If there’s one game company out there you shouldn’t steal from, it’s gotta be Nintendo. However, a conniving Australian man thought he could do just that and now owes the Japanese game-maker $1.5 million.

Nintendo sent out a press release this morning explaining how the company royally pwned James Burt, an Australian, and the first to pirate New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Nintendo said it employed “the use of sophisticated technological forensics” to catch the man who uploaded the pirated copy to the Internet.

Burt, a man working by himself, must now pay Nintendo AUD $1.5 million ($1.3 USD) “to compensate Nintendo for the loss of sales revenue caused by the individual’s actions.”

New Super Mario Bros. Wii recently sold its 10 millionth copy so you might think Nintendo might now press so hard, but it’s Nintendo. The properties it owns are not to be stolen and Nintendo will do everything to keep that reputation.

Source: Kotaku

Admit it, you still toss a Super Mario Bros. cartridge into your NES every now and then or boot up Super Mario World on your Wii thanks to the wonders of Virtual Console. These timeless classics have wowed gamers and brought a smile to the face of millions over the years, but there has not been a true sequel to the 2D Super Mario universe on a home console for over 15 years. Mario’s move and success to the world of 3D–Super Mario 64 is the blueprint from which all 3D platformers were developed and judged after–killed the 2D Mario platformer, at least outside of handhelds. Thankfully, Nintendo is revisiting the past using the technology and knowledge of today to create a brand new 2D Mario title, one that combines all of the things Nintendo has utilized and learned throughout their years as the most successful 2D platform developer in the world, and brings them together in one game–and then lets you play that game cooperatively with your friends.

Outside of the fact that this is a Mario game in the classic style, that’s the big hook. You can play this game along with up to three others, all at the same time. It’s total chaos on occasion, but it’s also some of the most fun I’ve had playing a game in a long time. You can work together in the story mode, grabbing every coin, assisting your friend’s jumps, not rushing through the level so that your slower friends can keep up, but don’t worry, there’s also room for the more competitive side. New Super Mario Bros. Wii offers two competitive multiplayer modes that work so well that I’m almost retroactively upset the older games didn’t include them.

Graphically, New Super Mario Bros. Wii looks fine, but it’s not a stunner like some of 2009′s other sidescrolling efforts, like Muramasa or A Boy and His Blob, or even Nintendo’s own Wario Land: Shake It. You won’t notice though, because you’ll be too busy running around trying to collect every coin, find every hidden room, or if you’re playing with friends, just trying to stay alive and out of harm’s way.

This is classic Mario platforming: run, jump, collect item suits, use suits’ abilities. You’ve got the old standby suits, such as the Fire Flower and the Mushroom that makes Mario grow, but in addition there are some new suits. The Penguin suit allows Mario to shoot ice balls that freeze enemies (that he can then climb or throw like a shell) while also giving him the ability to slide on ice and swim effectively, while the Propeller suit lets Mario fly–unlike the Raccoon tail or Cape though, this is more vertical than horizontal. Flying horizontally at fast speeds would result in the death of everyone without that power, so it’s a logical design choice to eliminate those powers.

The level design is on par with Mario’s peak as a 2D platformer, during the Super Mario Bros. 3/Mario World phase, where loads of enemies, platforms, pipes and difficult jumps were placed everywhere for you to navigate. You can already tell that this is a game you can replay again and again, and you will find something new all of the time, whether it be hidden coins, hidden boxes, rooms, ways to clear jumps or dispose of your enemies–there are multiple ways to do everything, and that sense of exploring the game will keep you enthralled with the title.

The fact that you can replay the levels in multiple modes makes finding secrets easier too. As stated, you’ve got your cooperative story mode. Besides that though, you have Coin Battle, which gives you somewhat of an alternate version of the game’s levels that are littered with coins. There’s no counter for individual coins as you play, just the team’s total, so you aren’t quite sure who is in the lead, which makes every coin matter. When you finish the level, you see your total and your champion; the game will also keep track of how many levels you have won if you play more than one round, so you could replay the whole game this way and check out the splits afterward.

The other mode is the aptly-named Free For All. This is Mario Bros. Wii at its most chaotic, as four people battle it out to see who can score the most points. Extra lives are worth points, coins are worth points, and of course, killing enemies and collecting items are both worth points as well. You are ranked at the end of each level, and just like Coin Battle, can play every level you have unlocked in the story mode this way. Depending on how close you and your friends are, this is either the greatest game mode you can imagine or the quickest way to get yourself punched in the face. There is nothing quite like the look of death you receive for using someone else’s head to propel yourself to an item, and then finding out that your makeshift trampoline pal fell into a canyon and died because of it. At the same time though, it’s worth that glare for the laughs.

