In early builds of Nintendo's classic platformer Super Mario Bros, the iconic plumber wielded a gun, creator Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed.

Speaking in an interview with Japan's Famitsu magazine, kindly translated by 1Up's cryptography department, Miyamoto explained, "During much of development, the controls were A for shoot bullets, B to dash, and up on the control pad to jump.

"The bullets wound up becoming fireballs later - we originally thought about having a shoot 'em up stage where Mario jumps on a cloud and shoots at enemies, but we dropped it because we wanted to focus on jumping action. The sky-based bonus stages are the remnants of that idea, you could say.

"In the end, we realised that being able to shoot all the fireballs you want while running gave Mario too much of an advantage, so instead we had it so you shoot only one fireball when you start running."

Nintendo's resident genius went on to discuss the inspiration for the game's mushroom power-ups.

"The first game prototype we had going wasn't very good because you couldn't see very far ahead of you. People wanted to have more of the world visible onscreen, but I didn't want to make Mario any smaller than he was.

"So we decided to build the world on the scale of a smaller Mario, then make him larger in the final version. That's the moment we struck upon the idea of starting Mario out small and letting him get bigger later.

"Since the game's set in a magical kingdom," he added, "I made the required power-up item a mushroom because you see people in folk tales wandering into forests and eating mushrooms all the time. That, in turn, led to us calling the in-game world the 'Mushroom Kingdom,' and the rest of the basic plot setup sprung from there."

So there you have it: one of the cornerstones of the modern videogame industry was laid on a foundation of guns and hallucinogens.

You can revisit Miyamoto's original masterpiece when Super Mario All-Stars: 25th Anniversary Edition arrives for Wii on 3rd December.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ally-had-a-gun ...

The PlayStation 2 is getting a new retail push, Sony has announced, with a Toy Story 3 bundle on the way.

Yes, you read that right. The PlayStation 2. The one that launched 10 years ago, has sold an immense 140 million units and has long since been superseded by the PlayStation 3

The special edition will launch in the US on 31st October priced at a very affordable $99 (£62). A European release has not been confirmed.

Looks like there's life in the old dog yet.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ndle-announced ...

Sure, we may not have the special Super Mario Bros. 25th anniversary Wii or DSi XL, or the Super Mario All-Stars re-release, but Europe and Japan don't have these pins -- or this screensaver.

The newest items in the Club Nintendo shop are these four commemorative Mario pins, each shipping in early November for a steep 450 Coins -- which means you can go ahead and forget about collecting them all. On the other end of the price scale is a new Mario screensaver, featuring footage from games throughout the series, which you can download for 10 Coins. Compared to the pins, it's a bargain! But it's also a screensaver.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/20/cl...h-anniversary/ ...

Microsoft is renaming its (free) Xbox Live Silver service to "Xbox Live Free Membership," according to a tweet from European community manager Graeme Boyd. This comes alongside the refreshed Xbox.com and, of course, the Xbox Live Gold price hike, as part of an apparent pre-Kinect relaunch of the Xbox's online presence.

The new name no longer emphasizes Silver's status as subordinate to Gold, but rather highlights the advantage of that level of membership -- the fact that it's free. In a followup tweet, Boyd clarified that the feature set for Silver won't change and neither will the name for the paid membership. If you're Gold now, you'll stay gold.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/20/xb...ee-membership/ ...

Is 3D gaming on the verge of completely revolutionizing your world? If you're a hardcore PlayStation fan, you might believe the answer to that question is "yes." However, given the recent DisplaySearch findings on 3DTV adoption, we're thinking more of you fall in with the leanings of Microsoft's Phil Spencer, who is making it clear that he isn't pushing the technology at this point:
For better or for worse, people just don't really have TVs in their house right now that are going to do 3D in a way that's going to work... As a corporate mandate, I don't need to sell you a new TV, that's not part of my business model. Other companies maybe have that part of their business model. I don't.
"Other companies," eh? Yeah, we think you can figure out who he's talking about there. Phil isn't just dishing up the Haterade, though, throwing props to Nintendo: "I like the 3DS, you don't have to wear the glasses."

