Nintendo Celebrates National Video Games Day with Fun Mario Facts

September 13, 2015 by 3 Comments
pic5
National Video Games day is fast approaching on Sept. 12, and what better way to celebrate than with a day of Mario! He is, after all, one of the most recognized video game characters of all time.
Super Mario Maker launches exclusively for Wii U on the 11th of September, so it’s the perfect day to play, create and share the Super Mario Bros. levels of your dreams! Mario is one of the most iconic faces in video games, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of the original Super Mario Bros. on the NES.
To make your celebration of National Video Games Day complete, here are 10 fun facts about Mario and the Super Mario Bros. franchise that you might not know!
pic4
 
Fact 1: Mario has appeared in more than 200 video games.
Fact 2: Super Mario Bros. launched 30 years ago on Sept. 13, 1985.
Fact 3: In Super Mario Land, Mario has to pilot a submarine and an airplane to save Princess Daisy. Who knew he had his pilot license?
Fact 4: Nintendo composer Koji Kondo provided the iconic soundtrack to Super Mario Bros.

Fact 5: Since 1995, the voice of
Mario has been provided by American voice actor Charles Martinet. He also voices Mario‘s twin brother, Luigi, and nemesis, Wario.
Fact 6: Mario‘s first appearance was in the 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game. And he wasn’t trying to rescue Princess Peach like in Super Mario Bros. It was actually his friend Pauline.
Fact 7: While the original Super Mario Bros. incorporated classic items like the Super Mushroom and Fire Flower, Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced a host of iconic power-ups for Mario to pick up like the Super Leaf, Tanooki Suit and Goomba’s Shoe. Ever since, creative power-ups and transformations have become a staple of the Super Mario Bros. series.
Fact 8: Mario was originally known as “Jumpman” in Donkey Kong.
Fact 9: Mario actually didn’t appear in Donkey Kong 3, but he did make his return to the series in Donkey Kong for Game Boy.
Fact 10: Some Mario games actually break the space-time continuum by having Mario interact with his younger baby self.
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

Super Mario Maker has a GameTruck

September 13, 2015 by 2 Comments

After providing a truckload of ink-flying action to parties across the country this summer with the Splatoon game, GameTruck is once again partnering with Nintendo to bring the Super Mario Maker game to its fleet of game trucks. Starting on Sept. 18, more than 100 GameTruck vehicles will feature the upcoming game, launching exclusively for Wii U consoles on the 11th of September. Super Mario Maker lets players create their own Super Mario Bros. levels, share them online and play a near-limitless number of levels from people all over the world.

pic3

GameTruck delivers a fun video game experience to major metropolitan areas in 27 states around the country. The trucks bring gaming experiences directly to private consumer events and parties with more than 100 trucks fully equipped with the latest video games. There are even game experts on board to give tips, tricks and training. The trucks roll right up to the location of the party to provide a no-hassle way for party planners to give their attendees a fun experience they’ll never forget. To date, GameTruck has brought the Splatoon game in all of its inky glory to more than 5,000 parties and nearly 1,500 large events, while entertaining a total of over 600,000 guests.

Party guests who play Super Mario Maker in the trucks will experience a variety of imaginative levels created by people all over the world – even some created by Nintendo! GameTruck’s onboard experts will guide party guests through the level-creation process so they can get a taste of how easy and fun it is to create the Super Mario Bros. levels of their dreams. Attendees will even be able to submit their best levels to GameTruck at the end of their party, for a chance to have their level shared across the country. Once a month, GameTruck and Nintendo will select the best created level and feature it on http://play.nintendo.com.

The trucks with Super Mario Maker won’t hit the road until Sept. 18, but party planners can start reserving them now. For more information about how to reserve a GameTruck featuring Super Mario Maker, please visit http://gametruckparty.com. For more information about Super Mario Maker, visit http://supermariomaker.nintendo.com/.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

How To Make Sure Your Home Remains Energy Efficient All Year Long

September 4, 2015 by 2 Comments

When it comes to making sure that your home is able to remain energy efficient all year long, there are a number of handy tips that you can observe in order to meet this goal. Of course, depending on the region and climate where you live, there will be certain steps to take that will be right for some home owners, but not for others. However, there are always certain classic household energy saving tips that will be useful in nearly any situation, regardless of where you may call home.

Keeping Your Home Energy Efficient In The Summer Time

Keeping your home energy efficient in the summer time isn’t always the easiest thing in the world to accomplish, but there are a few key tips that you can follow to keep cool. For one thing, you might try turning the thermostat on your air conditioning unit up by 5 or 10 degrees during the day, so as to save a good percentage of energy over the course of the month. And turn off your air conditioning unit altogether when you aren’t at home.

