Powered by pasta!
Poor Mario. The stalwart steward behind the Kyoto-based Nintendo can
hardly seem to catch his breath these days as the Italian Stallion is seemingly
on a never-ending headliner promoting his parent company's surreal sporting
line-ups, and it doesn't seem that he's going to catch a break anytime soon.
Fresh on retails shelves across North American is his latest homerun slam, the
aptly named Mario Super Sluggers for the Nintendo Wii console.
With plenty of options and all the waggle-type control you can stand, Mario's
latest baseball simulation should help curb the shakes for those fans anxious
for the next 'real' season to begin.
But as much as we all love the Italian plumber, just imagine how cool it
might be if, say, Nintendo gave their workaholic mascot a break and let some of
their other superstars headline a sports title. Luigi's Lacrosse?
Princess Peach's Poker Challenger? Or if we're thinking second, third tier
roster here why not Big Birdie's Ping Pong Palooza? The possibilities are
vast...Nintendo, better get to trademarking those ideas right about now!
Full press blurb just below!
REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 25, 2008 - Today Nintendo is calling on its star player
to step into the batter's box and hit one out of the park with the launch of
Mario Super Sluggers. The new baseball game for the Wii console lets players
use the Wii Remote controller to mimic motions they might experience on a
real baseball diamond. Just swing the Wii Remote like a bat or make a
pitching motion to throw a pitch. This wild, Mario-styled take on baseball
includes more than 40 playable characters from the Nintendo universe, and
players can even use their Mii characters in some modes.
"Mario Super Sluggers has enough depth for core gamers but also offers
controls that are instantly accessible to everyone," said Cammie Dunaway,
Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Mario
Super Sluggers takes the fun into extra innings with cool characters,
baseball-themed challenges and different control options for novice and
experienced gamers."
The single-player mode lets players visit Baseball Kingdom, where they
encounter characters with different baseball skills. Players must defeat
them in a variety of challenges to persuade the characters to join their
team - and the characters that people choose are important. Team captains
can perform special moves on the field. For example, Mario can pitch a
wicked fireball, while Luigi can turn infield hits into a tornado. Just as
in the real world, some players play better together than others: Different
character combinations result in good chemistry for a team. In the world of
Mario Super Sluggers, this could result in amazing catches in the outfield
or the ability to interfere with fielders.
Multiplayer modes let up to four people compete at once. In Toy Field mode,
for example, up to four players compete in a hitting and fielding
extravaganza. Or just choose your players and play an exhibition game
against friends.
To celebrate the launch of Mario Super Sluggers, Nintendo is giving the
characters in the game the big-league treatment by creating a series of
special baseball cards. These online cards can be found on a variety of Web
sites and collected by users on a special album site. Pairing some players
together creates a "Double Play" that unlocks bonuses like game videos and
screensavers. Just as with real-life baseball cards, fans can collect
multiple versions of the same card and trade them online for other cards
they need. The more cards a person collects, the more bonuses and secrets
they can unlock.
Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the
content their children can access. For more information about this and other
Wii features, visit Wii.com.
For more information about Mario Super Sluggers, visit
www.MarioSuperSluggers.com.