ZombiU Launch Trailer November 19, 2012

It came out with the Wii U launch and I did an unboxing of it yesterday but here is the AWESOME launch trailer for ZombiU, which is quite possibly the number one must have third-party exclusive game for the platform.  If you ever asked yourself just how is this game played with the Wii U Controller, take a look at this!

UPDATE:  Okay, there’s a different video which describes how multiplayer works in this game as well, yes you’ve read that right, ZombiU has multiplayer.  One player takes control of the Wii U controller, and the other takes control of the classic controller.  The objective?  For one player, survive.  For the other…stop that person from surviving.

ZombiU is out now exclusive to the Wii U.

Mario Weekend – Why the Super Mario Movie Sucked November 18, 2012

When I posted up the link to the Nostalgia Critic’s review of the Super Mario Bros movie yesterday, I was really tepid about my thoughts with it, and why I actually found myself still enjoying that movie after twenty years where everyone else thought it was a complete disappointment.  In that article I shed a little bit of behind the scenes information about the development of the movie but didn’t post anything further about the movie’s disastrous development process.

I had read an article published by Wired.com not too long ago which was about this very subject.  It was originally posted in April of this year titled “Why the Super Mario Bros Movie Sucked”.  The writer went quite in-depth about the movie’s production process, the issues that the filmmakers had with the studio who didn’t see eye to eye on their vision and Nintendo who was so impressed by the producer’s gutsy pitch decided to let them have the property cheaply and kept their hands off its development.

It’s a phenomenal read, and I recommend it to anyone who may have had any interest in the movie’s development.  While we all know how the story ends, it is still a great story that makes even the most hardened critic wonder just what could have been.

You can read the entire article here.

More content is coming for Mario Weekend, leading up to the Wii U Unboxing later today!

Mario Weekend – Linkara’s Game Boy Comics Reviews November 17, 2012

Lewis Lovhaug, better known as Linkara, is the webmaster of Atop The Fourth Wall, which does some of the best reviews of comics that I have ever seen.  I know I’ve used Linkara in a previous special day the site had, but the truth is ALL of his reviews are worth a look at.

Nintendo actually did have comics released to tie in to their major game and platform releases.  Probably the most infamous of which is the Game Boy comic series.  It was a fun little romp about characters from inside the Game Boy game Super Mario Land coming into the real world and how kids with Game Boys can get Mario to beat the forces of evil back.

Admittedly the comic series probably should have been named Super Mario Land opposed to Game Boy, as it was mostly based off of Super Mario Land specifically, and the characters and enemies from it opposed to characters from any other games for the platform, but the Game Boy itself is the catalyst for the story arc so I’ll let that slide.

So far, Linkara has reviewed two comics in the series.  You can watch his Game Boy #1 review here.  You can watch Game Boy #2 review here.  Small note.  People with mobile devices may have problems watching the first review, but shouldn’t have problems with the second.

On a side note, I can’t tell you how great its been to finally get to play Super Mario Land after 20 years on my 3DS XL thanks to the Nintendo eShop Virtual Console.

Hope you’re enjoying Mario Weekend on gamexcess.net!  More content is coming leading up to the Nintendo Wii U release tomorrow!  Stay tuned!

Mario Weekend – Nostalgia Critic’s Super Mario Bros Movie Review November 17, 2012

Let’s face it, the early 90s not only defined a time when Nintendo ruled all media, but Mario himself did as well, and no more was it prevalent than in the release of the big-budget Super Mario Bros Movie.  To many, the movie was both a critical and financial disappointment, and left many fans feeling betrayed by what ended up on the screen.

Enter Doug Walker, better known to the internet as The Nostalgia Critic.  His tagline?  He remembers it so we don’t have to.  I’ll leave it to him to sum up just what exactly was wrong with the movie, you can watch his entire review of Super Mario Bros: The Movie here.

Honestly, I actually enjoyed this movie a lot, and to this day the filmmakers have said that Nintendo has never expressed any disappointment to them about the film, even twenty years after the fact.  I thought the actors cast were all fantastic talented individuals and were genuinely great in every role they have been cast in.  I thought the universe that they had created, with their grungy punkish atmosphere fit perfectly for the trends of the time, and you know what, I kind of also liked the humor a bit.  It’s the kind of movie you appreciate as a kid, but as an adult you appreciate it in a different way.

I had heard that the filmmakers wanted to go even darker with the movie, but studio pressure wouldn’t allow it (even though Nintendo promised a hands-off approach to the movie, which they kept).  Their ideas were quite interesting, but I think that what we got on the screen was still enjoyable.

What’s next for the Nostalgia Critic?  Well, Doug Walker has retired him at the height of his popularity, but that will not be the end of That Guy with the Glasses.  He promises a whole new web series will be coming.

