Friday, December 02, 2011

Mario Kart 7 is out on the Nintendo 3DS today and tomorrow

Mario Kart 7

"Mario Kart 7" is released on the Nintendo 3DS in the UK, Europe and Australasia today and North America tomorrow. Hooray - an almost simultaneous worldwide release for once (it was released in Japan yesterday)!

This is the first Mario Kart game for the 3DS, and is the follow-on to the hugely successful "Mario Kart Wii" which was released back in 2008.

New gameplay features include hang-gliding attachments for the karts, the ability to drive underwater, the ability to fully customize the vehicles, and support for both local and online multiplayer modes for up to eight players. Wow!

To keep you going until you can get hold of a copy of this great new game (if you haven't already got one), here are a couple of silly but fun Flash online Mario Kart games from the MarioSonicGames.com site which you can play here:

  Mario Kart Racing

  Super Mario Kart Xtreme

Friday, November 18, 2011

Super Mario 3D Land is released on the 3DS in the UK today

Super Mario 3D Land

"Super Mario 3D Land" is out on the Nintendo 3DS in the UK and Europe today. It was released in North America last week, and will be out in Australasia next week.

This is the first Mario game for the excellent 3DS handheld console, and as such it is the first ever Mario game in 3D (of course). It is also a new type of Mario game, combining elements from the traditional 2D side-scrolling Mario games with the more modern free-roaming 3D Mario games.

Early reviews for it are very positive indeed, so it's bound to be a top seller. Sounds absolutely brilliant, and I can't wait to have a go!

If reading about this potentially revolutionary new game has made you fancy a quick play of a classic Super Mario Bros. game, here are four excellent free Flash online versions (two of them with interesting twists) courtesy of the MarioSonicGames.com site:

  Super Mario Sunshine 64

  Mario's Adventure 2

  Super Mario: A Koopa's Revenge

  Super Mario: Bullet Bill 2

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is out now

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

"Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games" is the third title in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series, and it is released on the Nintendo Wii in North America today. It will be available in Australasia on November 17th and Europe the day after that. It is also going to be released worldwide on the Nintendo 3DS in February next year.

The game continues in the style of the previous two games in the series, this time bringing together the two title characters and eighteen more from both game franchises to participate in environments based on the official venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The characters are divided into four performance categories, namely: all-around, speed, power, and skill.

Several new Summer Olympic events, including football/soccer, badminton, and equestrian will debut alongside improved versions of previously existing events such as athletics, aquatics, and table tennis. There are also new "Dream Events", which are alternate versions of Olympic events taking place in locations from older games in the Mario and Sonic series.

Now, why not get in on all the Mario and Sonic fun for free - there are hundreds of fantastic Mario and Sonic online games for you to play in the MarioSonicGames.com website.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Sonic Generations is out on the PS3 and Xbox 360 today

Sonic Generations

The newest Sonic the Hedgehog platform game, "Sonic Generations", is released today on the Sony Playstation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 in North America. It will be released in Europe and Australasia over the next couple of days. A Microsoft Windows version will be released everywhere during the next three weeks and a Nintendo 3DS version should be available everywhere at the end of this month.

In case you weren't aware of it, this year is Sonic's 20th Anniversary, and this game is a celebration of that important video gaming milestone. It is the first ever Sonic game to support stereoscopic 3D graphics, which is utterly amazing I think!.

The game features levels derived from all 20 years of Sonic the Hedgehog platform gaming history, spread across the three main Sonic eras of Classic, Dreamcast and Modern, and these are played as either Classic Sonic or Modern Sonic. Classic Sonic's levels are two dimensional side scrolling stages (of course), using classic moves like the Spin Attack and Spin Dash, while Modern Sonic's levels follow the 2D/3D style gameplay of Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors.

Since you're currently here online, you might like to know that there are lots of Flash online versions of classic Sonic games which you can play for free at the MarioSonicGames.com website.

Saturday, July 09, 2011

Super Mario is 30 years old today!

Super Mario

Last month it was Sonic the Hedgehogs's 20th birthday, and now it's Mario's turn - it's his 30th birthday today.

The first ever game featuring Mario was the first ever "Donkey Kong" arcade machine released this day in 1981. Originally Mario was called "Jumpman" in that game, but that was very quickly changed to the name he has been known by ever since.

Since 1981 there have been more than 200 Mario related video games, introducing other famous characters like Mario's brother Luigi, friends such as Yoshi, Toad and Princess Peach, and enemies such as Bowser, the Goombas and the Koopa Troopas. The Mario franchise is the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Happy 30th Birthday Mario!

Have some fun and celebrate this second amazing video gaming milestone in a month by visiting my MarioSonicGames.com site, where there are more than 60 Super Mario Flash online games for you to play for free!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Sonic the Hedgehog is 20 years old today!

Sonic the Hedgehog

20 years ago today the first ever Sonic the Hedgehog game was released on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console. Happy 20th Birthday Sonic!