Keeping Your Home Energy Efficient In The Winter Time

Of course, it’s considerably harder to keep your home energy efficient in the winter time than in the summer but, with a bit of foresight and planning, it can be done. The first thing you should do is to make sure that all of your windows and doors are probably winter proofed against the coming cold air. You might also want to keep your thermostat to as low a setting as possible, at least during the day, for the same energy saving rationale as you observed during the summer months.

Make Sure To Shop Around And Compare All Of Your Options

When you are searching for the best possible deal from an energy services provider, always make sure to shop around and compare and contrast all of your available options. You can visit website pages all across the Internet to get more ideas and offers from a wide and comprehensive range of companies in your area. It’s important to know that you are getting the services package that you are absolutely satisfied with and happy to pay your hard earned money for, so don’t settle down until you find the deal that works best for your needs.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Peg + Cat book-signing and storytelling events this September in NYC

August 31, 2015 by 1 Comment

Meet-n-Greets with Series Creators and Costume Characters!

Exciting Peg + Cat storytelling events are adding up to BIG fun for NYC families this fall! Kids across the city are invited to join Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson, the creators of the Emmy Award-winning PBS KIDS series Peg + Cat, to celebrate the launch of Peg + Cat: The Race Car Problem, the first picture book inspired by the top-rated TV show.

Event Details

Two stand-out Peg + Cat book signing and story-telling events with series creators Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson!

97 Warren Street, New York, NY

*PLUS – special guest appearance from Peg and Cat!*

686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY

Peg + Cat, produced by The Fred Rogers Company, launched on PBS KIDS in fall 2013. Proving an instant hit with children, parents and critics alike, the series went on to win four Emmy Awards, including a 2015 Emmy for “Outstanding Writing in a Preschool Animated Program.” The series follows the spirited Peg, Cat and their friends as they embark on relatable and funny adventures, filled with upbeat original music, and work together to overcome a challenge using their trusty math and problem-solving abilities. The Fred Rogers Company is producing a second season of 25 new math-infused episodes for PBS KIDS, including a one-hour special, set to launch in spring 2016.

Peg + Cat: The Race Car Problem is the first in a new picture book series from Candlewick Entertainment. Written and illustrated by the show creators Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson, the books translate all the best qualities and delightful quirkiness of the hit TV show into book form, encouraging kids to have fun while putting their math skills to the test as they follow the hilarious adventures of Peg and Cat.  The second book in the series, Peg + Cat: The Pizza Problem, will debut in February 2016.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Shovel Knight Gets His Own amiibo!

August 28, 2015 by 1 Comment

First Indie Game with amiibo Compatibility

During a presentation at Nintendo’s Nindies@Night event at EMP Museum in Seattle, Nintendo made several announcements about the future of independent games on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS systems. These announcements included the reveal of a Shovel Knight amiibo figure from Yacht Club Games that unlocks exclusive features for the hit game on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, making it the first indie game to support amiibo technology. Other reveals at the event include the upcoming launch of Kerbal Space Program for Wii U early next year with exclusive features and functionality, first-look Wii U debuts for Hive Jump and FAST Racing Neo multiplayer game play, along with exciting details concerning each of these anticipated Nindies.

pic7

For the first time, exclusive to the Wii U version of the game, players can scan the Shovel Knight amiibo and take on Shovel Knight’s quest cooperatively with a friend. (Photo: Business Wire)

“Not only do we have a robust slate of indie games launching in the Nintendo eShop, but these games also contain features that can only be found on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS,” said Damon Baker, Nintendo of America’s Senior Marketing Manager of Publisher and Developer Relations. “Creating an amiibo that’s compatible with all current and future Shovel Knight games shows that our strong relationship with independent developers is constantly evolving.”

“It’s been a great honor to work directly with Nintendo, creating a Shovel Knight amiibo that sits beside their most beloved characters,” said Yacht Club Games. “We are elated to expand the world of Shovel Knight, and to keep developing unique game-play experiences on Nintendo’s platforms.”

For the first time, exclusive to the Wii U version of the game, players can scan the Shovel Knight amiibo and take on Shovel Knight’s quest cooperatively with a friend. On Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the amiibo can be used to level up and customize Shovel Knight with new visual enhancements, relics and abilities. These abilities can then be used in new, exclusive amiibo challenge levels. To top it off, the amiibo figure will be supported in future Shovel Knight games.

Yacht Club Games also revealed that the free DLC for Shovel Knight that lets players play as fan-favorite enemy Plague Knight will launch in September. Shovel Knight can be purchased in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS for $14.99. Packaged retail versions of the game for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS will also be available in North America this October.

