Mario to Shake His Groove Thing

After the news earlier this week that Mario would be shooting hoops in NBA Street, I decided that Nintendo had reached the end of its tie-in rope with Mario. I was wrong. The newest Dance Dance Revolution title for the Gamecube will be called Dance Dance Revolution with Mario. From the article: "As the title suggests, Dance Dance Revolution with Mario is a new installment in Konami's DDR dancing game series, featuring characters from the Mushroom Kingdom. Details on the game haven't been disclosed yet, but from the released images, DDR with Mario seems to play similarly to DDR, with familiar backdrops featured in the 3D installments of the Super Mario series." Ow.

Comments

No Surprise

[Psychor]

This comes as no surprise to me - I always feel like dancing after I have eaten hallucinagenic mushrooms.

Re:No Surprise

[incom]

Don't forget the (opium)flowers. Fire Power! Just watch out for all the monsters crawling at you when you take these mushrooms and flowers.

I dunno...

[Trillian_1138]

I'm conflicted. On the one hand, this would seem to be a really dumb use of Mario. People already know what DDR is, and don't need a product tie-in to make the sale. In fact, if I was presented with two versions of DDR, one Mario-filled and one 'normal,' I'd go with the normal one.

That said, I'm really glad the GameCube is *finally* getting a version of DDR. For the most part I enjoy the games released on GameCube more than those released on PS2 or XBox. But one of the notable exceptions I wish GameCube had has been DDR, and it looks like this opens the door for future releases.

So, overall, I'm pleased with this announcmenet, because I've been wanting a GC DDR. At the same time, I wish they didn't have to make another Mario tie-in...

-Trillian

Re:I dunno...

[Gothic_Walrus]

I think that the use of Mario is only to differentiate it from the other consoles...especially since the promise of new songs may not be enough to sway more casual players.

Besides...did the presence of Disney characters hurt the PS1 game DDR: Disney Mix? It may mean different backgrounds and songs, to be sure, but the game itself doesn't change.

If the presence of Mario means we get a Cube version of DDR, I'm all for it.

Re:I dunno...

[Anonymous Coward]

Or a hot Japanese school girl, but this is Slashdot, so we can discount that option, leaving only "gay San Fransico-ite."

Re:I dunno...

[Anonymous Coward]

???

What do underage girls (and the sexual attractiveness thereof) have to do with anything?

Straight guys play DDR. Is Slashdot solely populated by American hicks with no cosmopolitan exposure at all, or what?

Re:I dunno...

[Anonymous Coward]

What is being implied is that geeks have to be gay because only they themselves are willing to fuck one another.

Re:I dunno...

[Anonymous Coward]

OK, joke explained: most geeks are unathletic, either vastly overweight or vastly underweight. DDR requires a certain amount of athletic ability. Therefore, nearly every Slashdotter can't enjoy DDR because they lack the ability.

The only people likely to be on Slashdot and also be capable of playing DDR would therefore be a gay San Fransico-ite, because San Fransico is known for a large gay population and is also close to Silicon Valley for the geek factor.

THAT'S the joke.

Re:I dunno...

[tepples]

did the presence of Disney characters hurt the PS1 game DDR: Disney Mix?

Depends. Was DDR Disney Mix first published before or after October 1998?

Good idea.

[MBCook]

I think this is a great idea. Mario could stand to lose some weight.

Of course, with all the exercise he gets (Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Baseball, Mario Trout Fishing-xTreme), you think he'd be in better shape. Just what IS his diet anyway?

PS: I like Mario Golf, etc, but this just seems like they are renting Mario out for money. Why not just make Mario Basketball if you want him to play?

Re:Good idea.

[Gothic_Walrus]

Why not just make Mario Basketball if you want him to play?

That would require a significant investment of time and money for Nintendo. If they can get a company like EA to agree to use the characters (and possibly pay for the privilege) in an established series, that's worlds better than developing a basketball game of their own.

Beyond that, if Nintendo really is losing the console race so badly (though I doubt they're doing as badly as has been reported here), they need all the help they can get. If that means licensing out characters to increase sales of GC versions of games, so be it.

