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Our Review (*****)

Why It Won: Super Mario Galaxy is, quite simply, the best Mario platformer to date. Since Mario 64, many fans have eagerly anticipated Mario’s next 3D adventure as Super Mario Sunshine essentially received mixed reactions and reviews from the media and gaming community. Mario Galaxy is a testament to the lasting influence that Mario still has in the gaming industry today and considering the red plumber’s history, this is no small feat.

Mario Galaxy’s innovative gameplay, breathtaking visuals and epic soundtrack provides an immersive experience for both casual and hardcore fans alike. With numerous galaxies to explore, planet-sized bosses to fight and 120 stars to collect, the gameplay feels refreshingly new and manages to retain the nostalgia charm of earlier Mario titles. Each and every galaxy is unique with its own puzzles and challenges that there’s rarely a dull moment. The orchestral soundtrack manages to effectively transcend the player’s experience of seeing Mario soar into outer space with a sense of awe and wonder.

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The 5th annual Spike Video Game Awards show doesn't air till tonight at 9pm EST, but the winners have "somehow" made its way into my inbox this morning. The show is being held in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Resort and Casino. I honestly thought Halo 3 would hit the Game of the Year, but I never expected Skate to be in the best Sports game category.

But anywho, check out the full list below!

GAME OF THE YEAR
BioShock

STUDIO OF THE YEAR
Harmonix

BEST SHOOTER
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision/ Infinity Ward)

BEST RPG
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios/ BioWare)

BEST MILITARY GAME
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision/ Infinity Ward)

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Our good friends over at CBS GameCore just posted their annual holiday gift guide that features everybody's top 5 along with the top 10 overall listings. Some of the games in the top 10 include:

• Bioshock
• Assassin's Creed
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Halo 3
• Guitar Hero 3

What are your picks for this holiday season? Post them in the comments of this story! For the time being, head over to GameCore's website for the full listings.

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There's no doubt about it - Super Mario Galaxy is the finest Mario game in years. It's easily the best out of the current three 3D Mario platformers, evolving beyond the genre-defining nature of Super Mario 64 and the uh...water-spurting innovations of Super Mario Sunshine. However, the game pays tribute to more than just Mario's 3D outings.

The first time a third Mario game was the best of its series happened way back in 1988, with the release of Super Mario Bros. 3. Yes, 1988 - it's not often known that the game was originally released that year in Japan. Americans likely had to wait due to Nintendo not wanting to cannabalize sales of the then newly-localized Super Mario Bros. 2, released the same year. After the seminal preview in 1989's abysmally cheesy cult film The Wizard, Mario 3 finally hit US stores in February 1990. It was worth the wait. Featuring huge stages and innovations, like the ability to fly, Super Mario Bros. 3 was all a pre-pubescent mind could hope for - and more.

My memories of Mario 3 fresh in my mind due to the Mario high I achieved from Galaxy, I decided to revisit this nearly two-decade old title to see just how well it held up. While the game has seen resuscitation on the Wii's Virtual Console, I already had my Super NES hooked up so I settled for my old Super Mario All-Stars cart - you know, the one with Super NES enhanced ports of Marios 1-3 and the suicide-inducing Lost Levels. Once I found the cart in a bin amidst the gutter trash of my Super NES collection (the Beethoven movie game? seriously?) I popped it in my 16-year-old console and flipped the switch. Nothing happened. I calmly removed the cartridge and gave its pin connectors the long and hard blow usually reserved for NES carts. Worked like magic. I selected SMB 3 with haste, my only lament being that I didn't have the original SMB 3 Nintendo Power Strategy Guide at my side like I would have if I were still that fat nine-year-old kid.

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Blast off into space in Mario's latest and greatest adventure.

Super Mario Galaxy is the game that Wii owners have been waiting for: it delivers on all fronts and has been worth the wait. This is quite simply one of the best games Mario has been in - 2D or 3D - and given his impressive resume, this is no light statement. This is a game anyone can pick up and play and if you've been on the fence about Nintendo's waggle machine, it's as good of a reason to pick up a Wii as you are going to get in the near future.



Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

The purity of something is most often measured in physical and quantitative terms. Say, for example, the number of carats in a diamond and the percentage of fat in milk. These are real, concrete objects that are easily compared to other similar objects of varying purity. But how then does one measure the purity of the abstract and metaphysical? Only by comparing the feelings and memories of emotions can we assign values to concepts like love and hate. Pure love may be reserved for that special someone; pure hate, that school administrator who seemed bent on making your life a living hell. These opposites can be measured against one another to form some kind of personal, pseudo-numeric value.

Fun is another one of those vague, almost existentialist concepts. Logically, fun can be examined against its opposite, boredom. The purest of fun experiences then, is one devoid of boredom. Normally, a fun experience is restrained to the layered abyss of memory in your brain, there to reside until it is called upon in a melancholy time of need. Your least bored memory could therefore be the one of purest fun.

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Nintendo has published a few images of some of the first consumers to pick up Super Mario Galaxy at launch from the Nintendo World store in New York. Here's the excerpt published Nov 11, 2007:


Have a peek at two others at the jump. To those who picked up the game: what do you think?

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Nintendo has issued an invitation to all North American gamers residing in the New York area to stand in line at the Nintendo World store to be the first to purchase Super Mario Galaxy at midnight.

Activities are planned to begin at 8pm Sunday, Nov. 11 and include kiosks displaying the game (so fans can play it immediately prior to purchase), a DJ with dancers, prizes, a velcro wall, and a bungee run. Gamers of all ages are encouraged to join the festivities, especially if they're dressed up in Nintendo costumes.

Here's the address for the Nintendo World store:


Mario will be waiting.

Here's an updated score listing.

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Media Create has posted the latest sales figures for the week ending November 4, and (surprise!) the Xbox 360 has pulled ahead of the PlayStation 3 by a close 200 units, although both consoles and the Wii are still being (pardon the colloquialism) royally spanked by the Nintendo DS - someone explain that one to me.

Here's the chart for hardware sales, Oct. 29-Nov. 4 as courtesy of Media Create and Next Gen.

1. Nintendo DS - 78,599
2. PSP - 59,714
3. Wii - 37,617
4. Xbox 360 - 17,673
5. PlayStation 3 - 17,434
6. PlayStation 2 - 10,209
7. Game Boy Advance SP - 206
8. GameCube – 155
9. Game Boy Micro - 113

View further details and software sales at the jump.

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Maybe I've been giving the plumber a little too much attention lately, but anyhow here's a new batch of screenshots up over at GameSpot.

Curiously the GS launch center contains new imagery and video footage (not to mention the Mario layout - look what great coding money can buy) but has yet to introduce a review. Maybe they can't put down the controller long enough to do actual work?

Hit the link to be taken to the screens. You can also visit the center here.

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Review scores for Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy - set to launch on November 12 for the Wii console - are beginning to trickle in, and so far the numbers look good (if you're the numbers sort, anyhow). Here's the run-down on the current scores; we'll be adjusting the story to accommodate new reviews as they're added.

Current average: 97%

• 100 - Deeko: "It's rare to play through a perfect game or one that nears perfection, but Galaxy definitely fits that mold."
• 100 - GamePro: "Super Mario Galaxy raises the bar in terms of what can be achieved on the Wii."
• 100 - EuroGamer: "Where Galaxy matches "Mario 64" is not quite in its quality of execution... but in its confidence and originality."
• 100 - PALGN: "Super Mario Galaxy is without doubt the finest game Nintendo have produced this decade."
• 98 - GameTrailers
• 98 - GameInformer
  
• 97 - IGN
• 97 - Official Nintendo Magazine UK
  
• 95 - 1UP
• 95 - GameSpot (video review here)
  
• 95 - Computer and Video Games
  
• 90 - games(TM)

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