Nintendo Life

Another Camelot smash hit?

Now we know Mario Tennis Open is out in May it's time to feast your eyes on some fresh gameplay footage, showing off the new multiplayer and touch screen functions. You'll be able to use the 3DS console's built-in gyrometer to move your system around to take a look around the court, though we're not quite sure of the...

Tightly packed

Mario Tennis Open's global release dates are in, and it's a tight grouping. North America gets the game first on 20th May, before Japan on 24th May and Europe on 25th May. Camelot's first online game in the series includes head-to-head multiplayer with skill-based matchmaking. Nintendo has also revealed you'll also be able to pick up...

Going for gold

SEGA's sporting symposium just enjoyed a sales surge in the UK charts, with a whopping week-on-week sales increase of 94%. Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games on 3DS was released on 10th February, resulting in a 145% increase to send the title up from 31st to 10th position. Now sales of the 3DS version and discounts of...

Take advantage

With so many different kart pieces to unlock in Mario Kart 7, it can be tough knowing what's what and how to maximise your kart's abilities for land, sea and air. That's where the Combo Explorer app for iOS and Android can come in handy. The application lets you create a custom kart from all in-game parts and see how it stacks up...

You're in

3DS Ambassadors in North America can now download the update for Super Mario Bros. that adds Virtual Console restore points to the experience. Head over to the eShop, select Titles You've Downloaded and scroll to find the game; tap Update and you're on your way. As you know, Nintendo's ultimate plan is to add wireless multiplayer, restore...

Will you be their player two?

Like so many others, we at Nintendo Life get swept up in the romance that is in the air during St. Valentine's Day. We love the smell of the flowers, the taste of the chocolate and the irresistible allure of digging through the online dating profiles of strangers, hoping to find something amusing. Surprisingly, we got...

A little history lesson

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games might have been SEGA's biggest seller of last year, but don't let it fool you: it's an uneasy alliance. Sonic Wrecks recently posted a video from SEGA's official library that dates way back to 1992, from a time when the plumber-hedgehog rivalry was at boiling point. Just...

Mamma mia

Over 25 years on from release, people are still playing Super Mario Bros. on NES. Andrew Gardikis has probably played it more than most, as he's just set a new world record for fastest completion of the NES classic. Clocking in at 4:58.72, the time beats the previous record by ten seconds. Last year, Gardikis attempted to break the five...

No brakes

Mario Kart Wii has sold a whopping 31.9 million units around the world. The Wii racer has shifted 4.9m copies worldwide since April, standing as the biggest-selling Wii game of the financial year so far. It's not the only Mario game hitting milestones: perhaps due to its inclusion in the Nintendo Selects range, Super Mario Galaxy has racked up 10.4m worldwide sales since 2007, while New..

Just can't get enough

Super Mario 3D Land is the first 3DS game to sell over 5 million copies worldwide. According to Nintendo's latest figures, the game sits at 5.03m units sold around the world, just ahead of Mario Kart 7's 4.54m sales. Both have easily trumped the previous best-seller, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, which sits at 2.49m global sales. Considering

Coming soon

Nintendo will release a new 2D side-scrolling Super Mario title for 3DS in the next financial year, president Satoru Iwata has announced. Speaking to investors about the upcoming titles for the console, Iwata said: Although there is no logo here, we are planning to release a totally new side-scrolling action Super Mario in 2D as a key title for the Nintendo 3DS in the next fiscal year..

Ocarina of Tune

Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda are arguably Nintendo's most prominent and famous franchises. With a shared history spanning 25 years and a lot of games, fans have been treated to some glorious music, whether it's been chip-tune or orchestral. Now, thanks to Alfred Music Publishing, musical gamers have the opportunity to play through some of these famous compositions themselves..

You can cry if you want to

The latest Mario Party 9 trailer is in and shows off some of the 80+ minigames you can expect when it launches in March. Long-time Mario fans will pick up on countless references: Super Mario Sunshine's Piantas make an appearance, but there's plenty more to see if you keep your eyes peeled. How many can you spot?

