The 'Shroom:Issue XL
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| Issue XL | July 11th, 2010 | About |
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Fun Stuff
Crossword
Clues:
The almighty answers!
Mystery Image
In this game, you have to find the image from which these little snippets come.
Find the Differences (Competition)
In agreement with the director, things in the Find the Differences section will be a little different this month. The following two images contain ten differences. If you can find them all, come to our forum and send me (Edofenrir) a PM, containing a list of all ten differences. You can do this within the next two weeks. After that, I will pick one of the participants with the right answers and award him or her with a free spot in my Mariowiki Kawaii series. You heard right: Free artwork! It doesn't matter how fast you send them to me, since I will determine the winner randomly among all participants.
The winner will be announced and the artwork will be submitted in the next issue of The Shroom. Be sure to send your solutions to "Edofenrir" on the forums (use copy/paste if you cannot spell the name). Use Competition as the subject of the PM, or I might not notice it when looking over my PMs. Closing date is July 25, 2010!
No answers this time, of course. The solutions will be featured in the next issue of The Shroom.
Quiz
by Fawfulfury65 (talk)
Hello everyone and welcome to my quiz section on Da 'Shroom. Yup, exciting. This month I decided to do all the questions about the Mario games on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Since some of you may not have been around when the Super Nintendo was made and have never gotten the chance to play many of its games, I chose to make this quiz multiple-choice. It’s easier that way. If I made a mistake on the quiz, please contact me on my talkpage.
Here we a-go!
1. Which of the following happens after you complete Yoshi's Island 100%?
A) An alternate ending can be seen at the end of the game.
B) Six stars appear on the top of the game's title screen.
C) You can play with Baby Luigi riding on Yoshi, instead of Baby Mario riding on Yoshi.
D) Nothing!
2. In Mario Paint, what happens when you click on the letter A in "Paint" on the game's title screen?
A) Mario runs backwards.
B) A new mode is unlocked.
C) Yoshi runs across the screen.
D) None of the above.
3. Which of the following characters are not playable in Super Mario Kart?
A) Yoshi
B) Koopa Troopa
C) Donkey Kong
D) Toad
4. What is the first enemy encountered in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest?
A) Klomp
B) King K. Rool
C) Zinger
D) Neek
5. What is the name of the final vehicle in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!?
A) Motor Boat
B) Hover Craft
C) Gyrocopter
D) Turbo Ski
6. What was the final game in the Mario series (that includes Donkey Kong and Yoshi games!) to be released on the Super NES?
A) Yoshi's Island
B) Diddy Kong Racing
C) Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
D) Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
7. In the Donkey Kong Country level, Mine Cart Madness, which of the following enemies did not appear?
A) Necky
B) Krusha
C) Zinger
D) Gnawty
8. Which of the following is not a location in Mario's Time Machine on the SNES?
A) Philadelphia
B) Menlo Park
C) Pittsburgh
D) Pacific Ocean
9. Which of these SNES games require the use of a Super Scope (Nintendo Scope)?
A) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
B) Mario & Wario
C) Mario Paint
D) Yoshi's Safari
10. What is the fourth location encountered in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars?
A) Factory
B) Mushroom Way
C) Yo'ster Isle
D) Bowser's Keep
| Click to find answers! | |
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Games
By Mr bones (talk)
Whaaaaaaa? My beautiful title screen? I JUST BOUGHT IT!! Hey, you there! Don't stand there like a moron! Help me out here! I wanna get those fairies to that black circle, and, for your information, BOB-OMBS DO EXPLODE! You wanna a bonus? Find the little Bob-Omb hiding behind a bigger one! Think ya can do it?
Answer!
Mind Bogglers
By Papero (talk)
Think you can find all 10 characters hidden in this image?
Answers!
Fake News
Director’s Notes
If you have read our last few issues, you will notice that we are in need of writers. Rather than have you sign up and wait for weeks on end for me to give you an interview, please follow the instructions to sign up:
- Find the section you'd like to write. As of now, Fake TV, Fake Characters and Fake Shop are the only open positions.
- Get an account on the forum. Don’t worry, it’s free. When you sign up, do not use a Gmail account. It will treat the activation message as spam and you will be unable to receive it.
- Send me a private message (my name is Oaktown Mojo on the forums). You can do so by finding my account name or just clicking this link.
After you send me the message saying you want to write for the Fake News, I will send you the questions you need to answer. Please remember that the current open positions are Fake TV, Fake Characters, and Fake Shop. After sending me your section, other ’Shroom staff members and I will look at it, and we will make sure your section is good to go. After that, you’ll get a reminder each month telling you to send in your section.
Travel Guide
Come visit one of the hottest celebrity getaways on the planet, Gelato Beach! Not only will you enjoy a five‐star resort and spa, you may also be able to catch a glimpse of celebrities like Princess Peach and…wait a minute…why is she holding hands with…Waluigi? Anyway, there are also twelve four‐star restaurants, serving organic local cuisine— hey, what the hell…Peach is now kissing Waluigi…
Anyway, Gelato Beach is cool.
Fake Music
The Dark Twins, a band consisting of Dark Bowser and Bowser, released their newest song, “The Final Battle” (to the tune of “The Final Countdown” by Europe) at their concert last week. The duo were arrested when police found out that a Dark Fawful Bug was hidden in the microphone and they were just lip‐syncing! Bowser’s lawyers got him out of jail 20 years early and he is expected to make a new hit single by Christmas.
Fake Game: Pastry Mario
Hello, dear readers of the ’Shroom. My name is Edofenrir. Now, if you read my last ’Shroom section, you might remember some of the unfortunate events that took place during the end of my last game review. I can say, though, that the hospital finally let me go, and so I am resuming my work here.
The game I am reviewing today is Pastry Mario. Weird title, I know. It was originally intended to be a baking simulation called Wii Cakes, but fan protests forced Shigeru Miyamoto to rework the title into a solid Mario platformer. However, all the locations and characters in the game remain cake‐themed. Miyamoto is a crazy guy. He loves Mario, and he certainly loves cake. With this game, he had one of his greatest dreams come true: Cake Mario!
The way you acquire this game is pretty unusual as well. You cannot buy it in any game shop. Instead, you have to get it at your local pastry shop. Ordering “Pastry Mario” will get you something that looks like a piece of pie. However, sink your teeth into it and you will learn (with much agony) that the game disc is actually baked inside the pie, and you have to eat the stuff around it until it fits in your Wii. The idea is actually pretty interesting, even though I lost a tooth when biting on the game disk.
