Ask Dan
Ask Dan was a section of the official Nintendo website at which users could email questions to the section's namesake, Dan Owsen. Many questions asked involved games that are part of the Super Mario franchise, though the names of the users submitting said questions occasionally referenced the franchise as well. Dan would infrequently respond in a sarcastic manner, resulting in questions being answered in a similar (yet less vulgar) manner to those asked on Ask Uncle Tusk.
Introductions[edit]
The introduction for the Ask Dan website was updated to go along with each new set of questions.
- December 3, 1997 -- Welcome to the first Ask Dan for the new web site! First off, I wanted to say thank you for all the questions for Mr. Miyamoto. In my interview with him, I only got a chance to ask a few of them. I'll post those soon. Lately, I've been deluged with e-mail about the new site design. The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive, although many people have come up with some great constructive criticism that we'll certainly take into consideration. One thing that will not happen, however, is a return to the old look and departments. The Loud House, Product Lab, Newsroom and HQ are gone FOR-EV-ER! Everything that was in those departments has been or will be moved over to the new site design. We're adding new things everyday, so check back soon if you can't find something now. With that, let's get on to the questions.
- February 4, 1998 -- This week, we are honored to have a special guest! Henry, the now-famous NOA game producer who's worked on such titles as NBA Courtside and Killer Instinct, has generously donated his time to answer some of your questions. (Basically, this is the guy with our dream job.) You may recognize Henry as the face appearing on several back issues of Nintendo Power Magazine, circa Volume 73.
Ask Dan will return in another week or so.
Now that the introductions and niceties are out of the way, let's get down to the questions!
- May 19th, 1998 -- Hey everybody, "Delinquent Dan" is back with a new Q&A;! Things have been busy here at Nintendo, what with E3, Banjo-Kazooie and Nintendo Sports all coming around the same time. We've rounded up materials on all the games that will be unveiled at the E3 show next week, and we'll be ready to go live with exclusive pictures and information on the day of the show (some materials will be up the day before). Look no farther than Nintendo Power Source for the best information on Nintendo titles at E3! We're also working on a site dedicated to Nintendo and Rare's next mega-hit, Banjo-Kazooie, so look for that soon. In other news, Nintendo Sports is doing awesome! Being big sports fans ourselves, we always knew there were a lot of sports games players out there, and judging from the enthusiastic response to www.nintendosports.com, you're as hungry as we are for hard-hitting, in-depth coverage of sports games. Now, on to some questions:
- June 8th, 1998 -- The long awaited return of Ask Dan! Yes, you long suffering questers for knowledge, it's true! Dan has not forsaken you! I'm back from E3, and digging out of the pile of junk that is on my desk! Lots is happening here at Nintendo.com. If you checked out our job postings lately, you'd know that we're hiring some staff to help us update the site more often, and bring more and more official Nintendo content your way. We've got lots of great pictures and news we picked up at E3 that we've been posting as soon as it's ready. And check out our cool Forsaken strategy guide! Now on to some Q&A;!
- Ask Dan -- 1.20.99 -- This installment of Ask Dan cuts back on the Mario Party dissin' and gets into a subject that I don’t think I’ve covered enough in Ask Dan...the storyline in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. OK, so maybe I have already answered questions about it but for some reason there still seems to be a lot of interest in this title! I also got a few in about Rogue Squadron and the adorable 3DO bear-busting BattleTanx commercial!
- April 1st, 1999 -- Yes, it’s the long awaited return of Ask Dan! Travis and I were competing to see which of us could procrastinate on writing a column for the longest, and Trav won! Congrats, Frog Boy! Anyway, in honor of this special day—you all know what day it is today, right?-- I’m going to let Evil Dan take over the column and answer all your questions. So before you believe anything that’s written here, just remember who is doing the answering, and what today is! OK, hang on tight....
