In the day of Master Chief (Halo), Niko Bellic (GTA4) and the beautiful colors of Viva Pinata, is it possible for Mario to blow the hearts and minds of gamers? Eurogamer has tried to answer the question in their two page “first impressions” of Mario Galaxy.

Throughout the preview, one key area stands out: fun. Their talking Mario Galaxy up as the next fun Mario title. For those that remember Mario Sunshine you may recall it was the ‘next’ game in the franchise but nothing huge to write home about. It was in 3D, as expected, but it otherwise followed a very standard template of Mario games. It had a neat water squirting gun, but was the game that fun?

I can honestly say I tried to complete Sunshine but found myself frustrated trying to complete all the red coin goals and some of the extensive hunting I found myself doing on advanced levels. It definitely wasn’t a game a younger kid could pickup and easily cruise through. When I judge “fun” I judge it through the entire game… not just a few levels.

Mario Galaxy, I hope, will change all the problems Sunshine exhibited.

Many people have taken it to mean that Galaxy is a footstep-following sequel to the N64 classic. It’s not. After a lengthy hands-on with the E3 demo (plus a couple of extra levels), it becomes clear that Super Mario Galaxy is its own game: a blend of some of the best bits from both 3D and 2D Mario tradition, with a number of very distinctive twists. It’s far more New than New Super Mario Bros ever was.

This is a big step for Nintendo, a company well known for re-hashing the same characters in the same game archtypes for generations. Nobody is saying New Super Mario Bros. isn’t a great DS game (heck, I beat it) but we’re talking a revolutionary new console with a brand new method of input design.

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It wasn’t long ago when we all bowed down to the might of a Halo release or a Final Fantasy title. Once upon a time time the next Mario would change our lives forever and a new sports title was going to change the playing field like nothing seen before.

Now, we’re seeing new franchises rise to the challenge as top dog. One such game, Rock Band, is changing how we play video games. Like many Wii titles, Rock Band is all about interacting with the game by virtually rocking out like a star.

Reuters has a writeup about how Rock Band won Best of Show at E, “A video game that turns players into virtual rock stars won a top industry award this week, beating a field of action titles featuring lush graphics and complex stories.”

The franchise is being driven by MTV and Electronic Arts and “allows up to four players to strum guitar or bass, pound drums, or sing in time to any of dozens of modern and classic rock songs.” I don’t think the big named companies are really driving the hype and success of Rock Band, I think the developers did that by themselves and MTV along with the backing of Electronic Arts made it possible to bring the concept to live with licenses and song rights.

In another nod to the popularity of casual games, Sony Corp.’s “LittleBigPlanet,” which lets users create environments for photorealistic cloth characters to frolic in, won Best Original Game.

Yet another franchise to take home the ooohs and the aaahs and change the landscape of gaming. The rise of the casual games has begun, now we must follow it through into a new era of gaming!

Nintendo is taking casual gaming to a new level: exercise. This benefits the entire pool of video game players from casual gamers to dedicated gaming fans. Even non-gamers may find WiiFit a bit of a useful reason to invest $249.99 on a Nintendo Wii.

The new Wii balancing board is an accessory to first be utilized with WiiFit their fitness game which is a take off on Wii Sports it seems (Wii Sports left me in pain too). The four key forms of exercise include aerobic, muscular, Yoga and balance.

Like Wii Sports you’ll have mini-games to accomplish tasks including push-ups, hula-hooping, step aerobics and more. What about this balancing board accessory?

The device, which looks very similar to your standard scale, will pick up on several attributes of its user. First off, it functions just as the description fits: it will measure your weight and help figure out your Body Mass Index.

The board will be the center focus behind WiiFit, but will it be utilized for other games? I’m wondering if this will be a ‘bundle’ like WiiPlay and the Wii Controller. What we have seen from Nintendo’s past is the ability for them to make cute accessories that never take off due to lack of support. Most light gun zappers, R.O.B the robot, VR Boy (a whole unit) and many other products with limited lifespans.

In any case, it’s nice to see someone trying to get us off the couch.

(Thanks, GameStooge)

Microsoft announced Viva Pinata: Party Animals, a game which sounds like an Xbox 360 version of Mario Party using their new Viva Pinata franchise. This change in game design may be part of their movement towards casual games to bring more kids to the Xbox 360 product line.

The execution of Viva Pinata on the Xbox 360, to me, was a complete failure. They released a great game with minimal hype overshadowed by a Gears of War release during the same period, will this happen again?

The Xbox 360 isn’t a family console…yet, and releasing a family-focused game at the same time as a big ‘hardcore gamers’ game will be a mistake. Party Animals is scheduled to be released by the end of the year, hopefully not around the time of Halo 3, GTA IV or Assassins’ Creed.

A brief trailer was shown for the new game, which showed the colourful animals playing a variety of minigames, including one where a group of the animals pushed their boats toward the end of a pool in a race…by burping.

Viva Pinata: Party Animals will not match up to the Wii control scheme but that doesn’t mean they cannot make a great game. Oddly enough, Rare Ltd. won’t be working this title and Microsoft gave the work to Krome Studios. It doesn’t seem that Krome Studios has released an Xbox 360 game to date, although Hellboy is listed on their site as a working title. Their released titles do not look all that impressive but that doesn’t mean they won’t live up to the legend of Rare Ltd. when it comes to this young franchise.

The concept seems solid, the development team seems to have a grasp of kid-friendly gaming but we’ll have to wait and see how serious Microsoft will take the title. If they give it half the hype of a Gears of War it could turn some heads.

(Thanks, GameSpot)