Graphite Lab and Black Lantern Studios showcased the first playable version of Wii U-exclusive Hive Jump, demonstrating exclusive features for the platform. Hive Jump is a fast-paced multiplayer action platformer for up to four players. Players engage in run ’n’ gun combat with swarms of aliens, all the while avoiding traps and collecting resources. The developers discussed how the Wii U Game Pad would be used in the game, as well as plans for amiibo support, which will be included when it launches in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U in early 2016.

To talk about FAST Racing Neo, Shin’en Multimedia joined the presentation to discuss multiplayer game play. FAST Racing Neo earns the title “Fast” by throwing players into a futuristic racer with hyper-fast anti-gravity vehicles. Up to four players can race against each other in split-screen local multiplayer, with up to eight racers able to participate in online multiplayer. (Additional controllers are required for local multiplayer.) FAST Racing Neo will launch exclusively in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U before the end of the year.

Squad’s Kerbal Space Program, with the help of Flying Tiger, was announced for Wii U and will launch early next year. A physics-based space flight simulator, Kerbal Space Program allows players to manage their own space program by building and flying spacecraft. In the Wii U version of the game, players can control their ship from inside the cockpit using the Wii U GamePad controller, as well as create flight plans with the touch screen and steer with motion controls. The critically acclaimed Kerbal Space Program will launch in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U.

Remember that Wii U and Nintendo 3DS feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu or http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Visit the Bronx Zoo #NYisWild

August 23, 2015 by 1 Comment

NYer’s have gone wild for #NYisWild!

pic4

Remember when we first told you about this upcoming #NYisWild photo challenge?

Since we first brought this to you, over 4,000 people have signed up for the photo safari, sharing pictures of how #NYisWild from all over NYC.

The #NYisWild hashtag has been used over 10,000 times on Instagram alone. You can see some of the images here: https://instagram.com/explore/tags/nyiswild/

There are only 16 days left to enter to win, but you only need 10 photos to be entered to win the trip to Belize.

The contest ends on September 8, 2015 at 11:59 a.m. EST.

Register at NYisWild.com with your twitter or Instagram account and head over to the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo or New York Aquarium as soon as you can.

Special discount: Use the promo code “NYisWild” to get 20% off tickets—online only.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Win $50 to Amazon

August 20, 2015 by 9 Comments

If you’re like me you need to keep a notepad at all times. Between Work schedules, and School schedules and just random things that I need to remember – If I don’t write it down, then I completely Forget! I rely on apps like NOTES by BigTexApps to keep all my information straight. I got this downloaded just in time for back To School!

Notes-1

Notes and Memos is an intuitive, light weight Notepad, Memo app that allows you to capture and organize your ideas. This Note app gives you a notepad look and feel. You can print from this app, change font style and size. You can send your notes by sms and email, and even backup and restore your notes!Notes-2

Key Features:
– Change notepad color
– Swipe security protection
– List sort A-Z, Z-A, Newest, Oldest
– Word counter
– Char counter
– Backup all notes
– Restore backed up notes
– Change Font Size
– Change Font Type
– Print your notes (Android 4.4+)
– Contact developer by email button
– Add notes by Voice
– Buy me button to remove ads
– Add Notes to your Google Calendar.
– Simple Navigation
– Share your Notes (SMS or E-Mail)
– Preview the note before opening. (Long Click)
– Press the microphone to VOICE input your NOTESNotes-3

Take a moment to download the FREE Notes App from Google Play and enter to win a $50 Amazon gift card below. Sponsored by BigTextApps.com

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Gift giving with Best Buy

August 15, 2015 by 4 Comments

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

LILE_Bday_7768_010117

Best Buy is the gift giving store of choice.  I say this because as of now there are very few people who wouldn’t like at least a little something from Best Buy, especially with the easy to use Gift Center.  This lets users find the perfect gift, either by interest, price, occasion, even just hot gifts for the person who has everything.  The only hard part of gift shopping is keeping in mind you are indeed shopping for someone else, and not yourself.  Best Buy has so much cool stuff, its easy to get carried away and ‘forget’ to pick up that special gift and instead get the special tablet you’ve been looking at for a while.

I like how great the range of products is which are available, including Gifts under $25, gifts from $25-$49.99, gifts from $50-$99.99, gifts from $100-$249.99, and gifts over $250. All manner of occasions are covered, from anniversaries to birthdays to graduations- all are accounted for.  There are also gift cards available, as is shipping, so even if you can’t find the perfect gift, let your gift recipient pick it out themselves.

Also, if (lets say) you are one of those people who always hears ” I never know what to get you”, Best Buy also has a Wish List you can share with loved ones.  So no more sizes too big sweaters or another copy of a DVD you mentioned liking once 3 years ago.

No matter what the gift or the occasion is, of course it is the thought that counts, and with the help of Best Buy you will be able to give that memorable gift and also give the biggest smile to your recipients face and make their day a truly special one.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: