PixlBit

Lighting effects in a Mario game are still kind of weird to see.

Being the fourth entry in the series, prepending “New” to the title seems disingenuous. Despite tossing in a new power-up in the form of a flying squirrel suit, New Super Mario Bros. U is more of the same tried-and-true gameplay the series is known for. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad thing, but it’s hard not to feel some fatigue with the now familiar art style, level layout, and presentation. Despite this fatigue, there’s little question that New Super Mario Bros. U is the strongest title in the subseries and a fond callback to both Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.

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Joaquim hops in the hot seat this week as Chessa takes the night off.

After last week's brief discussion of New Super Mario Bros. 2, Jason has quite a bit more to add after picking up the game at retail. Nick delves into Papo & Yo and Joaquim talks Pro Evolution Soccer. What we've been playing gives way to a bit of news discussion, focused mainly around the ABC bankruptcy of OnLive and its prompt segue to a new investor. Finally, we wrap the show with a bit of Mario-related trivia in honor of the release of New Super Mario Bros. 2 and the early discussions of the episode. Tune in and enjoy!

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If the title wasn't a dead giveaway, Gamescom 2012 is the main focus of our conversation. But that's not all!

After a hiatus due to vacations and general life stuff, Nick, Chessa, and Jason reunite for the seventy-fourth episode of PixlTalk. We kick things off with a bit of conversation on the Zelda symphony and segue into what we're all playing. The bulk of the cast is dedicated to the various announcements at Gamescom 2012, primarily Sony's news.

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Black Wii resembles European model revealed earlier this year.

Nintendo is releasing a new black Wii model with a Remote Plus controller and nunchuk this holiday season. This model will sit horizontally instead of vertically and will not have backwards compatibility with GameCube games, nor will it feature the GameCube controller ports or memory card slots. Earlier, Nintendo announced a model similar to this for European consumers at Gamescom.

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