Mario Marathon, the epic gaming weekend of fund raising proportions is now over. In the end they raised over 11,142.50$ for Penny Arcade’s charity Child’s Play. The group of gamers Brian, John, and Dan completed Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and completed Super Mario Galaxy with a 120 stars in just under 58 hours. Which is an amazing feat within itself, but even more amazing was the amount of money that they raised!

The group started gaming on Friday (6/27) at 3pm and ended Monday (6/30) at 12:30am. Congratulations to them and their gaming exploits, also a quick special thanks to Brian’s Wife for putting up with them, Couch Dog, Slouch Guy, Blanket Girl, Baby Mario, and all the other people who contributed to this weekend of gaming goodness. We at Infendo wish you good luck and best wishes in any further exploits of sleep deprived marathon gaming you guys might do in the future.

[Mario Marathon]

Bowser and Birdo? Goombas? Easy peezy lemon squeezy. How about the ones that don’t get recycled as pop culture references in blog post after blog post? Do you think you can tell them apart from obscure dinosaurs?

Well ok, Mr. Fancy Pants. Get on over to Mental Floss’s latest quiz and find out for yourself. Then tell us how you did in the comments. I’m anticipating incredibly high scores from the Infendo faithful. I passed, by the way,with flying colors.

Super Mario Galaxy, the title we’ve been waiting on for what seems like a lifetime has finally reached our greedy, little gamer hands. And boy was it worth it. Galaxy holds quality that both brings us back to why games are fun, and sets the bar for technical know-how. Though even through all that, Galaxy isn’t a completely perfect title (but what is?). That being said, the time for a review has come. We here at Infendo HQ have gathered and combined our infinite gaming knowledge to give you the low down on Nintendo’s AAA title. So come gather round and listen to the Infendo elders speak. 

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No, you’re not seeing things. As of 12.00 a.m. this morning, Super Mario Galaxy surpassed The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time for the number one position on gamerankings.com. This is like…big. Ocarina of Time has pwned the charts for the past 9 years and Galaxy takes the top title within one week of release. It just goes to show the amount of quality and skill that Nintendo puts into their work. Here, here!!!

This post goes out to my boy Ben Fritz from Variety. He caught flack on Monday for panning Super Mario Galaxy in his review saying the game “looks old fashioned and lifeless” when compared to PS3 graphics. Aside from dismissing the fact that Nintendo has long since marginalized the importance of HD graphics, I don’t think Ben was following my guide to playing Super Mario Galaxy in a post-HD world: (more…)

What started as a slow and disorientating experience has quickly become one of my favorite games released in more than a decade. Some five hours in, I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve beheld such creativity in games.

The superlative level design immediately makes you want to double back and play it again. The colorful artwork and convincing lighting display a level of polish rarely seen on any platform. The cohesive powerups make Mario feel new even though he’s been saving the same princess for more than 20 years.

Galaxy is challenging without being inaccessible — the music on par with that of a John Williams score, and the gravity effect feels like a mini leap of faith every time you’re tasked with jumping to a neighboring planetoid.

I don’t know how influential this game will 10 years from now, but I know I’m playing something special.

Here’s an interesting and timely question posed by the Escapist today: How would Mario fare if he were introduced in 2007?

As everyone and their dog knows, today is the official launch of Super Mario Galaxy. It is the latest Mario adventure; the most far flung (literally, the dude is in SPACE); and it is perhaps one of the most important titles to grace any video game console in recent memory.

Even so, the Escapist gets all hypothetical on us: “Let’s assume Super Mario Galaxy would be the first Mario game on the market. There’d be questions, and lots of ‘em, from the media and the public alike; the sort of questions you expect to be asked when a new property is in development. What’s with the overalls? Why the fascination with stars, coins? Where does he come from, and what is his reason for hopping around planets and kicking the crap out of this league of ne’er-do-wells? What’s with the exaggerated, cartoonish and stereotypical Italian accent? You got something against Italians? Wake thy lawyers, it’s on!”

It’s a fresh, interesting read on a timeless gaming icon. If you manage to put down the Wiimote today, even for a few minutes — perhaps on your way to relieve yourself in between Galaxy sessions — I suggest you use those few minutes to read up on Mario Mario.

The game is that good, apparently.

CORRECTION: I errantly reported the text as Spanish, not Italian. I speak English and Portuguese only, bella. Perdoa me, por favor.  

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It’s quickly becoming Mario Weekend here at Infendo. Dig this crazy clip of twin Tesla coils playing the Super Mario Bros theme song in Baraboo, Wisconsin!

The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved.

[Thanks, Adam!]

With Super Mario Galaxy coming out next week, various Mario retrospectives are starting to pop up on the web. Jamie from Scotland even spotted this one on the Nintendo of Europe site, too.

What are some of your most memorable Mario moments?

On Sunday night, Nintendo will hold a launch party at their Nintendo World Store. The game goes on sale at Midnight, but the party starts earlier at 8PM with physical challenges and all sorts of shenanigans. They will even have Wii consoles for sale at Midnight!

Are you going to the party in Rockefeller Plaza on Sunday night?

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An excerpt from an early published Super Mario Galaxy review — it’s glowing:

Super Mario Galaxy raises the bar in terms of what can be achieved on the Wii. Galaxy is the kind of game that you’re going to want to take your time with because there is just so much to do in the game. This is the first game in a long time that I’ve actually gone back and replayed levels just for fun. It’s everything you loved about Mario 64 and nothing you hated about Super Mario Sunshine.

Galaxy hits Wii Nov. 12. Anyone not buying this game?

According to a 2004 census, there are approximately 127 million people living in Japan. We can logically assume roughly half of them own a Wii.

In addition to hogging the global Wii supply, they also get Super Mario Galaxy eleven excruciating days before it reaches North American shores, more than two weeks before Europe and - ah, poor Australia - almost a full month before our friends down under.

Obviously, the Japanese are a very privileged people. Forget that they also have one of the strongest economies in the world, beautiful uninhabited forests and an effective system of universal healthcare.

Galaxy is reason enough to relocate to Tokyo.

The ridiculously-anticipated game was released in Japan today, and Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku has posted some brief hands-on impressions of the final Japanese retail copy of Super Mario Galaxy. But surprisingly, all is not perfect in Mario’s latest outing; at least, not in outset of the adventure.

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