The 'Shroom:Issue 120/Pipe Plaza

Director’s Notes
Written by:

Hello readers! I do hope you're enjoying our collect-a-thon edition of The 'Shroom. And hopefully you're here to collect all of the information about the wiki in the month that has gone by. For first time readers we have articles on the featured articles, all of the new articles that have been created in the past month, as well as the latest analysis on the month's polls. What we don't have are Power Stars, to give away, I tried to get them, but someone must have beaten me to them.

A few announcements to make, veteran readers will know that around this time of the year joins us, and updates us all on the plans about the MarioWiki's anniversary celebrations, well this month is no different, and I'm pleased to announce that he has returned. Lakituthequick isn't the only returning writer we have this month: is back, but this time he's writing Upcoming Games, and not New Articles. However, we do have to say goodbye to one of writers. has resigned from Projects Seeking Contributors to focus on university studies. I wish him the best of luck.

We may not have gotten as much votes as we did last month, but we still got plenty of votes in our Section of the Month poll, so thank you for sticking with us. Also, we actually have a nice little leaderboard, as none of the top three drew for votes. Read on, and enjoy dear readers.

Section of the Month

Monthly Report
Written by:

Hi, dear readers, and welcome to another issue of "Monthly Report"!! Not much going on here, so let's take a look at the wiki stats for this month, and see what has changed since February!!

(Credit goes to, , and for the table coding (I based this on Stooben's coding, which was later modified by SMB, myself, and Viper26 when each one of us wrote this section)

*All times EST.

Featured
Written by:

Hello 'Shroom readers and welcome back to another edition of Featured, the only place this side of the Mario Wiki where you'll get news about the Mario Wiki Featured Articles.

Featured Articles No new articles have been featured in the past month.

Re-Featured Articles One new article have become re-featured.
 * Paper Mario was refeatured on 10 March, 2017.

FA Nominations There are two ongoing Featured Article Nomination.
 * Luigi was nominated on 6 February, 2017.
 * Super Mario 3D World was nominated on 11 February, 2017.

Failed FA Nominations No new articles have failed the featuring process.

Unfeatured Articles One new article has been unfeatured in the past month.
 * Mario Kart Wii was unfeatured on 15 February, 2017. It was unfeatured due to being disorganized, and mot measuring up to the quality of other similar featured articles.

Unfeaturing Nominations There are no ongoing Unfeature nominations.

Failed Unfeaturing Nominations One new article has failed the unfeaturing process in the past month.
 * Kiddy Kong failed on 21 February, 2017, after the issues surrounding it were fixed.

Thanks for reading see you next month, for more Featured Articles news.

Tip of the Month
Written by:

Greetings, readers, today, I'll be teaching you how to create a hyperlink to an outside page in an article so it doesn't appear as a massive, ugly link on the page. For this, I'll be using the Wikipedia page for Mario. When coded correctly, your link will look like that in your article. Here's how you do it.

The button on your editing menu that has the globe will give you the formatting automatically, but if you want to manually enter it, it's one set of straight brackets, followed by the ENTIRE hyperlink (yes, even the http// part) and then to rename your link, leave one space between the end of the link and the beginning of your new title. Be sure that the new title accurately describes the link you're referring to. When you're finished, the code should look like this: Mario

Community Report
Written by:

Hi! Welcome to Community Report. It shows our the latest goings-ons around the Super Mario Wiki – the promotions, the demotions, the recently passed and ongoing proposals.

(credit to for previously developing this coded table system and to  for the alterations made)

NOTE:All stats and figures included in this section were correct as of March 14th.

That’s all for this issue of Community Report. See you again next month.

New Articles
Written by:

Hello! Welcome to New Articles. I’m here with an up to date about all the new articles created within the past month. So, we got plenty of new articles this month and that’s great. Be sure to keep in mind Super Mario Wiki’s Manual of Style when you create an article.

Upcoming Game
Written by:

Greetings! I am Alex95, here to tell you more about an upcoming game and my thoughts about it.

Seeing as the Nintendo Switch released this month, I thought it only fair to discuss the other game that's being released in March: Mario Sports Superstars! The game is essentially a handheld version of Mario Sports Mix, but it has five sports instead of four, and not a single one of them are shared. The sports you can play in the game are baseball, soccer, tennis, golf, and horse racing. Of them all, horse racing is new to the series, as the others previously had their own line of games. Let's cover them in a bit more detail, shall we?

Baseball Much like the Mario Baseball series, there are two teams of nine. Players select their team captain followed by their assistant captain, and then can fill the remaining slots with other generic characters. Want Mario and Bowser Jr. on a team filled with Shy Guys? Go for it!

