Mailbag
24 Mar 2007
MEGAߥTE
MEGAߥTE
Good Diverse Coverage
Deezer
Deezer
Wiiless
Sapphira
Sapphira
Simsational
Chupperson
Chupperson
Decomposed
David Dayton
David Dayton
FIRED
Lizard Dude
Lizard Dude
FIRED

Got something you want us to answer next time? Send it in!

This site was awesome. Now it sucks. You guys suck.
- Christopher Cormier

Deezer: Your list of reasons makes a compelling argument.

MEGAߥTE: Bad day at Tim Horton's?

Hello, one and all. The six-hundred seventy-seven dudes are back. Anyway, I am kind of worried about Nintendo's future. Nintendo has been making big leaps in their history thousands of times, from analog sticks, to the DS, but the Wii is really not looking up to par with other systems on the mart. Not to cruel, which I may look like already, but is Nintendo's long history reaching its final page? Nintendo may lose a couple of mainstream gamers with their "breakthrough", and most gamers will be put off by the "current-gen" graphics of the Wii. The photos for the games of Xbox 360 and PS3 look awesome, and I don't know one single person (Aside from you guys and gals) who would be caught dead playing that system. It's graphics aren't up to par of the competition, but it may seem kind of unfair since Nintendo was more more partial to the gameplay, then graphics. (Like Pixar) All I'm saying is, will this be Nintendo's next Virtual Boy? And if it is, how will Nintendo pass on? This is dude677. Peace out.
- Dude677

Lizard Dude: You consider the DS to be a big leap in Nintendo's history, but are afraid the Wii will be its downfall? Learn the lessons of the past! The DS has far worse graphics than its competitor, the PSP, yet because of its innovative control scheme and casual-friendly library, it's absolutely destroying the PSP in sales, profits, etc. Now look at the Wii vs. PS3 & 360. See a similar pattern? Yeah, I thought so. Furthermore, companies die when they run out of money. Nintendo has always been by far the best at making a profit of the modern Big Three companies. Every 360 and PS3 sold will lose its respective company money since they cost more to produce than they're sold for (games sales are what hopefully make up for this loss). The Wii, however, is being sold at profit to Nintendo. They're making money right off the bat. Finally, it may seem obvious (apparently not to people you hang around though) but it bears repeating. Games aren't fun because of their graphics. Games are fun because of their gameplay. Will your friends be caught dead playing a PS2 or XBox? Because in case they didn't notice, those systems' graphics are quite outdated compared to the 360.

Chupperson: All the people you know must be ignorant fools. Meanwhile, the rest of the world eagerly awaits Wii.

Deezer: Dang, this is really old.

Sapphira: Chup sure likes to over-generalize.

Chupperson: I only make ridiculous claims in response to other ridiculous claims. And yeah, this is way freakin' old.

David Dayton: The world has already spoken, or so some sales data seems to imply.

Hey guys, I just wanted to share some halloween fun I took pics of. This year, I got my wife and my brother in on it, so check it out and I hope your halloween was fun!!!

Also, here is a link to my SMB3 Pumpkin!
- Jesse Salazar 3rd

Lizard Dude: I hope my Halloween was fun, too. I can't even remember it! Your bro has a mean elbow-to-the-rib-cage move in pic 3.

MEGAߥTE: Grandson, you're our Halloween hero!

David Dayton: Hmm...

Sapphira: Fun stuff, although "Peach" would look better if you couldn't see her real hair underneath the wig.

Hey TMK,
Better late than never, I suppose. Here's my Halloween pic: http://www.shyranger.com/103106-1.jpg
Hope you'll get it in a mailbag sometime. ^_^
Take it easy,
- ShyRanger

Lizard Dude: Your motto of "better late than never" seems very fitting on this day.

David Dayton: It's-a you...

