The 'Shroom:Issue LXXI
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| Issue LXXI | February 16th, 2013 | About |
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STAFF SECTIONS
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The directors' addresses to you about what's been going on behind-the-scenes.
[read more]
SUB-TEAMS
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MAIN SECTIONS
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Directors' Notes
Super Mario Bros. (talk)
Hello everybody! Welcome to the February 2013 edition of The 'Shroom. Since Tucayo (talk) covered all of the news that would need to be shared, I suppose I will just go ahead and discuss something else today.
I would just like to thank Tucky and all of the Core Staff members for having handled this issue very nicely. I was rather busy this month and was not at the forefront in terms of planning out this issue, but hopefully this next month will be better to me and I should be able to help out with more staff decisions and planning and whatnot. We will be working on some projects in the time to come (specifically: revamping the Music & Artwork Team, producing a Manual of Style, working on that new Single Page layout, finalizing a banner for the Critic Corner, and much more).
Thank you for reading this time around, and be sure to come back on March 16th, 2013 for the next issue! We look forward to bringing more updates!
Until next month,
Tucayo (talk)
HI! I'm your ever-young Co-director Tucayo, and welcome to my side of the Director's Notes! It's been a while since I last did one of this, so I hope I remember what I have to do. Meh, that was dumb, of course I wouldn't forget what to do. Anyway, a new term has started! We at the Core Staff have been discussing many new ideas and suggestions. You will be seeing many of them throughout the year. But for now, we have plans to rebrand the Music & Art team. We will be starting with renames for the team and its sections, as well as changing the scope and even including contests. Go give it a look, we have a Valentine's Day drawing contest, and the winner will get 'Shroom Tokens!
More news this month:
- marioman1213 (talk) and Alexneushoorn (talk) now write Police Blotter for the Fake News.
- Cooking Guide is now vacant.
- Megadardery (talk) is now in charge of the Quiz and Mind Bogglers.
- The Jokes and Riddles sections were reintroduced to Fun Stuff.
- I now write Box-Art of the Month.
- KoopaGuy (talk) will now be bringing you Soundtrack of the Month.
- Our Stats Manager, RandomYoshi (talk), will be our official Awards reporter this year; be sure to check out Anniversary Announcements.
- Post-Damage Invincibility (talk) has been banned from The 'Shroom.
- The Critic Corner sub-team will have a banner soon.
- We've been working on a Manual of Style for applicants and writers.
- We've also been tallying 'Shroom Tokens, and will present you a detailed rundown soon.
- Congratulations to Coincollector (talk) on his Main Team SOTM win!
- The Critic Corner sub-team is in great need of reviewers. You can review anything you're interested in, please take a look at the Sign Up page and contact Crocodile Dippy (talk) if you're interested.
- We are debuting our navigation box at the bottom of each article, to facilitate switching between pages.
That's all I have this month. I hope you enjoy the issue and remember to vote on the SOTM polls. BYE!
Section of the Month
| Section of the Month - Main Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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HI, everyone! I'm your diligent Co-Director, Tucayo, bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts. I mean... errrm... the Section of the Month results, yes. Last month we had only 20 votes, I want to invite you to take a few seconds to vote; every vote counts!
With 30% of the votes, the first winner of 2013 was Coincollector (talk), with Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner. In his third-straight SOTM-winning section, Coincollector took us to the beach, more specifically, Cheep Cheep Lagoon, from Mario Kart 7. As you all know, Mario Kart 7 introduced underwater driving; and with this section, Coincollector took a look at one of the racetracks that feature it prominently. On second place, with 25% of the votes, we had our new Music & Art Director, FunkyK38 (talk), with her traditional Brawl Tactics.
That's all for this month! Remember to vote in the poll below; voting closes Saturday, March 19th.
Fake News
Editorial
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the fakest news of all, the Pipe Plaza! Wait, no, this is Fake News. Oh fiddlesticks.
So, what's new? Well, this month has had plenty of staff changes. We'll start with the members of staff who have resigned: after a really long time writing the Cooking Guide, Chivi-chivik (talk) has had to quit, because she's moving to another country and will be unable to write, and recently hasn't been finding enjoyment in writing the section anymore. It's sad to see somebody who's been writing for a long time quit, so we wish her the best of luck in the future! Also quitting is DaShroom (talk), who wrote the Weather Forecast, has also quit, because his computer broke. However, he says he can return sometime in the future, so we'll be looking forward to that!
As for the hirings: two people applied for the Police Blotter at the same time, and we liked both applications. Deciding between them was too much effort too hard, so we just hired them both. Congratulations to Alexneushoorn (talk) and Marioman1213 (talk)!
Before we go, it's that time of month again. What time of month, you may ask? It's the time of month where, every month, we announce the monthly winner of the Section of the Month for last month. But who won last month's Section of the Month for Pipe Plaz...damnit, Fake News? It was the Travel Guide, by Pyro (talk), with 35 votes! Tucayo (talk)'s Ask Tucayo was the runner-up.
So, have a great Fakebruary and enjoy the Fake News!
Love is in the air. Stay inside, kids, as I almost died from the pollution.
Instead of breathing, why don't you take your true love on a honeymoon to 40 Below Fridge? It's the biggest refrigerator in the Mushroom Kingdom, and is a perfect place for cold relationships.
Staying in this appliance is not very expensive, as it's only 100,000 coins for a heated suite, compared to the expensive nothing for regular rooms outside. I stayed in the suite, and the room service was excellent. They brought me frozen foods every night. It was hard.
After a terrible night of depressing dreams, I happily woke up and saw Keyzer. I immediately grabbed him, as he is so cute and cute. Did I mention cute?
While exploring, I found four rocks that fit together to form a diamond. I shortly trashed it afterwards, however. It didn't do anything when I got back. But whatever. I couldn't stay for long, for I had ran out of money after the suite stay, as MCD only pays me 10 coins an issue, and the rest is from...uh...
Finally, I found a frog resting on a switch. I hit the frog to see what happened if I did. I heard a giant "HURRY UP!" and I only had 2 minutes to get out, because I was playing Super Hard Mode. Keyzer ditched me and I had to make a run for it to get to the exit.
I barely got out alive.
The one thing this fridge taught me is that refrigerators are death traps. I can't wait to throw a few people in there.
See you next time, where I visit something more painful! I must suffer, or you'll never vote me as the best section. Now it's time for me to play my daily dose of WarioWare: Smooth Moves.
Hello! Welcome back to the next edition of Gamer Guide. Hosted by yours truly, Yoshi K.
This month Luigi gets a game that is (practically) his own.
General Info: Name: Luigi Time Console: Wii U
This game is a traditional Mario platformer. With the whole Luigi vs. Bowser thing like that. Wait, what? That's right! In single player mode, you play as Luigi instead of Mario! It's finally time for the green-clad plumber to overshadow his older brother in this game!
The game's controls mostly concern the Wii U GamePad, using the Left Control Stick to move. B to jump, Y to dash, and the D-Pad to change the viewing point on the map.
This also features multiplayer mode! Up to 4 players can join using Wii Remotes. Playing as Mario, Yoshi, Toad and Wario, those 4 players can help Luigi stop Bowser's plan.
However, the game also features a competitive mode, the playable characters being the 5 mentioned above on the Heroes side, and Bowser, Bowser Jr., Hammer Bro., Koopa Troopa, and Goomba on the villains side! The heroes are trying to advance through the levels like the regular game, while the villains are trying to stop the heroes! One villain controls a Wii Remote, using special powers to try and defeat the heroes, while the other villain controls the GamePad and tries to create obstacles and abysses to stop the heroes.
Whatever mode you play, this is a great game! I recommend it, so make sure to stop by your local game shop and pick this game up today!
Written by: Alexneushoorn (talk)
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Chief Alexneushoorn, and this is MKPNN (Mushroom Kingdom Police News Network) aka Police Blotter. If you wonder what happened to your previous Chief Travix Man, MCD had to let him go. I know it's sad, but I promise I will be a good chief like Travix Man. Now, my corps and residents of the Mushroom Kingdom have reported a few crimes to me. Let's have a look at them, shall we?
Sticker Museum Theft
The Sticker Museum has many rare stickers. The Thing stickers the museum houses are so rare, that it attracted Ludwig von Koopa to stealing all of them. Late at night, the Koopa busted in to the museum on a speeding motorcycle, and drove down the staircase leading to the museum. With his strength, Ludwig von Koopa knocked out the guards guarding the door to the museum. He opened the door to the Sticker Museum. Driving into the colossal underground museum, Ludwig immidiately rushed into lowest halls of the Thing Sticker exhibits. He grabbed all the Things and peeled off all the Thing stickers he could get his hands on. Suddenly, the alarms started to shout. Ludwig then drove back up the staircase and took off to Warm Fuzzy Plains, with my burliest agents O'Chunks and Donkey Kong pursuing him in a police car. Ludwig managed to knock O'Chunks out of the car with a rock he had with him. Afterwards, DK ordered my helicopter force (consisting of a Toad piloting the helicopter and me holding a tranquillizer filled with sleeping gas) to take Ludwig out. With a headshot I knocked the Sticker and Thing Thief out. Ludwig will be staying in prison for a month for museum robbery.
