It's-a Mario World: Mario is Missing (from E3)!
by Kenneth Caldwell 
{ Jul 17th 2008 at 2:00PM }
This week, gamers everywhere have been in a frenzy over the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Following Nintendo's big keynote address on Tuesday morning, coupled with a flood of new Nintendo media, we Fanboys have enough hard news and confirmed release dates to feed our blogging habits for the next ... well, week or so, anyway. Our unchecked enthusiasm is perhaps best exemplified in the wise words of Wii Fanboy's own David Hinkle: "I want to bathe in a sea of Nintendo splendor."
But it feels like there is something amiss in the great Nintendo sea. Where is the Mario splendor amid all of our gleeful bathing? Happily, the horizon holds an August 25th release date for Super Mario Sluggers, and a September 29th release of Wario Land: Shake It!, but why haven't we seen much genuine Mario fanfare at this year's main event? Can we trust Iwata that the Mario team is hard at work, or are they hardly working? Take a stroll through our new gallery, in which we make conspiratorial speculation, scathing E3 commentary and as always, hopelessly inside references to Mario games of yesteryear.
It's-a Mario World is a weekly feature in which the ubiquity of Nintendo's flagship character is celebrated: We'll incessantly ruminate about mustache wax, debate the curious whereabouts of the princess and covet the luminous power stars strewn about the galaxy. Check back here every Thursday to find out what strange and wonderful thing has got us tipping our caps.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr Khan @ Jul 17th 2008 2:39PM
That's some good lulz right there, Kenny
I especially laughed at the Blue Falcon v Epona race, since when i was younger, i fostered fantasies of Smash Bros Racing myself
Edge @ Jul 17th 2008 3:01PM
Oh sure. THAT was what was missing at Nintendo's presser. Not the core gamer, the new innovations, or the snowboarders that didn't look like Carrot Top. No, Mario was "a" missing. Right.
Sami @ Jul 17th 2008 3:22PM
Mario is stupid. I'm glad that we're getting proper Wii games like Wii Music and Wii Sports Resort with Miis instead of yet another cheap Mario cash-in. Wii needs more Mii, less Mario!
Psy @ Jul 17th 2008 6:43PM
Careful. People are still scared and confused (among other things) from the keynote. They may not detect your sarcasm.
phenylketonurics @ Jul 17th 2008 7:11PM
Hahaha, I love that on so many levels.
Kenneth Caldwell @ Jul 17th 2008 7:11PM
Scared? Confused? Considering we're consumers of the gaming industry, there is not much at stake other than our loyalty to a particular company. If you don't like a game (or non-game), you simply don't buy it.
If it's fear of Nintendo's future you are referring to, rest assured that the family-friendly public image they work to maintain (in press conferences and elsewhere) doesn't always reflect the passion and creativity of development teams. It is too bad that marketing can dictate development as much as it does, but that is nothing new. In any case, the number of "core" games hasn't dwindled as much as the big buzz about them has.
bigd @ Jul 18th 2008 10:34AM
poor Mario. i hope that he is not still locked in that eerie dark world of SMB2, waiting brainlessly and patiently for something...anything to happen.
I can relate to his panicked feeling of being trapped with no escape while an increasingly annoying melody plays, feverish attempts to uncover a "new" secret with a multitude of button-pushing, and maintaining a pleasant exterior as those in the next room would not condone a colorful cuss-strewn outburst.
Just push reset and get it over with! We want Mario!
Kamek @ Jul 25th 2008 4:40PM
Haha, I liked the one about the endless stairs. I was so surprised/scared when I found them for the first time. I still can't imagine how they created that illusion. It looked so real and everything.