'Ey, guys. First of all, great site! Why must it be so much better than mine? XO
>_> Anyway... I have a few questions I'd like to ask. Or random things I felt like saying.
1) How much older do you think Mario is than Luigi? Actually, since they were brought by the stork, they weren't really 'born'... so how is Mario older than Luigi? We must track down a stork and force it to tell us the secret of their baby-delivering ways!
2) Yeah, anyway.. I know that you've said Mario and Luigi grew up in Brooklyn. And I'm pretty sure myself that Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. took place in Brooklyn, but I just wanted to know if you thought the same. So, are those two games in Brooklyn?
3) Princess Peach is still a princess, not a queen... Why is that? Her parents don't seem to be around, so shouldn't she be queen? Unless... Wasn't her grandfather around in SMRPG? Would he be considered the king or something if Peach's parents were gone?
4) Are the Mushroom People's mushroom heads really hats? It would make sense, seeing as how the princess of the Mushroom People doesn't have one. I had a theory once that it might be part of some religion.
5) I'm suddenly remembering another theory of mine, involving the creation of the Koopalings. And Bowser Jr., since he might not be considered one of them. I've noticed a lot of similarities between Koopas and Yoshis- Big nose, big eyes, the shell, the shoes- and I'm thinking the two species might be related. And since Yoshis lay eggs(presumably asexually((even the guys, too, since I'm sure the main Yoshi is male)) ), why can't Koopas? Bowser might've just laid eggs which hatched into the Koopalings. And Bowser Jr. Kinda weird, but possible, right?
6) Now that I'm on the topic of Yoshi being related to other species, do you think Yoshi and Birdo are kinda in a hen and rooster situation? I mean, they're both types of chickens, but hens are female and roosters are male. Maybe Yoshis and Birdos(since it's been shown that there's more than one) are like that, Yoshis being male and Birdos being female. Just a thought.
7) Eh... I had another question/theory, but I forgot. So... hi. *waves*
Yeah... bye. *waves*
PS. This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated. *vanishes*
- SMB, your master.

MEGAߥTE: 3) Monarchies work in strange ways and just because an older member of the royal family is alive, that doesn't necessarily make them king or queen. King Toadstool was mentioned in the original Super Mario Bros. manual as well as featured in the Mario comics, novels, and a coloring book, and "The King" (Daisy's father) appeared in the Super Mario Bros. movie. Although the kings have always been absent from the games, it seems implied that they do exist. Of course, now we have games referring to Toadsworth as Peach's father, so I'm thinking Nintendo totally doesn't care for any sort of logical reasoning at this point.
4) If you go by the Mario cartoons, yes.
5) Supposedly, the original story involved at least New York, if not Brooklyn itself, long before things were retroactively changed in Yoshi's Island.
6) No.

Deezer: 4) I guess nobody reads the older mailbags. :-\
7) *tides*

Sapphira: 1) Possibly the length of time between when Yoshi first found Baby Mario to when Baby Luigi was rescued. So whatever time frame Yoshi's Island is supposed to occur.
2) I'm thinking that Mario Bros. takes place near some sort of border/warp area between Brooklyn and the Mushroom World. Note that this is just theory/speculation.
3) In some cases, too, the heir to the throne must marry before they're called "King" or "Queen"--unless I'm mistaken. And there was an elderly female Toad Peach called "Grandma" in SMRPG--not a grandpa.
5) The eggs Yoshis lay from eating something have nothing to do with procreation.
6) Chickens, what the dukar? Yoshis are dinosaurs, and I think Birdos are supposed to be some sort of dinosaur-like creatures, too.
7) *microwaves*

MEGAߥTE: 1) How do you substantiate that, Sapph?

Sapphira: I'm figuring that coming out of the pouch is the equivalent to being born. Baby Mario came out when he met Yoshi, Baby Luigi once rescued. Of course, they could've been "born" when they were given to their parents, in which case they'd've been only seconds apart.

