The 'Shroom:Issue 128/Pipe Plaza
Director’s Notes
Hello readers, and welcome to Pipe Plaza. If you've come here for looking for statistics, old sections, and news on upcoming games then you've come to the right place.
Now, those of you who read Pipe Plaza last month may remember that I promised a big announcement, and now it's time to deliver. Next month, I will be stepping down as Director of Pipe Plaza. Unfortunately, I have to focus a lot on my university and professional work, and I am no longer able to deliver the passion that this sub-team so rightly deserves.
However, for fans of my sections, don't worry. This isn't a full retirement, just me shedding my workload. I will still be contributing sections every month for the foreseeable future. Now go and enjoy my penultimate edition of Pipe Plaza.
Section of the Month
| Pipe Plaza SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | Poll Committee Discussion | 14 | 45% | Shokora |
| 2nd | Upcoming Game | 8 | 26% | Alex95 |
| 3rd | Retro Feature | 5 | 16% | Yoshi876 |
Given the fact he wrote this section, we can assume Alex95Kirby isn't a new ability.
[read more]
Tip of the Month
In general, you should use italics when: -naming a game (i.e. Super Mario Odyssey) -writing a quote from a game
In general, bold type is usually only used when listing alternate names for a character at the beginning of their article. Special type like these usually aren't used in regular text when writing articles.
Upcoming Game
Template:Infobox Greetings everyone! Alex95 here to tell you all about an upcoming game and my thoughts about it. This month I'm covering the upcoming game (wait I said that already) for the Nintendo Switch, Kirby: Star Allies!
If you've played Kirby's Return to Dream Land for the Wii before, you'll know what to expect. Kirby: Star Allies is a Kirby platformer in the same vein, four-player co-op play in a 3D stylized world (but this time in HD). However, Kirby: Star Allies also seems to pull from other Kirby games as well. As far as I can tell, multiplayer isn't available right off the bat, it becomes available if Kirby attacks an enemy with love during a level. Yes, you read that right, Kirby literally attacks his enemies with love. By throwing a heart (somehow) at an enemy, they become obligated to join Kirby on his currently unknown quest. Players 2 through 4 can then join in and take control of the captured enemies, or said enemies will follow you around and attack as CPU characters if you don't have any friends with you at the moment, all like Kirby Super Star. There are also certain areas where use of multiple characters are required to progress.
Another game Kirby: Star Allies pulls from is Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, namely with the returning "fused" abilities. By combining two copy abilities together, they become one super ability (that's what I'm calling it). For example, if you fuse a Sword and Fire abilities together, it becomes a flaming sword! Finding the correct combination may also be essential to completing certain levels. You can also use this method to power-up your partners as well.
Now then, let's assume you're reading a news article on an online site that covers the Mario franchise and you only know Kirby through Super Smash Bros. or not at all. I bet you'd be asking yourself "What is Kirby?" and all that information above is nothing but garble. Kirby is the titular character in the Kirby series of games that revolves around him trying to save his land, usually from a gluttonous King Dedede or some kind of dark power (sometimes both). The mechanics of his games vary, but the main games usually have Kirby inhale his enemies to gain their powers so he can use them against them. Finding the right set of powers is key to finding all the secrets and progressing through the stages. The games are also fairly easy to learn, with most really only needing the control pad or stick and the A and B buttons, and I'm assuming this game will be no different. Easy and fun for everyone!
Thoughts
Kirby's the kind of versatile character that you can do pretty much anything with. He's been turned into a pinball and made out of yarn, and no matter what happens, his games are always fun to play. Here's hoping this game is no different in that regard, but just different enough that the formula continues to be fun.
Poll Committee Discussion
HI, everyone! I'm your quizzical Poll Vice-Chairman, Tucayo, here with this month's Poll Committee Discussion! There is not much in the way of news this month, only that we have a big project brewing up which you will be able to see soon, so keep an eye on our Main Page!
