mario

Once game consoles hit their stride in the '80s and '90s, the platform game became enormously popular. Especially with the release of the now legendary Mario games, just about every developer rushed to produce a game that offered that perfect mix of running, jumping, and collecting items for points, all while exploring a strange and often fantastical world.

This week's collection of apps includes modern twists on the old-school platform games many of us remember. The first lets you explore deep mines for treasure; the second will bring back memories of precision-heavy, rage-inducing platform classics; and the last offers up cartoonlike graphics as you explore a dreamlike fantasy world.… Read more

Nintendo is dropping the price of its Wii game console to $149 and including a Mario game in the bundle, the company said early today.

Industry observers have been expecting the company to slash the price of the device--which has been $169 with a bundle. Their expectations grew further with last week's announcement that Nintendo will release a successor to the Wii next year.

Many observers thought Nintendo needed to do something to revitalize the console, which for years was unbeatable but in recent months has struggled to maintain its momentum. Sales have slowed, even as Microsoft and Sony … Read more

Wishing Nintendo had its games available in Apple's App Store? Well, sometimes it does--even if they're buggy and, seemingly, completely without Nintendo's consent.

A game called Monino has suddenly appeared in the App Store. At 99 cents, it looks like it's pretty close to a clone of Mario, not-so-cleverly renamed. And, upon download, we discovered that even the Mario music had been ripped off, too (a badly recorded soundtrack that sounded like it was pulled directly from the old NES game).

Monino, as you can see, looks quite a bit like an Italian plumber of note. … Read more

We all have habits to overcome, and we all know that Wilson's weakness is text messaging and abusing social networks, but what about me and Jeff? On today's show, you'll learn how Jeff overcame his filthy nail-biting and why I almost went bald at age 8.

It's challenging to differentiate between a habit and an addiction, but it's safe to say that an addiction is a behavioral pattern that escalates in frequency and advertises a lack of control. Smoking is one of the most pervasive examples of addiction in our society, but according to our first story of the day, text messaging may be the key to cessation!

According to new research at the University of Oregon, it may be possible to inhibit an individual's response to cravings brought on by addiction through reminders delivered via media like text messages.

"Research participants were prompted by eight text messages per day for three weeks to document their ongoing cravings, mood, and cigarette use" during the quitting process, the university said, and these messages may have helped some people curb their desire to smoke. Now if we can only find a way to help Wilson with his Facebooking...

A new book called "Cancel Cable: How Internet Pirates Get Free Stuff" by Chris Fehily serves as an instruction manual… Read more

Kids, do NOT try this at home! As a prank, French comedian Remi Gaillard decided to create something of a real-life version of the classic Nintendo video game Mario Kart.

Driving a go-kart at high speeds through the streets and stores of Paris, He was lucky no one was hurt (apart from the likely bruised egos of security guards that gave chase). This was not Gaillard's first time employing Mario Kart in one of his pranks--he mounted a similar stunt back in 2008.

This story originally appeared on CBSNews.com. … Read more

When researchers at Brigham Young University's School of Family Life decided to investigate the role parents play in gaming with their adolescent kids, they discovered a statistically significant gender divide.

For boys, gaming with a parent did not have much of an effect on positive behavior, aggression, family connection, and mental health. But for girls, gaming with a parent resulted in as much as a 20 percent variation on those outcomes--specifically, improving positive behavior, mental health, and family connections.

The team studied 287 families with adolescents ages 11 to 16; the boys played Call of Duty, Wii Sports, and … Read more

On today's show, McDonald's has a data breach, although it's not as bad as the one from the Mesa County, CO, sheriff's office, which apparently keeps its lists of victims, suspects, and informants in a nice, big, unprotected plain-text database. So, that's a few informants running for safe houses, then. Also, the Comcast Death Star turns its rays on Roku, Apple TV, and the like; and the Nook Color goes from awesome to officially awesome. --Molly

Nintendo has unveiled limited edition Wii and DSi XL bundles to mark the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.

The new Wii bundle includes a "Mario-red" Wii and a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

In addition, the bundle will come with a red Wii Remote Plus, the game company's upcoming controller, which combines the functions of the Wii Remote and the Wii MotionPlus add-on. The bundle will also include a red Nunchuk controller and a copy of Wii Sports.

According to Nintendo, the limited edition bundles will be "available while supplies last." They … Read more

Everyone's in the studio this week as Donald shares a little too much about his wraparound interactive plasma screen marital aid concept, and a vision for a phone you wear on your face. Fan-created Disneyland blueprints potentially point the way to a secret drug den, and a watchmaker potentially rakes in the dough by making things crooked. At the end, we explore gastronomical extremes that have us reaching for the bucket.