"You stupid ape!"

SEGA's Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games uses just about every input the 3DS has to offer, but it's the weightlifting event that looks to make best use of the machine's microphone. As the new trailer below shows, you can shout at your character to give them an extra bit of power. While it might make you look a bit odd out in public, it's only helping a..

Send your invitations now

Partygoers across Europe get an extra reason to be cheerful on 2nd March when Nintendo releases Mario Party 9 across the continent. The second Wii instalment in the series, MP9 includes new boss battles, 80 minigames and vehicles too. North America gets it on 11th March. WHO WILL YOU INVITE TO YOUR MARIO PARTY? Rivals become teammates to battle Bowser in Mario Party™ 9..

And 3D Classics: Kid Icarus

Europe, your maniacal grip on 3D Classics: Kid Icarus and those Mario 3DS consoles is loosening. Nintendo of Australia just opened up its very own It's a Me, Mario competition with near-identical rules to Europe's: register two 3DS games with Club Nintendo and you get a free code for Kid Icarus, with entrants over the age of ten also able to enter to win a Mario, Peach..

So keep on droppin'

If you've played Mario Kart 7 online, chances are you've encountered the Maka Wuhu glitch that allows devious racers to bypass a huge section of the course. Nintendo knows about it too, but will it do anything to address it? Stick Twiddlers emailed Nintendo of America about the issue and got this response: Thanks for your patience in waiting for a response during this busy time..

Outselling the rest

Nintendo 3DS has achieved the 2011 chart double in Japan by topping the hardware and software charts for the year. Statistics from Enterbrain (via Andriasang) show 3DS shifted 4,135,739 units since its February launch, twice as many as the second place — and now seven years old — PSP with 1,960,177 sales. Wii didn't make it past the million mark, sat on 937,451. The news..

Show us some skill

If you're one of the many thousands unwrapping a 3DS console and/or Mario Kart 7, you probably want to try out its really rather good online modes. We've put together not one, not two, but three official Nintendo Life racing communities for you to take part in. Here's how to get involved: Load up Mario Kart 7 Install the Mario Kart Channel — this is your best way to keep up to..

Origin tails

The Tanooki tail is back in a big way this year, but it's time to take a look back at when and how it entered the Mario canon way back in Super Mario Bros. 3. Chris Covell's website has a translation of The Stars of Famicom Games, a 1989 book taking a sneaky peek at how Mario's greatest 8-bit adventure was created, from ideas to manufacturing. Shigeru Miyamoto, Koji Kondo, Takashi..

Wa-ha!

Just Dance 3 is about to get a whole lot more plumber-y, as Nintendo UK has announced a Mario song is on the way next week. From 14th December you'll be able to download The Mario Song for 250 Nintendo Points, a medley of classics beats and tracks from Mario games past. An on-screen Mario jives to the beat, and the dance marks all wear Mario hats too. It's a collaboration made in heaven..

Mario Kart does the business too

3DS is selling better than ever, with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata telling the Nikkei newspaper (via Andriasang) the system is about to tip the scales at 3 million units sold in Japan — two weeks quicker than the DS reached the same milestone. The news comes a week after Nintendo confirmed 3DS beat the DS's first-year sales in just eight months. Iwata also..

Off to a flyer

Super Mario 3D Land saw release in Japan last month and made light work of the competition, selling over 500,000 copies across the country. Andriasang reports the game shifted 542,842 copies across Japan between 31st October and 27th November, with the best first-week sales of any 3DS game yet. In North America Super Mario 3D Land set series sales records, selling over 500,000 units..

Not a wind-up

After Super Mario Bros. 3 it took the Tanooki tail years to make a resurgence, appearing in both Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7, but it's not the only retro power-up from the game overdue a revival. IGN recently spoke to Super Mario 3D Land director Koichi Hayashida about the game and asked about the legendary Kuribo's shoe, one of the oddest power-ups in Mario's history. It..