Archives
How do you feel about Princess Daisy’s inclusion in Super Mario Run? (Stargazing (talk), October 8th, 2017)
When do you plan to get Super Mario Odyssey? (Lord Bowser (talk), October 15th, 2017)
How do you feel about Miiverse shutting down? (TheMarioGamer90 and Roserade (talk), October 22nd, 2017)
Would you like to see another Mario film? (Henry Tucayo Clay (talk), October 28th, 2017)
Do you think Nintendo should continue making Classic Edition consoles? (Lord Bowser (talk), November 5th, 2017)
Analysis
- How do you feel about Princess Daisy's inclusion in Super Mario Run? - This is a topic that generated quite the debate in our forum and our Poll Talk thread, but in our poll there was an evident preference. 60% of all voters had a positive response towards the Princess of Sarasaland being included in the first Mario smartphone game. But if you take out those people who have never played the game, this percentage rockets up to around 80%. I will be honest, I voted "I don't like it at all" because I don't, but I think it's pretty clear that Daisy fans outnumber us at least three to two. Quite the scary thought. Or they voted multiple times, who knows.
- When do you plan to get Super Mario Odyssey? - The hype for an upcoming Mario game was probably at its highest since Super Mario Galaxy, and this reflects on our poll; 40% of voters were intending on getting the game right on release day, with another 30% looking to get it before year's end. Even if our userbase may be a statistically-small sample size, the trend showed on actual sales, with the game becoming the fastest selling Mario game in the US, selling an astounding copies every minute. It would be interesting to later ask when did people actually bought the game, just to see how accurate this poll was.
- How do you feel about Miiverse shutting down? - Oh boy, I feel so out of touch with this poll, I actually fall in the larger group in this poll, those people who never interacted with Miiverse. Almost 80% of the people who did use this social network didn't want to see it go which is evidence of the appeal it had for its users. Nintendo published a goodbye collage made of user posts to bid farewell to Miiverse. If I know Nintendo, I give them a year or so before they release something similar.
- Would you like to see another Mario film? - Aaah, could this be another case of the Poll Committee foreshadowing the future? (The linked poll was posted a few days before Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was announced). Anyway, if you haven't heard, Nintendo has almost reached a deal with Universal Studios-owned Illumination Entertainment, who are behind movies such as the Despicable Me series and Sing. Now, there are no known details about the film - it's not even sure it will be made - but the one thing we do know is that it would be an animated movie, so I guess three-fourths of our users will be happy! Quite interestingly, this poll broke the 3000-vote barrier, something few polls have done. Who knows, maybe the MarioWiki has more influence than we thought 🤔.
- Do you think Nintendo should continue making Classic Edition consoles? - YES BUT THEY SHOULD ACTUALLY MAKE ENOUGH. Erm... sorry, I got slightly riled up. But over three-fourths of our voters agree with me, Nintendo should keep making these Classic Edition consoles. Hell, I wouldn't even need them to make new consoles, if they re-released the Mini NES or Mini SNES I'd be completely satisfied. But I won't lie, a Mini Nintendo 64 would be the most awesome thing ever, and it would actually look really cute. I think the N64 may be as forward as Nintendo may be willing to go with home consoles, but a Mini Game Boy or Mini Game Boy Advance would also be amazing.
That's all from me! Keep voting in our polls, you never know when Nintendo may use them. Be sure to read us next month when someone to be determined will be writing! BYE!
Retro Feature
Written by: Yoshi876 (talk)
Hello, readers! I'm your Spotlight manager and Pipe Plaza Director, Yoshi876. Welcome to Retro Feature, a section in which I delve deep into the archives to bring you the best blasts from the past.
This month we bring you a section from G.narron (talk). A History of Video Games is one of the most popular 'Shroom sections we've had, the gist of the section is that the writer, well... explains the history of video games. And I mean from the entire industry, not just Mario video games. Previous sections have even included everyone's favourite game Pong. G.narron joined the wiki on 12 October 2009, and joined The 'Shroom in Issue XXXII, which was released a month later. Unfortunately, this would be his only edition, but on the bright side he managed to contribute two articles: a Monthly Report, and the one you're about to read below.