That's all for now. Next month, we will have more news. I'm Chief Alexneushoorn and i say: Good night.
Written by: Marioman1213 (talk)
Hello there, this is your friendly marioman1213, but you can call me Roserade (I know, Pokemon name, sue me.)! I'm new to the Fake News (however I've tried before), and I'm hoping my job as the Police Blotter will pay off!
*crew member whispers in ear*
WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DON'T GET PAID?!?!
Anyway, onto the stories!
1. Unknown Bandit Strikes the Toadly Bank
Last week, a siren went off at a nearby bank, none other than the famous Toadly Bank, known to be filled with Super Mushrooms, Ice Flowers, etc. Anywho, when police arrived, they found a piece of green cloth. Investigators have decided that whoever robbed the bank loves to dance and battles in Super Smash Bros. Nobody knows who the culprit is, but they stole all the Mushrooms and left a note that says, and I quote, "I needed the Mushrooms to heal my brother Mario, I will pay you back." If you know who the culprit is, please call Toad Bros. Police Station. There is a 3 rubies reward.
2. Ludwig Kills Local Toad
This morning, Ludwig van Koopa rolled into town in what is described as a "tank with arms and legs." Anyway, his... thing rolled over Toadlover Gertoad. Many witnesses called the police at the same time, causing alot of pandemonium. When police finally arrived, they found that Ludwig had escaped with other evildoers in the area. Chief Foothandtoad found tracks that lead to a lake, but Ludwig van Koopa was nowhere to be found. Please call Toad Bros. Police Station if you find clues to where Ludwig went. There is a 25 rubies reward for good clues.
Written by: Toadbert101 (talk)
Written by: 
Koohitsu
Here I am. Back with the interviews.
After having spent the last months as livestock, and undertaking a perilous journey involving dungeons, evil wizards, and a drunken sailor, I have finally found a way to reverse the curse placed on me by my last guest. Let me tell you, being a pig when you live above your grand-parents' restaurant is not an experience I would recommend.
And so my epic quest continues. Join me one more month in which I try to do an interview that will earn me more money than it costs. Today, I invited a really harmless guest. He is well-mannered, he is civilized, he is boring, and most importantly he will most likely not attack me or break anything!
Please welcome: Toadsworth
"Good evening, sir."
"Ehrrm... yes... Tidings."
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes... that is... no. No. Yes. Well..."
"You seem to be very nervous."
"Well... you see... I usually spend most of my time in the castle. I have never been so... deep in... err... enemy territory."
"Oh."
"Don't worry, this part of Dark Land is very boring, even more so than the rest. The next settlement is two miles away. Nobody ever comes here voluntarily."
"Yes, it does appear to be quite rural here. Maybe you are right."
"This place is sleepy, we don't even get internet out here. I had to lay an impromptu wire of several miles myself just to tap the local network. And every time someone runs their tractor over it, my connection shorts out."
"Tapping a wire like that sounds very dodgy. Is that even legal?"
"On to the first question."
"But..."
"On to the first question!"
"Mr. Toadsworth, please tell us a bit about yourself."
"Certainly. I go by the name of Toadsworth, and I am the steward of her highness, Princess Peach."
"Do you have any hobbies?"
"I usually spend my free time worrying about the well-being of the princess."
"And aside from that?"
"This is Princess Peach we are talking about. There is no "aside from that"."
"But there has to be something else you like to do."
"Well, in my youth I was quite the adept at caber tossing. I could fling a log up to Star Haven and back! Good times."
"So you were a caber tosser?"
"When you say it like that it sounds rather ungentlemanly. Please do not."
"Ok, sorry. But I mean, do you really throw logs around like that?"
"No, I do not. As I already said, I have a very unforgiving schedule."
"You don't like talking about your free time, don't you?"
"Well, I would rather not worry about worrying about the princess. If you would chivvy along to the next subject, that would be quite nice."
"Ok, fine. As I have read earlier, you were recently nominated for the "Mushroom Kingdom's Manliest 'Staches" award. How does that make you feel?"
"I am proud. I have poured so much effort into grooming my moustache! It really is quite the smashing sight, is it not?"
"It does look pretty nice."
"Just between you and me: I have but the deepest respect for Master Mario, and we are forever grateful for what he has done for us, but his moustache is just not glorious enough to justify all the praise he gets. He is still too young to understand what a true moustache can be."
"I'm not all that into mustaches though."
"A shame, but understandable. You need a refined taste and experience to appreciate a fine 'stache. Why, just yesterday I went to the local store to buy groceries, and the shop keeper said: "Mr. Toadsworth, what a great and wonderful honour it is to have you and your facial hair grace my humble shop! Please allow me to give you a 100% discount!""
"Wait, I thought you live in the castle. Do you really need to buy your own groceries?"
"Hmm.... no... I just like to hear people comment on my moustache."
"I see."
"It is not just about looking sharply though. Having a moustache like mine also comes in great handy."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well, my moustache is not only groomed to achieve maximum gentlemanliness, but also to be most absorbent."
"I don't really see how that would be useful."
"But it is, my dear. My 'stache is so absorbent, whenever I have a good cup of tea, my 'stache sucks it right up, like a particularly smashing sponge you wear in your face."
"That sounds annoying, rather than useful. What is this good for?"
"Think about it, lass! What if I am on road later, and get thirsty? Why, all I have to do is suck on my 'stache and I have a tasty beverage right then and there! It is amazing!"
"But you just said you spend all of your time in the castle. When would you ever be in a situation like that?"
"All right, all right! I just like having a tea-soaked moustache. Is that so wrong and weird??"
"Yes?"
"Well, you are just too young and daft to understand it."
"Or maybe you're too old to realize you're rambling nonsense?"
"Filthy urchin!"
"Hello?"
"Eek!"
"There is no use staying silent! We heard your rather pointless conversation! Open the door!"
"No, you must be mistaken, nobody is home!"
"We know you have the steward of Princess Toadstool in there. He is trespassing and must be handed over to the authorities immediately! Open the door!"
"Oh cor blimey!!!"
"Ok Frank, let's break down the door."
"Well, it looks like this impending police raid is a good time to bring the interview to an end. It has been nice. Sorta. Do you have any final comments, Mr. Toadsworth?"
"Master Mmmmaaaaaaaarioooooooooooooo!!!"
"I couldn't have said it better myself."
Welcome to the Sports Report! I’m your host, McZaky29! Today, we’ll dive into everyone’s favorite sport, BOWLING!!! baseball!
After baseball’s far too short hiatus, players were more than ready to get onto the field in the game between the Flower Fields Bub-ulbs and the Cloudy Climb Ruff Puffs. The first pitch of the game was a deep ball into left field. It would have resulted in a stand-up triple for the Bub-ulbs, but the batter took the bat with him, striking players in the head as he went along. The player was immediately benched. The rest of the inning was low-key. The first three pitches for the Bub-ulbs were all singles, with the fourth being a grand slam to put the Ruff Puffs right on top, 4-0. The Puffs, as they are sometimes called, put up 13 more runs in the rest of the inning. In the top of the second, the Bub-ulbs managed to drive in a run without hitting anyone on the head. The Ruff Puffs made the efforts of the Bub-ulbs seem like nothing once more, putting up 6 more runs. The score was 23-1.
No one scored again until the bottom of the fifth, where the Ruff Puffs drove in 8 more runs, all via home runs. The Bub-ulbs, by the seventh inning stretch, found themselves in a 49-2 hole. The Puffs, in the bottom of the seventh, managed another four runs to put themselves up by 51. There was a ceasing in runs until the top of the ninth. The Bub-ulbs opened the inning right up with 7 runs, needing only 44 more to continue the game. The Bub-ulbs gradually produced another 16 runs to cut the lead to 49-25. The Puffs finally stepped up their game, getting two outs. At this point, everyone thought it was all over. Sure enough, on the very next play, the Puffs got the third out that they needed. But apparently, you aren’t allowed to put other players in a chokehold so that you can get them out. Moving on. After the violation of the rules, the Bub-ulbs drove in run after run, putting up 22 more. There were two runners on, 3 balls, 2 strikes. The ball was hit very high, and a Ruff Puff jumped for the ball. However, the ball bounced off of his mitt, over the fences, and was counted as a home run to miraculously put Flower Fields up 50-49. Cloudy Climb, in the bottom of the ninth, got three outs on their first three at-bats, securing a crazy Bub-ulbs win. The top of the ninth helped the Bub-ulbs go down in history, now holding the record of most points scored in an inning, highest score, biggest comeback, and most consecutive points. That’s all for this month! Check back next time for more amazing sports stories! McZaky29, signing off
HI, readers! I am your athletic Co-director, Tucayo, and welcome to another installment of that section where you send me questions and I do my best to give a coherent answer. I've had a constant turnout, and I like that, keep it up. Well, let's go to the questions.
