Ever since Upperdeck confirmed Loot cards (real life cards that contain codes which can be entered in for virtual WoW items), people wondered what kind of items would these be? Powerful weapons? Just clothing that has no stat boosters? Well it seems the first loot item has been revealed. The Turtle Mount.

The oringinal indication of this item came from http://www.thottbot.com/test?sp=30193 which has it listed as an Upperdeck item.

Drew, at http://www.warcraftcardgame.com posted this information on the Warcraft forums only to get banned for posting "unreleased content" which seems to be the all the proof to confirm this item.

The specifics of this mount are still unknown. Possibilities are its a mount everyone can use, but it is as fast or slower then running speed. Or maybe this mount is a traditional mount (60%) that has the ability to swim (meaning no dismount in water). So look for the card game this october, when this item will be released (considering the loot card is indeed in the first set of cards)

~Information taken from http://www.warcraftcardgame.com

After what seemed like a severe drought, May has once again kick started the legend of side scroller games. Super Paper Mario was announced at E3 and has been severely underappreciated. With all the news of the Wii taking up everything Nintendo, and even the whole show, games for the GameCube seemed to be somewhat ignored. Super Paper Mario might be the greatest GameCube exclusive left in the systems life. Being compatable with both the GameCube and Wii (even though no special features for playing it on Wii have been announced) this title should get the recognition it deserves after the dust of E3 settles.

While Super Paper Mario will be the first console original side scroller Mario since the SNES days, it will not be the only original sider scroller Mario for the year. New Super Mario Bro's, which hit shelves on May 15 really brings Mario back to his roots on the NES and SNES while adding graphics and themes of today's Mario. Even going back to simple gaming mechanics, New Super Mario Bro's is surprisingly lengthy and should be a hot item.

While Mario has been appearing in classic side scroller format, his 3D version of games are still not forgotten with Super Mario Galaxy scheduled for a Q4 2006 release. The last original 3D Mario was Super Mario Sunshine. So don't be afraid to take a step back into the genre that lifted Mario in his own game.