Prime Minister Abe’s bizarre yet awesome appearance at the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics got many people thinking. Thinking a little too seriously maybe.
Mario (Page 3)
C’mon Abe, you can do it! You’ve got nothing to lose… Except maybe your pride.
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Netizens fear Japan may have missed out on capitalizing on one of its hottest current exports.
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Watch this clever hamster smash her way through the game, complete with an adorable detour down the pipe.
Every day, thousands of commuters and tourists passing through Tokyo Station have to fight against decades’ worth of video game-developed conditioned responses.
Want to try your hand at crafting Super Mario Maker screens, but don’t have a Wii U? Right this way!
If you enjoyed YouTube hit Mario Warfare when it first streamed you can now watch it in its full, uncut version. And if you’ve never seen Mario Warfare before…boy are you in for a treat!
Super Mario Maker, the toolkit/game for Wii U that allows Mario fans to build their very own levels using a vast array of items and characters from the games’ universe, is without a doubt a huge hit. Players had been craving the ability to DIY their own levels for the classic series pretty much since the original handful of games were released for the original NES.
One addition to the game that players never expected to see was the inclusion of the crazy “Weird Mushroom”—originally a glitch in the first Super Mario Bros.—which turns Mario into “Skinny Mario,” a creepy, distorted Mario whose lanky limbs wiggle about all over the place with each (giant) jump.
Skinny Mario was, to put it lightly, not well-received by the gaming community, and Nintendo had a golden opportunity to fix it when it released the first update to the game a few days ago. Except, instead of doing away with Skinny Mario, Nintendo actually decided to include even more, super creepy, Skinny Mario appearances.
October 31 is quickly approaching and for those of us who don’t have our costumes or decorations ready yet, you’d best hurry. Sure there are plenty of last-minute costumes and decorations you can scrounge up, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t compare to something meticulously planned out.
A carved pumpkin is one decoration you can complete in a few hours, but if you really want to lure the trick-or-treaters, you have to go the extra mile. Check out this amazing pumpkin that shows us the day in the life of lovable Luigi and his haunted mansion. It would look awesome on your front porch, and even more so with a special little addition.
Recently, we’ve been seeing what appear to be cracks in Nintendo’s outer image as a smiley, pure-hearted, “I’m OK, you’re OK” kind of company. First, we saw that the company’s official Line account is still holding a grudge against Sony for the industry-changing success of its PlayStation console. Now, some fans have found that their new figures of presumable nice guys Mario and Luigi reveal the Nintendo stars to be smirking, gloating jerks.
Nintendo has a squeaky clean image. Its titles are family-friendly, and no other company does more to make quality video games accessible and enjoyable to inexperienced or casual players. The company managed to create a hit team-based shooter that’s completely devoid of the sort of violence that’s so commonly a selling point for the genre, and even its two most committed rivals, Mario and Bowser, regularly take time out from fighting to play golf or tennis together.
So you might expect Nintendo to have nothing but friendly affection for anyone and everyone, but its official Line account shows that rival Sony’s PlayStation is strictly excluded from the circle of good vibes.
Japan may love Mario, but they have a couple wrong ideas about the series. For example, did you know that in the Japanese versions of Mario, Goombas are called “kuribo,” which translates to “chestnut guy?” For three decades now, it has been widely believed in Japan that the Goombas are, indeed, chestnuts.
Until now. Thanks to the official Nintendo Line Messenger bot, Japanese netizens have learned the shocking truth about Mario’s oldest enemy: they’re not chestnuts, they’re shiitake mushrooms!
Read on and see for yourself the aftermath that shocked Japanese gamers all over the internet.
Well, that didn’t take long. It was just a couple of days ago that we took a look at Mario Maker user PangeaPanga’s course titled Pit of Panga: P-Break and shook our heads in awe at its diabolical difficulty. While it’s true that Nintendo doesn’t allow you to upload Mario Maker levels unless you can prove they’re beatable, we wouldn’t have been surprised if no one other than PangeaPanga himself was able to clear his creation.
But in less than a week, the hardest of the hard-core have risen to the challenge, and while this video of a Japanese gamer finishing the level is a display of some impressive platforming skills, what really makes it worthwhile is the surge of adrenalin that sends him shouting his victory to the heavens, and how it leaves his body in pain and his psyche tattered as he breaks down in tears of joy at his gaming accomplishment.
Super Mario Maker, which was released exclusively for Nintendo’s Wii U console on September 10, has been a hit, giving hours of creative fun to Nintendo fans all over the world. There are tons of secrets and extras to be unlocked, and we wanted to show off a really cool one that takes Nintendo’s newest IP back in time into the retro Mario world. Read on to see Mario transformed into an Inkling from Splatoon!
This month, the whole world is celebrating 30 years of Mario, only the most famous video game character of all time. It’s been a long time since the Italian plumber’s humble beginnings as Jumpman, and Nintendo is pulling out all the stops to make this anniversary year as special as possible for long-time gamers who got their start playing as starry-eyed kids back in the 8-bit era.
To continue the festivities, we’d like to share with you this nifty video tribute which tracks the evolution of Mario over the past three decades of video gaming history. Prepare yourselves for a nostalgic trip down memory lane!
Growing up in suburban southern California, my elementary, junior high, and high schools were all single-story structures. As such, my classmates and I went through our K-12 education without knowing the excitement of the romantic rendezvous and bare-knuckle showdowns that so often occur in the stairways of schools in TV shows, movies, and other works of fiction.
Still, we made do, as the student body just had to find alternate locations in which to swap spit or punches. One thing we definitely missed out on, though, was the opportunity to create awesome stairway art, like these students in Japan who decorated their school steps with the cast of Super Mario Bros., Love Live!, and Attack on Titan.
The vibrant Grand Theft Auto mod scene is what keeps the game alive long after people have completed the campaign, making sure gameplay never grows stale and providing plenty of laughs for both the players involved and the viewers of the resulting videos. There are already hundreds of mods available for the latest entry in the franchise, Grand Theft Auto V, and a few creative Nintendo-based ones have been combined to create this surreal video of Nintendo’s Super Mario behaving badly in Los Santos.
This isn’t the Mario that Nintendo wants you to see.
Nintendo’s Super Mario Maker, which allows you to design your own levels for the beloved video game hero, is really a game that could only be properly realized now, on the 30th anniversary of the franchise. Three decades as the platforming gold standard means there are multiple generations of gamers intimately familiar with the series’ building blocks, ensuring an ample supply of would-be creators and players who can really get the most from the system’s ins and outs.
Just as important is the modern digital infrastructure for sharing user-designed stages. Super Mario Maker would have been a flop on hardware that requires physical media, but in our modern Internet age once a completed course has been uploaded to Nintendo’s servers, anyone in the world can play it.
Well, anyone in the world can play it if it’s good. If it’s not, then Nintendo will just go ahead and delete your creation.
Back in the spring, we got all weak in the knees when Nintendo decided to forgo hard plastic and instead craft an Amiibo figure of its loveable dinosaur Yoshi out of soft, cuddly wool. But while the yarn Yoshi can help you play through the game and look adorable perched on the palm of your hand, he’s a little too small for a proper cuddle.
So for those gamers who want to give Yoshi a proper squeeze, Nintendo is releasing a jumbo-sized version.















Ghibli’s No Face continues to demonstrate his generous character growth by dispensing soy sauce
Colour Hunting: The hot new street photography trend changing how we see Japan
Japanese rice cooker recipe gives us a tasty new way to enjoy vegetables and wieners
Even at twice regular Daiso price, this handy item is still great for summer travel in Japan
Japanese convenience store shows us how to dress for the rainy season
A Japanese toast sandwich remix: The toasted rice rice ball[SoraKitchen]
Japan Railways partners with Overwatch, heroes hit the Shinkansen for bullet train collaboration
Tokyo’s Pokémon Cafe reopens this month with brand-new sweets and Pikachu show
Uniqlo reveals third round of massive 100-year-anniversary manga T-shirts for Jump’s Shueisha
Osaka is hosting a “hentai” event, but it’s probably not what you think
New official Ghibli anime food cookbook will teach you how to make Ponyo’s ramen and more
Kyoto public junior high school becomes first in Japan with a hoodie school uniform
Starbucks Japan unveils new Frappuccino showcasing “mottainai” culture
What’s up with the Ghibli Park photo and video ban?
What’s it like to join Tokyo’s walking-and-talking-with-strangers club for a day?
Krispy Kreme releases a new Doughwich… at only one store in Japan
Tokyo’s life-size Gundam anime mecha statue will be removed this summer
Ichiraku Ramen-inspired ramen sets from Naruto anime pay homage to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura
Kanji ice cream becomes a sell-out hit in Japan
Japanese convenience store Lawson launches new “mini supermarket” chain, L Minimart
Japan’s real-world Pokémon hot spring’s first photos are here![Photos]
Japan now has gyoza doughnuts, and they taste like no other doughnut we’ve tried before
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Japan’s 5.3 million beautiful Hitachi Nemophila flowers are now in full bloom[Photos]
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
A Japanese toast sandwich remix: The toasted rice rice ball[SoraKitchen]
Japan Railways partners with Overwatch, heroes hit the Shinkansen for bullet train collaboration
Tokyo’s Pokémon Cafe reopens this month with brand-new sweets and Pikachu show
Uniqlo reveals third round of massive 100-year-anniversary manga T-shirts for Jump’s Shueisha
Osaka is hosting a “hentai” event, but it’s probably not what you think
Studio Ghibli adds new range of neckties to its anime merchandise store in Japan
Lawson opens a new mini supermarket, and the lucky bags can essentially stock your kitchen
Japanese high school closes its cafeteria, replaces it with a 7-Eleven convenience store
Starbucks Japan unveils new Frappuccino showcasing “mottainai” culture
What’s it like to join Tokyo’s walking-and-talking-with-strangers club for a day?
With hot sweaty Shibuya summer on the way, free sodium tablets to be given out in downtown Tokyo
American college student missing in Kyoto, last seen by family one week ago
Starbucks Japan has a mesh bag so cute it’s a sell-out hit
Japanese convenience store challenge is only for those with extreme tastes