Story
The story of Pastry Mario revolves largely around Princess Peach. Peach is very bored. It is that special time of the year when there is just nothing to do. No random occasions to celebrate, no parties to hold, no kart races to win, nothing. Doing political business is tedious, and Bowser is on vacation visiting his mother in the countryside, so no chance of being kidnapped and rescued either. With that huge amount of nothing around, Peach eventually gets up and decides to just bake a cake, since that usually helps her focus. She finally makes a big cake that looks a lot like Mario. But then, suddenly a guy who looks just like Shigeru Miyamoto with a Mario hat bursts through the window. He declares that Peach’s cakes are the greatest thing in the universe, and that he wants her to make many many more for him. Then he kidnaps her, of course, and just when everything seems lost, the Mario cake Peach was making earlier randomly comes to life and embarks on an epic journey to save his creator.
Gameplay
The biggest new feature in this game is that you don’t control Mario. You play with a giant blob of cookie dough shaped like Mario. That gives you access to all sorts of weird pastry‐themed moves, like shooting chocolate chips, cutting cookies out of yourself, and shaping up like a pretzel. This sounds silly, but it makes sense in the actual game, since the whole game works like this.
Pastry Mario also has a candle on his head. This candle serves as the time limit of the levels. It burns down while he is progressing through the levels, and if it ever burns out, Mario loses a life for no apparent reason. Your goal is to prevent that, of course.
The game features enemies known from all around the Mario series, although pastry themed. There are Goombas with cookie crumbles on their heads, Koopas with frosting on their shells, and even Bullet Buns. In the later levels the game uses stronger and more bizarre enemies, like creepy little children who want to have a piece of you (literally) and some weird Japanese guys in purple spandex suits who try to blow out your candle.
Summary
It seems like Nintendo has fun giving its games weird themes. First we had the Paper Mario series, then Kirby’s Epic Yarn came around, and now we have Pastry Mario to follow them. Maybe the next Mario game will be made of goo… or clay or something. Wait… Mario made of clay… Hm… Naah.
Anyway, the game is a solid platformer, albeit a bit weird. There isn’t much more to say about it, except… it makes me hungry. Very hungry. I’ll go and get me some Mario merchandise food. Hm, I suddenly begin to understand how this game is supposed to make a profit.
Anyways, don’t eat too much cake. It isn’t healthy, and it makes Shigeru Miyamoto angry at you, because the more cake you eat, the less there is left for him.
Fake Police Blotter
by BobombFuses (talk)
Toad Town Police: It’s that time of the week again; Princess Peach was kidnapped.
Spies in Bowser World: A guy named “BobombFuses” is sneaking into Bowser Castle with a Fire Flower and a Starman.
Fryguy Station Patrol: Floaty Fluff is growing near the volcanoes! HOLY CRAP!
Freezie Hunter Police: All the policetoads (and policekoopas) are frozen, no reports until I decide to thaw them.
Pyramid Police: BANDITS STOLE OUR EQUIPMENT, SO NO REPORTS!
Mounted Police: One of our police members went insane so we hauled him to the mental hospital.
Jungle Patrol: Tikis made off with Donkey Kong’s Banana Hoard.
Mushroom Village Police Department: Currently, Ruler Jerry is off battling evil block people on another planet. In the meantime, where is BobombFuses? He took one of our Fire Flowers and Starmen with him…
Cooking Guide
by Baby Mario Bloops (talk)
Everyone, welcome to another exciting episode of this month's Cooking Guide! Your host here being Baby Mario Bloops is all prepared to show you the best dish of the month! We are still in need of money awaiting for chef's to offer some time to help us out.
This time I will show you a dish worthy of things such as an new FA being featured, being the Deluxe Feast!!!!!
Better way, more delicious, harder, blah blah blah. First things first, let us begin with the shopping list:
- A Whacka's Bump.
- A Strange Leaf.
- Lots of Honey.
- A Plastic half-circle mold.
- A Fridge.
- A Blender.
- A Plate.
- A Kitchen.
- A Straw.
- Head to Dry Dry Outpost and chit-chat with Whacka. When he is not looking, use a Hammer and knock out a Whacka Bump from him.
- Head over to Boo's Mansion and in front of the house should be a few bushes. Dig through them and find a strange leaf.
- Head out and go to the kitchen that you are working in.
- Blend together the ingredients until as soon as honey. Too make it sweet to your taste, add as much honey as you want.
- Pour the mix into the mold, and place a plate over it. Place into the fridge.
- After 3 hours, it should be as jiggly as Jigglypuff. Now add a straw, and enrich in this jubilee dish!
Ads
by Gamefreak75 (talk) (congratulations on your promotion to Patroller!)
Ahem.
This month’s item is the…Barrel Roll!
Are you having problems with bipedal crocodiles walking on your lawn? Is there are swarm of fat beavers in your driveway? Are the vultures shooting nuts at you driving you nuts!?! Well, this is the item for you.
Weighing in at a measly 150 pounds, this barrel is full of beer…well…I’m not sure to be honest. If you have the strength of an ape or a chimpanzee and can lift this thing up, enemies beware. Tossing this at these enemies will instantly kill them, but may leave…a mess of…stuff…on the ground. If it hits a wall and comes back at you, then…run your ass off to avoid getting crushed!!!
They come in a variety of colors, from dark brown, to brown, and even light brown. Wow, look at all those colors! I bet you can’t find more vibrant colors on any similar products. Wink
If you like rollback prices, this is the item for you, costing only 30 Banana coins per barrel. Holy crap, that’s an insanely high low price!
…
Wait a second, I’m getting an incoming call from…the Lylat System?! Where the hell is this place?!
Me: “Hello!”
Guy: “Do a barrel roll!”
Me: “Sorry about that folks, I guess that’s all.”
Guy: “Press Z or R twice!”
Me: “Heh heh heh…”
*crushes cell phone with barrel*
See! Very useful! :D
Interview
by Baby Mario Bloops (talk)
Everyone, welcome to the top-rated interview with I, Baby Mario Bloops! Let's give a hearty welcome to our lucky guess that has aided Mario longer than most other allies. That person is the one of many, Toad! Let us leap into our chat...
Baby Mario Bloops: Hello Toad, how are you?
Toad: Not bad, very tired.
Baby Mario Bloops: I guess, you been with Mario a lot lately.
Toad: Well, it's always been like that since his first few adventures.
Baby Mario Bloops: Wow, really, so what was your first job you had?
Toad: I was the toad of the seventh castle on his first search for the Princess.
Baby Mario Bloops: I bet that was fun.
Toad: Not really, I had to tell him that the princess was in another castle to him, and I thought he would flip by then.
Baby Mario Bloops: Speaking of that, when we see a picture of that time, your hands where weird. Where you waving, surprised, or pointing your middle fing-
Toad: Don't ask, it was hard times back then, and everyone had an too much "mushrooms" and the dust of those yellow "stars".
Baby Mario Bloops: Well...okay then. Will we see you in any upcoming games?
Toad: Well, duh, one of me or my same species will be in it. No doubt that that Mario Sports Mix should be fun, and painful.
Baby Mario Bloops: Ah, finally, I'm so happy that now we know what is coming up.
Toad: Yeah, but they forgot to mention another game...whoops, sorry, just ignore what I said.
Baby Mario Bloops: Wait! What, tell me!!!!!