- Ask Dan 9/3/1999 -- By now many of you have received the "Hot Newz 64" tape featuring cool footage of Jet Force Gemini and Donkey Kong 64 interspersed with wacky banter from various Nintendo hosts. Yes, this was the "TV Pilot" I hinted at earlier, although thankfully, it is not likely to be picked up by any TV station any time soon! While so far the response to the tape has been good, let's just say it has generated a few…. questions… including an "Art Bell" like speculation about the fate of the real Ask Dan (that's me). So, I'm going to try to assuage your fears as I sooth your itch for hard information.
- Ask Dan 12/21/99 -- Happy Holidays everyone! Even though this should be the season to be jolly, it seems like I get more cranky letters than ever this time of year. The cranky quotient has gone so high that I have decided to take some time off from building my career player's skillz[sic] in Courtside 2 and answer a few of your urgent requests. I'm going to kick this one off with one that I have received from several people--
Frequently asked questions relating to the Super Mario franchise[edit]
The Ask Dan webpage had a subsection of answers to questions that were apparently frequently sent to Dan. Two of these are related to the Super Mario franchise in some manner.
- Q: How can I be Luigi in Super Mario 64? What about Ninja Mario? What does "L is Real 2041" mean?
A: There is absolutely, positively, NO WAY that you can be Luigi or Ninja Mario in Super Mario 64. Any pictures or codes you may see on the Internet are FAKE. "L is Real 2041" doesn't mean anything!!!
- Q: Where are all the RPGs for Nintendo 64?
A: There are several RPGs in the works for the Nintendo 64, including THQ's Quest 64, Konami's Hybrid Heaven, Nintendo's Zelda 64, Super Mario RPG 2, and Mother 3 (aka Earthbound 64). All of these games may be released in 1998. There are probably other RPGs in the works by different Nintendo developers that have not yet been announced.
Emails relating to the Super Mario franchise[edit]
- Q: Hi, congratulations on your new web site, I think it is a great improvement. But I have a question: are there still downloadable sounds that you had on your previous site, like the Loud House? Because I really liked listening to music and stuff, I didn't find anything on that, but if there is, will you tell me where, and if you don't, I think you should make one. Also, I like the new search Code Bank, I think it makes it more convenient, but most of the time I type in a word, and nothing happens: like "Star Fox", or "Diddy Kong", the only successful one that has worked was "Turok", what do you think is wrong?
--<EjUkAtiD@aol.com>
A: We haven't added the new downloads section yet. We're thinking about doing this in two ways. For the top games, we'll have a link to a downloads area from the game review. We'll also have exclusive downloads that are only available to registered NSIDER members. In the Code Bank, if you enter the name for a game that doesn't have codes, like Star Fox 64, it will now come up with a message telling you that no codes were found. We held off on revealing the Diddy Kong Racing codes, but since they're now widely available, we featured them in Code of the Week, and we'll add them to the Code Bank soon.
- Q: Hey Dan, I read on www.nintendo.com that one of the Mario Artist series comes with a special cartridge that lets you load video on it. Will the American version have this? Or will it be one of those nifty and tantalizing accessories that you show us from Japan but never makes it to the U.S.?
--<--AJLarrea@aol.com>
A: As far as I know, the Capture Cartridge will be available in the US. It hasn't been decided yet if it will be packed in with the Mario Artist software, or the 64DD, or what. A cost and release date for the system also hasn't been announced yet.
- Q: Who did you record voices for in Super Metroid?
- Q: We read on you column that you did some of the voices on Star Fox 64? Which one? If you did Peppy or Slippy... Thank the lord!!! Cause then I'd have a reason to say that Slippy and Peppy aren't annoying.
A: Well, as you know, Dan is not here and I am filling in. Dan did the "the galaxy is at peace" voice in Super Metroid, but they added some effects and it really doesn't sound like him. In fact, it also sounds like he says "the galaxy is at peas." Which of course, make less sense than Mario saying "Let's Pickle!". I did the grunts, groans, and other noises for Eyedol in Killer Instinct for the SNES. This was a very strange experience since I had to make noises for imaginary hits. I have since retired and leave the voices to the professionals.