Chupperson: 1) I don't think meeting Yoshi has anything to do with being born.
5) NCL says Yoshis are neither male nor female, if I recall.
Also, with Yoshi's Island, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and Yoshi's Island DS, I have extreme doubts that Brooklyn ever comes into play in the Mario games. Not that the early games had any story continuation at all, they just took elements from the previous game and created something new out of it. (Mario Bros. takes Mario from Donkey Kong, and Super Mario Bros. takes the Brothers, pipes, and turtles from Mario Bros.) Since Mario Bros. doesn't even have an ending, I can't see it as a plot-advancing installment at all. I'm not one to hypothesize, but the SMB manual says Mario hears of the plight of the Mushroom Kingdom, which leads me to believe he was already somewhere on the Mushroom World.

David Dayton: 1. You know, Sapph has a point... if being freed from the stork's bundle equates to birth, then Mario is older than Luigi by... well...that rather depends on your skill, I suppose.
2. Probably not.
3. There are many confusing things about the Princess and the royal family. None of the others appear in any "canon" (cough) Mario title.
4. I would hope so, but I can't recall us ever getting a definitive answer on that.
5. A Yoshi doesn't have a shell... well, they didn't, and I still don't think they do, although that might be open for debate. The patch is supposed to be a saddle, but the more recent games have seemed to blur the line between a saddle and a shell.
6. No.

MEGAߥTE:

Sapphira: I've realized that line (which is why I suggested the idea in my earlier comment), but it doesn't make sense that they wouldn't've been "born" before that. It's like, so, during the whole adventure, Baby Mario was really the equivalent of still being in the womb? I could just see him being called Fetus Mario.

MEGAߥTE: This is a good example of why "Mariology" is inane (btw I wasn't taking that screenshot to mean the literal sense).

Dear TMK,
Hey, it's me, Deven711! Just decided to drop a line because I felt bored. Anyway, I just wanted to submit some stuff to you.
1) David Dayton, you have a Nintendo Wii? I envy you!! I can't find any Wiis in my area. I heard there were five of them at Circuit City. What the [heck] is Nintendo smoking? Only releasing a very small bit of copies. DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON!!! I've been waiting so long for that system and now they're none of them left already?! Boy, is Eric Cartman gonna be [mad]! (South Park: Go, God! Go! Part II and Part XII)
2) I've been thinking up a game idea involving a Mario/Sonic crossover, except it's in the Mario & Luigi series. The four of them can work together to solve puzzles. Like Sonic can use his Spin Dash to break hard walls and speed through bridges that easily collapse. Tails can fly the gang over large pits and get to high places they can't reach with a normal jump. Also, the Bros. Attacks will return from their absence in M&L: PiT. Here, the Mario duo will share Bros. Points and so will Sonic and Tails and there will be a lot of brand new attacks like "Drill Bros." and "Piledrive Bros." The plot will be when the Metarex return and come to find the Chaos Emeralds. However, they spread into the Mushroom Kingdom for a reason I'll come up with soon. There, a Metarex ship will crash into Peach's Castle and a Metarex will come out. Mario will fight the Metarex and defeat it. Then, they end up meeting Sonic and Tails and they begin their quest to search for the Chaos Emeralds.
3) You know what really grinds my gears? Family Guy still hasn't made a joke off of Mario. I mean, come on! They made fun of Doom and Pac-Man! But I gotta admit, not even I can come up with a good Mario-based cutaway joke. (Man, that question was even stupider than Madonna!)
4) Would the idea of Wario and Waluigi playing in the next M&L be a better idea for you. Just in case you didn't like #2. (I said number two. (Beavis & Butt-head laugh))
5) Isn't "Yoshi's Island DS" the first game where, instead of Mario and Luigi rescuing Peach, it has Mario and Peach rescuing Luigi? I think it's pretty obvious here.
6) I still think that a Mario anime would be a good idea. But this time, NO 4-KIDS! They completely destroyed the Kirby anime and Sonic X! Instead, have Saban dub it or something. I don't care what dubbing company. JUST NOT 4-KIDS!!!
And that's about it for now. I bid you good day, lady and gentlemen!
- Deven711

Deezer: 5) In Mario & Wario, Mario and Princess (and Yoshi) rescued Luigi.

MEGAߥTE: 3) There is one scene, but it may just be coincidental. What do you think?

Lizard Dude: 2) & 4) I like the Wario/Waluigi idea a lot better since I could at least actually imagine that game being published.

Sapphira: You, sir, need to watch your language.

Chupperson: Why do people want Mario and Sonic storyline crossovers so much? They aren't part of each other's series, the end.
...Did I just reply to this letter?

David Dayton: 1. I envy me too.
2. Ok.
3. Indeed.
4. Given that Waluigi has never appeared in a Wario title, I find that a little improbable.
5. I really need to get that game.
6. You might need an original cartoon before they can begin to translate/adapt it.

The chests in Paper Mario have keyholes but they're just never locked. What's up with that?
- Bird Person

Chupperson: Ever play any other RPGs?

David Dayton: Mario is the master of unlocking.

Deezer: More like, the master of opening unlocked chests.

Regarding Doki Doki Panic, since we know Shigeru Miyamoto worked on DDP, can we not safely assume he threw those in as cameos for his Mario series? the POW from Donkey Kong and Starman from SMB1? Just nice subtle thingies so as not to be too obvious. Or maybe a particular affection for those items.
- jrt

Deezer: I assumed we were already assuming that.

David Dayton: I assumed you'd assume that.

Dear TMK,
It's me, Robert, from the Fungi Forums. You guys rock! I know you've heard that message hundreds of times in your mailbag, but I just had to tell you that!
Anyway, have you heard of a show called, "King Koopa's Kool Kartoons"? It was a show similar to Bozo the clown, except it stared King Koopa (A.K.A. Bowser). The costume for "King Koopa" a modified version of the costume from the Super Mario ice capades. The show mostly consisted of public-domain cartoon shorts from the 1920's and the 1930's with some live-action parts in between (complete with an audience composed of children).
Wiki article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Koopa%27s_Kool_Kartoons
Pre-recorded intro on Youtube:
[video removed due to copyright violation]
I searched your site for a page on the show, but no luck. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the show broadcasted in very few areas for a very limited time (Mostly in Southern Calafornia on Fox betwenn 1989-1990). What do you think?
See ya'll on the forums,
- Robert

Sapphira: The KKK...K? OH NOES!

David Dayton: I need to put that awful intro onto some sort of audio streaming thing...

MEGAߥTE: Indeed, we haven't gotten around to adding that yet. A somewhat disturbing remnant of Mario history vaguely related to the equally appalling Mario Ice Capades.

I also tried out the "test level" code [in Super Mario Sunshine], and I have come to a conclusion for why the mushroom/banana man looks so different and why he goes through the wall in the pit. The reason he looks so different is possibly because he went through many forms and was finally scrapped, but kept in the test level to test collisions. The banana-man would be some sort of a test to see how a boss works. To test normal enemy collisions, he would spew goopies and widgets. The reason he walks into the wall is due to a lack of collision detectors. The liquid he spurts out when he is stomped on is just water. But why does the lost enemy walk through the wall, but other objects don't (the soccer ball for instance)? This is due to a lack of collision sensors on the enemies, not collision sensors on the wall.
- chad miller

David Dayton: I need to play the test area some day.

Dear TMK!
You have an awesome site.
Yeah, I have a little question and I couldn't find any answere: How tall are Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, DK and Yoshi?
- Seyariu

Deezer: NOE released a "Nintendo All-Star Battle Cards" set a while back with heights listed as follows: Bowser - 270cm (8'10"); DK - 135cm (4'5"); Luigi - 140cm (4'7"); Mario: 135cm (4'5"); Peach: 158cm (5'2"); Toad - 83cm (2'9"); Wario - 150cm (4'11"); Yoshi - 158cm (5'2"). Daisy wasn't included. This size chart from a Japanese Wii developers' book shows the relative height of them now.

Sapphira: Wow, everyone is really short. Peach, the tallest human, is the same height as me, and I'm relatively short.