Toad: Oh, look at the time, your interview should be over in about half a minute so you might as well sign out.
Baby Mario Bloops: ...you win this one. Well, he is right, and I must say goodbye now, and I will see you all next time, bye!!!!!!!
Fake Sports
The Flower Cup championship took place today at Crater Field, in front of more than 42,000 fans. Team Waluigi took on Team DK in a thrilling match. Team DK had won two titles in their rich history, while Team Waluigi was in pursuit of their first championship trophy. Team DK went with the same lineup they had used in their first six matches, of which they won five and tied one (in group play against the hosts, Yoshi). In the yellow jerseys were Dry Bones, their young, speedy defenseman, as well as midfielders Koopa and Shy Guy. Waluigi, who had gone 4–1–1 (1–1–1 in group play), mixed up their lineup again, with Monty Mole on defense and Hammer Bro. and Birdo at midfield.
Following a colorful pregame ceremony, the two teams took the field. In the sixth minute, Team Waluigi had a legitimate chance off a corner kick, but DK was able to knock the ball away with a header. Eleven minutes later, Team DK’s best chance of the half came on a free kick from 34 feet out, but Kritter knocked a Shy Guy shot away from the net. With just seven minutes remaining in the half, a Dry Bones skillshot electrified Kritter, and Waluigi scored on the rebound to give his team a 1–0 lead. It was his fourth goal of the tournament. His team held a 1–0 lead heading into the half.
With 23 minutes left in the match, Kritter had to lunge to stop a shot from Koopa, but Donkey Kong was able to find the rebound and tie the game at 1. Ten minutes later, with the score still deadlocked, Birdo’s shot was denied by Kritter. He came out to the front of the goal mouth and tried to boot the ball away, but he mishit it, and it bounced directly to Hammer Bro., whose shot went into the net and gave Team Waluigi a 2–1 lead they would not relinquish.
Following the match, the referees mistakenly awarded a 2–1 win to DK (after all, soccer refs suck), and Waluigi once again was left without a championship trophy. Their appeal to soccer’s governing body was denied, and DK escaped Crater Field with their third Flower Cup championship.
Fake Weather
Saturday
Toad Town 98. Stupid Summer.
Bowser World 77. No warnings. That’s unusual…Bowser must be up to something.
Lava World 1937. HOT HOT HOT
Ice World −222 BRAIN FREEZE!!!!! Too bad there’s no ice cream in this brain freeze.
Desert World 110 Thwomp Attack!!!!!
Sunday
Toad Town 82. Magnitude 5.4 earthquake, also felt in Real World.
Bowser World 777. Holy &#@%, it’s hot!
Lava World 910. OVEN TIME!!!!
Ice World −578. Avoid Ice World.
Desert World 111. Hot! Too HOT!!!!!
Monday
Toad Town 75. PIE RAIN AGAIN!!!!!!!!
Bowser World 1. Wow, cold. Very unusual weather for this season.
Lava World 7569. IT BURNS!!!!!!!!!
Ice World −841. COLD!!! I’M FREEZINGGGGGG!!!!!!!
Desert World 123. AWWWWWWW HOTTTTTTTTT!!!!!
If you hear booming, it’s only because Glamdozer and Gobblegut are going out.
Fake Characters
We bid a fond farewell to LaLaLand123 (talk), who is retiring from her Fake News position.
Fake Shop
Farewell to Travix Man (talk), who is also retiring from his position.
Art & Music
Director’s Notes
SMB
Yes, I'm back. At least while Paper Pikachu is gone (I think his laptop broke or something)... But yes, nothing has really changed except that I'll be co-directing with Paper Pikachu until he returns. And this also has no effect on the Pipe Plaza either: I'll be co-directing both teams still.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the issue.
Box Art of the Month (SMB)
Here's the image that I found to be rather cool. You might be thinking: "Why this image?" Well, it is the box-art of All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros., a game that you might not have heard of (and if you have, kudos to you; you're well-read or well-played on the Mario-series!). It's a game that was released in Japan only, and is based on the Japanese radio show All Night Nippon.
I'd tell you more about it, but perhaps you should head on over to the article and read a bit about it!
Character Artwork of the Month (SMB)
This image is of Hot Roderick, the second boss of Wario Land: Shake It!. The name itself is rather interesting: it's a combination of Hot Rod (which is a type of car) and Roderick (a common German name). I'd tell you more about this boss, but why don't you instead read its article?
Random Image of the Month (SMB)
This image is of the CD Trophy from Super Smash Bros. Brawl..
Sprite of the Month (FunkyK38)
This month is a rare sprite of Elder Princess Shroob in her first form from PiT. She looks like a real boss, big, mean, and totally dark. An interesting sprite that's well done. I certainly wouldn't want to take her on in battle.
Sketch Related to Mario (BluePikminKong497)
HI! THis month, i decided to draw one of the coolest bosses of Super Mario Galaxy; Baron Brr Topmaniac!
THanks for reading and see you next month!
Pipe Plaza
Director’s Notes
Marioguy1
Hello everyone! It’s MG1 here to kick off yet another isssue of the Pipe Plaza. We’ve had some loss of staff recently as Tucayo and KS3 both resigned from a position, so I’d love it if someone else tried to take over for them! Other than that there are many other positions to sign up for if you have the time.
You may not know this, but I am very sad. Just a few days ago I lost the Poll Committee Chairperson election to my co‐director SMB. However, I was then appointed as a member of the Poll Committee so it’s not all down the drain! Now that the Poll Committee is fully up and running, you can expect to see a new position opening up sometime this month that has to do with polls. Now, I won’t hold you any longer. Go on and read SMB’s Director’s Notes!
Super Mario Bros.
Hello everyone, SMB here. Yup. Not much to say on this issue, so go ahead and have fun reading. Thanks to MG1 for directing this Pipe Plaza.
Monthly Report
In this issue, I will report the current statistics as well as compare them with the last issue's statistics.
Starting with the next issue, I will compare August 2010's statistics with both July 2010's statistics as well as comparing August 2010's and June 2010's statistics together.
Remember, I will try to make statistics as close as possible; expect decimals.