Hope you’re enjoying Mario Weekend on gamexcess.net!  More Mario content is coming all today and tomorrow to culminate with the Wii U release Sunday!  Stay tuned!

Mario Weekend – The Angry Video Game Nerd November 17, 2012

It’s time for the angriest gamer you’ve ever heard.  James Rolfe, better known to the internet as The Angry Video Game Nerd, has been one of the most popular webseries on the internet for the past five years.  He has reviewed some of the most awful games and peripherals of all time, and done some great nostalgic videos that I will always

The AVGN has actually done some positive reviews in the past, and when he talks about the games made by Nintendo for their platforms, you can just tell how attached he is to what he is reviewing and what a big part of his life video games are.  But we all know that even with a good game, anger will eventually come out.  He’s one of the first reviewers that I’ve seen that had the uncanny ability to point out easily missed problems in extremely well liked games.

I could spend hours combing through his back catalog of reviews.  Pretty much all of them are greats but since this is Mario Weekend on gamexcess.net I want to focus on one review he did of not just what has been considered by many to be the best Mario game EVER, but the tie-in movie that put Nintendo front and center to wide audiences.  That’s right I’m talking about his review of Super Mario Bros 3 and The Wizard.

What’s coming up for the AVGN?  A movie!

Hope you’re enjoying Mario Weekend on gamexcess.net!  More content is coming leading up to the release of the Wii U on Sunday!  Stay tuned!

Mario Weekend – The Roast of Mario November 16, 2012

CollegeHumor.com has always had a bunch of great people writing for them that really understood video games.  Now, many people nowadays will go to their spin-off website dorkly.com to watch exclusive 8-bit animated video game parody videos, but for me, this is the one that I’ll never forget.

All the classic and modern video game characters come together for a special event, the roast of their good friend Mario.  I’ve always been a huge fan of celebrity roasts on Comedy Central or at the Friar’s Club. I love stand-up comedy and other kinds of crude insult humor, and when I caught this video online it fit my taste in humor perfectly.  If you ever wondered what would happen if Mario ever got roasted, you’re about to find out.  It is just as brutal as you hoped!

I hope you’re all enjoying Mario Weekend!  You can be sure that more content is coming leading up to the Nintendo Wii U’s launch!

Mario Weekend – Little Miss Gamer November 16, 2012

Well, for those of you who just saw Mario get um…really mad I’ve got a bit of a blast from the past for you.  I just want to remind you that Mario didn’t ALWAYS save the Princess, occasionally the Princess would have to save him! That’s right Princess Peach had her own video game, and in a complete role reversal, she was tasked with saving Mario!

Little Miss Gamer was a fantastic review series made by PBC-Productions, the guys responsible for the ground-breaking Captain S webseries.  In it, the host talked about some of her favorite games and gaming memories from across all of gaming generations, and in this episode she talked about the Nintendo DS and the Princess’s exclusive game for the handheld, Super Princess Peach.

The Little Miss Gamer series hasn’t produced a new episode in a few years, but the website is still active and occasionally updated.  If you want to check out more of her great videos or Captain S, check out PBC-Productions!

Stay tuned!  Lots more Mario content to come this weekend leading up to the Nintendo Wii U launch!

Mario Weekend – Mad Mad Mario November 16, 2012

Okay, its time to get really raunchy here on the site, so if there’s any kids reading this they probably should go look elsewhere right now.  Gone?  Okay.

Have you ever wondered just how Mario really felt having to save the Princess time after time after time?  Well, he’s mad.  In fact he’s really mad.  Enter the Mad Mad Mario series, a very adult-language series where Mario gets…well…mad…really mad.  Take a look for yourselves…if you dare!

Stay tuned to the site!  Lots more Mario content coming all weekend!

Halo 4 Spartan Ops Episode 2 Released Today November 12, 2012

SPARTAN OPS is cooperative campaign that released exclusively to Halo 4.  It allows a group of friends to get together and continue the Halo 4 story after the conclusion of the single-player campaign.  At launch, Halo 4 only had the first episode playable, for a total of one CGI cinematic and five chapters.  Today, the second episode has been released free of charge, bringing in a new cinematic and five new chapters.

More episodes will be coming in the following weeks and the developers are promising that Spartan Ops will bridge the gap between Halo 4 and the yet unseen Halo 5.

Halo 4 is out now exclusive to the Xbox 360.

Xbox Smartglass iOS Version Released November 8, 2012

iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users can breathe easy right now as Xbox Smartglass has been officially released to their platforms.

The Smartglass app brings a whole slew of new possibilities to gamers and game developers by adding the increased functionality of a smartphone to supported games and programs.

iOS users can download Xbox Smartglass from the Apple App Store. If you already have Microsoft’s Official Xbox Live app installed, just update it and it will become the Smartglass application.

Smartglass is also out for Windows 8 and Android platforms.