Your favorite paper creature (aside from me, of course), Paper Yoshi (talk) asks:
- Dear Mr. Paratroopa-who-is-now-an-anthropomorphic-tiger, I have a question for you.
- I know you're a big Coldplay fan, and so I ask: what's your favorite Coldplay song ever?
- Regards,
- Mr. Arsonist paper-made Yoshi
- Hello, fellow Shroom-person! First of all, I want to say I was extremely disappointed when Coldplay cancelled their Latin American Tour, I was really looking forward to seeing them live on this tour. My wallet is happy, but that's another story. To address your question; I got into Coldplay shortly after they released Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friends, so, at that moment, I had only heard that album and their most popular songs. I immediately picked Viva la Vida as my favorite. But of course, after realizing how much I liked their music, I digged into their other albums. And in X&Y, probably their most underrated album, I found my favorite song: Swallowed in the Sea. Here's the song with lyrics, for everyone who hasn't heard it.
Bowser45 (talk) is next, and he asks:
- Mr. Tuck Everlasting, what is your favorite food?
- Lasagna, hands down But there are several types of Lasagna. Some only have the pasta layers and the Bologna sauce on top, and, while I enjoy them, they lack substance. My favorites are the ones that include cheese, spinach, goat cheese and some other stuff. Restaurants usually have the first one I talked about, so the only way to get that second one is to do it yourself. Or to have someone do it for you.
Debutant writer marioman1213 (talk) wants to know:
- Dear Tucky, my dear friend,
- What was the first video game you ever got?
- Back in Christmas Eve 1999 (or was it 2000?) I got a Nintendo 64 from my grandparents with Super Mario 64, so that was the first game I owned. One day after that, Christmas, I was very surprised to see another Nintendo 64 under the tree. Just imagine, a 5-year old kid (or was I 6? I don't remember) with two Nintendo 64's; I was extremely happy. The second one came with Mario Kart 64. You're probably thinking why did I need two Nintendo 64's; well, let me tell you, that second one was stolen about 5 years ago, so now I still have one.
And I think that's all for this month. My PM's are flooded with stuff from my Mafia game, but I think I managed to rescue all the questions. If you want to be featured on this section, just send me a PM. BYE!
Fun Stuff
Director Notes
By: Marshal Dan Troop (talk)
Hello readers and welcome to the 71st issue of the Shroom YAY (*waves muppet arms happily.) And this is the first issue since my overthrow of the previous director Gamefreak75 (who I have forced into the lowly position of Word Search writer.) Anyways, we have a new writer this issue, Megadardery, who will be writing Mind Bogglers and Quiz, so congrats to him. And on top of that we have two more sections that people can write for, and those sections are Jokes and Riddles (for Mario jokes and riddles.) Also, last month’s section of the month winner was General Bob-omb's Hiding Koopa section with 19 votes, good work solider; second place was Freakworld's Guess Who with 16 votes; and finally, third place was a tie between my Trivia section and Pyro's Find the Difference section, with both of our sections getting 10 votes, so congrats to us all.
Guess That Character
By: Marshal Dan Troop (talk)
- Mario villain
- Has a beard
- Works Construction
- Wears Sunglasses
- Plays Golf
| Click to find answers! | |
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Guess Who
by Freakworld (talk)
Rules: You'll get 5 hints on a Character, which should be used to guess the answer. This character can be from any part of the Mario, Wario and Donkey Kong Universe. If you scroll down you'll see a little spoiler box, hiding the answer.
- This character is one of Mario's oldest friends.
- This character might help you out in situations where you need an item.
- This character has appeared in every main series spin-off to this date (including the Mario Kart series).
- This character is very small, even smaller than Mario.
- This character's princess is in another castle.
| You need help? | |
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Guess that Game
By: Marshal Dan Troop (talk)
- Released for the Game & Watch
- Released in the year 1991
- Was the last Game & Watch Game
- Based off the original Game & Watch game Ball
| Click to find answers! | |
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Guess that Game
By Freakworld (talk)
Rules: Same as in "Guess Who".
- This game was made by the same development team as Super Mario Galaxy 1&2
- This game is linear in style, as opposed to the open world style of Super Mario 64 and other games.
- This game does not include Yoshi (not even as an easter egg).
- This game includes elements of the NSMB games, although it does not say so in its name.
- This game has 16 Worlds, the largest amount of worlds in a Super Mario game yet.
| Click to find answers! | |
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Trivia
By: Marshal Dan Troop (talk)
Did you know…
- That Pauline’s original name was Lady?
- That Wanda is the first female Mario character to be the only playable character in a Mario game?
- Wario's Woods is the only game where Toad is the only playable character?
- That Renzor is named after the lead singer of Nine Inch Nails, Trent Renzor?
- That contrary to popular belief, Larry Koopa was not named after Larry King? Instead he was named after Larry Mullen Jr., the drummer for U2.
- That William Howard Taft is the only person to serve as both the President of the United States and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?
Quiz
By: Megadardery (talk)
With my first section ever I say that we have this Quiz this time about CONSOLES, let's start If you don't mind (and also if you do!).
- Nintendo made a console which earned the 1st spot of IGN's Top 25 Game Consoles, what is it?
- What are the two consoles to have their slogans say "Who are you?"?
- What is the last home console system to use cartridges?
- What is the first game for the Nintendo GameCube?
- What is the first game for the Nintendo 64?
- What is the console which is the only platform in Luigi's Target Test (Melee Stage)?
- What is the first handheld console made by Nintendo?
- In Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, Luigi uses a tool known as a reference to Nintendo DS. What is that tool?
- If Donkey Kong is left alone in Donkey Kong Country Returns, he will play on a console. What is that console?
- What is the only Mario Game to date that uses the Wii Balance Board?
| Click to find answers! | |
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Mind Bogglers
By: Megadardery (talk)
Yo hello every reader. Long time no seeing Mind Bogglers ,hah?
Well another writer but with the same fun! Ready? Find TEN 
s
One of them is pretty hidden, SEARCH FOR THEM!
Find the Difference
Original Image:
Edited Image:
Mystery Images
Word Search
By: Gamefreak75 (talk)
Answer to last month's search:
Hey there, readers. It's February, and that means everyone is seeing red. Why, look at that I'm seeing red, and you're seeing red as well, because my Word Search has 14 red characters and things you have to search for.
Hiding Koopa
By: General bob-omb (talk)
Finally another Yoshi game! And this one looks an awful lot like Yoshi's Story. I wonder what Yoshi has gotten himself into into this time. It has such a beautiful landscape... except for that Koopa.
Music & Artwork
Director's Notes (FunkyK38 (talk))
Hello, hello, hello! I am your new Director of the Music and Artwork team, FunkyK38! I am so glad to be here, and I am honored that I was chosen by our wise directors to head up this team! I hope to bring this team to life this year and bring our loyal readers much to read about!
I would like to introduce our new staff members:
- Henry Tucayo Clay (talk), our new Co-Director, is writing Box Art of the Month.
- KoopaGuy (talk) is writing Soundtrack of the Month.
- Smg2daisy (talk) will be drawing our monthly Sketches Related to Mario.
Although Sketches Related to Mario already has an artist committed, I encourage anyone to submit artwork if they would like. You don’t have to sign up or fill out an application, all you have to do is send me a link of your drawing and a summary on the forums in a PM. It doesn’t have to be perfect, although you must keep it appropriate.
Speaking of sketches, I would like to announce a new contest that we will be holding here in the 'Shroom! This month’s theme is Valentine’s Day, and all you have to do to enter is sketch a picture related to Mario with the theme incorporated, and PM it to me on the Forums. We will put it up for everyone to vote on, and the winner will get lovely prizes!
So, let's get to the art, music, and talent!