Credit goes to Stooben Rooben for the coding (I based the coding for this off of his report table that he used when he wrote the section).
| June Statistics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistic | As of 13 June 2010 (14:08)* | |||
| Content Pages | 10,686 | |||
| All Pages | 69,010 | |||
| Files | 23,849 | |||
| Edits | 798,948 | |||
| Edits per Page | 11.577 | |||
| Registered Users | 14,736 | |||
| Active Users | 296 | |||
| Bots | 0 | |||
| Patrollers | 4 | |||
| Sysops | 19 | |||
| Bureaucrats | 4 | |||
| Proprietor | 1 | |||
| July Statistics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistic | As of 13 July 2010 (14:17)* | |||
| Content Pages | 10,877 | |||
| All Pages | 70,552 | |||
| Files | 24,367 | |||
| Edits | 824,026 | |||
| Edits per Page | 11.68 | |||
| Registered Users | 15,156 | |||
| Active Users | 294 | |||
| Bots | 0 | |||
| Patrollers | 4 | |||
| Sysops | 19 | |||
| Bureaucrats | 4 | |||
| Proprietor | 1 | |||
| June — July Statistics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistic | As of 13 June 2010 (14:08)* | As of 13 July 2010 (14:17)* | Percentage Increase | |
| Content Pages | 10,686 | 10,877 | 1.787% | |
| All Pages | 69,010 | 70,552 | 2.234% | |
| Files | 23,849 | 24,367 | 2.172% | |
| Edits | 798,948 | 824,026 | 3.139% | |
| Edits per Page | 11.577 | 11.68 | 0.885% | |
| Registered Users | 14,736 | 15,156 | 2.85% | |
| Active Users | 296 | 294 | -0.676% | |
| Bots | 0 | 0 | 0% | |
| Patrollers | 4 | 4 | 0% | |
| Sysops | 19 | 19 | 0% | |
| Bureaucrats | 4 | 4 | 0% | |
| Proprietor | 1 | 1 | 0% | |
Tip of the Month (FunkyK38)
Tip of the Month:
Make sure not to put bars like this: [[]] around anything that shouldn't be made into a page.
Featured (Marioguy1)
It’s now time for “Featured”! I hope you like the FIs this issue, as it’ll probably be the last set of FIs mentioned here or even voted on for that matter! It’s very likely that the Poll Committee will have gotten rid of them by next issue.
Now, let’s start off the factual content with the FAs! Featured this month, we have:
- Super Smash Bros. (nom)
- List of Tayce T. Recipes/By Ingredient (nom)
- Mario Power Tennis (Nintendo GameCube) MarioWiki:Featured Articles/A/Mario Power Tennis (Nintendo GameCube)
Three…I think that’s our all‐time high :D
And…no unfeatured content…
Well, for articles whose nominations failed we have…
- Donkey Kong 64 (nom) — 2–8
- Donkey Kong Country (nom) — 1–4
- Mario Party 8 (nom) — 1–6
- Nintendo GameCube (nom) — 2–2
- Wario Land: Shake It! (nom) — 4–1
- World 5 (New Super Mario Bros.) (nom) — 1–5
And the failed unfeature nominations are…
And that’s all for FAs!
And now for the (probable) FInale (see what I did there?). Here are the last FIs:
- Passed
- File:Ice Mario.jpg — 11–2
- File:YTT group artwork.jpg — 9–0
- File:DKandDiddy DKCR.png — 14–4
- Failed
- File:SMG2promoart.png — 12–14
- File:Mario Captured.gif — 3‒17
- File:LM Ghosts.jpg — 4–16
- File:Luigimansionart2.png — 9–10
- File:MSMart5.png — 4–9
- File:Mario group 1234567890.jpg — 3–11
And there are all the Featured Articles/Images this month!
Pipe Projects Seeking Contributors (KS3)
Hello, Everyone, this is (obviously) KS3, back from the dead. All of you know about Waluigi PipeProjects (If not, then come here).
There are still a lot of PipeProjects roaming around with hardly any contributors. We've got some new ones, like PipeProject:D. I. Y. microgames, and more, such as PipeProject:Toad, PipeProject:Mario & Sonic, and PipeProject:Super Paper Mario.
Sadly, no PipeProjects were completed. Hope you helped with the wiki by joining some and see ya’ll all next millennium month.
Welcome again to Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner. This is your father Coincollector. Let’s begin with the Mario Kart tip of the month. Looking a bit back to older games, do you still remember Mario Kart: Double Dash!!? Because I have a small but essential tip that you might not have noticed in this game. In the Dry Dry Desert course you’ll find a large quicksand pit in the middle of the road, and at the bottom of the pit awaits a humongous piranha plant to eat any poor racers that have been pulled down by the sand. If you’re the one that was pulled into the pit to be the snack for the plant, don’t panic: Hold the R button (or L) to drift around and get out of the quicksand.
Also, let me announce the next tournament from the Mario Kart Channel this month. This tournament will require collecting 50 coins in a section of Coconut Mall as quickly as possible. There will be no vehicle restrictions. Are you ready? Because I’m not yet…
On a side note, we had an interesting last month since Nintendo announced the hotly‐anticipated Nintendo 3DS during E3 2010. They also showed off plenty of new games for the handheld, and sure enough, one of them is a new Mario Kart game that we know almost nothing about. They released some screenshots and a (very) short video, from which I can tell that it looks like Mario Kart DS with Wii graphics and it seems it will make use of the 3D capabilities of the handheld. Let’s hope Nintendo will tell the release date and release new info about the game soon.
That’s all for Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner. Remember to look at both sides of the road before crossing (or else a Shell will hit you). See ya!
Hello, 'Shroom readers! This will be my first submission for The 'Shroom, so let's make it a good one! For this issue I will be writing about the fan-made series Super Mario Bros. Z, made by Alvin-Earthworm.
The plot of Super Mario Bros. Z is started by an evil robot named Mecha Sonic, who was looking for power. In Mecha Sonic's dimension, there are powerful gemstones known as Chaos Emeralds that grants whoever possesses all seven of them great power. After a skirmish between Sonic and Mecha Sonic, however, all of the Chaos Emeralds are scattered around the Mushroom World. Aonic and Shadow manage to get to the Mushroom World and almost instantly meet Mario and Luigi. Unfortunately, Mecha Sonic made his way the the Mushroom World as well, and even Bowser has his sights set on them. Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Shadow must retrieve all of the Chaos Emeralds, but can they collect them all in time?
At first glance, this series seems like just another cliché Sonic and Mario crossover, but it's so much more than that. The plot itself is very complicated, but it greatly immerses the viewer. The creator, Alvin-Earthworm uses many special effects that make the battle scenes especially amazing. He makes sure that there is plenty comic relief, and he makes sure that he doesn't change the personality of the characters he's using. All in all, I think Super Mario Bros. Z is a must-see, but don't take my word for it, Alvin-Earthworm posts his videos on Newgrounds and YouTube.
This month for issue XL, we will be reviewing Katamari Damacy, a Playstation 2 game released in 2004 by Namco.
Few games are as instantly charming as this one. It begins when The King of All Cosmos (yes, THE King of All Cosmos) accidentally knocks all the stars out of the night sky. Whoops. The job of restoring them has been passed down to you, the pint‐sized prince. But how can you do it? By rolling everything on earth into giant clumps to fill the holes in the sky.
Still with me? Good. The concept is simple: you push around a Katamari, a large ball‐like object, and pick up everything in your path. At the start of the game you’re in an average Japanese household, rolling up tiny objects such as pushpins and erasers. As the Katamari picks up more stuff, however, it grows larger in size and can roll up bigger things, like animals and people – and eventually, skyscrapers and steamships!
