Features// SPOnG's Review Of 2006: July

[b]Miyamoto Reveals Lost Mario and Luigi Title
07/06/2006[/b]

Bastard! Bastaaaaard!!!!

That was Mario godfather Shigeru Miyamoto. He put SPOnG in a bad mood for much of July when he let slip that there is in fact a lost Mario and Luigi game for the N64 that he never got round to finishing. His exact words were "Super Mario 128 was just one of many experimental games we had. Suddenly, everybody started talking about it. I'm in the all-too easy habit of starting a project only to later on not do much of it. There is a great deal of unfinished work on my desk. I worked on a prototype for the Nintendo 64 game with Mario and Luigi in it for some time." Thanks for that, mate.

Then came a big Daddy of a leak from Sony in the form of an internal Q&A on the PS3. The main details spilling forth from it amounted to that the different models are not, in fact, models. As Kutaragi said the month before: they're "configurations" in the mode of computers. As such various bits and bobs have been built with the addition of existing or new products in mind.

Bad PR for Nintendo followed when it became apparent that many new DS Lites were cracking up. Namely, in numerous cases the hinges were snapping after only a few weeks. Cue something we don't get to see all that often: disgruntled Nintendo fans. Needless to say, the world trembled in fear of their wrath.

In a further blow to Nintendo's PR machine some (admittedly rare) criticism came out of left-field and curved its way towards the Wii. Actually, it probably caused nary a stumble for the guys in the 'Tendy PR office: it was lifestyle rag Arena. And it was pretty misinformed. They did succeed in incurring our wrath, however, with their ignorant comments about the Wii needing a huge screen and sprats taking over our living room.

As the month drew on we sat down for a nice chat with Lionhead's Peter Molyneux and dragged a morsel from him about the company's next game. The word was that he got the idea while watching the news on September 23rd 2005. Much guessing ensued, but he still ain't telling.

July ended with a deep and resounding boom from Bungie studios as they announced that Halo 3 will be the final instalment in the series. A source close to Microsoft management told SPOnG "it's more than just 'a thing to say'". Various Xbox fans around SPOnG proceeded to mooch around the office, not saying much and crying in the darkened toilet. The rest of us reckon they're being a bit silly. We think they just mean the end of Halo on the current generation and they'll be back in a few years with a prequel. But that's just us. Regardless, Bungie's next project (after Halo 3 wraps up) will be original IP.

July managed to come and go without any games to set SPOnG's nads on fire, but I guess as this is a gaming website I'm obliged to give the month's releases at least a cursory pass. So: Prey on the PC and 360 gets a mention for having oodles of hype but failing to deliver, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II makes the list because it was just too difficult to ignore and Electroplankton gets a shout-out for being downright strange and pleasant.

Look back at SPOnG's review of June