Since that first famous appearance there have been over 70 more Sonic the Hedgehog games, and they have introduced a host of other famous video game characters along the way such as Tails the Fox, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose and Shadow the Hedgehog.

To celebrate this milestone in the history of video gaming, why not treat yourself to a session of retro Sonic gaming over at my MarioSonicGames.com site, where there are more than 50 Sonic Flash online games you can play absolutely free!

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Su and I are now both on Newgrounds

As I mentioned over in my personal blog yesterday, Su has now joined me on the Newgrounds Flash Portal site, which will be very useful for promoting new Flash games we develop for our MarioSonicGames.com site in the future. Our Newgrounds profiles can be found via these links:

Peter Inns's Newgrounds Profile

Sureephon Inns's Newgrounds Profile

All our Mario and Sonic Flash games at Newgrounds

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Nominations for the 2011 BAFTA Video Games Awards

This is an exact quote of the official announcement email I received earlier today:

London, 16 February 2011: The Academy today announced the nominations for this year's GAME British Academy Video Games Awards. 44 different games have been recognized and together they represent some of the most popular, innovative and cutting-edge creativity in today’s gaming industry.

Summary:
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood leads with seven BAFTA nominations,
Call of Duty: Black Ops and Heavy Rain each garner six nominations,
Mass Effect 2 follows with five, LIMBO and Super Mario Galaxy 2 with four.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Call of Duty: Black Ops are both nominated for Action, Artistic Achievement, Multiplayer, Technical Innovation, and Use of Audio. In addition, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is nominated for Best Game and Gameplay, and Call of Duty: Black Ops got the nod for Story. Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 2 received nominations for Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Gameplay, Original Music, Story and Heavy Rain got its 6th nod for Technical Innovation.

LIMBO is nominated for Artistic Achievement and Use of Audio. Super Mario Galaxy 2 received nominations for Technical Innovation and Original Music, and both games are also nominated for Best Game and Gameplay. Alan Wake, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, God of War III, and Halo: Reach all have three nominations. Bioshock 2, Fallout: New Vegas, FIFA 11, Kinectimals, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty all received two.

This year’s new Social Network Game category garnered nominations for the following games: Bejeweled Blitz, Farmerama, FIFA Superstars, My Empire, Zoo Mumba, and Zuma Blitz.

Other nominated games include: Civilization V, Cut The Rope, Dance Central, DJ Hero 2, F1 2010, Fable III, FIFA Manager 11, Football Manager 2011, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Gran Turismo 5, International Cricket 2010, James Bond 007: Bloodstone, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, Napoleon Total War, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Plant vs. Zombies XBLA, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, Professor Layton and the Lost Future, Sonic Colours, Super Scribblenauts and Toy Story 3.

This year’s Awards will also include the publicly-voted category – the GAME Award of 2010. The shortlist was compiled by a panel of gaming journalists and enthusiasts, and comprises of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dance Central, FIFA 11, Halo: Reach, Heavy Rain, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Voting is now live at www.baftagameaward.com.

While the Academy recognises those individuals at the top of their field, it also nurtures the developers of tomorrow by recognising up-and-coming talent. This year’s nominations for the BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital are Mush, Sculpty and Twang.

The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards will take place on Wednesday 16 March at the London Hilton on Park Lane. The Awards will be streamed live for the first time at www.bafta.org.

Friday, February 04, 2011

Mario Sports Mix is out on the Wii in the UK today

Mario Sports Mix

"Mario Sports Mix" for the Nintendo Wii is released in the UK today (having already been released in Australasia and the rest of Europe in January). It will be out in North America on February 7th.

The game features Mario and friends in Mario-based locations, and the sports that can be played are volleyball, both field hockey and ice hockey, dodgeball, and street basketball.

In addition to the usual Mario characters, guest appearances are made by The Ninja, White Mage, Black Mage, Cactuar and Moogle characters from the Final Fantasy game series, while the Slime monster from the Dragon Quest series also appears.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

2011 is a very special year for Mario and Sonic!

This year is the 30th Anniversary of Mario, and the 20th Anniversary of Sonic - how cool is that?!

I think we can expect some very special Mario and Sonic games and events to celebrate these milestones as the year progresses. I will report on what's happening as soon as I know anything worth writing about, rest assured!

Don't forget to check out my MarioSonicGames.com website for loads of free Mario and Sonic games that you can play directly in your web browser.

Paper Mario World 2 is a hit game!

A screenshot from my Paper Mario World 2 game

I wasn't sure it would be a hit because it took so long to develop, but it turns out my new Paper Mario World 2 Flash online game is proving to be very popular, and it has been copied into many other game sites from my MarioSonicGames.com site. Hoorah!

If you're a true Mario fan you'll know that a new official Paper Mario game, with the current working title of "Paper Mario 3DS" (for the new Nintendo 3DS handheld console), is going to be released at some point this year, hopefully before the summer. So my "Paper Mario World 2" game can be a nice little "sampler" while we're all waiting for the official game to be released! :-)

Saturday, January 01, 2011

Happy New Year for 2011!

All the very best to you for this coming year, wherever in the world you are!