As the idea behind Katamari Damacy isn’t too hard to understand, pretty much anyone could play it without prior knowledge of video games. You need only be prepared for the wacky humour found in the game. Take for example the things The King says. You may think it’s poor translation (like the early days of the NES), but really he just has an overly extravagant and exaggerated style of speech.
I cannot think of anything more satisfying than having an enormous Katamari, hearing the screams of thousands of poor civilians as you lump them up with their own homes. You can even roll up clouds and islands! The sheer absurdity of it all is part of what makes the game so unbelievably fun. You may be taken aback by the incredibly simple concept behind Katamari Damacy, but you’ll find after the first couple levels that this game is downright addicting.
The graphics have a slightly cel‐shaded look about them, with an appealingly bright (but not too saturated) color palette that makes the game look like what it is – fun and childlike. The soundtrack is something people either adore or find annoying. I for one immensely enjoy the music in this game. It is a blend of popular Japanese music with some jazz, tango, mambo and a little rock. The diversity keeps it interesting. Luckily, all but one of the songs has vocals in Japanese, so those who normally feel distracted by lyrics in BGM will be able to focus on the gameplay more easily.
The length of the game, while short, works well with the concept. While Katamari Damacy is fun from beginning to end, players with short attention spans wouldn’t be able to finish it if it were much longer. And although some may beat the game in a day, there are still lots of little extras that will keep you glued to it for a while longer, particularly the ability to roll up Presents. Most levels have these hidden somewhere and the prince has to find them and roll them up into the Katamari, and keep them in the Katamari to the end. It’s a real challenge finding them all, however.
It’s the not the greatest game in history, but Katamari is undeniably silly fun and no doubt one of the most original games on the market plus a personal favorite. So I give it a high…
What’s going on, everyone? FunkyK38 here with your XL Issue of Brawl Tactics!
This month, I will be discussing the stage Summit.
First up: the platforms. The one to the left is a trapdoor. If you hit the hinge that anchors it to the mountain, it will snap off and fall. The ice ledge on the right is easy to take care of – all you have to do is smash the ice and it’ll break.
Next are the icicles that form where the stage slopes down at the left. If you’re not careful, they’ll do a lot of damage to your character if they fall on you. If you’re paying attention, though, you can shove your opponents under them as they fall so they’ll get hit with quite a bit of damage, and launched fairly far.
The clouds, I pretty much ignore. They’re great if you need to rest to recharge your jump, but they’ll push you off the mountain if you stay on them too long. Better just avoid them if you’re not too confident about them yet.
Now, the journey this mountain makes once again defies the laws of physics, but it’s pretty fun. Try pushing a rival off the right side and watch them go flying. If they’re not expecting it, it’ll be a KO for them. This is also a bad way to lose items. About half a million times the Dragoon parts have fallen onto the left side, and they just stay there. If you try to get them, you’ll get slammed with a lot of damage plus you’ll go flying.
The fish is an interesting character. It’ll eat you, resulting in a KO; it’ll hit you when it leaps out to try to eat you, resulting in a lot of damage; and it’s generally just irritating. Push opponents into the water and the fish will jump out to eat them. It’s not a pretty way to go down, but it works. Stay out of the water near the edges when the water on the stage gets deeper, or you’ll get eaten if you’re not careful.
That’s all for this month! See you all next month for another issue of Brawl Tactics!
Welcome to this month's interview, folks! I'd like to apologize for not doing an interview last month — I was having a lot of computer problems, which is why I couldn't get it done. I'd also like to announce that this will be my last interview for The 'Shroom. I had fun while it lasted, but I just don't think I have the time to put in all the effort I'd like to for this section.
The Target
This month, I decided to interview one of the wiki's own Sysops — Edofenrir (talk). Edofenrir is a very friendly member from Germany who joined the wiki roughly a year ago. Within that year, he's made quite an impact on the wiki, as well as its affiliates. Besides being an extremely helpful Sysop, Edo is a member of the Awards Committee, a writer for The 'Shroom, and Patroller of Userpedia (and considering how much trouble he was given on that site a while ago, I think it's pretty admirable that he's one of the few people trying to keep that site alive). Edo is also really well-known for his superb artistic abilities (just look at some of his image uploads on Userpedia if you're wondering what I'm talking about).
The Interview
Me: So, Edo, can you tell me how you found the MarioWiki?
Edofenrir: That was the fault of YouTube, actually.
Edofenrir: I've watched a few videos containing Weegee there, and searched the internet for information about that fad.
Edofenrir: Somehow I ended up in the Mariowiki, where "Weegee" redirected me to "Mario is Missing!"
Edofenrir: Yeah, and that is pretty much how I found the place.
Edofenrir: Pretty strange. oô
Me: Indeed.
Me: Have you ever played "Mario is Missing!"?
Edofenrir: Not really, but I played "Mario's Time Machine" instead.
Me: And what did you think of that game?
Edofenrir: Truly amazing gameplay. If you like having your brain grinded to dust, this is your kind of game.
Edofenrir: You cannot just press a history book into a game cartridge and call it and educational title.
Me: Sounds like the kind of game to play on long weekends.
Edofenrir: Yes.
Edofenrir: It is really an outstanding title.
Me: I'll have to recommend to some...uh...friends, then.
Me: So, I've heard that "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door" is your favorite game. Why do you like it so much?
Edofenrir: Well, I'm sort of a die-hard fan of traditional jRPGs. I also grew up with playing Mario games like Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario 64. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a game that combines these two factors. That's probably one of the main reasons.
Edofenrir: I also like the characters and atmosphere very much.
Edofenrir: It's the perfect Mario RPG for me.
Me: I think it's the perfect Mario RPG for everyone. It's just that some people refuse to accept it, haha.
Edofenrir: Olol.
Me: Let's see...
Me: What was your first reaction when you were promoted to Patroller on the wiki?
Edofenrir: Uhm... I think it was along the lines of "WTF!?!?"
Edofenrir: And then I questioned the admins' sanity.
Edofenrir: I think the image on Userpedia describes my reaction pretty well.
Me: Oh yeah. I remember popping out of your computer screen and scaring you. That was fun.
Edofenrir: You meanie!
Me: That's me!
Me: Now, could you tell me what your reaction was when you were promoted to Sysop?
Edofenrir: Well, it was less unexpected than my first promotion, since this time I could see the events leading to it. Since it misses the shock value from the first time, I cannot remember my reaction to it that clearly anymore...
Me: I understand.
Me: At least you remember being promoted. :P
Me: One thing you're really well-known for is your ability to draw very well.
Me: How did you learn how to draw so well?
Edofenrir: Experience, mainly.
Edofenrir: I'm drawing since I was a little child.
Edofenrir: Oh, and I love art.
Me: So, you didn't take any classes? You learned it all on your own?
Edofenrir: No, I never took any art classes.
Edofenrir: Most people were impressed by this, most notably a good friend of me, who has died young, and to whom everything I draw is dedicated.