David Dayton: The amusing thing is that those heights do seem to somewhat match up with the relative heights of the characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Dear TMK'ers,
Sometime back I mailed you guys about the second Mario reference in Uniracers (the one where you get a gold medal on the Bounder tour, and you see a short Mario esque-scene where your unicycle grabs a cape from the blocks above, jumps on and flattens the computer player, complete with Mario noises).
Well, last time I didn't have screenshots, but this time I've included them for confirmation...

Thanks, hope this helps,
- Stapler__9_42

David Dayton: It's-a him...

Chupperson: Didn't we do a bag about this and I talked about Red's Dream? Or am I hallucinating?

Sapphira: Why don't you talk anymore, Red?

MEGAߥTE: Magic Mushrooms again, Chup?

I was channel surfing one day, when I came across an episode of Pokemon starring a Pokemon called zangoose. It immediately noticed that the mark on it's chest looked strikingly similar to the Mario font "M" not to mention the fact that it's red. Do you think Nintendo did this on purpose, or is it just on odd coincidence?

- PD

MEGAߥTE: I really don't think that's supposed to be an M at all, just a zig-zag design.

David Dayton: Perhaps it's an upside-down W?

Chupperson: It's just David Bowie.

Hi!
I'm trying to beat all the 96 goals of super mario world. Now I've got 94 but I can't find the last two.. But still after beating Bowser it still says that I got 94.. Can't you save the game after beating Bowser? If you can, how? And if not, what did i miss?
Thanks.
- Stina

MEGAߥTE: You cannot save after beating Bowser. If it looks like you have all of the exits, make sure you've gotten both exits in the Star Worlds. The normal exits there don't lead to a new path, so you can't tell if you've actually found them or not by looking at the map.

Deezer: Also see our SMW guide for frequently-missed goals.

David Dayton: It's probably one of the really annoying exit goals...

I came across this rare Mario game that was listed on Ebay for $592. Supposedly, it was developed by Hudson and very few copies were produced. I thought you might like the info. Here's a link. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150010663034
- Lucas DeWoody

MEGAߥTE: Yep, we've had that listed on our site since sometime in the 90s. Looks like nobody wanted to pay $600, but somebody still bought it for around $200... that's a little out of my reasonable collector's price range.

David Dayton: For such a paltry game, that is a lot of money.

Love the site and the internet radio! It would be cool if you gave WTMK fake call numbers that had "64" in it.
- Louis, aka "Blue Bob-omb"

Deezer: I like the idea, but I think it would be better for a station playing music from all Nintendo games.

David Dayton: Feel free to create WTMK promos.

I am a Mario fan and I just found there is more to the minus world. click the link and it will show you what it is, and how you do it. here is the link... http://www.nestimes.silius.net/editorials/nl/smb/page1/ sorry its so long.
- Nick Kromer

MEGAߥTE: This is a fake. We've had a number of gullible people like you send this to us, though, enough that we're considering starting a myth-busting page.

David Dayton: Mini Fiery Mario is much more fun, and actually possible.

Hey TMK crew, long time no write into the Maibag Did something interesting happen with seizures? They started making the "please read the seizure handbook thing press A to continue" bit somewhere around Mario Power Tennis... I think... and now It's part of The DS and Wii's firmware o_o;
- Phred Levi

MEGAߥTE: Interesting, no. Retarded, yes. In 2004, Eric Martin, on behalf of his son Michael, sued Nintendo over game-induced seizures, despite the numerous warnings all over the box and manual. Nintendo decided to settle by adding those warnings, and now we all have to put up with the inconvenience. They had successfully defended against several similar lawsuits in the past, so I'm not sure why they decided to add the warning when they did. Nintendo seemed to be the most careful console manufacturer in regards to epilepsy, so it's really unfortunate that they were targeted. I was able to remove the warning from my DS, but it's still there for Wii (and a few GC and GBA games). They've taken even more steps, for example, the removal of the flashing red Game Over screen from Zelda II on Virtual Console.

Lizard Dude: It's pretty annoying on the Cube, but since the Wii remotes take a couple of seconds to turn on anyway, the screen doesn't matter much there.

David Dayton: Ah, lawsuits...