The teams take turns switching positions on the field, switching every inning. One team bats, the other pitches and runs around the field. The pitching player throws baseballs and the batter, who then has to try to hit the ball as far and as hard as they can. The pitcher can throw fastballs, curveballs, lobs, and slowballs. The batter can swing as hard as they can, bunt the ball, or miss entirely, resulting in a strike. Get three strikes, and your batter has to switch with the next person on the team. The outfielders have to try and catch the ball the batter sent out, or try to get the ball to the next base before the batter does. Oh yeah, after hitting the ball, the batter has to run to four bases and if they cross all four, they get a point. They also get a point if they hit the ball far enough over the fence in the back, resulting in a Home Run! If the batting team gets three outs, the teams switch.

The game is split into innings, and the team with the most points by the final inning is the winner!

Soccer/Football For those of you that have played the Mario Strikers series, you're not going to get quite the same experience here. Compared to Strikers, this rendition of soccer is more traditional. Like with baseball, there are two teams with a captain, an assistant captain, and filler, though the teams consist of eleven members each. Players run around a field kicking a ball and try to get it into the opponent's goal. The team on the defensive has to try and prevent the offensive team from scoring goals by stealing the ball out from under them or by blocking their shots. Both teams' goal are guarded by a Boom Boom or a Pom Pom, so you don't need to worry about leaving a member behind to hold the fort.

The only thing I can find that is shared with Strikers is the captain Special Shots. At the time of this writing, I'm not entirely sure how to activate them yet, but each captain has a unique skill they can use to help them get the ball into the goal. The team who scores the most points before the timer runs out wins!

Golf Arguably the most boring sport of all time is golf, but Nintendo saw it fit to keep the franchise going in some way anyway. The goal of golf is to get the golf ball in to the hole at the end of the course in as few shots as possible. You have to aim your ball carefully however, as there are plenty of obstacles in your way: such as rough grass, water hazards, and sand traps. You can also fire your ball using different skills, like backspins or topspins. It's a simple sport, but it takes a skilled player to be able to get the ball into the small hole as quickly as possible. It's you versus an opponent; who will get their ball to the end the fastest?

It appears there's also a Ring Shot Mode as well. The goal of this game is to hit the ball through all the floating rings and get the ball into the hole at the end in as few shots as possible. This is certainly a challenging mode for me whenever I play it on Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, but this mode will certainly help better your skills.

Tennis Probably my favorite sport of the bunch is tennis. The game is either a 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 match of simply hitting a tennis ball back and forth over a net. If a team can get the other team to miss returning the ball, then they get a point! You can use a variety of skills to try and outsmart your opponents, such as smash strikes, lobs, and slowballs. Be aware that you don't accidentally shoot the ball out of the court or fire it into the net; otherwise you'd end up scoring a point for the other team. Points are displayed differently than other sports, with the points going 0-15-30-40, and the first team to win a set number of "40s" will win the game. It's weird, yes, just go with it.

The game's mechanics themselves seem to come from the recent Mario Tennis Open, which means Chance Shots return. If you end up having a hard time, a "special spot" on the court will appear and you have to hit the ball back from there using the move indicated. I've never played Mario Tennis Open so I have yet to see this work myself, but it sounds like it'll be useful to players who are having some trouble keeping up.

Horse Racing And finally, there is the newest sport introduced to the Mario world, horse racing! Think of it like Mario Kart, but instead of riding go-karts, you ride horses! Six players race along the track in hopes of beating each other to the finish line. Keep in mind that your horse will get tired if it runs for too long, so it has to pick up and eat carrots littered around the track (I'm expecting Link to show up riding Epona at some point now).

You also have the option of taking care of your horse in the stables. You can groom, pet, and feed them, which will ultimately better their mood and will make them perform better on the race tracks. You can also decorate them with accessories found around the tracks and stables, personalizing your horse that you can show your friends.

Thoughts All in all, this game looks pretty amazing. The graphics look great for the 3DS and the games seem pretty solid. You can play with your friends too, or random strangers over the internet if you prefer. The game is compatible with amiibo as well, and gets its own line of amiibo cards too!

Look for Mario Sports Superstars when it hits retailers or becomes available for download March 10th in Europe, 11th in Australia, 24th in the Americas, and the 30th in Japan (meaning for those of you in Europe and Australia, it could already be out by the time this goes up. Lucky!). I hope to encounter some of you whenever I play tennis online, but until then, I'll see you around!

Poll Committee Discussion
by

Howdy fellow Users and non-Users alike! It is time for your monthly Poll Committee report. Since this section is about polls, let's cut right to the chase:

Poll Committee News Not that much happened, but it is worth noting that Roy's Mario Maker Game Engine poll went up right on his birthday. Happy (Belated) Birthday Roy!