Box Art of the Month (Henry Tucayo Clay (talk))
HI, readers! I'm your artistic Co-director, Tucayo, back in the artistic part of the newsletter! I was saddened by the fact we only had 3 sections last issue, so I decided to sign up for one. Both art and music are genuinely interesting, so I'm surprised we have only a handful of writers. Anyway, let's get to the art, more specifically, the European cover for Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games for Wii. Unlike the North American, Australian and French covers, this one has more "British Invasion" to it. Just like in the Japanese box-art, the European cover includes two of the most famous London sights: the Elizabeth Tower, previously named Clock Tower; and a Double-decker bus. But of course, two additional panels means some other panels had to be left out. The panel where Cream and Daisy are seen during a Synchronized Swimming event, as well as the one with Luigi on the Show Jumping, were moved to the bottom to replace the panel that had Waluigi, Shadow, Wario and Dr. Eggman during a Track Cycling event. But come on, we all know London is a far more enjoyable sight than those four anti-heroes. Other panels include Peach during a Rhythmic Ribbon exhibition, Tails on the Uneven Bars (that's cheating, he can fly), Knuckles and Metal Sonic squaring it off in football (let's stay British), and Yoshi during a Discus Throw event. I hope you enjoyed this section, see you next month!
Character Artwork of the Month (Rise Up Above It (talk))
As Rise Up Above It (talk) is sick this month, there will be no Characeter Artwork of the Month. Be sure to drop him a line telling him to feel better!
Random Image of the Month (Paper Yoshi (talk))
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another issue of Random Image of the Month!!
The Random Image for February comes from a classic Mario game, Super Mario Bros.. It depicts the first Warp Zone in the game, located in World 1-2.
Warp Zones are hidden areas found in some Mario games, such as Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario 3D Land. They act as "shortcuts", allowing the player to access different worlds. As shown in this month's image, the World 1-2 Warp Zone from SMB contains pipes that lead to Worlds 2, 3 and 4, from right to left. Additionally, a glitch may be triggered in said Warp Zone, leading the player to the Minus World.
Sketch Related to Mario (Smg2daisy (talk))
So this is my first time involved in the newspaper, The 'Shroom. Thanks for giving me the chance to join here.
So, I am Smg2daisy, as in my drawing! Remember, I am Smg2daisy, not Daisy!
Soundtrack of the Month (KoopaGuy (talk))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW-Tamck8k4
This soundtrack is a remix of the underworld theme in Super Mario Bros. 2 or its Japanese counterpart, Doki Doki Panic. The track consists of a piano, a guitar, and a beat. The artist of this song is named Sean Sullivan. This track is used in a fan-made game based off of the Mario series and many other game series called Mushroom Kingdom Fusion. This track can be downloaded with the Mushroom Kingdom Fusion Soundtrack or on the Newgrounds Audio Portal, which is where this soundtrack originated from. It was used in Mushroom Kingdom Fusion, which is an awesome fan-made game in my opinion. I find this to be very cool. I am a fan of Super Mario Bros. 2. It is perfectly loopable, thus making it perfect for a fan-game.
Sprite of the Month (FunkyK38 (talk))
Hello, readers! This month, I bring you this sprite of a Soul Bubble from “Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time”: 
. Many of you may remember I did a Love Bubble one year for Valentine’s Day, so I decided to go with its counterpart in this issue. Give a Soul Bubble, they’ll fall for you for sure! At least I would. If it was properly trained.
Pipe Plaza
Director's Notes (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello, readers, and welcome to another issue of Pipe Plaza!! I have some important announcements to make, so let's get to those quickly! First of all, a new system has been created to choose the Anniversary Announcements writer. Every year, the Awards Committee Director and Sub-Director, in conjunction with the Pipe Plaza Director, will choose an AC member to be the Anniversary Announcements writer for that year. That process should be repeated each and every year, considering the AC member list may change. After implementing said system a few days ago, the Awards Committee Director appointed the Anniversary Announcements writer for 2013. Please welcome Statistics Manager RandomYoshi (talk) to the team!! Additionally, both Community Report and Forum Update are absent from this issue, due to Bop1996 (talk) and MrConcreteDonkey (talk) being extremely busy with school. Section of the MonthThe SotM poll for the January issue got only 19 votes. That's a very low voting turnout, so please be sure to cast your vote in this issue's poll. Anyway, the January Section of the Month, with 6 votes (31.58% of the total), is... ...Upcoming Games, for the fourth time!!! Upcoming Games covers all sorts of news on the upcoming Mario games, as its name suggests. Last month, it covered the newest WarioWare title, Game & Wario, and listed Virtual Console releases for the Nintendo 3DS. Community Report, a guest section written by YoshiKong (talk), got second place, with 4 votes (21.05%), while Tip of the Month, written by Music & Artwork Director FunkyK38 (talk), got third place, with 3 votes (15.78%). Well, I guess that's all for now, so go on and read the other sections!! Monthly Report (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello, dear readers, and welcome to the February Issue of Monthly Report!! I don't really have anything important to say, so let's check the wiki stats for the last three months, along with comparisons between those sets of statistics: (Credit goes to Stooben Rooben (talk) and Super Mario Bros. (talk) for the table coding. Stooben originally created it when writing this section back in Issues XXIII, XXV and XXVI, and SMB based his coding for Issues XXXIX, XL and XLI – which I am using in this issue – off of Stooben's coding.)
Projects Seeking Contributors (YoshiKong (talk))Hey and what's up? Welcome to Projects Seeking Contributors. This section will bring attention to any new and active projects on the wiki where input and general discussion are needed. Let's start with the most active and recent projects seen on the Wiki Collaborations forum board.
And that's it for the forum's Wiki Collaborations. Once again, see the forum board for the complete list. Next up, we have the discussions which are currently taking place on article talk pages. These can be seen at Category:Talk pages with unresolved issues. The list is as follows.
And that's all this month's Projects Seeking Contributors. If you think you could help out with any of the issues above, please take part in the said discussion taking place. We'll be updating this section next issue with any new discussions that need attention. Tip of the Month (FunkyK38 (talk))When filling in character info boxes, copy and paste the basic box into your page. Once you have that in place, all you have to do is fill in the spaces. Be sure to leave the correct amount of space in between the formulas. Mario Calendar (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello, everyone, and welcome to another issue of Mario Calendar!! We're here once again to see all the Mario, Yoshi, DK and Wario games that were released during February, so, without further ado, here is this month's list:
And that concludes the list!! We'll meet again in Upcoming Games, so see you there! Anniversary Announcements (RandomYoshi (talk))Hello readers of the 'Shroom, RandomYoshi here to keep you updated on the Anniversary, what is currently being discussed by the committee and what has been confirmed to be included in the main event, plus anything else of interest that relates to the Anniversary. To start off, Super Mario Bros. (talk) (Forum Profile • Personal Message) will be hosting the 'Shroom Awards this year, as opposed to Henry Tucayo Clay (talk) (Forum Profile • Personal Message) who was the 'Shroom Awards host of last year. Jumping in to host the Userpedia Awards instead of Super Mario Bros. who hosted it last year, will be Hypnotoad (talk) (Forum Profile • Personal Message). Like last year, Gamefreak75 (talk) (Forum Profile • Personal Message) will still host the Fail Awards, and Turboo (talk) (Forum Profile • Personal Message) will still host the Mario Awards. No changes in the line-up for the Awards have been made this far. On the tournament-side of things, a few ideas for tournaments have been suggested. One of those is a Team Fortress 2 event confirmed to be hosted by Groden (talk) (Forum Profile • Personal Message), who comments that it will ideally be more organised and less prize-breaking than last year's event. Another one of those is a Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon event, which New Super Mario (talk) (Forum Profile • Personal Message) is looking into hosting. He states that he will only be interested in hosting if enough users get the game and would be interested in playing it. Proposed by the same user, a Mario Kart 7 event has been taken up, though nothing has been made official on those matters yet. Additionally, a Super Smash Bros. Brawl event has been mentioned, though nothing has been structured around that statement. Another tournament suggested has been a Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed tournament, and a possible Mario Kart Wii tournament to be held. No interest in the hosting of the lastly mentioned tournaments has been shown at the moment. The idea of a Mafia game has been discussed a little. It has been proposed the game be started much earlier than last year. However, unlike last year, Stooben Rooben (talk) (Forum Profile • Personal Message) will most likely not be looking into hosting the game. Nobody has shown interest in hosting the Mafia game at the time. In summary, a lot of events have been suggested, though nearly nothing has been set in stone yet. We are also looking forward to work with the Poll Committee. They will help us to find data pertaining to when most people are able to participate in the main event. There were several complaints raised by some British users who were unable to attend last year. That is exactly what we are trying to fix by collaborating with the Poll Committee. Upcoming Games (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello, and welcome to the February Issue of Upcoming Games!! This issue is all about news, so let's start now! More Mario NewsLast month, during a Nintendo Direct conference, Satoru Iwata – President of Nintendo – announced three brand new Mario games are currently under development. Those are a 3D Super Mario game, a Mario Kart installment and a new Yoshi title, all for the Nintendo Wii U. Additionally, it was announced that the next Super Smash Bros. installment, set to be released for both the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U, will be playable in this year's E3, along with the new Super Mario and Mario Kart titles. Aside from that, two games previously covered here have gotten release dates. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon will be released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on March 20th (as Luigi Mansion 2), in North America on March 24th, and in Europe and Australia in March (as Luigi's Mansion 2), although no specific release date has been announced for those two regions. Game & Wario will be released for the Wii U in Japan on March 28th. Release Dates
I apologize for this short section, but, unfortunately, that's all for this issue of Upcoming Games. The March Issue will cover more details on Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, as we near its release dates. Anyway, I hope you all have enjoyed this issue!! I'll see you in March!! "Stay tuned to Upcoming Games for news on the games you'll be playing soon!" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Critic Corner
Director's Notes
I'll keep this short primarily because I'll be on holidays in the western Victoria countryside while you're all reading this. This, of course, means that I have no idea if someone sent their section in late, so I can't really comment on them nor would I be the one who added their sections to the fancy template below. So I'll let whoever did sort this out for me instead. Take it away, you bludger!
