Super Smash Bros. Brawl - one year on

So, it's been a whole year now since Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in North America (it wasn't released in Europe and Australasia until June last year, as I'm sure you know), and it's still a worldwide Top 5 selling game as of last week.



It has broken Nintendo sales records everywhere it can be legally bought, and is now officially the greatest Nintendo game ever. Hoorah! It's certainly my favourite game ever. The fact that you can play as Sonic the Hedgehog characters as well as all the classic Nintendo ones is the best thing about it as far as I'm concerned.

There's only one "drawback" to this superb game - you need to buy a Nintendo Wii first before you can play it, which in these times of financial hardship may not be as easy to come by for many people as in previous years.

However, don't despair if that applies to you, because here is a fantastic Flash online version of it for you to play for free, plus a Sonic-specific version too.....

  Super Smash Flash Online Game

  Sonic Smash Brothers Online Game

Brilliantly, both games include full game save functionality, plus detailed strategy guides, to help you fully enjoy them!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - one year on

So, it's been a whole year now since Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in North America (it wasn't released in Europe and Australasia until June last year, as I'm sure you know), and it's still a worldwide Top 5 selling game as of last week.



It has broken Nintendo sales records everywhere it can be legally bought, and is now officially the greatest Nintendo game ever. Hoorah! It's certainly my favourite game ever. The fact that you can play as Sonic the Hedgehog characters as well as all the classic Nintendo ones is the best thing about it as far as I'm concerned.

There's only one "drawback" to this superb game - you need to buy a Nintendo Wii first before you can play it, which in these times of financial hardship may not be as easy to come by for many people as in previous years.

However, don't despair if that applies to you, because here is a fantastic Flash online version of it for you to play for free, plus a Sonic-specific version too.....

  Super Smash Flash Online Game

  Sonic Smash Brothers Online Game

Brilliantly, both games include full game save functionality, plus detailed strategy guides, to help you fully enjoy them!

26th UK Annual Golden Joystick Awards

The 26th UK Annual Golden Joystick Awards took place yesterday, and the combat game "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" scooped many of the major prizes.

There were 17 categories of awards which were all decided by UK gamers, with more than 850,000 of them voting this year.

Call of Duty 4 received the "Ultimate Game of the Year", "PC Game of the Year", "Online Game of the Year" and "Multiplayer Game of the Year" awards. The next game in the series, Call of Duty 5: World at War, received the "One to Watch" award. And Activision, publishers of the series, won the "Publisher of the Year" award - so a resounding all-round success for them, then.

Rockstar, developers of Grand Theft Auto IV, the fastest-selling video game of all time, won three awards, picking up "Developer Of The Year" plus "Soundtrack Of The Year" and "Xbox Game of the Year" for GTA IV.

"Family Game of the Year" went to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, while the "Handheld Game of the Year" prize went to Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on the Nintendo DS.

The "Nintendo Game of the Year" award went to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, while the "Playstation Game of the Year" was named as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Other award winners were Bejeweled 2 (Mobile Game of the Year), Fallout 3 (Most Wanted), Stickman Madness (Grand Master Flash) and Play.com (Retailer of the Year).

26th UK Annual Golden Joystick Awards

The 26th UK Annual Golden Joystick Awards took place yesterday, and the combat game "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" scooped many of the major prizes.

There were 17 categories of awards which were all decided by UK gamers, with more than 850,000 of them voting this year.

Call of Duty 4 received the "Ultimate Game of the Year", "PC Game of the Year", "Online Game of the Year" and "Multiplayer Game of the Year" awards. The next game in the series, Call of Duty 5: World at War, received the "One to Watch" award. And Activision, publishers of the series, won the "Publisher of the Year" award - so a resounding all-round success for them, then.

Rockstar, developers of Grand Theft Auto IV, the fastest-selling video game of all time, won three awards, picking up "Developer Of The Year" plus "Soundtrack Of The Year" and "Xbox Game of the Year" for GTA IV.

"Family Game of the Year" went to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, while the "Handheld Game of the Year" prize went to Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on the Nintendo DS.