It seems a bit odd that Nintendo is doing this after all of these years (how long has it been since the CD-i debacle?)...but if it's what it takes to keep them around for the next generation of consoles, I'm all for it.

Re:Good idea.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, he's italian. He has an italian mother.

All italian women want to do is feed you.

Re:Good idea.

[lightspawn]

Of course, with all the exercise he gets (Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Baseball, Mario Trout Fishing-xTreme), you think he'd be in better shape. Just what IS his diet anyway?

Yoshi's cookies.

Re:Good idea.

[xgamer04]

... if Nintendo really is losing the console race so badly ...

Actually, it's not as bad as the Slashbots would have you think. The XBox just recently passed the GC in worldwide sales (based on the last sales thingy I read), and I think one of the reasons of that is because the cube doesn't play DVD/CD, which was not really the smartest thing to do.

Re:Good idea.

[Anonymous Coward]

Beyond that, if Nintendo really is losing the console race so badly...

BWHWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ever hear of Gameboy dumbass? Thanks to it Nintendo has about 8 BILLION cash on hand. If that's losing the console race I'd like to know who's winning. If Sony wasn't selling radios and MS wasn't selling operating systems they'd both have gone under years ago. They ain't making any cash on consoles.

Re:Good idea.

[SetupWeasel]

PS: I like Mario Golf, etc, but this just seems like they are renting Mario out for money. Why not just make Mario Basketball if you want him to play?

This is how Nintendo is reaching out to third party developers. I think Nintendo is starting to understand that their game making prowess casts a shadow over other companies that want to make money on their system. So they are offering characters (NBA Street 3, DDR, and Soul Caliber) and entire franchises (Starfox to Namco, F-Zero to Sega) in order to share the spotlight and prove that they want others to profit making games on Nintendo consoles.

That's the way I see it anyway. Nintendo is in a precarious position. Because they are such a good game maker, they have to make some concessions to 3rd parties if they want others to develop for their systems.

Re:Good idea.

[squall14716]

By console race, they mean GCn, PS2, and X-Box. Whether or not the Gameboy kicks ass in terms of cash it makes Nintendo does not matter.

Re:Good idea.

[bitwiseNomad]

Whether or not the Gameboy kicks ass in terms of cash it makes Nintendo does not matter.

Except for all that cash.

Re:Good idea.

[Blue_Nile]

Don't forget Capcom with the Gameboy Zeldas!

DDR with Mario?

[Ganondorf Dragmire]

Hey Everybody! DO THE MARIO!! Take One Step and Then again!

Re:DDR with Mario?

[Anonymous Coward]

The parent post is probably refering to the Super Mario Bros. Super Show television program, If you just want to hear the entire song, check out the flash "music video" of this song here.

Re:DDR with Mario?

[byolinux]

Swing your arms, from side to side..

Re:DDR with Mario?

[Anonymous Coward]

If the super mario brothers super show theme is in the game, I'm sold. And I've never played DDR in my life, but hell, just for that little bit of my childhood....

Eh... Not suprised.

[JorDan Clock]

There was already a Disney version of DDR. It was only a matter of time before Nintendo decided to slap Mario on a DDR game. Nintendo seems interested in putting Mario on everything, knowing people will buy it just because of Mario.

Re:Eh... Not suprised.

[xenocide2]

Well, hey why not? As long as the product is high quality, its not like its eroding the brand. There was an article not too long about about how Nintendo was branding everything in sight, rather than developing new franchises. I used to be a bit miffed over how they put his face everywhere, but really, how many franchises does Nintendo need? They've got a big enough cast that they can actually make a fighting game out of it with 30 characters from like 10 franchises (star fox, metroid, zelda, kirby, pokemon, mario, fire emblem, f zero, earthbound, donkey kong...). Really, some of those franchises don't do as well as the best, so its natural to help trim the bottom line with some extra income from Mario to help offset the less than stellar F Zero GX sales (still an awesome game and a better buy daily).

