii

No Wii Can’t

What’s going on with the Nintendo Wii? Not since the original Nintendo Entertainment system has the company had a console that could be considered the ultimate Trojan horse. Everyone’s got one. EVERYONE HAS A WII. Which defies all logic because it keeps selling hand over fist. Then why is Nintendo happy not enforcing that they are the ultimate in videogame entertainment?

My partners here at TrueGameHeadz love to refer to Nintendo as printing money. Which quite frankly they can. The Nintendo DS and Wii are runaway financial successes for the company, but at what cost? They have all but squandered an opportunity to introduce “revolutionary” games to match their revolutionary control scheme.

Take a look at the now hundreds of title strong (soft) library of Wii games. You’ll notice what should be quite alarming. They have 6 titles that would be considered above a reviewed 9 rating and two of them are Game Cube ports, 3 of them are simple sequels and only 1 is a true revolutionary experience. Those titles are, Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (GC), Resident Evil 4 (GC), Metroid Prime 3 (sequel), Super Smash Brothers (sequel), Mario Kart Wii (sequel) and the only revolutionary title Super Mario Galaxy.

If that aint enough for you, they’ve also announced that they aren’t releasing any new games outside of Animal Crossing this year!

But yet the system keeps selling. How do you explain it? The much talked about Virtual Console pre-launch has now come to “full realization”. We have numerous re-thread classics that we can go back and play if we’ve not already experienced on other consoles. But wait! Didn’t you hear about the vaunted Wii Ware lineup of games that would round out the experience? My either.

There are 24 WiiWare titles and can only be described as time wasters. The one with promise Lost Winds was a really nice experience that had people saying screw Lil Big Planet. But for realz has this new offering of games not been a let down?

People are quick to point out that XBOX Live Arcade didn’t have anything worth its salt when it launched. Which was true 3yrs ago! But in it’s formative years it had, Geometry Wars, Cloning Clyde, Small Arms, Assault Heroes, Alien Hominid, Pac Man Championship edition, Prince of Persia Classic (Which is how you should re-release a game) and not to mention the string of hits that has been coming since Jun 07.

While we are on the subject of online connectivity. Let’s talk about Nintendo’s still reluctant commitment to online. I get it that they want people to play with each other in the same living room. But that’s just not feasible in this day and age, where most people have moved to outlying places and just don’t have sleepovers anymore

Why is it that I have to wait 15mins and keep trying over and over to get a fight in Super Smash Bros? Oh yeah that’s right it’s one of the few games online and everyone is playing it at the same time.

I was one of those gamers who got the Wii on day one in 2006, thinking about the promise that this new control scheme would bring. Who knew the pack-in Wii Sports title would be the pinnacle of what it could be? Nintendo continues to frustrate 3rd party developers by with holding things that they would like to use to make better games. First Mii support (remember them) and then most recently the peripheral that allows for greater 1 to 1 support for games such as the upcoming Star Wars Lightsaber Duels.  But I digress.

For a company that has so much history and innovation I for one wish that it would stand up and deliver. I grew up playing memorable games on the NES and sometimes I wish that they would create a new era of games and not rely so heavily on their re-threads. Give me a new lead character; I don’t want another Mario game right now. Give me a new adventurer; I’m tired of saving Zelda. Is that too much to ask?

But when sales start slowing you know what will happen right? No that’s not when we’ll get great new titles. We’ll start getting bundles of old games with… yep you guessed it, Candy Colored Wii’s!

Viva La Revolucion!!! – DaveDaGamer

Wario Shaking it Up on Wii

2d gaming is back and on the Wii courtesy of Nintendo! In Wario’s latest adventure Wario Land: Shake it!, our hero is back and up to his old treasure hunting/stealing self. In this adventure players will use the Wii remote and hold it sideways classic controller style. And by shaking the controller, Wario will perform some on screen actions such as shaking items or tilting left and right to maintain balance.

Whats also cool about this Wario title is the arts style that developers/creators chose for the game; which you can see is a more animated/anime style. The previous Wario titles were all fun, and held their own unique style of play compared to the traditional Mario games. This title will be hitting Japan this fall. The US version is still TBA. Check the Japanese intro and gameplay footage below.

Unit out…