Critic Corner Section of the Month
Oh yeah, I can comment on this before I leave, at least. We only had three sections last month, which was a real bummer, so the results here are a bit hollow… seems we really need to advertise more if we want more interesting results!
But anyway, I won the January Section of the Month for my Crocodile Style Reviews section lambasting PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale for being a shallow attempt to cash in on Super Smash Bros. fame. Runners-up were the only two other sections; Dippy's Matilda by meself, and Caiman Gamin' by Xluidi (talk), both of which covered our respective top five games of 2012.
1) Crocodile Style Reviews (Crocodile Dippy (talk)) – 8 votes (%57.14)
2) Dippy's Matilda (Crocodile Dippy (talk)) – 4 votes (%28.57)
3) Caiman Gamin' (Xluidi (talk)) – 2 votes (%14.29)
This is sad. If you're interested in writing any review or opinion sections, please contact me right away! I want this to be more interesting for everyone!
HI! Your bludger-ous Co-director here, since Dippy asked someone to report on what happened after he was left. This month we only have Dippy's sections, which means only two sections. And that makes this the most under-staffed issue of any sub-team, which is rather disappointing. Please sign up for this sub-team, I'm sure you will find one section that matches your interests. And with that, I leave you with an all-Dippy Critic Corner.
Crocodile Style Reviews
| MediEvil | |||||||
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| Developer | SCE Cambridge Studio | ||||||
| Publisher | Sony Computer Entertainment Europe | ||||||
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network) | ||||||
| Genres | Platform | ||||||
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- Teen
- Eleven years and older
- GeneralHello everyone, we're now well-established into the brand new, shining year of 2013, and not a single custard comet has yet to be seen, so all in all a fairly good start in my book. I'd love to pay tribute to this fresh lease on life with a rousing evisceration of a sparkling, innocent January video game, except the spiked neck-brace that is my schedule only growing tighter this month means that I'm unable to sink my teeth into any of the big releases as they're either sequels to long-standing franchises I can't hope to catch up with, too stupidly long on their own, or just generally shit. But I'll be damned if I start the new year of game releases on a half-assed note, so I decided to instead double-back to my old strategy of shining a light on an older release on a half-assed note, and so welcome once again to another retro review!
But instead of doing what I did with Okami and chundering up pleasantries about a game I already had a well-established relationship with, I've decided to try out an old game I've never actually played before. Or at least one I only ever played an hour of when I was six-years old which is basically the same thing, so here we are with MediEvil, a platform game set in – and you'll never fucking believe this – a stylised version of medieval times! The story takes place one-hundred years after a war between the kingdom of Gallowmere and the treacherous vizier Zarok, because that's what they always fucking do. You'd think video game leaders would learn by now, or do viziers just come free with the castles? Anyway, Zarok comes back and revives the dead, putting the player in the role of the skeletal corpse of Sir Daniel Fortesque, the kingdoms valiant, selfless her—oh wait no, he's really a coward who died on the first charge against Zarok, but seems that little tidbit was airbrushed to save face. Politics never changes, eh? He decides to make the best of his situation to kill Zarok for realsies this time and become a true hero.
I'd almost call it generic if the tone of the game wasn't distinctly comedic, although fortunately the humour is genuinely clever and paced well unlike most games that simply tip a bowl of hot noodles onto their head and strike a pose cueing the laugh track that never happens, see Kid Icarus: Uprising for more. Being designed in Sony's operations in Cambridge of all places, the game employs that distinct passive-aggressive sarcastic cynicism I so love from British comedies whilst still understanding that not everything needs to be a joke, hence why every character sounds like they're from a bad stage play of Game of Thrones. Well aside from Fortesque, as his jaw hasn't held up well against years of decay leaving him mumbling even the simplest of phrases, but at least he has a reason to keep quiet; what the hell was Link's excuse, a sore throat?
Moving on, first impressions of MediEvil show a very strong combat-focus, bizarre for a man who died in his very first combat scenario but I guess that whole being dead business probably helps out a bit. You start out with a simple sword that actually kicks ass for a starter weapon, gradually building up your arsenal throughout the game until you've become the medieval Terminator, and it's actually quite invigorating just wildly running about at high speeds hacking everything to pieces. It's like if Serious Sam only had access to épées.
Although the game does require you to earn your equipment through brutally slaughtering monsters without remorse first, which is the best fucking way to give the player new items in my book. Killing enemies fills up a magical chalice located in each level, and collecting them allows you to acquire new equipment or extra health bars or even a few gallons of money, as if you bloody needed the spare income. Yes, this game employs a monetary system, but all it seems to be used for is buying ammo for your long-range weapons or enchantments for your magical equipment. But I guess it's a matter of supply and demand, and you'll certainly have the demand for long-range supply during the boss fights, although the ludicrous amounts of money you're bound to find throughout the game inflates the economy.
The issue with MediEvil is that it does itself a great disservice by trying to be a platformer given the generally bodgy at best quality of that era. I know this was just the awkward transitional stage the genre was forced to go through when mainstream gaming moved up to the big 3D leagues, but the platforming in this game is complete tits. Too many times would Fortesque end up falling to his death because depth perception isn't something that comes naturally to a skeleton missing an eyeball, particularly aggravating in one of the latter levels taking place on a flying pirate ship that I had to replay from scratch at least four times because of the rubbish Dutch perspective.
Add to this that Fortesque's jumping distance is either a pathetic little hop whilst walking or akin to escaping from demonic spiders when running, this can make precise leaping along small platforms more arduous than scaling Mt. Everest with a honey badger taped to your back, and that's when the camera doesn't randomly suffer Alzheimer's episodes and forget to give you a better angle on the scenery. Not to mention a decent inventory system would've been nice, given that MediEvil takes the hoarder approach of just dumping all the equipment into a single menu with no structure, and it's not getting away with this one when its classmate Ocarina of Time was being such a model student.
But the odd thing is that even when the game managed to shit me up the wall with its crapshoot platforming, actually beating these levels filled me with an odd sense of accomplishment that retroactively rendered all those frustrations a genuinely enthralling experience. I think it has to do with the levels possessing some truly nice aesthetic design, the kingdom of Gallowmere feeling every bit as rich as the characters within it; when you're not tearing the heads off kamikaze pumpkins or pushing fat corpses into pools of muddy water, you're riding a train through a time machine or surviving ridiculous undead gauntlets in an insane asylum, placing me in the same mindset of Psychonauts or Pandemonium!, look it up. There's actually a level taking place in a township filled with mind-controlled civilians where the chalice starts out half-filled and depletes if you kill the townsfolk, which I can assure you is really fucking hard to keep yourself from doing when the little shits with axes try to re-enact a Benny Hill sketch with you at all times. But this kind of gameplay and story integration, however minute, is exactly the sort of thing that gets my heart fluttering, even if it is a little bit aggravating.
But for all its faults, I'd certainly recommend MediEvil; it's fun, clever, memorable, and you get to catapult yourself out of a collapsing burning castle, so all in all a fairly perfect mix. It harkens back to a simpler time when a game would have to feature everything the developers thought was a cool idea or it'd be laughed out of every publishing office from here to Jerusalem, and that alone is reason enough to try it out if you haven't already. Or you could always buy the PSP remake, but I'd wager that staring at Fortesque's exposed bony torso for ten hours would end with a very confused and scared gravedigger.
Dippy's Matilda
Hey everyone, welcome to another Dippy's Matilda. Having done a retro review of MediEvil for Crocodile Style Reviews this month, I decided to look up the remake on Youtube and noticed that the game was changed to such an insane degree that it wasn't really MediEvil anymore, it was more like a sequel or a reboot. It certainly looks like a fine experience in and of itself, don't get me wrong, but it's not the same experience many people would have from the first entry into the franchise. Which has made me think about a broader issue in the gaming community of Game Preservation, and how complex an issue it is.