The "Nintendo Game of the Year" award went to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, while the "Playstation Game of the Year" was named as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Other award winners were Bejeweled 2 (Mobile Game of the Year), Fallout 3 (Most Wanted), Stickman Madness (Grand Master Flash) and Play.com (Retailer of the Year).

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is now a truly global phenomenon

Now that the greatest fighting game in history, "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", is available on the Wii all over the world (it was released in Australasia on June 26th and in Europe yesterday, just in case you missed it somehow), and now that the Wii is at last easy to get hold of all over the world, all is well in the Nintendo gaming universe. Happy days indeed!

If you can't play "Brawl" yet for whatever reason, don't worry too much - here is a truly excellent Flash online version (featuring Sonic and his gang in addition to the usual Nintendo suspects, and also with unlockable extra characters and levels) that you can play for free until such time as you can get hold of the real thing:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Game - Flash Online Version

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is now a truly global phenomenon

Now that the greatest fighting game in history, "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", is available on the Wii all over the world (it was released in Australasia on June 26th and in Europe yesterday, just in case you missed it somehow), and now that the Wii is at last easy to get hold of all over the world, all is well in the Nintendo gaming universe. Happy days indeed!

If you can't play "Brawl" yet for whatever reason, don't worry too much - here is a truly excellent Flash online version (featuring Sonic and his gang in addition to the usual Nintendo suspects, and also with unlockable extra characters and levels) that you can play for free until such time as you can get hold of the real thing:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Game - Flash Online Version

Nothing to report at the moment...

...at least, not anything that is of great importance or interest on the Mario and Sonic side of life anyway. However, that doesn't mean I haven't been busily blogging away, because I have - take a look at my personal blog to see what's been interesting me in other areas of life lately (such as Prince Caspian, WALL-E, Disney games, retro games and Dan Dare)...

England, Thailand and Other Things

Actually, there is one small Mario and Sonic thing coming up in a few days time that is of some minor interest....... the Australasian release (June 26th) and European release (June 27th) of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, at long long long long last!! What a ridiculously long wait - it's been almost 4 months since the US release - it has been for those of you living in those parts of the world! Still, in the case of this absolutely awesome game, it really is a case of "better late than never", trust me on that!

Nothing to report at the moment...

...at least, not anything that is of great importance or interest on the Mario and Sonic side of life anyway. However, that doesn't mean I haven't been busily blogging away, because I have - take a look at my personal blog to see what's been interesting me in other areas of life lately (such as Prince Caspian, WALL-E, Disney games, retro games and Dan Dare)...

England, Thailand and Other Things

Actually, there is one small Mario and Sonic thing coming up in a few days time that is of some minor interest....... the Australasian release (June 26th) and European release (June 27th) of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, at long long long long last!! What a ridiculously long wait - it's been almost 4 months since the US release - it has been for those of you living in those parts of the world! Still, in the case of this absolutely awesome game, it really is a case of "better late than never", trust me on that!

Mario and Sonic animated GIFs/sprites, MP3 music, desktop wallpapers and more

Just in case you haven't seen it all yet, my MarioSonicGames.com site includes a huge collection of free Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog (and other related Nintendo and Sega) goodies for your enjoyment, in addition to all the free Flash and Java online games and Flash movies.

There are loads of Mario and Sonic images, animated GIFs/sprites, MP3 and MIDI music samples and WAV sound effect samples, all of which come from the all-time classic 16-bit era of both game franchises. There are also dozens of desktop wallpapers/background pictures, plus lots of other Nintendo and Sega surprises for you to find. Here is a list of links to all the relevant pages...

Mario, Sonic, Nintendo and Sega images, animated GIFs/sprites, music and sound effects (plus Flash and Java games and Flash movies):

Super Mario Bros.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Mario and Sonic Bonuses,  More Mario and Sonic Bonuses

Extra Mario and Sonic Bonuses,  Even More Mario Bonuses

More Games-Related Images and Music,  Even More Games-Related Images


Mario, Sonic, Nintendo and Sega desktop wallpapers/background pictures:

Super Mario Bros.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Super Smash Bros.