Yes, people will buy it because of Mario. Will it be a crappy game because of Mario? Will Mario be crappy because he's in the game? My answers are no and no. Really, whats going on is Nintendo is trying to attract games over to their system, and they're using their own new "seal of approval" to do it. Nintendo gets a popular game on their dominated console (sadly), the game makers get a dose of more sales, and cube owners get more games.

Mario, by and large, will always be judged by the flagship games that bear his name, rather than the one offs with his face on it.

Awe

[Anonymous Coward]

This is kind of a bummer. They really have nothing to gain by putting Mario in there. He adds nothing to DDR itself, no gameplay improvements, just a spreading of his familiar image on his home system. It's very useless.

When a company begins to attempt growth by spreading around it's existing content, instead of making new content, it's a sign of running thin. That really sucks.

Re:Awe

[WuWarrior]

"When a company begins to attempt growth by spreading around it's existing content, instead of making new content, it's a sign of running thin. That really sucks." Disney has been doing this successfully since the 1920's.

Re:Awe

[Anonymous Coward]

The difference is Disney also created new content and franchises at the same time. Sure, they did it through shameless rip-offs and retelling of public-domain fairy tales, but the point is they weren't reduced to recycling the same old stuff to the exclusion of everything else until fairly recently. And however much you might loathe what Disney did, you have to admit, they did it well enough to pass it off to the public.

Re:Awe

[Anonymous Coward]

"...you have to admit, they did it well enough to pass it off to the public."

You don't have to do things well to pass it off to the public. ;)

Re:Awe

[KBurrows]

Im disgusted in how Nintendo is trying to make mario reborn...now Super Mario64...that was a good game..none of this "Now with a picture of mario who performs the dance with you" stuff.

Shoot me now

[bersl2]

If I want to play a game with Mario in it, I will load a 1st or 2nd-party game like Super Mario 64 or Super Smash Bros. Dance Dance Revolution has a recognizable look-and-feel, which this abomination will dilute.

Ugh, why do I even try to rationalize this opinion? I hate this I hate this I hate this.

Re:Shoot me now

[Anonymous Coward]

The solution to your non-problem is not to buy the product.

I will be buying it because it is Mario-themed DDR on the GameCube, with Mario-inspired backgrounds and (supposedly) a few Mario-inspired music tracks as well. This is an attractive concept to me.

Have a nice day shaking your fist at the wall and everything. If you eventually do get someone to shoot you over such a silly thing, please do the cool thing and post pictures on the internet.

W-H-O-R-E

[Dragoon412]

Okay fanboys, repeat after me:

"Nintendo is the most original and innovative game developer there is!"

Seriously, I look at this as a corrolary to the article posted yesterday. And I think Woody says it best: this is nothing but shameless franchise whoring. This isn't the sort of thing that's going to get Gamecube sales up.

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[lightspawn]

Seriously, I look at this as a corrolary to the article posted yesterday. And I think Woody says it best: this is nothing but shameless franchise whoring.

Not every game has to be innovative. It's DDR for a platform that had no DDR game before. It's still a good game. Kids (and others) will get a kick out of the inclusion of familiar and loved characters.

Nintendo's happy, Konami's happy, gamers are happy.

If the game does not appeal to you, it's a pretty good clue you're not the intended audience. Go back to playing manhunt - that's bound to make the world a happier place.

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[MilenCent]

Okay fanboys, repeat after me:

"Nintendo is the most original and innovative game developer there is!"

They are, among the currently surviving companies. (For my money, up until the mid 90's Atari Games was more consistently original, but they aren't around any more.) This is simply not arguable, there's too much evidence against it, though admittedly not as much in this generation as past ones. But still, calling people who don't agree with you fanboys detracts from your argument more than anything.

Konami makes the DDR games. They got permission to put Mario in their game, but it's still their baby.

But if you really want to criticize Nintendo, then this is how you do it:

What Nintendo *is* guilty of is making so many things for their system these days a Mario Something, and for beating the dead horse on some series. Mario Party 6, hmm... we stopped enjoying them after #2. And beyond Kart, Mario sports games don't appeal to me so much. Now we have Mario Golf (2, or is it 3?), Mario Tennis (ditto), soon Mario Baseball, and so on.

Now it's true that I would like to see some new kinds of games out of Nintendo. We've seen some of it lately, such as Wario Ware and the Pikmin games, but not as much as Nintendo is known for in the past. Here's hoping we see more of the old Nintendo, and soon.

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[SetupWeasel]

You should see the console sales in Japan on a week a Mario Party game comes out. They eat it up there.

And don't forget about Advance Wars, Golden Sun, and Animal Crossing. When you think about it, Nintendo has an amazing number of franchises. There are a lot of single games that might become franchises too.

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[NonSequor]

Yeah, it is whoring, but personally, I think it's at least amusing whoring. I may take a look at this.

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[tepples]

(For my money, up until the mid 90's Atari Games was more consistently original, but they aren't around any more.)

Tengen and its coinop arm Atari Games are still around as part of Midway. But does Midway still make games that live up to the same standard?

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[MilenCent]

Tengen was not the same thing as Atari Games.

Tengen, I think, was a part of the Atari that sold home computers and consoles, while Atari Games was pretty much solely an arcade company (later, around the N64 era, one that worked on its own home ports). I tended to like the arcade Atari a bit more than the other one.

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[tepples]

Tengen, I think, was a part of the Atari that sold home computers and consoles, while Atari Games was pretty much solely an arcade company

Then why was Atari Games v. Nintendo about Tengen's "Rabbit" modchip? And why was Klax published by Atari Games (arcade), Tengen (early home versions), and Midway (more recent GBC port)? It appears you have it backwards. Tengen was the brand that AG used for console ports of AG's arcade titles because the other "Atari" was taken by the consumer division, which was sold to Commodore, then JTS, then Hasbro, then Infogrames, which has since renamed itself to Atari. Search for more

But you're right about one thing: Midway Games West (formerly Atari Games/Tengen) did shut down two years ago.

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[xeaxes]

I disagree about quite a few of those games. Mario Party 6 is far superior to 5. My wife loves it. Also, Mario Tennis is supposedly great. Quite a few of my friends love it.

I think the real issue is that Mario/others don't have the pull they once had as a franchise, so Nintendo is spreading them out while they still can. They will need to find a new franchise character, or more likely, find a franchise game like the PS2 has with GTA games.

They still have a good chance at a franchise person in Link. Maybe Smash Bros and Kart can become their real franchise games since SMB games have lost their luster.

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[MilenCent]

Then why was Atari Games v. Nintendo about Tengen's "Rabbit" modchip? And why was Klax published by Atari Games (arcade), Tengen (early home versions), and Midway (more recent GBC port)? It appears you have it backwards.

Ah, you may be correct then -- but note that I did express some doubt as to whether I was accurate about the Tengen/Atari (computer) connection.

Atari Games, however, remains one of the more original companies to have produced games, I don't see how anyone can argue with that. (And it would mean that I was right about more than one thing, so, nyaah.)

Re:W-H-O-R-E

[MilenCent]

I disagree about quite a few of those games. Mario Party 6 is far superior to 5. My wife loves it. Also, Mario Tennis is supposedly great. Quite a few of my friends love it.

It may be superior to 5, but it remains that it's still the sixth game, and the one before it was the fifth, in a series that hasn't really changed all that much since the original. Sure there may be new kinds of spaces and an inventory and weird extra rules, but it's difficult to justify Nintendo's milking this particular cow so much, except to point out that Hudson is the company that pretty much makes the Mario Party games.

I think the real issue is that Mario/others don't have the pull they once had as a franchise, so Nintendo is spreading them out while they still can. They will need to find a new franchise character, or more likely, find a franchise game like the PS2 has with GTA games.

What makes a franchise a franchise? (Oh, how I hate that word!) Mario himself is nothing, just a shell for a particular type of high-quality gameplay.