Edofenrir: Art was his life, and so I made art my life as well.
Me: That's very admirable of you.
Me: I'm actually pretty touched by that.
Edofenrir: Well, he was the only one who ever truly believed in my art.
Edofenrir: Art is not all about drawing skills, though.
Edofenrir: The most important thing when being an artist is passion.
Me: I'm sure your friend would be very proud of your actions. : )
Edofenrir: I don't know for sure.
Edofenrir: Maybe.
Me: Let's see here... Ah, this is a question I ask everyone I interview:
Me: What type of music do you like?
Edofenrir: There is a userbox on the wiki that says something like "This user is addicted to video game music".
Edofenrir: That userbox actually suits me pretty well.
Edofenrir: Apart from that, I listen to everything I like, regardless of genre.
Edofenrir: My favourite singer is Meat Loaf.
Edofenrir: ...Yeah, that's that.
Me: Meat Loaf is one of my favorite musicians too. Plus, video game music is always good. Therefore, you have a good taste in music.
Edofenrir: : )
Me: What kind of hobbies do you have?
Edofenrir: Well, I draw a lot, but we already spoke about that.
Me: Well, I've heard that you like making games with RPG Maker. Would you care to talk about that?
Edofenrir: Hm... that's not entirely true... I did that a lot in the past, along with spriting and stuff, and I am a RM2k veteran with about five years of experience, but I hardly produce anything with the maker nowadays.
Edofenrir: I think I don't have the patience anymore...
Me: I barely have the patience to deal with RPG Maker XP myself, so I completely understand.
Me: Back on the subject of the wiki... What would you consider your greatest accomplishment on the wiki?
Edofenrir: Uhhh....
Edofenrir: My surprisingly low quote of killing sprees. :)
Me: Lol.
Me: And now for the last question:
Me: Is this the last question?
Edofenrir: That solely depends on my answer, I presume.
Edofenrir: So I gotta say:
Edofenrir: Maybe?
Me: Wrong.
Me: The correct answer is, ‘Yes.’
Edofenrir: Well, I have another thing to say.
Me: Oh no.
Edofenrir: Oh yeah.
Me: ...Wait, was that what you wanted to say?
Edofenrir: No, but I've got you now, Stooben. "Wait, was that what you wanted to say?" is another question, nyeh heh heh. 8)
Me: BUT THE INTERVIEW HAS ENDED.
Me: SO I STILL WIN.
Me: ...Even though this is still on the record...
After being burned so horribly be Edofenrir, he decided to give me a cookie. Isn’t that just so nice?
Edofenrir: Ok, that's it for this month's interview for the Shroom. I am NOT your host, Stooben Rooben.
Edofenrir: Good night, people.
In Closing
Edofenrir is one of my closest friends. A lot of people don't really seem to get his personality, but I think that's just because they haven't spent enough time around him. If you talk to Edofenrir on a respectable level (by this, I mean, "have friendly conversations with him; don't spam his query, forum inbox, or wiki talk page with nonsensical bull"), you'd probably realize what a swell guy he is. ...And yes, I do realize that it sounds like I'm just sugarcoating things, but I'm honestly not. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but maybe you should actually get to know Edo before you pass judgment on him.
It's been a pleasure writing this section, guys. I hope you all enjoyed this interview! — Stooben Rooben 19:33, 14 July 2010 (UTC)
Special Award
So, since a non-Mario award can't be in the Mario awards, I, Tucayo, decided to host this on The 'Shroom. Award X1, Most Anticipated Non-Mario game! Winner will be announced on the August issue :3 Voting closes July 31st
Welcome
Welcome to the 1st annual Ultimate Character Tournament! I'm Ralphfan, and I'll be your host. What is the tournament? It's a series of polls in a bracket to determine the best character from the Mario, Sonic, Kirby, DK, Zelda, Banjo, and Conker games! Right now, we're in the sixth round, and you can vote in the polls listed below. Meetings were held in #mwUCT, which can be accessed here, on Userpedia, Darkmyst, Mibbit, mIRC, PJIRC, Chatzilla, or etc. We are also on the forum!
Meetings
Meeting 1
SMB and I covered the Banjo and Conker series with help from MG1 and SLNO.
Agenda
We determined a schedule:
- 9/16: Conker and Banjo
- 9/23: Zelda and DK
- 9/30: Sonic and Kirby
- 10/7 - ?: Mario
Mario might take a long time.
Entrants
14 Conker and 7 Banjo characters were accepted, and 4 more from Conker are on the bubble:
- Jolly Roger
- Gobi
- Cheato
- Roysten
Meeting 2
SUMMARY We covered Zelda. SMB missed a lot because of dinner, Tucky was there for most of the meeting, SLNO was logged on but inactive, Castle Toad was there towards the end, and MG1 was there throughout. We didn't have time for DK, plus I pinged towards the end.
Agenda
New schedule:
- 9/16:
Conker and Banjo - 9/23:
Zelda - 9/30: DK
- 10/7: Sonic
- 10/14: Kirby
- 10/21 - ?: Mario
Entrants
We added 18 Zelda characters, and two others are on the bubble:
- Agahnim
- Evil Wizard
Meeting 3
SUMMARY We covered DK. SMB was there for the last half-hour because of dinner, but MG1 was able to cover, and Tucky was able to drop by.
Agenda
- 9/16:
Conker and Banjo - 9/23:
Zelda - 9/30:
DK - 10/7: Sonic
- 10/14: Kirby
- 10/21 - ?: Mario
Entrants
We added 18 more, and put 6 on the bubble:
Meeting 4
SUMMARY We covered Sonic. SMB helped out, as did MG1, Turboo, Noahp89, and Tehchomps. Tucayo was probably watching the Yankees-Twins game.
Agenda
- 9/16:
Conker and Banjo - 9/23:
Zelda - 9/30:
DK - 10/7:
Sonic - 10/14: Kirby
- 10/21 - ?: Mario
Entrants
We added another 17, and put one on the bubble:
- Super Sonic
Meeting 5
SUMMARY We covered Kirby. SMB was my only assistant, but he did a great job!
Agenda
- 9/16:
Conker and Banjo - 9/23:
Zelda - 9/30:
DK - 10/7:
Sonic - 10/14:
Kirby - 10/21 - ?: Mario
Entrants
We added 11 characters and 0 maybes.
Meeting 6
SUMMARY We began Mario and got about halfway through because we ran long. We got through every game from Jumpman to SMRPG. We're going in chronological order by when the games were released. MG1 was there for most of the meeting; Tehchomps was very active as well; Packy was there for a good chunk of time; SMB, SLNO, and Yoshario also pitched in. Hopefully, we'll finish Mario next week, but I have the feeling it will go into November 4th's meeting.
Agenda
- 9/16:
Conker and Banjo - 9/23:
Zelda - 9/30:
DK - 10/7:
Sonic - 10/14:
Kirby - 10/21 - 11/4?: Mario
We hope to finish next week, but it'll probably run through the start of the November 4th meeting.