Keeping the games of our past alive for newer generations is beyond important. It helps everyone interested in the medium to get a clear view of our history, illustrating the standards, attitudes, and imaginations of the gaming community of the time, as well as all the struggles this industry has faced, and all the failures and accomplishments that came of it all; it goes without saying that without a clear documentation of our history, we shut ourselves out of a very big part of our sub-culture and who we are as gamers. Same goes for all mediums, but while books and paintings have been around long enough for us to realise adequate means to preserve them for hundreds, even thousands, of years, more contemporary digital media suffers many hurdles that make salvaging them for future generations a more complex challenge to work out.
Technology is rapidly changing today at a pace many people in the gaming community are struggling to keep up with, constantly rendering video game hardware obsolete every few years. Emulation through online distribution services like PlayStation Network and Steam has done a good enough job at keeping many older games available, but that's a largely selective process that tends to overlook many lesser-known games that the copyright holders haven't much interest in. Some might say ROMs and Abandonware sites cover that niche, but the legality of those is iffy at best they typically cover software not officially discontinued by the copyright holders, and that's coupled with website funding issues and the necessity to update all the required software to work on new OS' or even completely new hardware which many fans just don't have the time or patience for. All this creates an uncertain environment for historical documentation.
But games are somewhat unique in the preservation debate because of one key factor that films, music, paintings, literature, and television don't have; the interactive element. It's not just a matter making sure all the code still works on modern systems and ensuring nothing has been lost in the importing process, it's also keeping the original feel and input of the game as true to its original conception as possible; translating a game from the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis into a touch screen interface on an iOS device, or an arcade racer with wheel or handlebar controllers onto a PC… well, it's just not the same, and typically much inferior to the original release. It's a shallow caricature that doesn't do a good job reflecting the standards and experiences of that era, and that's hardly honouring our past culture.
Adding to this is the technical worries of online gaming and services, since once the developers and/or publishers are ready to move on and leave their servers to rot, what will happen to all the games attached to those servers? MMOs, multiplayer games, and even many single-player titles with DRM in them – all of these will be left unplayable once the servers go down, requiring a pain-staking process for fans to go in and keep them afloat; and even if you keep those servers going for decades to come, what good is a multiplayer game without a community, without other players to interact and communicate with? Or for the single-player DRM games, many people are going to have to hack open the games to remove that always online necessity, which will inevitably lead to piracy for many people unable or unwilling to do the job themselves. And the last thing an industry needs to continue being sustainable is more reasons to pirate.
Publishers themselves generally have a short-sighted, overdefensive position on their intellectual properties which puts even more restrictions on those hoping to keep the games alive for as long as possible. Aside from the aforementioned online problems, many publishers cling to licenses they no longer have any desire to use; yet refuse to allow people to document them for the ages. This isn't universal, but it's common enough that it becomes a problem. I understand that's just business, since if a game didn't sell well during its initial release, it's really not good business sense to blindly re-release it as it always was just because a few people are saying it's important to the history of the industry. But allowing a few historians with a genuine interest in the preservation of gaming's history the right to keep at least one copy of the game in a comprehensive archive, perhaps offering displays of the games in a museum setting, surely isn't too much of a sacrifice; heck, it may gauge enough interest to coax publishers into breathing new life back into their more obscure titles.
But the costs of licensing and all the technical upkeep required to keep such an archive working would be ludicrous. Software rot, battery life, server collapses, hardware damage; these are just some of the hurdles that archivists would need to constantly give their attention to, and I can't even begin to think how much dedication and funding that would require given how expansive the industry is.
Honestly, though, I don't know what sort of measures could even be taken to solve the problem completely. It's such a difficult question to ask, that it's just impossible for one nerd on a Mario newsletter to even begin discussing broad solutions. Maybe there isn't any way to overcome the problem, at least not at this stage, but nothing accelerates progress quite like awareness, and I guess that's all I'm hoping to do here.
Hundreds of games have just disappeared from our history, never to be seen again, and many more could fade away at any minute. The thought that this could happen to many of the games of the past few years that I hold close to my heart is one I find horrifying. Much of our culture and history is going away, so I hope that everyone in this community – the publishers, the developers, the historians, the archivists, the average gamers – holds on to our past and collectively discovers an adequate, viable means to keep that past alive. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next month.
| Fawfulfury65 | |
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| First article: | Trivia, Issue XXXIX |
| Last article: | Screenshot of the Month, Issue LXV |
| Sections Written: | Fun Stuff: 15 Music & Art: 48 |
| Positions held: | Music & Art Director |
HI, fellow Mariowikians! I'm your squeaky-clean Co-director, Tucayo, and welcome to another trip into our newsletter's past! Let's be honest, this is a majorly-male community. Even so, we've had a couple of noticeable females in our team. One of those is none other than Fawfulfury65 (talk), who holds the record for most Music & Art sections written.
Megamariofan65, as she was originally known when she joined the wiki on April 25, 2009, stumbled across the wiki on her search for information about then-called Mario and Luigi RPG 3. About a month after joining, she lost her password and created the account we are familiar with, Fawfulfury65. Her hard work on articles about Yoshi's Story and Donkey Kong Country quickly drew the attention of the admins, and, after being suggested by Super Mario Bros. (talk), she was promoted to patroller status on April 20, 2010. It took her less than a year to work her way up to sysop, and, exactly 8 months after being promoted to patroller, she became sysop.
Her history with us begins between her two promotions. In June 2010, she started on the Fun Stuff sub-team as the Trivia writer, but her section was actually a Quiz, rather than trivia, so she was switched to the Quiz section after Issue XXXIX. A couple of issues later, Fawfulfury debuted in the sub-team that would eventually become hers. She started on Issue LXI with the Screenshot of the Month section, which she would go on to write until the day of her retirement from The 'Shroom. Only eight issues after joining came her promotion to the Core Staff. Super Mario Bros., the M&A Director at the time, had just won the Director Election, which meant someone else had to take the reins of our artistic team. The choice was fairly easy, Fawfulfury had been one of the most consistent writers on the team, and so she became Music & Art Director.
Throughout her term she wrote more sections than just the Screenshot of the Month. For Issue L, Fawfulfury wrote 6 sections, which until now remains as the most sections anyone has written in a single issue for the M&A team. From early on she also set herself as the most prolific M&A writer, title she still retains. And it may be a while until someone else takes that title. After various time constraints, Fawfulfury had to quit her Fun Stuff position after Issue LIII, and her Core Staff position after Issue LXI. Despite this, she stayed as our Screenshot of the Month writer for four more issues, before resigning from that position as well. And she had a nice sendoff, winning her only SOTM Award with her last section.
In 2011, she won a Golden Mario and a Golden Toad in our End-of-Year Awards; and, in 2012, she won a Diamond Luigi, a Diamond Toad and a Diamond Bowser. Her 25-issue streak without missing a single section should be noted as well, not everyone can accomplish that. I wish I had had the pleasure of working with her for more than the three issues I actually worked with her, but from what I saw month to month, I could tell she was a great Core Staff member.
Since I want you all to look at as many of her sections as you can, this month I will present you a selection of four of the six sections Fawfulfury wrote for Issue L. Enjoy!
Character Artwork of the Month (Fawfulfury65)This month’s Character Artwork is a picture of Mario, Luigi, and Starlow during the events of Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. In this artwork, Luigi is mounted on Mario’s back, while Starlow is apparently startled at something. Ever since I first saw this artwork, I’ve liked it quite a lot. It has a cool art style and the characters are drawn exceptionally well. It seems to be extremely difficult to draw. I also like how colorful it is and how well shaded the characters are. The file is also very high quality and pretty big. This is definitely a great artwork for this month’s issue!
Boxart of the Month (Fawfulfury65)This month’s Box-Art of the Month is from the North American version of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game, Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble! As the game’s name suggests, it is the third game in the Donkey Kong Country series, which features Dixie Kong and her little cousin, Kiddy Kong, who both go on an adventure across the Northern Kremisphere. These two characters can be seen in the very front of the box-art, alongside a few enemies, a Banana Bird, and Funky Kong. Not only are a handful of characters on this fantastic box-art, but there is also a lot of detail and colors. You can see a few of the areas from the game on it too, such as a Brothers Bear cabin and Funky’s Rentals. Additionally, the picture is very big and high-quality. To sum everything up, this box-art is absolutely fantastic and is very fitting for such a great game. Screenshot of the Month (Fawfulfury65)Welcome back to the ’Shroom’s Screenshot of the Month, with your host, Fawfulfury65! Since this month’s ’Shroom is issue L, I decided to pick an image with Luigi in it. This picture displays the mustached Soundtrack of the Month (Fawfulfury65)For the 50th issue of the ’Shroom, I chose a piece of music from the recent Nintendo DS game, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! This is one of my favorite video game themes, which plays in the final world of the game. I find it to be very unique compared to the other themes in Mini Land Mayhem!, as it is a little slower and uses a lot of band instruments. I especially like the sound of the brass instrument (I’m assuming it’s a tuba or another low brass instrument) in the background that plays the bass part. It is a very exciting piece of music and fits the setting perfectly. |
That's it for this month's trip to the past! If you have any suggestions of who you'd like me to cover, drop a line on my talk page. Enjoy the rest of the issue, BYE!