And that’s why you won’t hear me complain about the lack of online play in this game. Sure, it would have been nice for some, and more modes are always welcome, but as LittleBigPlanet taught me, the most enjoyable experiences come from booting up the game and playing with people in your living room. The laughter is louder, and the experience is more enjoyable. You may disagree with me, but you can adjust your own personal score accordingly–just know that, online or no, this game is a must-own.

SEATTLE — There has not been a traditional, 2D Mario platforming game on a home console since the days of the Super Nintendo. All of the remakes and new adventures were put onto the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS rather than on the Nintendo 64, GameCube or, until now, the Wii; hell, even Wario got in on the 2D goodness around this time last year, and he had a 2.5D title the generation before that. The wait for this style of game is almost over though, as Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. series makes its way to the Wii with some new additions that could make it a must own.

If you like 2D Mario games, you will like New Super Mario Bros. Wii. That’s a pretty open and shut discussion, as it has the kinds of things you look for: tight controls, great level design, secrets to find, nifty power-ups, and of course, a score-based system that the 3D games lack. What this game also has that no other Mario title has is multiplayer. I don’t know the kind you’re used to, when Mario attempts a level and then Luigi gives it a go, I mean four-players at once, in the same level, acting either competitively or cooperatively — or a little of both — in order to clear a level.

If you want to help your friends, you can work together to solve platforming puzzles, or use each other as a springboard to reach out of the way items and coins, divide items evenly and try not to rush through the levels too fast so that they don’t fall behind. While it’s fun to play nice, the real joy in New Super Mario Bros. comes from its competitive nature. Steal items from your friends to keep them from gaining power-ups and extra lives, and to give yourself more points. Run as quickly as you can to ensure they fall behind, or to make sure you always get to item blocks, coins and enemies first. Do your best to bounce off of their heads, using them as a springboard to collect what you want without sharing. While riding Yoshi, eat your buddy and shoot him into a canyon or into enemies, or just hold on to them to keep them from collecting anything. There’s a lot you can do in each level to ensure that you come out on top–you will be ranked by points at the end of each level–so if you’re the competitive type, this is‚  going to be your kind of game.

Nintendo might not like this comparison, but it’s a lot like LittleBigPlanet in its concept, except with much, much tighter controls and a more well-developed and cohesive universe. I think there’s also a higher emphasis on competition than there was in LBP, which personally I find appealing. I played through a few different levels: the first in the game, which is just meant as an introduction to the controls and some new abilities, like your spin attack/boost which you perform by shaking the Wii Remote (an ability you will utilize with the Propeller Suit, also found in this stage) as well as the two levels that introduced you to Yoshi and the Penguin Suit. Yoshi controls like you expect him to, except now you can eat your friends, as mentioned before. There is more than one Yoshi per stage as well, but you will want to fight over him since having Yoshi allows you to dispose of enemies easily and also allows you to eat the fruit growing in the stage. The Penguin Suit is a neat addition–not only is it pretty adorable, but Mario and company can slide across ice with it, allowing them to break through blocks that they normally could only dispose of by hitting them with a shell. You also can shoot ice balls, much like if you had collected a Fire Flower. Speaking of Fire Flowers and Ice Balls, you can shoot in multiple directions at once while wearing these suits by spinning with the Wii Remote; this is useful if you’re surrounded, or just want to try to steal as many points as possible from your pals.

Even though the basic concept was easy to grasp and there wasn’t anything new unveiled for it at PAX, this was one of the coolest games on the floor, and is one we will continue to cover up through its release later this year. Check back here in the future for more info and assets, but for now, we’ve got some screens for you to check out.

We promised more details, and now we have them for you, along with some artwork and screenshots. The new Super Mario Bros. Wii is a four-player side-scrolling platformer with a balance of co-op and competitive elements to it. You can choose to save your friend from danger by picking him up, or toss him into a pit of spikes or an incoming fireball. Why? Because it’s hilarious, that’s why.

Mario and Luigi are both playable characters, as are two Toad characters. Nintendo promises that many of our other favorites from the Mushroom Kingdom will make appearances in the game, which makes me wonder if any of them are secret playable characters, or if Nintendo is just keeping a lid on who is playable besides the Bros. and Toads for now.

The game will have some motion control, and it can be used for both co-op and competitive purposes. For example, you have seesaws in the game that can be used to get to hard to reach areas on the screen; if you’re the first character on it, you can either help your friend out, or be a jerk and mess with the incline to stall your friend. This is also important, because the game tallies your score at the end of each level to see which one of you is the highest scorer.

The game has sold me on the concept of competitive multiplayer, as well as Penguin Mario. He turns into a freakin’ penguin! That’s the most adorable thing I’ve seen since… well, Bee Mario.