And here we are, possibly our last big New Super Mario Bros. Wii post prior to the game's release (but you never know; check back later, just in case).

First up, we've got new art in the gallery, featuring Penguin Mario, Peach, Spike, Bowser Jr. in the Koopa Clown Car, the four heroes, and... er, a Blooper. Well, five out of six isn't bad. Go to the bottom of this post to find them.

And we have videos. Lots of them. From GoNintendo, the first is a pair of Japanese ads for the game, which like the North American version play the nostalgia card, but in a different way:



While it's cool that they're giving the originals their props, it is curious that they don't show any footage of the new game, the very one which they're advertising. Go figure.

Fortunately, they aren't all like that. Nintendo of Japan has updated their New Super Mario Bros. Wii website to include other commercials, including some with gameplay, and featuring Japanese celebrities who I couldn't identify if I tried.

Andriasang knows, though, and identifies the pair as comedian/actress/singer Nahomi Matsushima and singer/actor/talent Kazunari Ninomiya of male idol group Arashi. They point out that other site updates include a look at World 1 in the World section, and Ice Mario and Yoshi in the action section.

If you'd like to save yourself the trip, though, GoNintendo has compiled all the gameplay videos into one single YouTube file:



Plus, if you can read Japanese, a new Iwata Asks is available.


On the American side of things, Kotaku took a minute to ask Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime about the distinct red box the game comes in, and why they decided to go with that.

"It was an NCL idea," Fils-Aime said. "New Super Mario Brothers is such a special title, it is something that [Mario creator Shigeru] Miyamoto and his team have been so passionate about — that when it came time for the final packaging, we had many internal discussions as to how we make it special."

"And that's where the idea of the red box came from," he continued. "How do we signify to our Nintendo fans, to our greater community the specialness of this title? The red is Mario red."

"What we did differently here in the U.S., when we were looking at the final packaging, we were concerned that the Wii logo on the red, in what we call the branding bar, was a little too plain just white. So it's in our market we've made it silver with the metallic ink to make it pop more."

Fils-Aime says retailers have been excited, while third-parties have raised no complaints. "I haven't heard any licensees concerned that the box is somehow going to overly sway the consumer," he said.

"I think our licensees understand that, from a first party stand-point, New Super Mario Bros. is our biggest title for the holidays. And I bet most licensees are excited about the hardware-driving potential of that particular title."

For better or for worse, however, Fils-Aime said that this would not be a frequently-recurring theme, dismissing Kotaku's notion of a green box for Luigi's Mansion 2.

"We've been clear that this is kind of a one-time deal," Fils-Aime explained. "Don't expect to see a yellow box for x or a gold box for y. We wanted this to be very special and very unique which is why we went down the path with the red box."

Over at GoNintendo, however, there is hope that the next Wii Zelda game might merit a gold box. That would be nice and retro.


And finally, we wrap up today's coverage with a look at some super-skilled gameplay runs through some of the game's worlds. While these players make it look easy, one can tell that it's going to take some practice before anyone can breeze through some of these levels and pull off some of these tricks.

Expect to die. A lot.

The person who uploaded these to YouTube notes that it is not them playing, but rather some of the bonus videos you can purchase with Star Coins. Here's the first:



There are tons more, and you can find them here and here, with thanks to GoNintendo.

And that would be that for now. I've got my copy reserved, and remember, the game comes out on Sunday. That's where I'll be when the time comes and it's released.

Of course, if you go to Nintendo World Store's launch party, you can pick it up tomorrow. Remember, if you go, grab some pics and send them our way, and we'll be glad to post them on Monday!