I did have a chance to assist with the coordination of the Star Fox 64 voices. There were some very talented voice actors that did the voices. Peppy and Slippy were voiced by these professionals, and I think every character in the game has their own distinct personality because of the great voice talent. Of course due to secrecy reasons, I wasn't involved with the actor that supplied Andross' voice, but the rumor is that it may have been Evil Dan.
- Q: Hey Dan the Man. Got some questions about Banjo-Kazooie which I say will be better then GoldenEye.
- 1.Will[sic] there be a players guide for the game?
- 2.Will[sic] it use the Rumble Pak?
- 3.Will[sic] you guys send us a movie like Diddy Kong Racing?
- 4.Are[sic] you guys making a web site for it?
- 5.Who[sic] many different animals dose Banjo turn into besides the bear form.[sic]
Well later[sic] Dan the Man
--Raremaster
A: You call yourself the Raremaster and yet you don't know the answers to these simple questions?! Of course there will be a Player's Guide for Banjo-Kazooie! This game perfectly lends itself to in-depth strategy coverage since the worlds are so huge. Banjo-Kazooie will use the Rumble Pak. Nintendo is planning to send out a video on Banjo-Kazooie. Unlike previous videos, this one will not have a corny story line, it will focus almost entirely on game play footage. We're also working on a web site that's going to be pretty killer. Look for it at www.banjo-kazooie.com in a few weeks. You can also check out Rare's awesome new web site at http://www.rareware.com for information and screen shots on Banjo-Kazooie. Banjo turns into a variety of things in the game. I don't want to reveal everything just yet, but some of the things he can turn into are hilarious! The weird thing is, in every form he's still wearing those tight yellow shorts!
- Q: Have all of the secrets from Super Mario 64 been uncovered?¿? I don't know if you people at nintendo.com are as bored as I am, but is there a code that has Banjo do something special in DKR?¿? I am waiting so bad for Banjo-Kazooie that I beat all of DKR with just Banjo! Finally, if Banjo-Kazooie is already done, how come it's not coming out sooner?
--Antony
A: Actually, as I write this the development team is still putting the final touches on Banjo-Kazooie. It's virtually 99% complete and is still on schedule to be finished this month. As far as I know, all of the secrets in both Super Mario 64 and Diddy Kong Racing have been revealed. I'm more confident about Super Mario 64 than I am about DKR. After all, the Rare guys did hold out on the extra character code in GoldenEye 007 for several months after the game's release!
- Q: Dan, we think that Nintendo is absolutely the company who makes the best games in the world. But we`re a little disappointed with some games, like Super Mario RPG 2. This game is stinking like a 1000-year cheese!!! Why is the game worse than the first one? The game`s too happy, it even looks like the NES`[sic] Mario! We think that the game should be as good (Even better that the first!) as the first one, but it even seems worst![sic] Are the programmers on vacation and you put some Sony's[sic] programmers to do the game? We hope you change this misunderstanding until the game`s[sic] release.
--Taveira
A: First of all, don't judge the game until it's actually released. I agree that some of the early screens that we've seen of Super Mario RPG 2 may look a little like Roquefort, but the game is still in development, so a little cheddar is to be expected.
- Q: Ok Dan, I'm not going to suck up to you like a lot of your other followers, I'm just going to get right down to my question. I've played every single N64 that has been released so far. Yes, the graphics rock, the control is awesome, and a handful of games should be worshiped. But the thing that really bugs me is the N64's sound capabilities. Some of them tend to be from a little annoying to downright giving me a headache. And the music--who stepped in that?? Don't get me wrong, hearing the Mario theme-song on the N64 was pure bliss, but, (yes, I'm going to say it) it COULD be a whole lot better. When I pop in a Playstation CD or even some PC games the music totally rocks!! The mood in some of the music these games portray can be downright eerie! I think composers such as Koji Kondo completely overachieve in their work, but I think if they were going to make music that will make jaws drop, they would have done it by now, instead of making some annoying tune that loops every 20 seconds! I hope by the time Banjo-Kazooie or even The Legend of Zelda: the Ocarina of Time are released, the music will be top notch (The Zelda theme music better be outstanding!), but until the time they do, my mind is made up. Where is the music in today's Nintendo game going??