Hi, I'm Superchao and I hate writing introductions.
This month, I'm interviewing MrConcreteDonkey! Having joined in May 2010, he's not quite as much of an oldbie as certain other people. However, he's still been able to make a name for himself. Being an active wiki contributor, he got promoted to Autopatrol in April 2011, and soon after Patroller in October of that same year. He's also been promoted to a chat op, directs the fake news, and is part of the Poll Committee. He's an active and popular user on the forums, as well, known for participating in mafia among other things. But that's enough of my infodumping, here's the actual interview part.
Interview
Me: Hello, Shroom readers! Today, I'm here to interview everyone's favorite posh cyndaquil, MrConcreteDonkey.
Me: Say hi to the readers, why don't you?
MCD: I vehemently refuse.
Me: Well, that's going to make things awkward.
MCD: Yay, I'm good at that!
Me: Let's just move on, shall we?
MCD: Sure, why not
Me: Right, so. Of course, we oughta start with the traditional opener. How did you find the wiki?
MCD: I think it was back in, like, 2006 or something. I was looking for information about Super Smash Bros. Melee.
MCD: In fact, I found out about Brawl through the Wiki.
Me: ...didn't you join in 2010 or so?
MCD: Yeah, I did. I thought there were age restrictions here soo... X_x
Me: Sometimes people wish there were. <_>
Me: So when did you join again?
MCD: May 15th 2010
Me: Get on my level
MCD: In hindsight, it's a good thing I didn't join before then. I'd probably have been a lot more immature and annoying, and joined under a dumber name.
Me: Considering you found the wiki in 2006, you've probably seen plenty of users come and go without ever interacting with them.
Me: Are there any users you wish you had the chance to meet?
MCD: Actually, thanks to places like chat, the Mario Boards, Userpedia, Xephyr, etc., I have spoken to a few older users.
Me: Ah? Like who?
MCD: Well, there was the time Crash and Xzelion returned, for example.
Me: I didn't even know there was a time when Our Favorite Mr. L Takeoff was gone
MCD: And YellowYoshi398 came back to Xephyr recently, though I didn't speak to him much.
MCD: In terms of users I'd like to meet/have met, 3Dejong and Smiddle come to mind.
Me: Ah, any particular reasons? Or is it just "those guys seemed interesting"
MCD: Pretty much
Me: So, moving to users who you actually did meet. Is there anyone in particular who you'd consider your first friend/pal/mortal enemy (ex: smasher) over here?
MCD: Mortal enemy has to be Smasher.
MCD: I think CountBonsula was one of my first friends on both chat and the Wiki.
Me: Bonesy's pretty chill, yeah
Me: How did you and Smasher meet and become pals of a sort, anyway?
MCD: Smasher came to the Wiki and #mwchat shortly after I did, and I guess we just got on well.
Me: That's always a nice way to meet people.
MCD: (though I wouldn't class the term "mortal enemy" as a "pals of a sort")
Me: Continuing the topic of wikichat, what was your main editing focus? Obviously you had to have something or they wouldn't promote you. :V
MCD: My main editing focus was creating articles for the downloadable microgames in WarioWare: D.I.Y.
Me: Were you just so spectacularly good at that that the wiki staff said
Me: YES WE MUST HAVE THIS GUY WORK FOR US
MCD: Of course
MCD: It could not have happened any other way
Me: And did it actually change anything or did you just have a fancy new button that you never used
MCD: It wasn't fancy
MCD: It also wasn't really a button
MCD: It was more something blue and underlined enclosed in brackets
Me: Did you never use it
MCD: I did use it, actually
MCD: I blocked a few people
Me: I'm SHOCKED and APPALLED
MCD: porplemontage is next on the list for his severe crimes against humanity
MCD: What? That's the exact opposite reaction you're supposed to have >:(
Me: You blocked them without me :(
Me: I feel so unloved
MCD: Don't worry, when I block porple I'll be sure to write "PERCH DID THIS"
Me: :)
Me: Actually, how did it feel to become a patroller?
MCD: Eh, not a huge difference, really
MCD: On the forums it was pretty big because I could access the wiki staff board and I had fancy green stars
Me: Green stars are old hat. Everyone has them. Red stars are where it's at!
MCD: Smasher doesn't have them >:)
Me: Smasher has cyan he doesn't count
MCD: But my other mortal enemy shoey does :(
Me: Are there any other things you've done in the community that you feel are Really Significant?
MCD: I created most of the Mario artist n64dd pages!
MCD: That's, uh...
MCD: all I can remember :\
Me: ...the what now?
MCD: Mario Artist Polygon Studio, Talent Studio, Studio Studio
MCD: I made a proposal to rewrite the glossary
Me: So what's your opinion been of the forums and their community? In contrast to wiki.
MCD: I enjoy being on the forum more than the wiki, honestly
MCD: I'm active on the forum every day, more or less, while I'm still active on the wiki, just...y'know, active of a sort? If that makes sense
Me: You traitor to your job
Me: I'm gonna get you demoted for this
MCD: I return once a month to harass my fake news writers
Me: What's it like running the Shroom?
Me: or at least part of the Shroom
MCD: oh no, I run the Shroom
MCD: secretly Tucayo and SMB are my sockpuppets
MCD: hold on a second...what's that, Tucayo?
MrConcreteDonkey holds a Tucayo puppet on his left hand up to his ear and moves his hand around a bit
MCD: oh...Tucayo says he doesn't like you :(
Me: is he looking for a fight
MCD: I beg your pardon? o_O wait, uhh, hold on
MrConcreteDonkey does what he did the last time but can't be bothered to type it now
MCD: uh, no
Me: So anyhow, more on the community. You're a big mafia fan, and planning to host a huge game soon. Can you explain what you like about it?
MCD: I enjoy the strategy of Mafia, mostly, and, like, the discussion and teamwork and stuff.
MCD: I also enjoy how every game, more or less, is unique.
Me: So. Do you happen to have a favorite Mario game? Or non-Mario?
MCD: Favourite Mario game? I'd say...Super Mario Galaxy 2?
Me: Kind of surprised by that! No offense, but it is a pretty... divisive game.
MCD: Yeah, a lot of people on the forum tend to dislike it.
MCD: Some have good, understandable reasons, but I've seen reasons like the lack of Rosalina, or the un-lack of Yoshi, or that it's too similar to the original, which I think is a dumb reason to hate a game.
Me: Eh, my main beef is the lack of big explorable levels.
MCD: It's a fun game, I like the level design and it's got an okay story, so that's fine by me.
MCD: I'd love for there to have been more explorable levels, personally. I was excited when I saw the Fluzzard stage but then it just turned out to be a flying minigame instead of a vast, explorable jungle, and that disappointed me.
Me: How about on the not-Mario note?
MCD: Non-Mario...I'd have to say Ace Attorney.
Me: Didn't you once tell me you'd never actually played it?
MCD: No, I haven't, but I've seen playthroughs of it on YouTube and I really love the story and the characters.
MCD: It's brilliantly written.
MCD: I guess I like it more as a visual novel than a game, but still.
Me: How many of them have you even watched through? <_>
Me: Because I seem to recall you not watching AJ or AAI
MCD: The first three games, all the way through.
MCD: I haven't watched either of those yet, no.
Me: Well you should.
MCD: I started watching both of them, but they didn't really draw me in as much as the first three games.
Me: Whyzat?
MCD: I'm not sure, really. I guess I found them a little less engaging, and a bit too different.
Me: Hrm, alright.
Me: So to branch out even further: what kind of non-game hobbies or interests do you have?
MCD: ...
MCD: And that's all we have time for today, folks, this is MrConcreteDonkey and THIS INTERVIEW IS OVER.
Me: GET BACK HERE
MCD: NEVER
Superchao lassos MCD by the top hat
MCD: the moral dilemma...
MrConcreteDonkey loses the hat and continues running
MCD: If I had to say something, I'd say writing and listening to music would be the other stuff I did.
Me: Actually, this brings up a question I wanted to ask.
Me: Are GSC your favorite Pokemon games? Considering your fiction appearance.
MCD: Generation II is my favourite generation, yes.
MCD: But HeartGold/SoulSilver are my favourite games in the series.