Dear TMK
I have three questions.
1. Your old WTMK had names of games the songs were from, but this new one doesn't. Why not?
2. What game is the song "Mushroom Song" from?
3. What website is the best to listen to any Mario MP3s you want?
- boyn64

David Dayton: 1. I thought it did... oh, wait, you mean the game titles aren't being streamed but the song titles are? It's some sort of bizarre issue with the way one of the programs involved handles tags. I know that the Ogg and the MP3 streams display slightly different tags, but neither one is ideal, if I recall correctly. There might be a way to hack it into working correctly, but I haven't had a chance to do much with WTMK recently -- as those of you lucky enough to listen to the month-long Christmas show can testify to.
2. Off the top of my head, I think it might be a track from Yoshi, but I am not entirely sure.

MEGAߥTE: 1. I've hacked partial support in, but it's actually an issue with WinAMP's Ogg support, and there isn't much I can do about that. We felt the quality improvement was worth the sacrifice.

Dear TMK Staff,
I was playing Yoshi's Story, and I was on page 2-4, the Torrential Maze. When I got to the part where you use the lift thingies, I rode all the way out to the place where you're supposed to jump off, and I stopped after reaching this point (the lift crashed into the wall and disappeared). When the lift disappeared, I ended up going through the wall! I could walk to a certian point, but then I fell when I reached the side of the wall. Then when I reached the bottom, I died. Now I have to go figure out if I can do it again!
- PurplePad, creator of the infamous WildFire comic series

Deezer: That entire game is a glitch. (Sorry Chup.)

David Dayton: Wild-what comic series?

I found a few glitches in SM64 DS.
In Bob-omb Battlefield, if you go into the cannon past the first bridge, aim the crosshairs so that the top arrow is on the bottom of the floating Island and shoot and you will fly really high in the air. If you hold up while doing this, you'll go out of the boundary and die.
Also, if you go into the cannon past the second bridge, and aim all the way right and down far enough to see a few pixels of a tree and shoot, you will do the same thing.
In Shifting Sand Land, if you run up one of the four pillars and dive near the top, you might fly up in the air and be stuck in a diving position. To get out, just press A or B and you'll die.
In Dry, Dry World, go into the town as Mario, make the water go to the bottom level and use the bloated Mario technique to get back up to the pipe that got you to town. Get to the end of the pipe, going towards the main area of the level and triple jump to the walls and wall jump up the walls, you will be back in water. Turn around and swim back and eventually, out of nowhere, the water will disapear!
In the fourth floor (the one with the Tick Tock Clock tree), go on the second stair of either side of the stairs and do a Slide Kick to the corner. After a few tries you will fall through the corner and die.
Also, sometimes you'll fall into an area. One time I landed in a dark area that is to the right of the TIny, Huge Island room and when you go to the left, you can jump into one of the Tiny Huge Island paintings from the opposite side!
In the cave behind the waterfall, with Yoshi, go under the flower box near the Mario hat. hit it and right when you're about to get the flower, lick the Mario hat. The hat will now be around Yoshi's legs! One time I did this, Mario's hat disappeared and it never returned until I left the level and entered it again.
Those are all of the glitches I've found, so far. I'm still looming around the game to find anymore glitches. (Note: I have no idea if any of these work on the original game, sadly I don't have the original, so I could'nt check.)
- Nintendo JJW

Deezer: Thanks. Huge bug update coming soon!

David Dayton: I really need to update my little code project some era.

I'm writing a novel during which the main characters briefly explore an abandoned radio station. Would you guys mind if I made the fictional radio station's call letters WTMK in honor of you guys? Thanks, I'm a bug fan of your site and WTMK. :)
- Aaron Griffin

Deezer: Sure, that's fine. I'd be interested to know the name of your novel when it's published.

Sapphira: Wow, we have bug fans visiting this site now? It's nice to see our demographic is expanding!

David Dayton: I think I should do an update soon...

Sapphira: That reminds me, I think you missed the memo that you're fired, David.

Got something you want us to answer next time? Send it in!