Entrants
We added 46 more characters and 0 maybes.
Meeting 7
SUMMARY We finished the Mario series. SMB was there, but busy, SLNO was there for a while, and Tucayo dropped by for a while, and Tehchomps was there for a bit.
Agenda
- 9/16:
Conker and Banjo - 9/23:
Zelda - 9/30:
DK - 10/7:
Sonic - 10/14:
Kirby - 10/21 - 10/28:
Mario - 11/4 - ?: Brawl, Seeding, and Bracket
Entrants
We added another 63 characters for a total of 109 from the Mario series and 194 total.
Meeting 8
SUMMARY
We did final touch-ups, covered SSB, and began seeding, but we didn't get much done, due to the World Series and people not really wanting to pay attention. However, I was able to work with a few users during the week, so we were able to make progress nonetheless.
For seeding, we have 222 characters. To narrow it down to 128, we will need to eliminate 94 of them. Therefore, 34 of the entrants are being given first-round byes and will advance directly to the second round. The next 94 will be matched up against the bottom 94.
Agenda
Continue seeding and fill out bracket.
Entrants
We added 28 characters, for a final? (unintentional) count of 222. I was going for something between 128 and 256, so it worked out well.
Meeting 9
We worked on the second tier of seeding. SLNO was there for a bit; Tucky and MG1 were the major contributors. We didn't add any new characters, but MG1 suggested the SMG bosses; you can now vote whether to include them or not.
Meeting 10
MG1, SMB, and SLNO helped nearly round out the second tier of seeding in a short meeting. It looks like the SMG bosses are going to pass; the poll will close at the start of the next meeting.
Meeting 11
MG1, SMB, Noah, and Tucky finished out the seeding groups. Since the Galaxy bosses pass, we finished with 231 characters. We're going to organize them into a bracket and set up dates beginning next week.
Meeting 12
MG1, SMB, Tucky, SLNO, and Noah helped organize the bracket. Because of the number of characters, 25 characters get byes, or free passes, to the second round. They have been placed throughout the bracket. We plan to open the first round of the tournament on January 6th or 13th.
Info
Dates
Here are the dates:
Round 1: 1/7-1/27- Round 2: 1/28-2/24
- Round 3: 2/25-3/24
- Round 4: 3/25-4/28
- Round 5: 4/29-5/26
- Round 6: 5/27-6/29
Round 7: 7/4-7/29- Round 8: 7/30-8/28
World Cup Recap
This year, the 19th FIFA World Cup took place in South Africa.
Qualification
Before the 32 teams could arrive in South Africa, they had to survive a qualification process that featured a record 203 teams in 6 confederations. There were a total of 848 qualifiers played, and 2,337 goals were scored during qualification. Though many people only paid attention to the main stage, let's take a look at how the teams got there.
Africa
In addition to South Africa's automatic qualification, five other African teams qualified for the World Cup.
In the first phase, Africa's bottom ten teams were drawn to play two-leg series. The winners joined the other 43 teams and were split into 12 groups of four. The top team in each group and the eight best second-place teams advanced to the third round. The teams were split into five groups of four, and the winner of each group advanced to the World Cup. Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, and Ivory Coast qualified, but in Group C, Egypt and Algeria were tied. The two North African nations were dead even in every tiebreaker, and they had to play a one-game playoff in Sudan. The teams met on November 18, 2009 in the city of Omdurman. Antar Yahia's goal in the fortieth minute, combined with brilliant goalkeeping by Faouzi Chaouchi, sent Algeria to the FIFA World Cup amidst violence between the Egyptian and Algerian fans.
Asia
In Asia, four teams qualified automatically and a fifth was put in a playoff against a team from Oceania to qualify.
The 43 members of AFC that entered qualification (Laos, Brunei and the Philippines didn't enter before the deadline) were sorted into three groups. The top 5 teams advanced to Phase 3, while teams 6-43 played in Phase 1. Teams ranked 6-24 were placed in Pot A, and they were paired with teams ranked 25-43 in Pot B for two-leg, aggregate score series. (This means that if each team won one game, the winner would be the team that scored the most goals rather than having to travel across Asia to play a third game). The bottom 8 first-round winners played in Phase 2, while the rest advanced directly to Phase 3. In Phase 3, 20 teams were split into five groups of four. The top two teams in each group advanced to Phase 4, in which the top ten teams were split into two groups of five. The top two teams in each group qualified for the World Cup and the third-place teams met in a two-leg playoff. In Group 1, Australia and Japan qualified, while Bahrain finished third. In Group 2, South Korea and North Korea qualified while Saudi Arabia finished third. In the two-leg playoff, the match played in Bahrain was a 0-0 tie, and the teams tied 2-2 in Saudi Arabia. However, Bahrain advanced on away goals, 2-0. They would play the best team in Oceania in a two-leg playoff to qualify for the World Cup.
Europe
In Europe, 13 teams qualified for the World Cup.
The 53 teams were split into nine groups. Eight groups had six teams, and one had five. The winners of each group qualified automatically. The top eight second-place teams were paired up in two-leg playoffs. Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy and the Netherlands won their respective groups.
Russia took on Slovenia in what was expected to be a blowout series, but Russia narrowly won the first game, 2-1. In the second game, Slovenia won on their home field, 1-0, advancing to the World Cup on away goals and defeating the mighty Russians.
Greece met with Ukraine, and the two teams played to a scoreless tie in Athens. When they met four days later in Ukraine's second-largest city, Donetsk, Greece shocked the home crowd, winning 1-0 and clinching their spot in the World Cup for the second time (their first was in 1994).
Portugal was drawn against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Portuguese won each match by a score of 1-0 to advance to the World Cup.
France, whose group was won by Serbia, was drawn to play Ireland. The French won the first match in Dublin. In Saint-Denis, Robbie Keane scored for Ireland, tying the aggregate score at 1-1. The teams were to play 30 minutes of extra time to determine the series winner (if the teams remained deadlocked, they would decide the winner on penalty kicks). In the 13th minute of extra time, Florent Malouda took a free kick toward Thierry Henry. He hit the ball twice with his hand, which should have drawn a yellow card from the referee, Martin Hansson. However, Hansson missed the hand ball, and William Gallas headed in the ball for the goal that sent France to the World Cup and ended Ireland's hopes.
North America
In North America, 3 teams qualified for the World Cup and a fourth was put in a playoff against a team from South America to qualify.
Of the 35 teams (12 of which were not countries recognized by the UN, they were territories belonging to other countries), the top 13 were given byes to the second round. Teams ranked 14-24 and 25-35 were drawn against each other for two-leg series. The winners joined the other 13 teams in the second round, where the 24 teams were paired up and split into 12 two-leg series. The winners advanced to the third round, where they were split into three groups of four. The top two teams in each group advanced to the final round, a six-team double-round robin.