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/20/m...-thinks-3ds-h/ ...

With all pre-order bonuses announced, bundles arranged, weapons revealed, and the initial demo release taken care of, Capcom are now focusing on what makes Monster Hunter Portable 3rd the game it is: the monsters. They’ve been releasing info on the game’s beastiary pretty consistently of late, and this week saw screenshots of a few more.

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/10/20...e-hurt-on-you/ ...

Newly released



features•Directed by Shinji Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil series, VANQUISH™ is a sci-fi shooter that sees players take the role of Sam, a government agent kitted out with a futuristic battlesuit. A versatile fighter with a huge arsenal of weaponry at his disposal, Sam also has an array of martial arts skills that he can use to take down his robot enemies
•Fast, fluid and frenetic – this is gaming at its most explosive and exciting, as you storm into battle
•Experience a game character like no other – Sam is the ultimate weapon, donning a futuristic battle suit of destructive firepower and superhuman speed and agility
•Fight your way through the enormous, open environments of the space station. The most advanced, futuristic city in the skies becomes home to the action
descriptionThe story of VANQUISH™ is set in the near future. Russia and the United States are vying for ownership of the world’s fast-depleting energy resources and the US has constructed a space station in order to harness energy from the sun. Russian forces capture this space station and divert its harvested solar energy into a blast wave that destroys San Francisco, aiming to force the US into a total and unconditional surrender. In response, the US tasks its armed forces with recapturing the space station before the Russians can annihilate their next target – New York.

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...j-70-3x3t.html ...

Newly released



features•Directed by Shinji Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil series, VANQUISH™ is a sci-fi shooter that sees players take the role of Sam, a government agent kitted out with a futuristic battlesuit. A versatile fighter with a huge arsenal of weaponry at his disposal, Sam also has an array of martial arts skills that he can use to take down his robot enemies
•Fast, fluid and frenetic – this is gaming at its most explosive and exciting, as you storm into battle
•Experience a game character like no other – Sam is the ultimate weapon, donning a futuristic battle suit of destructive firepower and superhuman speed and agility
•Fight your way through the enormous, open environments of the space station. The most advanced, futuristic city in the skies becomes home to the action
descriptionThe story of VANQUISH™ is set in the near future. Russia and the United States are vying for ownership of the world’s fast-depleting energy resources and the US has constructed a space station in order to harness energy from the sun. Russian forces capture this space station and divert its harvested solar energy into a blast wave that destroys San Francisco, aiming to force the US into a total and unconditional surrender. In response, the US tasks its armed forces with recapturing the space station before the Russians can annihilate their next target – New York.

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...j-70-3x3s.html ...

