After praising Wii Fit and admonishing journalists not to ask questions about Zelda, Miyamoto got down to business describing his team's motivations behind making a new New Mario game, this time on consoles. He describes the ultimate decision coming not from a sense of going retro, but of upgrading the setting:

Because it's on the Wii console which is part of the living room experience we needed to design the game in a way that would be appropriate for that. The game itself stems from the original 8-bit Mario game, where the original concept was it allowed for two people to play together. With Super Mario Bros. the game turned into a single player experience, but on the DS the one thing we wanted to achieve with New Super Mario Bros. for the DS was a side-scrolling experience that was easy for the new gamers, but would still satisfy the needs of the longtime Mario fans.

Just like the spartan-but-stylish living rooms seen in countless Wii commercials so far, New Super Bros. Wii is meant to be enjoyed in a group setting, possibly with a grinning family staring into the camera.

All joking aside, the focus Miyamoto mentions of crafting the latest Mario platformer into a multiplayer experience for everyone while also giving it appeal to 'core' gamers who remember the 8-bit glory days seems to be one of the main challenges for Nintendo this time around. By way of example, Miyamoto mentions this game "[won't] be as easy as New Super Mario Bros. DS," but also that it's a "suited for any skill level."

From whence comes the resolution of these surely contradictory statements?! Why, in the new Super Guide Block! If a player dies too many times in a given level, a special block will appear upon restarting--a sort of floating, square life preserver thrown to someone floundering in an 8-bit Hard game released in a 128-bit era. Engaging this block by jumping into it transforms Mario into Luigi, who then runs off on a sort of 'demo mode' to show the most basic route through the level. Luigi's motions can be taken over at any time to continue after the hard parts are dealt with, or the player can watch his route through to its completion, after which they'll have the choice to run through from the beginning on their own... or to use the Super Block's powers of automation as fact and simply power on through to the next level, whereupon they'll have to die a number of times again before they get the chance to watch that level being played.

So it seems the overused, negative cry of "the game plays itself!" is necessarily misguided - New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a colorful god that only helps those who help (or, at least, sufficiently embarrass) themselves. And those classic Mario fans who are worried about being lumped in with the masses who watch Luigi play the game for them can rest easy: the title screen will show a special achievement if they can get through without having a single Super Guide Block ever tempt them with its appearance. Also, the path Luigi takes through the level will be the barest of minimums - the Superbly Guided won't be able to access hidden areas or collect all the Star Coins without taking over Luigi and braving the level on their own.

Star Coins are finite in quantity and serve as the main drive for diving for secrets in each level. Among other things, players can spend them on advanced Hint Videos created by the development team and testers. Miyamoto's favorite among these showed Luigi being swallowed and spit between a team of three Yoshi-riding buddies, effectively collecting many of the coins in a level without touching the ground, which, of course, netted quite a few 1UPs.

So the Super Guide concept, if used wisely, seems like it might make for a rather well-balanced experience for both Mario newcomers and the Masters and Mistresses of World 8-8. I've always thought that many of the loud efforts the 'hardcore' make to distance themselves from 'casual' gamers comes from a desire to have their accomplishments validated: any two people can say they beat the latest Super Mario game, but their experiences don't compare unless the same amount of effort was put into both. Happily, the mark on the title screen (and perhaps even while viewing the levels) will show the difference between the gamer who toughs it out through the controller-flinging challenges and the gamer who lets the Wii play with itself for a level or two.

On the subject of the new New Mario project having something for everyone, the different game modes seem to be solidified. Players can start in Story Mode, which will take them through the usual Worlds 1 through 8 on a never-ending quest to save their Princesses. For those who prefer to mix it up a bit, Free for All Mode will show levels as a set of iconic images, which can be set up as a 'playlist' so a group of Wii wielders can spend less time exploring menus for their favorite levels and more time trying to knock each other off of platforms. Or, for the very competitively-minded, there's a Coin Battle Mode wherein players are challenged to end up with more coins than their friends - by any means necessary, of course. These levels are similar to default levels from the first two modes, but with different coin layouts, supposedly to facilitate multiple pathways to the flag. There are also five levels set up just for Coin Battles, including a remake of the first classic Mario Bros. stage.

Finally, Miyamoto ended the Q&A session by revealing why our favorite pink crusader, Princess Peach, isn't a playable avatar in the latest Mario opus. From the mouth of the master himself:

I thought it'd be nice to have her as a playable character, but the toad characters had a similar physique to a Mario character than Peach does. And if one of the four had a dress, we'd have to come up with a special programming to handle how the skirt is handled in the gameplay, and that's really the only reason why Peach isn't playable (laughs).

So, even though it seems a cruel fate to deny Peach fans the ability to romp around and kick ass as the Princess formerly known as Toadstool, it does make sense when one takes into account the physics-transcending powers of a nice, frilly skirt. It just wouldn't be fair to rest of the boys. Personally, I think a happy medium could've been reached by including a Pink Skirt powerup for all characters to don and enjoy, but that might just be me.

More fun details about New Super Mario Bros. will undoubtedly be forthcoming as the game approaches its US release date this November, when all and sundry will get to experience the childhood joy of bouncing with friends among toadstool towers.