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Hello everyone this is my 2nd article i wrote for the shroom its the history of video games i hope you enjoy! Video games have been around since the early 1970s. The first commercial arcade video game, Computer Space by Nutting Associates, was introduced in 1971. In 1972, Atari introduced Pong to the arcades. An interesting item to note is that Atari was formed by Nolan Bushnell, the man who developed Computer Space. He left Nutting Associates to found Atari, which then produced Pong, the first truly successful commercial arcade video game. That same year, Magnavox offered the first home video game system. Dubbed the Odyssey, it did not even have a microprocessor! The core of the system was a board with about four-dozen transistors and diodes. The Odyssey was very limited -- it could only produce very simple graphics, and required that custom plastic overlays be taped over the television screen. In 1975, Atari introduced a home version of its popular arcade game, Pong. The original home version of Pong was sold exclusively through Sears, and even carried the Sears logo. Pong was a phenomenal success, opening the door to the future of home video games. Although the Fairchild Channel F, released in 1976, was the first true removable game system, Atari once again had the first such system to be a commercial success. Introduced in 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (VCS), the 2600 used removable cartridges, allowing a multitude of games to be played using the same hardware. The hardware in the 2600 was quite sophisticated at the time, although it seems incredibly simple now. It consisted of: * MOS 6502 microprocessor * Stella, a custom graphics chip that controlled the synchronization to the TV and all other video processing tasks * 128 bytes of RAM * 4-kilobyte ROM-based game cartridges Systems like the Atari 2600, its descendant, the 5200, Coleco's ColecoVision and Mattel's IntelliVision helped to generate interest in home video games for a few years. But interest began to wane because the quality of the home product lagged far behind arcade standards. But in 1985, Nintendo introduced the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and everything changed. The NES introduced three very important concepts to the video game system industry: * Using a pad controller instead of a joystick * Creating authentic reproductions of arcade video games for the home system * Using the hardware as a loss leader by aggressively pricing it, then making a profit on the games themselves Nintendo's strategy paid off, and the NES sparked a revival in the home video game market that continues to thrive and expand even now. No longer were home video game systems looked upon as inferior imitations of arcade machines. New games that would have been impractical to create for commercial systems, such as Legend of Zelda, were developed for the home markets. These games enticed many people who had not thought about buying a home video game system before to purchase the NES. Nintendo continued to develop and introduce new game consoles. Other companies, such as Sega and Sony, created their own home video game systems. Let's look at the core parts of any current video game system. And thats my research on the history of videogames! By g.narron the #1 Koopalings Fan!
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The 'Shroom Report
HI, everyone! I'm your questioning Statistics Manager, Tucayo, here with a brand new edition of The 'Shroom Report! As a reminder, in the Milestones section, writers will get mentioned every 10 team sections and every 50 overall sections, teams will get mentioned every 100 sections, and The 'Shroom will get mentioned every 500 sections. All information is based off our Historical Sheets. This section will cover Issue 127.
| First-time Writers | |
|---|---|
| Writer | Section |
| Camwood777 (talk) | Picross |
| Gaberskitty | Shop Scout |
| MsRetroGeek (talk) | G. TV |
| Milestones | |
|---|---|
| Writer/Team | Milestone |
| Meta Knight (talk) | 100 overall sections |
| Most Sections Written | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | Writer | Number of Sections |
| Main/Staff | Henry Tucayo Clay (talk) | 137 |
| Fake News | MrConcreteDonkey (talk) | 115 |
| Fun Stuff | Henry Tucayo Clay (talk) | 121 |
| Palette Swap | FunkyK38 (talk) | 117 |
| Pipe Plaza | Paper Yoshi (talk) | 123 |
| Critic Corner | Crocodile Dippy (talk) | 76 |
| Strategy Wing | Meta Knight (talk) | 42 |
| Overall | Yoshi876 (talk) | 437 |
| 'Shroom Trivia |
|---|
| Fawfulfury65 (talk) and YellowYoshi127 (talk) are the only two Core Staff members to have never written a Main section. |
| The 'Shroom: Issue 128 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • Awards Director Election |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