Me: Eh, I actually haven't played HG/SS so I can't give an opinion yet.
MCD: You should
Me: I'm planning on it!
Me: By the way, where the heck did MrConcreteDonkey even come from? It's a silly name.
MCD: The Concrete Donkey is a very powerful weapon in the Worms series, so I named myself after that.
MCD: I started using it in the middle of 2009 after my username prior to that was unavailable on YouTube.
Me: Oh. That's... anticlimatic.
MCD: Yeah, it kinda is. :\
Me: What WAS the prior username?
MCD: I would tell you, but then I'd have to kill you
Me: You'll never catch me, copper!
Me: Now, for another question.
Me: Is this the last question?
MCD: Yes, it's not
Me: No, it is!
MCD: It is?
MCD: Now it isn't!
MCD: Even if that last one was rhetorical
Me: That doesn't count.
Me: Also, thanks for being here with us today, MCD.
MCD: Excuse the cringeworthy hyperbole, my good man, but nothing counts with you, does it? Back in my day, a rhetorical question was worth five tuppences and twenty two green beans! I don't know how you do things in America but over here in the United of Kingdom, we hold any type of question in high regard. Observe, for example, the studies performed by a certain I. Newton. He concluded that gravity existed and, without it, nothing could keep a question on a page, rhetorical or not. What you have just done has completely undermined all of his hard work, and now his only worthwhile invention is the measly catflap. Without questions, rhetorical or not, we would not have gravity! Or catflaps! And can you think of a world without catflaps?! (I apologise for my need of an interrobang) Millions of cats would be left outside with no way to get into the house without growing opposable thumbs, which actually did happen in an advert and it was completely terrifying. So, in conclusion, you are a buffoon and a fool, and, in fact, good sir, I believe you are the one who cannot count, as you have not been able to add up the facts and see that rhetorical questions are just as good as normal ones! Thank you, and goodnight.
Conclusion
It's not a big surprise that MCD is as well-known as he is; he's a nice guy and friendly to boot. He's also proven himself to be hardworking, as evidenced by his consistency in patrolling. Even if timezones make it inconvenient at sometimes, you should still try to talk to him if you can.
Welcome, Brawlers, to this month's edition of BRAWL TACTICS! For this month, I will be covering Mr. Game & Watch!
G&W is a small sized character who has above average strength but average speed. His jumps height is not too bad because he isn't all that heavy. You will almost never be able to get a good picture of him, though, because he is 2D. Such is life.
G&W's Standard Special is Chef. Activate this move, and you will be able to fling an infinite number of delicious but deadly sausages at your opponent. This is a great move to use when you are at a disadvantage and you want to keep your opponents away from you. You can adjust the height and trajectory of your food, and hit foes that are close up or further away. If you get a good rhythm going, you can keep up an endless supply of sausages firing at your opponent. Your fingers will get tired of throwing sausages before he runs out.
G&W's Side Special is Judge. By far, this one is probably more famous, simply because you get to run around and whack people with a hammer. Be advised, though, that this move takes time to warm up, and your opponent could get away from you if you're not careful. Judge is a good move to use when you need to do damage fast. The varying levels of hammer smashing give you a wide range of possibilities to get when you are looking to bash some enemies. With 1 as the weakest and 9 as the highest, give this a try and see what you get.
G&W's Up Special is Fire. He will get a fire crew to come out and give him a jump on their trampoline, and he will get that little bit of distance that he misses from his second jump. Like Peach Parasol, G&W will get a parachute to cushion his fall a little. It can provide you with the time you need to get over to the side of the stage, or it could slow you down when you are trying to land properly. Either way you go, just be careful with it. If you cancel the chute, he doesn't get it back. Once it's gone, it's gone. This move doesn't have a huge amount of non-jump potential, so I wouldn't recommend it for much else during battle.
G&W's Down Special is Oil Panic. I must admit that I don't know much about this mythical move and its power. I'm not a Down Special-using brawler. But I will tell you that this move is difficult to get right. Timing is one thing. Press the button too early and you'll get a weak shot. Press it too later, and you'll get a weak shot. Basically, you want to get good at using this move so you can shoot out full damage all the time.
G&W's Final Smash is Octopus. This move is great to be on the controlling end of. The receiving end? Not so much. G&W turns into a giant octopus and wreaks havoc all over the stage. Interestingly enough, it's only the tentacles that do damage. If you jump on his head or his body, you won't get hurt. Odd. But anyways, avoid this move if you can on the battlefield. It will hurt, and you will be sorry. This Final Smash has a lot of power, and it will send you flying if you get too close. One tragic flaw with this move, however. Game & Watch gets to move around, even jump, and he can switch between stage levels as well. You'll want to be careful when doing so, because if you miss and use up your jumps, it will be a KO. He will fall, and, Final Smash or not, lose a life. Just a word of caution.
That's all for me this month, Brawlers! Hope I've inspired you to pull out your classic controllers and give Mr. Game & Watch a little love. See you next month, on BRAWL TACTICS!
Hello Mario Karters, welcome again to the Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner. Again, your friend, Coincollector, is here and ready to tell you the tip of this month. Let's begin.
But first, January has been again an exciting month, because Nintendo, in its latest Nintendo Direct, has showcased upcoming and promising games in the works, many of them new and set to be released this year for its new console, Wii U. Among them are a new Yoshi game made out of soft and fine yarn; announces of a new Super Mario, Super Smash Bros. and, interestingly a new Mario Kart game. That's right, the eight Mario Kart game for the Nintendo consoles is on its phase of production and, along with the other said games, will be revealed at the E3, 2013. Hope that Nintendo make note to the lists of features the many we'd like to see for the next Mario Kart of my Holiday Special Issue, which was also regarded in The 'Shroom as the section of the month in the past issue. Thanks a lot all of you readers that liked the article!
Now, let's really begin with the topic. Today I'll talk about an item that was just made for this month. It's the Heart.
The Heart (please don't call it ♥, that's another thing from another game) is an item that has appeared only in Mario Kart Double: Dash!!, a special item that only Princess Peach and Princess Daisy can obtain, and also King Boo and Petey Piranha thanks to their ability to get any special item of other racers. A rare object that can be obtained at certain places, mostly according to the game mode is being played: In Grand Prix it becomes more common to obtain in a place below the third and in VS at any place below the first. Once obtained and then used, the character's vehicle is surrounded by a pair of hearts that last all along the race until having crossed the finish line in the last lap. The main function of these hearts consist to protect the kart to being hit, by absorbing the item dropped in the road that makes contact with them and give that item to the hands of either the rear player or the driver so they can use that later. That only works if at least one of the characters is not holding any item. In case the characters have items in their hands and hearts touch a dropped item, this will absorb the item and the heart flies away and fades. Items that can be obtained from a heart can be Green or Red Shells, Mushrooms, Bananas, Fake Item Boxes and Stars. Some special items can also be obtained like Yoshi's Eggs or Birdo's Eggs, the Giant Banana, Bob-Ombs, Fireballs and Bowser Shells. However, the hearts cannot get items like a Spiny Shell or the Chain Chomp, or protect the kart from obstacles of courses and the effect of items like explosions, stars or the Lightning.
While characters have at least one heart circling their vehicles, they cannot obtain another Heart item. Although the effect of this item can last indefinitely, falling to the void, water, lava, get stuck off the road or struck by the Lightning, will remove the hearts. Additionally, in the case of the fireballs, it's possible that the hearts disappear if the opponent that owns the fireballs attacks very near. This results that the vehicle that had the two hearts, absorbed one fireball each, but as five fireballs are released at the same time from the opponent character, the remaining fireballs will be able to burn the kart, now unprotected. Additionally as each heart took a single fireball, the characters will gain only a single fireball to use, instead of the usual five of the original.
Despite the ability to protect the kart against almost any item, it can be quite impractical when you're in a very low place and you're in a desperate attempt to get a more powerful item. Occasionally, with the heart item in use, if you touched an Item Box, but an item from the road touches the hearts eventually, you'll receive the item from the heart. The most convenient (and most professional) way to exploit the heart item is to get the special items of other racers. With a bit of skill and training, you can use the heart to "copy" the special items of your opponents to use against them in almost unpredictable ways. For example, outcome a trap by taking a Giant Banana or a seemingly dangerous Bowser Shell in the middle of the road. Another way to make a nice use of the heart is by having a partner character that has a different special item, specially Yoshi and Birdo and their special items, the eggs. As you know, eggs may release a variety of items from within when they break open. With the heart in use, you can get those items from the eggs without to worry about that another rival has plans to steal them and with the advantage to store that item to use it in needed situations, especially when a Star comes out. Get lucky finding a Lightning in the road when using the heart!
And that's all Shy Guys, see you later for another round of tips here in theMario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner in The 'Shroom.