Donkey Kong

Pokemon

Megaman

Super Monkey Ball

Puyo Pop Fever

Mario and Sonic animated GIFs/sprites, MP3 music, desktop wallpapers and more

Just in case you haven't seen it all yet, my MarioSonicGames.com site includes a huge collection of free Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog (and other related Nintendo and Sega) goodies for your enjoyment, in addition to all the free Flash and Java online games and Flash movies.

There are loads of Mario and Sonic images, animated GIFs/sprites, MP3 and MIDI music samples and WAV sound effect samples, all of which come from the all-time classic 16-bit era of both game franchises. There are also dozens of desktop wallpapers/background pictures, plus lots of other Nintendo and Sega surprises for you to find. Here is a list of links to all the relevant pages...

Mario, Sonic, Nintendo and Sega images, animated GIFs/sprites, music and sound effects (plus Flash and Java games and Flash movies):

Super Mario Bros.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Mario and Sonic Bonuses,  More Mario and Sonic Bonuses

Extra Mario and Sonic Bonuses,  Even More Mario Bonuses

More Games-Related Images and Music,  Even More Games-Related Images


Mario, Sonic, Nintendo and Sega desktop wallpapers/background pictures:

Super Mario Bros.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Super Smash Bros.

Donkey Kong

Pokemon

Megaman

Super Monkey Ball

Puyo Pop Fever

Super Smash Bros. Brawl U.S. sales figures for March '08

It's selling better than expected... this is from an article at GamesIndustry.biz yesterday:

(Quote)
Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl was the top-selling game in the US for the month of March, with 2.7 million units sold according to NPD data.

Brawl sold more than three times as many copies as the second game on the sales charts, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

Overall, US $1.7 billion worth of hardware and software were sold in the month of March - a 51 per cent increase from last year.

"You'd never know that the U.S. economy was under distress by looking at the videogames industry sales figures," NPD's analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement.

Three Nintendo Wii games finished in the top 10 - including Super Smash Bros. Brawl at number one, Wii Play in the fourth position and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock at number seven.

Two PSP games - God of War and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy - also made the list.

The ten best-selling US titles for the month of March were:

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) 2,700,000
2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (360) 752,300
3. Army of Two (360) 606,100
4. Wii Play (Wii) 409,800
5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) 340,500
6. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) 301,600
7. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) 264,100
8. MLB 2K8 (360) 237,100
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) 237,000
10. Army of Two (PS3) 224,900
(End Quote)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl U.S. sales figures for March '08

It's selling better than expected... this is from an article at GamesIndustry.biz yesterday:

(Quote)
Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl was the top-selling game in the US for the month of March, with 2.7 million units sold according to NPD data.

Brawl sold more than three times as many copies as the second game on the sales charts, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

Overall, US $1.7 billion worth of hardware and software were sold in the month of March - a 51 per cent increase from last year.

"You'd never know that the U.S. economy was under distress by looking at the videogames industry sales figures," NPD's analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement.

Three Nintendo Wii games finished in the top 10 - including Super Smash Bros. Brawl at number one, Wii Play in the fourth position and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock at number seven.

Two PSP games - God of War and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy - also made the list.

The ten best-selling US titles for the month of March were:

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) 2,700,000
2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (360) 752,300
3. Army of Two (360) 606,100
4. Wii Play (Wii) 409,800
5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) 340,500
6. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) 301,600
7. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) 264,100
8. MLB 2K8 (360) 237,100
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) 237,000
10. Army of Two (PS3) 224,900
(End Quote)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is released on Wii in North America today!

It's here at last, the first English-language version of "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" is released in the U.S. and Canada today - Hoorah! I hope it stomps all over the competition console games! I'm sure it will - it was released in Japan on January 31st and is selling like the proverbial hot cakes over there. :-)

One slight downer in this time of great happiness though... release dates for the game in Europe and Australasia are still, even now, to be confirmed. Come on Nintendo, sort it out!!

If you can't play it yet for whatever reason, don't worry too much - here is a brilliant Flash online version that you can play for free in the meantime:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Game - Flash Online Version

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is released on Wii in North America today!