He and his friends came about in a very ad hoc fashion. They needed a guy with a mustache and overalls for Donkey Kong, so poof, we have Mario. They needed a second Mario for a funky game involving two player co-op play, so they changed the overalls to green and thus you have Luigi. When they wanted to make a more epic style of game, with long, horizontally-scrolling areas and more variety, they sucked in a whole lotta weed and made up the Mushroom Kingdom, their eternal tormentor Koopa/Bowser, and its oft-kidnapped, terminally-pink ruler. (In fact, before SMB, there wasn't a whole lot of princess-rescuing in video games.)

Everything that is Mario, however, came about in this fashion. Yoshi? A powerup in Super Mario World. Wario? Strangely likable antagonist in Super Mario Land 2. A lot of the enemies from the series have also filled other roles as time goes on, especially ol' Lakitu and his multipurpose fishing line.

But my point in all this is, the Mario universe, such as it is, was never created to be the subject of a franchise. The developers, at least, just made it up as they went along, and arguably that did nothing to hurt them. That's why there's not a whole lot of cohesion in the Mario universe, and why some enemies turn into friends, even Bowsie himself, depending on the game. The labelling of everything as Mario This or Mario That is a mostly recent thing.

Mario has evolved into, not quite a franchise, but a brand name. I'm not too happy about that either, but I guess that's okay. It still won't stop me from running out and picking up Mario 128 on that distant, glorious day it finally, finally comes out.

This isn't new.

[Locky]

People act like this is a new thing.

Mario has been featured in a wide variety of titles as far back as the NES. He was the Ref in both the Nintendo published Tennis and Punch Out games.

People buy Mario games, more Mario games get made. I would have thought this is some sort of basic rule of business.

Actually, I think this is kinda cool...

[Anonymous Coward]

...mainly because I really don't like most of the DDR music (I mean, I KINDA do, but not really, and I bet a lot of people feel similarly), but if I get to dance to the Mario music, I'd bet I could probably really get into it. Which would you rather dance to? Drop the Bomb? Its a Small World After All? Or the Mario theme?

NinPimpDoh

[planetjay]

They're whoring Mario out to everything now...

What is it with nintendo and mario?

[jonwil]

They have put mario into just about everything EXCEPT a true sequal to Super Mario 64...

Re:What is it with nintendo and mario?

[superpulpsicle]

That's the problem with Nintendo. Once they knew Mario worked, they abuse it by putting him in every game.

They are not creating new and better gameplay. They're not even creating sequels here. They are just trying to market the same damn thing again and again. And see who's stupid enough to keep paying.

Re:What is it with nintendo and mario?

[incom]

Umm, they've already announced a game being called 'Mario 128' is being made for gamecube right now.

Re:What is it with nintendo and mario?

[Deadguy2322]

Don't get your hopes up. That's only the title because it's the 128th piece of shitty software they've stuck him in in the last 6 months.

Re:What is it with nintendo and mario?

[cowscows]

What are you talking about? They're not just selling the same thing repeatedly. (Well, some older games are getting ported to their handhelds, but that's different). They're just taking a character(and his related world/universe) and placing him in unsual games, and seeing how it affects gameplay. And a lot of it turns out being pretty darn cool.

I think it's a pretty fascinating way to come up with new gameplay. Mario brings with him a whole bunch of cool stuff. His famous abilities, yoshi, parahnia plants, turtle shells, shyguys, etc... all stuff that doesn't make any sense outside of the mario universe. And then the designers have to find ways to make all of those strange things fit in to a new game type. That's a great way to spur some innovation. And it can be made to work.

So someone might buy Mario Golf, or Mario Tennis, or Super Smash Bros. just because they recognize Mario. Or maybe they want a golf/tennis/or melee type game. Either way. they're still getting a damn fine game, and if you've actually played any of them, you'd know that.

Re:What is it with nintendo and mario?

[NonSequor]

I think I'll expand on your point for you.

For many of these games, any character would do, but Nintendo has no reason to introduce a new star character for each new game series they make. If you take Mario out of Mario Kart, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Party, and anything else, you'll end up with games that still need to have some character associated with them. Why would they want to introduce new heroes and heroines for games without storylines?

The fact is, these games that everyone is complaining about, aren't the best games ever made, but they are in their own way one of Nintendo's strengths. Beginning with the original Mario Kart, Nintendo has been developing lines of games with simplified mechanics that groups of people can play. These games are simple, accessible and yet still fun. They're something you can play with just about any group of people.

I'd choose mario beats

[ShawnMcCool42]

over that other lame dance music any day.

mmmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hot japanese school girl lesbian action...

Re:mmmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Perverse fetish count, in order of mentioning:

- race, check
- youth exploitation, check
- homosexuality, check

That's only three there, AC. You have to include more in the future in order to maintain your Slashdot credibility.

Some additional options to include would be:

- S&M, choking, surgical instruments
- urine/feces/vomit
- voyeurism, public sexual acts
- snuff
- gangbangs
- hate crime rapes
- animals
- lots and lots of things to do with bare feet
- etc., just ask your mom how she spends her weekends

Just what IS his diet anyway?

[dpdawson]

Mushrooms?

Hmmm...

[SunFan]

Do they feature the Princess shaking her booty in a latex mini-skirt?

Re:Hmmm...

[xerxesVII]

If it does, this guy will be all over it.

New Franchises

[MilenCent]

Advance Wars, Golden Sun, and Animal Crossing

Yep. I can't begin to tell you how much time we've (that is, me and my friends) put into both Advance Wars and Animal Crossing, it's well into hundreds of hours for each of them. Golden Sun is a bit too by-the-numbers RPG for my tastes, though. Also, technically Advance Wars is the continuation of the ancient Famicom (then Super Famicom and also Gameboy) Wars line, which was Japan-only for years and years.

Other notable Nintendo standouts, recently, have been:

Pikmin and Pikmin 2: This type of gameplay was created for these games, and it works extremely well. Budding game designers should look very hard at these, for I know of no game that illustrates more clearly how to create a new mode a play out of bits and pieces of what came before it, combined with new concepts.

Super Smash Bros. and Smash Bros. Melee: It's easy to forget these, especially Melee which has been on bargain racks for a couple of years now, but I'm not aware of a better multiplayer game.

But Nintendo has been quiet with new kinds of gaming lately, I suspect because they're pouring their corporate energy into something big, possibly that long-rumored new incarnation of Mario. (I really hate the word "franchise" by the way, it's largely a marketing term.)

Nostalgia is boring.

[fondue]

I'm sorry, we're supposed to care about your 'childhood'? Who are you again? Why not try reporting news like the grown-ups?

The legend of WHAT?

[tepples]

Dance Dance Revolution Extreme had "The legend of MAX". Donkey Konga had "The legend of ZELDA".

Sources have leaked one song and its background from the co-branded DDR for GCN.
Download the song | View the background

Re:The legend of WHAT?

[Anonymous Coward]

at work so I'm not listening to the track, but if it is real it could just be the "MAX 300" for this game....

Kart Fighter

[tepples]

[Does DDR with Mario] feature the Princess shaking her booty in a latex mini-skirt?

No, but Kart Fighter does.

I'm a straight DDR player, you insensitive clod

[tepples]

I am a 24-year-old man. I play the four-panel dance game in the arcade and on my PS1. I even make my own simfiles for the the open-source PC version. I am not sexually attracted to other men. How is this possible?

Re:I'm a straight DDR player, you insensitive clod

[joper90]

you don't clarify you actually have a gf thou.

Video yourself, and i bet when you play it back you look camp/ghay :)

Previous GameCube-compatible DDR

[tepples]

It's DDR for a platform that had no DDR game before.

Fanboys' excuse until now: If you have a GameCube, a Game Boy Player, and an imported Japanese DDR Game Pak for Game Boy Color (one of the three DDR GB mixes), you have DDR for GameCube.

ARGH! Cobrat! A Cobrat!

[tepples]

Mario eats what the badgers tell him to eat.