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Nintendo to Debut 'Demo Play' in New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Posted June 15, 2009 by James Brightman

You may recall that earlier this year, Nintendo patented a special walkthrough system for its games that would provide players with hints or allow the CPU to actually finish parts of the game for you while you sit back and watch. The idea is to enable more players to actually finish games rather than giving in to frustration and giving up on a title because of a more difficult section.

We haven't heard much about this interesting gameplay feature since January, but now Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed with USA Today that the upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii will come equipped with this feature (tentatively called "demo play") and other Nintendo games in the future will offer this functionality as well. "In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, if a player is experiencing an area of difficulty, this will allow them to clear troubled areas and take over when they're ready," Miyamoto told the newspaper. "And yes, we're looking into this for future games, too."

At any time during New Super Mario Bros. Wii players can simply pause the game and let the game take over. Nintendo believes this feature will not only help more casual players, but also young and inexperienced gamers that may find certain portions of a game too difficult to complete.

The hardcore gamer inside us is somewhat stunned by this "easy button" approach, but at the same time we recognize that a "demo play" feature could be extremely valuable for many gamers and will only help Nintendo to further knock down barriers preventing entry into gaming.

<p><strong>James Brightman</strong> has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.</p>

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.

Justin Davis
June 15, 2009

Hardcore gamers getting upset about demo play are directing their anger in the wrong direction. Demo play will allow Nintendo to make games more casual-friendly without sacrificing game difficulty. It's actually a pretty elegant solution.

THE 1 2 P
June 15, 2009

I don't see the issue here. If hardcore gamers(like myself) don't like it, they aren't being forced to use it. For everyone who wants to use it, thats exactly what it's for.