In the final set of games in the fourth phase of qualification, Honduras and Costa Rica were battling for the third automatic ticket to South Africa. Costa Rica had 15 points and Honduras 13. Honduras defeated El Salvador, 1-0, to finish with 16 points. Costa Rica was leading the USA in a meaningless game for the Americans (who had already qualified), 2-1. However, Jonathan Bornstein scored in the final minute of stoppage time, ending the game in a 2-2 tie. Honduras led Costa Rica in the tiebreaker, goal differential, and therefore finished in third place. USA, Mexico and Honduras finished in the top three spots and advanced to the World Cup. Costa Rica finished in fourth, which led to them playing against a team from South America in a two-leg playoff from which the winner would advance to the World Cup. El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago finished in fifth and sixth place and did not qualify.
Oceania
The top team from Oceania would advance to a playoff against a team from Asia to qualify.
The first round of qualification was held during the 2007 South Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa. The ten teams playing were split into two groups of five. The top two teams in each group would advance to the semifinals, and the two semifinal winners and the winner of the third-place game would advance to the second round of qualifying along with New Zealand. Fiji and New Caledonia took the top two spots in Group A. Fiji ran the table, scoring 25 goals and allowing just 1 in four games. 16 of these goals were scored in a shutout win over Tuvalu, including six by Osea Vakatalesau, who scored the only double hat-trick in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Solomon Islands and Vanuatu were the top two teams in Group B. New Caledonia and Fiji advanced to the final, ensuring their place in the next round of qualifying (New Caledonia eventually won their gold medal match, 1-0). Vanuatu defeated the Solomon Islands, 2-0 to join the other teams in the next round.
The 2008 OFC Nations Cup was used as the second round of qualifying, a four-team double-round robin. The winner would face a team from Asia in a two-leg series to clinch a spot in South Africa. New Zealand easily finished in first place. They hadn't made it past Oceania qualifying since 1982, when they played in their first World Cup. Qualifying for the 2010 Cup was made far easier for the All Whites when Australia left the OFC for Asia's confederation, AFC (coincidentally, this also worked out well for Australia, who didn't have to participate in a playoff to qualify).
South America
Four teams from CONMEBOL qualified automatically, a fifth would advance to a playoff against a team from North America to qualify.
The ten teams (Guyana and Suriname, though geographically located in South America, played in North America's confederation, CONCACAF, so they wouldn't be destroyed by the competition) played two matches against each team for a total of 18 matches. Brazil, Chile and Paraguay qualified easily.
Argentina had performed very poorly during the early stages of qualification. They won their first three matches, but were defeated 2-1 at Colombia (which they blamed on the altitude, 2,640 m/8,661 ft). They tied 2006 qualifiers Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay, and then played to a 1-1 draw against lowly Peru, which drew lots of criticism. They once again blamed this on the altitude, over 5,000 feet (over 1,524 m). They won two of their next three matches (they did lose to eventual qualifier Chile), and they went into La Paz, Bolivia with a record of four wins, two losses and four ties. Once again, Argentina had to play at a high-altitude stadium. Estadio Hernando Siles was at 11,932 feet (3,637 meters). The altitude proved to be the downfall for the Argentinians, who were destroyed by a mediocre Bolivian team, 6-1. After defeating Colombia, they lost their next two matches to Ecuador and Brazil, the latter of which came in front of the home fans in Rosario. They were then defeated in Paraguay. Elevation was not the cause (the stadium was less than 50 feet above sea level), the team simply played poorly. The Argentinians did recover, defeating Peru at home and shocking Uruguay in Montevideo, 1-0 to advance to South Africa without having to play a playoff against Costa Rica. After their win over Uruguay, manager Diego Maradona lashed out at the media for criticizing his coaching.
Playoffs
Qualification wrapped up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup on November 14 and 18 of 2009. Africa and Europe finished their matches within their own continents on these dates. Teams from the other four continents played against teams from outside their confederation to advance.
Bahrain, fifth place in Asia, played the top team from Oceania, New Zealand. In 2006, Bahrain was defeated in a playoff by Trinidad and Tobago. New Zealand had only qualified once, in 1982. On October 10th in the city of Riffa, Bahrain, the teams played to a 0-0 draw. On November 14th, in Wellington, New Zealand, Rory Fallon scored a goal in the final minute of the first half and New Zealand's All Whites won, 1-0 to advance to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.
Costa Rica, fourth place in North America, took on Uruguay, fifth place in South America. Costa Rica had qualified in 2006, but Uruguay was put in a two-game playoff against Australia. The teams were tied, 1-1 after two games, and Australia qualified on penalty kicks. In San Jose, Costa Rica, Diego Lugano scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for Uruguay. In the 70th minute in Montevideo, Sebastian Abreu scored a controversial goal for Uruguay. Costa Rica scored a few minutes later, but Uruguay won the series.
Overview
Awards
| Ralphfan | Statistic | Tucayo |
|---|---|---|
| Uruguay | Surprise Team | New Zealand |
| Cameroon | Biggest Letdown | Italy |
| Diego Forlan (URU) | Best Player | Iker Casillas (ESP) |
| Uruguay-Ghana | Best Match | Uruguay-Ghana |
Stats
In the 64 matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, there were:
- 145 goals, for an average of 2.27 per match
- 16 draws
- 9 penalty kick goals on 12 penalty kick shots
- 2 own goals
- 4 matches in extra time
- 2 penalty kick shootouts
- 261 yellow cards
- 19 red cards
- Argentina and Portugal tied for the most goals in group play, with 7.
- Algeria and Honduras were the only teams to score 0 goals.
- Uruguay and Portugal were the only teams to allow 0 goals in group play.
- North Korea conceded 12 goals in group play, the most of any team.
- Portugal had the best goal differential in group play, +7.
- New Zealand was the only team to go undefeated in the World Cup, tying in all three of their matches.
- Serbia and Slovakia made their first World Cup appearances as independent nations. Serbia had competed as part of Yugoslavia, and Slovakia had competed as Czechoslovakia.
Group play breakdown by record (wins-draws-losses):
- 3-0-0: 2 teams (Argentina, Netherlands)
- 2-1-0: 2 teams (Brazil, Uruguay)
- 2-0-1: 4 teams (Chile, Germany, Japan, Spain)
- 1-2-0: 4 teams (England, Paraguay, Portugal, United States)
- 1-1-1: 9 teams (Australia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland)
- 1-0-2: 3 teams (Denmark, Greece, Serbia)
- 0-3-0: 1 team (New Zealand)
- 0-2-1: 1 team (Italy)
- 0-1-2: 4 teams (Algeria, France, Honduras, Nigeria)
- 0-0-3: 2 teams (Cameroon, North Korea)
Group A
Stats
In Group A, there were:
- 11 goals
- 2 draws
- 2 penalty kick goals on 2 penalty kick shots
- 23 yellow cards
- 3 red cards
| Team | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|