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

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.