It's here at last, the first English-language version of "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" is released in the U.S. and Canada today - Hoorah! I hope it stomps all over the competition console games! I'm sure it will - it was released in Japan on January 31st and is selling like the proverbial hot cakes over there. :-)

One slight downer in this time of great happiness though... release dates for the game in Europe and Australasia are still, even now, to be confirmed. Come on Nintendo, sort it out!!

If you can't play it yet for whatever reason, don't worry too much - here is a brilliant Flash online version that you can play for free in the meantime:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Game - Flash Online Version

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - European release update

There still seems to be some uncertainty about when SSBB will be released in Europe (see my earlier post about it here) - this is from an article at Nintendo Life yesterday:

(Quote)
Update: Nintendo Puts Things Straight On European Brawl Release
26th Feb 2008, 09:47am by Anthony Dickens.

It seems that 1up's recent podcast suggesting Brawl has been delayed until Autumn in Europe isn't exactly true.

While recounting some of the info that I learned from Nintendo of America's President & COO, Reggie Fils-Aime, I implied that the European release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl had been moved to the fall of 2008...that's not quite accurate, as neither NOE nor Reggie has announced any official release date at this time. Reggie did tell me (and the other media present) that the release had been pushed out of the winter/spring time frame due to the amount of localization required to get the game up and running all the various European languages. But Reggie did not say WHEN Europeans will get Smash Bros., just that it would be at a later date than the U.S.

So now angry gamers, it seems Brawl might be heading to Europe sooner than we first thought, however Nintendo of Europe haven't confirmed any specific date, all we know is that it won't be released before May.

Reggie also explained that the recent announcements of Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii release dates were to "balance out" the release list. I'm sure these won't please faithful NoE fans of Brawl but perhaps it isn't as bad as we first fear.

Our thanks to NoA for clearing this one up.
(End Quote)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - European release update

There still seems to be some uncertainty about when SSBB will be released in Europe (see my earlier post about it here) - this is from an article at Nintendo Life yesterday:

(Quote)
Update: Nintendo Puts Things Straight On European Brawl Release
26th Feb 2008, 09:47am by Anthony Dickens.

It seems that 1up's recent podcast suggesting Brawl has been delayed until Autumn in Europe isn't exactly true.

While recounting some of the info that I learned from Nintendo of America's President & COO, Reggie Fils-Aime, I implied that the European release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl had been moved to the fall of 2008...that's not quite accurate, as neither NOE nor Reggie has announced any official release date at this time. Reggie did tell me (and the other media present) that the release had been pushed out of the winter/spring time frame due to the amount of localization required to get the game up and running all the various European languages. But Reggie did not say WHEN Europeans will get Smash Bros., just that it would be at a later date than the U.S.

So now angry gamers, it seems Brawl might be heading to Europe sooner than we first thought, however Nintendo of Europe haven't confirmed any specific date, all we know is that it won't be released before May.

Reggie also explained that the recent announcements of Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii release dates were to "balance out" the release list. I'm sure these won't please faithful NoE fans of Brawl but perhaps it isn't as bad as we first fear.

Our thanks to NoA for clearing this one up.
(End Quote)

"Super Smash Bros. Brawl" for the Nintendo Wii

If this isn't one of the best-selling games come the end of this year, I'll be very surprised...



Scheduled for a Japanese launch on January 31st and a North American launch on March 9th (European and Australian dates are still to be announced as I write this), this third game in the hugely popular "Super Smash Bros." series will be the first to feature third-party games characters in addition to the usual Nintendo roster. Solid Snake from Konami's ever-popular "Metal Gear" games series will feature, but by far the most eagerly anticipated addition to the list of playable characters in the game is Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog...

So, at long long last, video game fans will be able to have their very own "Mario vs. Sonic" fights in an official game! Amen to that!

This is only the second official game ever to feature Mario and Sonic together - Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games of course being the first one - and I think that this game will be much more well-received by critics than was the first joint outing of the two characters. You can visit the official site for the game here.

While you're waiting for this epic game to be released, don't forget that you can have some unofficial Mario vs. Sonic battles in these two brilliant fan-produced Flash online games:

Super Smash Brothers: Super Smash Flash

Sonic the Hedgehog: Ultimate Robotnik Duels