The new Nintendo Direct Mini isn't about the Wii Mini. It's about new/old New Super Mario Bros. 2 levels that are temporarily free on the Nintendo 3DS. Not too confusing, right?

In their October 25th Nintendo Direct stream, Nintendo has announced the release of 2 new packs for New Super Mario Bros 2.

Used to be that Nintendo and downloadable content were two terms that you almost never saw together. But that changes in a big way this week as the company rolls out the first wave of add-on coin packs for New Super Mario Bros 2 on the 3DS.

Straight out of Japan, via German gaming site NTower TV, it's a playthrough of the new downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. 2. The new levels will be released on the 3DS' American eShop on Thursday, for $2.50 per level pack.

Just when we start thinking that the world has accepted that gaming is a widespread, diverse hobby on the same level as any other form of media, an awful marketing campaign comes along to remind us that, oh yes, some people still believe that "gamer" is a dirty word.

You can start buying downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. 2 this Thursday.

Nintendo has just detailed the New Super Mario Bros. 2 DLC that it first announced back in June at E3.

The road to one million coins in New Super Mario Bros. 2 can be daunting. Maybe you've given up by now. Well it's time to get back on track, champ. Let Kotaku reader Slider show you how to earn 30,000 coins in two minutes all without leaving your couch. (Sorry about the video quality.)

If you've heard anything at all about the latest Super Mario Bros. game, you know that it has a lot of coins. So many coins. The diligent player can collect a million of the shiny little guys.

Now here's the story of a guy named Mario.

The line of games that started with Super Mario Bros and extends to this week's New Super Mario Bros. 2 have an unusual, innate appeal, according to the president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata.

With Sunday seeing the debut of New Super Mario Bros. 2, the first Nintendo-published title launched simultaneously at retail and in digital form, a game would have to be some sort of crazy chicken pirate to try and muscle in on this week's Nintendo Download. So yeah, Mario and two games named Crazy Chicken: Pirate.

Some of the most beautiful things in video games, as my colleague Patricia Hernandez noted on Friday, are the mistakes, the glitches. Some of the best surprises, however, are the ones game developers intentionally hid for us somewhere in the forests of the games we play. These delights are planted along the path to…

New Super Mario Bros 2, the latest game in the Mario Brothers franchise was released in Japan on July 28th and already players are chugging away, gathering coins, coins, and more coins. One of the side objectives/achievements of the game is to collect a million coins, and it looks like hundreds of people have already…

In 2006 Nintendo released New Super Mario Bros.—the first big 2D Mario title since the SNES' Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. This game would go on to be the best selling game of the DS' formidable library, selling over 28 million copies worldwide. Now, six years later, it's a new decade and a new generation for…

Six years ago, Nintendo returned to its 2D platforming roots with New Super Mario Bros. It went on to become not only the bestselling DS title but also the third bestselling hand-held title ever (behind Pokemon Red/Blue and Tetris) with over 28 million copies sold worldwide. After a brief detour to the Wii, the series…

We've got two copies of New Super Mario Bros. 2 in the office. And we've got an original 3DS and the new 3DS XL. The XL's screens are advertised as being 90% bigger than the regular 3DS'. Numbers are nice, but wouldn't you rather just see the same game running on each unit? That's what we've got for you right here.

Some things in this universe are constant. Death, taxes. Slow buses when you're late. And the fact that Mario is into coins.

For nearly a decade now, Nintendo has made a very focused effort to makeover how Japan views video games. To do that, Nintendo's needed help from the country's most famous females.