Nintendo puts original Super Mario on GBA

TOKYO--Continuing its summer promotional campaign, Nintendo will be giving out more of its limited-edition Game Boy Advance SP with a Famicom color scheme. Now, though, the special handheld console will come with an additional bonus--a limited edition of Famicom's original 1985 Super Mario Brothers for the GBA.

As part of a new contest called the "Hot Mario! Campaign," Nintendo will be giving out 3,000 additional Famicom-themed Game Boy Advance SPs. Contestants can participate in the new campaign by purchasing two upcoming games from a list of titles selected by Nintendo, and signing up for the company's new "Club Nintendo" users program. The lucky winners of the Famicom-style GBA SPs will also receive Super Mario Brothers for free.

Nintendo will also hand out 1,000 second prizes, a Mario Hat identical to the one seen in a recent Japanese TV commercial, where a member of the popular Japanese boy-band SMAP dresses up as Mario to plug Mario Kart: DoubleDash!!.

The GameCube titles eligible for the Hot Mario! Campaign are: Mario Kart: DoubleDash!!, Pokemon Coliseum, R: Racing Revolution, Mario Party 5, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen!! 2, Baten Kaitos, Donkey Konga, One Piece Grand Battle! 3, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The Game Boy Advance titles are: Mario & Luigi, F-Zero: Falcon Densetsu, Super Donkey Kong, and Bokujou Monogatari: Mineral Town no Nakamatachi for Girl.

In this summer's Famicom campaign, the limited edition Game Boy Advance SP was given to 1,000 contestants to commemorate the Famicom's 20th anniversary. The Famicom is the original Japanese version of the console U.S. gamers know as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The color scheme of the limited edition GBA SP was based on the original red and white Famicom console, and came in a box that was based on the Famicom's original packaging.

With heavy demand from old-school gamers in Japan, the Famicom-themed GBA SP has been appearing on auction sites since they were shipped to winners on the weekend, with bids currently running around 50,000 yen (about $460).