Archives Which game engine do you use the most in Super Mario Maker? (, March 5th, 2017)

Do you visit other NIWA wikis aside from the Super Mario Wiki? (Wiki poll;, February 26, 2017)

What series should Mario cross over with next? (, February 19, 2017)

How many hours do you play video games a day on average? (, February 12, 2017)

Analysis
 * How many hours do you play video games a day on average?: To be honest, I didn't except there to be such a comparatively huge turnout for more than 8 hours. I guess some people have more free time than me :(.
 * What series should Mario cross over with next?: I guess this poll shows just how popular Pokémon and Kirby are among the community. It's not that far off though, considering how the themes are very similar at points, especially in Kirby games. I myself would be up for both, really.
 * Do you visit other NIWA wikis aside from the Super Mario Wiki?: The interesting point here is that this has almost the same turnout for the "not editing/no account" option as the "Do you have a wiki account?" poll we had a while ago. I guess this goes to proof that there's people who just want to stay informed and not get involved not only here. And you don't have to feel bad for that at all! After all, wikis are made for information lookup.
 * Which game engine do you use the most in Super Mario Maker?: NSMBU being the clear winner here, I think it's interesting how that is more popular than any of the classic games, but I guess it's due to it being more modern and looking fresh compared to all of the pixels in the other styles.

And that's it for this month. You will be greeted next time by the magnificient ! Until then, have a good one.

Retro Feature
Written by: Hello, readers! I'm your Spotlight manager and Pipe Plaza Director, Yoshi876. Welcome to Retro Feature, a section in which I delve deep into the archives to bring you the best blasts from the past. This time I bring you a section from... well a lot of writers.

You see, this isn't our first foray into 3D Mario collect-a-thon, back when Issue 64 rolled around, it was themed after the Nintendo 64. Lots sections came out like an Ask Nintendo 64 Characters, reviews on Conker's Bad Fur Day and Paper Mario among various others. One of the largest sections written was done by the core staff of The 'Shroom, and what they wrote was a massive Travel Guide section for all 15 worlds in Super Mario 64. The result was spectacular, and each member put their everything into it. So below you will find out what happens when, , , , , , , , and put their minds together.

The 'Shroom Report
Written by:

HI, everyone! I'm your inventive Statistics Manager, Tucayo, here with another edition of The 'Shroom Report! As a reminder, in the Milestones section, writers will get mentioned every 10 team sections and every 50 all-time sections, teams will get mentioned every 100 sections, and The 'Shroom will get mentioned every 500 sections. All information is based off our Historical Sheets. This section will cover Issue 119.

Tables are based off the End-of-the-Year Awards tables, so credit goes out to.

Anniversary Announcements
Written by:

¡Buenos días señoras y señores! Welcome back to Anniversary Announcements, where the facts check themselves and the sources matter! (I already used that joke, didn't I..)

For the people that are new to this section, Anniversary Announcements is a section that tells you about the behind-the-scenes developments behind the Mario Awards, the yearly event that celebrates the anniversary of our beloved Wiki. This includes the Awards themselves, tournaments, prizes, and all other things that influence the event.

The Awards Committee Let us first introduce you to this year's Awards Committee. This year's committee was assembled from a smaller set of community members through a selection process, which was new this year. A full list of all members in this years Committee can be found here. You can contact any of these people if you have questions, and if they don't know the answer, they will pass it through as needed. For questions or suggestions relating to Anniversary Announcements, you can contact me.
 * – Awards Director since 2015 and Userpedia host since 2013, knows the ins and outs of leading the Awards.
 * – Sub-director and Fail Awards host, has been a director in the past and is active in the AC since 2011.
 * – 'Shroom Awards host, sub-director for The 'Shroom since January and director since February.
 * – Awards Staff consultant, has co-directed the Awards last year and sub-directed The 'Shroom several times since 2011.
 * – Awards Staff consultant, sub-directed last year, and is active in the AC since 2011, Programming Manager for The 'Shroom.

The Boss Bass' So what's happened in the past few weeks? A few major things have been discussed. This involves the User and 'Shroom Awards categories, and the handling of Awards Tokens.

Starting with the former. As it is now, a lot of the creative work awards within the User Awards have less relevance than before, because less new things are created nowadays. Because of this, the User and 'Shroom Awards will be merged into one single Community Awards category. The details of the merge, including which awards will and will not be present after, are still under discussion.

Then about tokens. In the past years, people have been holding on to their tokens for various reasons, including very simply because they weren't interested in the available prices, or regional differences prevented them from taking prices they were interested in. This has caused inflation in the price-rates over time. An idea that is currently under discussion is to neutralise the large differences of carry-over tokens by dividing everyone's tokens by 10 at the start of every year, effective immediately, so prizes can be chosen from tokens you earned this year, with tokens earned last year as a small bonus. This will also allow for an individual token to be worth more, which means that you are eligible for good prices without having to win several tournaments.

Then a small note on tournaments. While a few ideas have been coined, including in the thread on the forums, nothing has been solidified on this, so stay tuned for more on that.

Awards Let's get into the actual Awards now. Contrary to how I listed these in the past years, I will now summarise the Awards we've handled since last month in one place instead of summarising per meeting. I will list the additions, removals and other changes, and then a complete list of the nominees for that award.

Refer to this document for a full list of nominees.

And that shall be all for this first edition of AA this year! I hope you enjoyed it and got some wiser, and I hope to see you again next month. ¡Adios!

All information above was correct as of 2017-03-12.