--Barrett
A: The music in Banjo-Kazooie sounds great to me, and the developers at Rare have not only put in a lot of variety, they've really made the music follow the action. The Zelda 64 sound is really incomplete, but Mr. Miyamoto promises it will add to the immersive quality of the game's atmosphere. The Nintendo 64 is capable of creating great music, however, the CPU handles both the graphics and sound, so the developer must balance between the two areas. Listen up when you play Twelve Tales: Conker 64, though. In one scene at E3, there were 20 little dinosaurs running around on the screen, each with its own sound channel. In second generation N64 titles like this one, developers have found ways to squeeze even more performance out of the CPU!
- Q: Dear Dan, Just in case you didn't notice, you called Captain Syrup "he" in you last column. The captain is female. Just look at the room where you find her/him/it at the end of Wario Land or any of the cinemas in Wario Land II. He's a she! Anywho, are any of the clock-rocks' rumors in Ocarina of Time useful? They repeat all sorts of rumors, but some of them (like the ones about Malon's dreams or Keapora-Gaebora being a sage) don't fit in with the game. And just who IS that owl, anyway? By the way, real great horned owls can only turn their heads 120 degrees around, but Kaepora can flip his upside down! Obviously not a normal owl.
–BruceKid
A: Woops, you’re right about Captain Syrup. The rumors and gossip from the "Clock Rocks" (also known as Sheikah Stones or Gossip Stones) in Zelda: Ocarina of Time are mainly just for entertainment value, but some of them do tell parts of the back story. I think all of them fit with the game just fine. The one you’re referring to about Malon’s dreams makes perfect sense—why shouldn’t she dream of leaving Lon Lon Ranch with a knight in shining armor? I mean, would you want to stay on the ranch with that psycho Ingo? And you have to admit that the owl does seem to know a lot more than a normal owl should, so who’s to say he’s not the reincarnation of an ancient sage... (Though I prefer the previously mentioned theory that the owl is, in fact, an agent of Ganondorf, leading Link to open the Sacred Realm for his master...)
- Q: Hey Dan, in some of your earlier screen shots of Zelda 64 I remember seeing a picture of Turtle Rock. Was it taken out of the game or what?
--Wario's evil bro
- A: Yep, Turtle Rock was removed... although it may have morphed into the the big dead Dodongo head in Dodongo’s Cavern.
- Q: I'm trying to get by all of the mindless Mario Party Chatter. When will Nintendo make Game boy Color in more colors? And don't be smart and say "Why do you want Game Boy Color in more Colors? It already has thousands of colors?". By the Way Mario Rules!!! None of the other dudes except DK would exist without Mario!
- -._Travis '64'_.-*
A: Of course you want Game Boy Color in more colors! We’re currently looking at different color options (obviously) but we haven’t pegged a release date yet. Check back in a few days for some announcements about Nintendo’s upcoming release schedule!
- Q: Hey Dan! Just one question here. The last video that Nintendo Power shiped[sic] to subscribers was the Banjo-Kazooie preview. Since that time, no other videos have been spotted anywhere. Where are they? Those videos convinced me to buy all three games that they advertised(Star Fox, Diddy Kong Racing, B-K). Nintendo's losing money on this one since those previews are what made us want to buy them in the first place. And the previews of games to come at the end of each one had us drooling and waiting. Are there any videos currently in the works or are going to come out?
--Lynn Herbert
A: If you are a subscriber to Nintendo Power, or on some of the other mailing lists that the tape was sent to, you should have already received the "Hot Newz 64" tape I mentioned above. If you haven't got one, find a friend who did for some hot news about Jet Force Gemini and Donkey Kong 64. The video mailings that Nintendo does are very successful, but they are also expensive, since we send out a couple million of the tapes at a time! Obviously, we can't do these for every game.
- Q: Dear Evil Dan, I recently received a preview video of Jet Force Gemini and Donkey Kong 64 in the mail. Will I be sent this "Hot News 64" video annually? Oh, by the way, here's a new code for racer. Auto-Pilot: After entering the "All Codes" cheat, during the race, hold R, then Z, and release. Now all you have to do is control the speed. Don't move the joystick or it will turn auto-pilot off.
--Grahamd64
A: Fortunately, there are not plans to make Hot Newz 64 an annual production, though I'm sure it won't be the last video Nintendo mails out. Thanks for the code!
- Q: DEAR DAN OWSEN,( I GOT YOUR REAL NAME FROM NINTENDO.COM) I SAW YOU ON HOTNEWZ64. THOUGH I ALSO SAW YOUR FACE(I DON'T KNOW WHY) .[sic] MY FRIENDS SAY YOUR FACE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BLURRY. IS THAT TRUE? AND DID YOU THINK ABOUT GIVING GAMEBOYBOB ALL THE CODES "EVAR"[sic] MADE? AND DID HE FINALLY USE SPELL CHECK? WHAT IS ACTUALLY EVEL? AND LAST, CAN YOU REALLY GET TO YOSHI WITHOUT 120 STAR?[sic] BY WALL JUMPING THE V-SHAPE THING IN MARIO 64?
--TRUE FAN FOREVER, LONELYJEDI
A: If you could see "my" face on the video, it must be time for you to get glasses! I would never, ever, send all the codes ever made to anyone, but I will put all the ones that we know into the Code Bank. Yes, you can get onto the roof of the castle in Super Mario 64 without all 120 Stars, by wall jumping a certain way on the right side of the castle. However, I am not sure if Yoshi is up there if you make it. To be honest I haven't been able to do this trick since it is quite difficult to pull off.
- Q: Dear Dan: So you really don't like GameboyBob for that letter. Thanks for the tips in the video even though they are pretty useless since I don't own racer or mario golf and I don't intend playing my Zelda 64 for a long time. But still since you are Mr.Ask[sic] dan[sic] I would like to ask you something about super smash brothers....Know any tips or something??? p.s[sic] I hope you answer cause most of the times I sen't[sic] you e-mail it said about you being to busy to answer me. And good luck with the witness protection program like Steve said..so long[sic].
-- pipdyt@aol.com
A: Well, I'm so sorry that we couldn't fit every code ever made on the tape! We had to use the best ones that we had at the time. It's not my fault that you don't own Star Wars Episode I: Racer or Mario Golf. I can't give you all my tips on Smash Bros. but if you check out smashbros.com, there are a few tips there from the game's designers that we translated from the Japanese web site. I did see some pretty good players at Space World '99! A lot of them were using Ness and Kirby and it was good to see that there was no shortage of cheap moves and taunts! My advice: play a lot, and use SMASH hits whenever possible. Learn all the knock-off moves for each character too! Smash Bros. is a great game that has tons of depth. At first you may bemoan it as cheap, but what fighting game doesn't seem cheap the first few times you play it?
- Q: Hey Ask Dan (i[sic] hope you're[sic] answer dan[sic] too) can you tell me any passcodes for mario golf besides the Nintendo Power tournament. Thanx.[sic]
--misterevilniceguy
A: Wow! It's a question from a fellow member of "evil alter egos" anonymous. Although I do not have any additional "passcodes" for Mario Golf just hanging around here on my desk, there will be some new tournament passcodes soon. We are working on setting up an Internet leader board on mariogolf.net where you can enter you name and result passcode for a number of different tournaments and you'll be automatically added to the leader board if your score is good enough. There won't be any prizes involved, just the glory of having your name on the list as one of the world's best Mario golfers! There is a password generation program for Mario Golf that allows us to generate almost infinite numbers of passwords for different tournaments. And no, you CAN'T have it!!!