Newly released



features•DJ Hero 2 delivers the ultimate social multiplayer experience where two virtual DJ’s can drop the needle on the groove and mix, scratch and sample; all while a vocalist grabs the mic and sings along to lyrics from today’s biggest hits, scoring players with pitch and range detection
•Picking up where the award-winning DJ Hero soundtrack left off, DJ Hero 2 one-ups its predecessor and spins together even hotter tracks blazing up the charts and legendary club anthems from the biggest artists in pop, dance and hip hop. Remixes of block rockin’ beats from Lady Gaga, Deadmau5, Kanye West, Chemical Brothers and Dr. Dre will definitely set the party off right
•DJ Hero 2 lets players put their own spin on the music with Freestyle gameplay that allows them to mix, scratch and sample during set points in the game. With the tracks synced to the beat, scratches recorded by the pros and samples pulled directly from the tracks being mixed, everyone will sound like a superstar DJ
•The critically acclaimed Party Play, first made famous in Guitar Hero 5, is one of a half dozen new multiplayer modes coming to DJ Hero 2. Digital disc jockeys and living room lyricists will be able to start and stop spinning on the fly, drop-in and drop out of lyrical gameplay, switch difficulty level without interrupting the party vibes or just let the game play the body movin’ beats on its own
•At the heart of DJ culture is the battle. Epitomized by scratch legend DJ Q-Bert, DJ Hero 2 brings the heat to the players with a variety of competitive game modes. With DJ Battle – featuring custom designed mixes and authentic call-and-response gameplay – Quickplay, Pro-Faceoff, Accumulator, Checkpoints and Streakers, the game will be the judge in determining the ultimate living room scratch master
•In the all-new Empire Mode, players start out as an up-and-coming DJ on the road to becoming the head of a major entertainment empire, all of which is founded solely on their success as a DJ. Wowing the crowd with their tight sets and awesome freestyle abilities, players will progress quickly, soon finding themselves in command of a network of global clubs, and each with a selection of superstar DJs in their crew
•With the DJ Hero turntable controller in hand, DJ Hero 2 continues to transform video gamers into virtual DJ’s engaging in techniques including mixing, sampling, various scratch patterns and adding effects to the music mix. From beginners to experts, players spinning on the turntable controller will experience the unique sensation of having control of the music at their finger tips
•Virtual DJs can throw down the ultimate battle with Hero Feed, which brings bragging rights to the game by allowing players to challenge and track their friends’ accomplishments, whether the friend is online or offline
track listing2Pac
50 Cent
Adamski
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force
Armand Van Helden
A-Trak
B.o.B.
Basement Jaxx
BlakRoc
Bobby Womack
Bruno Mars
Busta Rhymes
Calvin Harris
Chamillionaire
Chic
Chris Willis
Clinton Sparks
Colby O’Donis
Daft Punk
Damian Marley
David Guetta
Deadmau5
Deee-Lite
Dillinja
Diplo
Dizzee Rascal
DJ Shadow
Donna Summer
Dr. Dre
Drake
Edwin Starr
Eminem
Estelle
Flo Rida
Gorillaz
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Harold Faltermeyer
House Of Pain
Iyaz
Jackson 5
Janet Jackson
Justice
Kanye West
Kaskade
Kelis
Keri Hilson
Kid Cudi
Kool & The Gang
Lady Gaga
Lil Jon
Lil Wayne
LL Cool J
M.I.A.
M|A|R|R|S
Major Lazer
Malcolm McLaren
Mase
Melle Mel & Duke Bootee
Metallica
Missy Elliott
Mos Def
MSTRKRFT
N.O.R.E.
Nas
Nate Dogg
Naughty By Nature
Nelly
New Boyz
New Order
Newcleus
Nightcrawlers
Orbital
Pharoahe Monch
Pirate Soundsystem
Pitbull
Puff Daddy
Pussycat Dolls
Rihanna
Robin S.
RZA
Salt N Pepa
Sam Cooke
Sam Sparro
Sean Paul
Skibadee
Sneaky Sound System
Snoop Dogg
Snow
Soulja Boy Tell Em
Sparfunk & D-Code
Static Major
Stevie Wonder
Talib Kweli
The Chemical Brothers
The Crystal Method
The Egg
The Notorious B.I.G.
The Prodigy
Tiësto
Tiga
Timbaland
Tweet
Walter Murphy
Warren G
Wayne Smith
Will.I.Am
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Young Jeezy
descriptionDJ Hero® 2 will transform living rooms into nightclubs letting budding beat chemists, singing sensations and all of their friends fire up two turntables and a microphone to experience their favorite music together as they’ve never heard it before. The follow-up to the award-winning, #1 new videogame IP of 2009, DJ Hero 2 delivers the ultimate way for gamers to come together with a host of new multiplayer modes that pit DJ against DJ in unique Battle Mixes, invite vocalists into the spotlight with scoring based on pitch and range detection and bring the party to life with jump-in/jump-out Party Play gameplay. Featuring the biggest dance, pop and hip-hop hits by the hottest artists everyone knows and loves remixed by world-class DJs in ...