- Q: here are a few questions that i[sic] need help with[sic]
- #1 Is it true that rare has annonced[sic] a[sic] arcade machine in dk64 that allows you to play the snes[sic] dkc[sic] games when you find a hidden cartrige[sic]
- #2 also is it true that you will be releaseing[sic] the transfer pak with Pokémon stadium you know the thing that lets you transfer Pokémon to the 64
- #3 last question can you play the Pokémon Gb game in Pokémon stadium heard you put an emulator in the game if you answer these i will be greatful[sic]
--Scott Kitlarz
A: Normally I would criticize your spelling, punctuation and capitalization errors but since it's the holiday I'll let you slide because I want to answer these questions. #1. There are two hidden "arcade" machines in Donkey Kong 64. One lets you play the original Donkey Kong arcade game, the other lets you play an old Rare game called JetPac. Once you've activated these machines you can then play them whenever you want. #2. The current plan is to pak-in the Transfer Pak with N64 Pokémon Stadium. Although you can play and enjoy Pokémon Stadium without having ever played the Game Boy Pokémon games, it is a lot more fun when you can use your own carefully trained and customized Pokémon in battle! #3. It is possible to play your Game Boy Pokémon game through the N64 using Pokémon Stadium. You can also arrange your Pokémon, give them TMs and HMs, and trade Pokémon using the Transfer Pak and Pokémon Stadium. It really adds to the enjoyment of the Game Boy game-- I went back and beat up on the Elite Four a few times to pump up some of my more obscure Pokémon so I could see them in action in Pokémon Stadium.
External links[edit]
- Ask Dan on nintendo.com (archived)
| Mario Golf (Nintendo 64) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characters | Default | Plum • Charlie • Peach • Baby Mario |
| Default in multiplayer modes | Luigi • Yoshi • Sonny • Wario • Harry • Mario | |
| Unlockable | Maple • Donkey Kong • Bowser • Metal Mario | |
| Transfer | Kid • Joe • Sherry • Azalea | |
| Non-playable | Toad | |
| Courses | Main | Toad Highlands • Koopa Park • Shy Guy Desert • Yoshi's Island • Boo Valley • Mario's Star |
| Mini-Golf | Luigi's Garden • Peach's Castle | |
| Training | Driving Range | |
| Miscellaneous | Ask Dan • Birdie Badge • Gallery • Golfing Terms • Power Shot • Speed Golf • Staff • Mario Golf (Shockwave game) • Mario Golf blaster | |
| Super Smash Bros. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playable characters | Donkey Kong • Fox • Kirby • Link • Luigi • Mario • Samus • Yoshi • Others | |||
| Non-playable characters | Bob-omb • Whispy Woods | |||
| Bosses | Giant Donkey Kong • Metal Mario | |||
| Stages | Peach's Castle • Yoshi's Island • Congo Jungle • Hyrule Castle • Meta Crystal • Mushroom Kingdom • Others | |||
| Items | Barrel • Bob-omb • Crate • Egg • Fire Flower • Green Shell • Hammer • Red Shell • Star • Star Rod • Target | |||
| Moves | Miscellaneous | Jump • Taunt | ||
| Special | Standard | Up | Down | |
| Mario | Fireball | Super Jump Punch | Mario Tornado | |
| Luigi | Green Fireball | Luigi Cyclone | ||
| Donkey Kong | Giant Punch | Spinning Kong | Hand Slap | |
| Yoshi | Egg Lay | Egg Throw | Yoshi Bomb | |
| Other | Ask Dan • Ask Uncle Tusk • Gallery • Glitches • Pre-release and unused content • Quotes • Smash Card • Super Smash Bros. Poll • Super Smash Bros. (Shockwave game) • Staff | |||
