When was the SMB "infinite" lives trick discovered?

[Lochlan]

As everybody surely knows, in SMB (and SMB2) there is a trick to get the maximum amount of lives by repeatedly bouncing off a shell.

Does anybody have any idea when this trick was first discovered?  (I'm looking at you, people who have original Japanese strategy guides.)  How early did Nintendo know about it?

I want to know if the placement of the red koopa and blocks at the beginning of SMB2 was designed so that the player could exploit the trick.  It seems unlikely except that the arrangement of blocks is so perfect for this purpose.  Given that the game was released almost 9 months after the first SMB, I think it's a reasonable possibility that Nintendo knew about the trick during the development of SMB2.

[MS-DOS4]

Wasn't that trick performed in the original commercial? Or maybe it was in Nintendo Power early on. But I'm sure they knew about it almost immediately.

[linkzpikachu]

how do you even do it 

[MS-DOS4]

It's pretty hard. I've never been able to get more than one or two 1ups from it before losing the shell or getting hurt.

[linkzpikachu]

ive never even been able to do just 1 1up

[Lochlan]

Wasn't that trick performed in the original commercial? Or maybe it was in Nintendo Power early on. But I'm sure they knew about it almost immediately.

If true, that would be very interesting.  Do you have a link to a video?  I looked on youtube but couldn't find anything.  If you're "sure they knew about it" I would love to see some evidence.

Also, regarding the mechanics of the trick:

They do the trick in GameCenterCX (in the SMB2 episode of course), so look at that if you want to see it done.  There's a torrent of the english-subbed version online, google for it.

To do the trick:
Hit one of the bricks to get the super mushroom, hit the third brick from the right to "bounce" the mushroom out of the structure.  Grab the mushroom, but don't run too far to the right.  "Trap" the koopa by breaking the third brick from the right (so the koopa only has one block to move on).
Now you have to get up there.  If you didn't move too far right you can break through the second block from the left.  If you moved a little too far, jump through the hole you made to trap the koopa, but time it right or you'll get hit. (Jump right when the koopa is about to turn around.)
Once you're up there, break all blocks except the one above the koopa (which you can't break anyway, too far away).  Now you have to jump and "run into" the block above the koopa to line yourself up perfectly, and you will bounce on the koopa and get a bunch of lives.  When do you jump?  I haven't figured out the timing exactly, but I have a sense of it.  Experiment and you will figure it out.

It's a little tricky to do it the first time, but once you get the method figured out you'll be able to do it nearly every time.

[nintendodork]

I'm also fairly certain it was in the original commercial.  It took me awhile to get it on SMB1, but that was easier than doing it on that first Koopa in SMB2.  I think it was quite nice of Nintendo to put that first Koopa there, right at the start of 1-1.  It's about the only break you get in that game.

[Lochlan]

I'm also fairly certain it was in the original commercial.  It took me awhile to get it on SMB1, but that was easier than doing it on that first Koopa in SMB2.  I think it was quite nice of Nintendo to put that first Koopa there, right at the start of 1-1.  It's about the only break you get in that game.

Where is this commercial?

I found a SMB2/Zelda commercial here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqMIizCI-QU
...but it does not feature the trick.

Is there another one?

[MS-DOS4]

Wasn't that trick performed in the original commercial? Or maybe it was in Nintendo Power early on. But I'm sure they knew about it almost immediately.

If true, that would be very interesting.  Do you have a link to a video?  I looked on youtube but couldn't find anything.  If you're "sure they knew about it" I would love to see some evidence.

I know I saw it somewhere. I looked on youtube but I couldn't find the video. I'll look again later though.

[nintendodork]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMyYRy5SgIM

At 3:37, an employee at Nintendo talks about the glitch.  It's not an official ad, but Nintendo is still the one talking about it.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

I  wouldn't be surprised if they had already known about it before the release of the game.

I figured it out on my own way before the internetz was mainstream.

[Lochlan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMyYRy5SgIM

At 3:37, an employee at Nintendo talks about the glitch.  It's not an official ad, but Nintendo is still the one talking about it.

That video is pretty great, gotta love Bill O'Reilly on Inside Edition.

However, according to Wikipedia, Bill O'Reilly started working there in 1991--several years after the release of SMB2.  I'm guessing the trick was discovered earlier than that, but I really have no idea.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

You bounce lower than the NTSC's.

THAT I did not know.

Geez, PAL gamers got shanked... twice. No minus world either, am I right? Can you still do the mini flower power thing?

[Xious]

It was published in  the Tips & Tactics booklet in 1985, and the game manual itself hints at other, un-obvious ways to get 1-UPs and mentions the consequences of getting too greedy, so it was clearly well-known by Nintendo before release. Whether intentional or not, only the programmers could answer without doubts.

The placement of the blocks in 1-1 of SMB2 is quite intentional, as you'll need the help to get through the game unless you're a Mario God... Additionally, there is another, flagpole-based 1-Up trick in SMB2 that many people forget about:

Spoiler: _{If the seconds timer matches both the tens and ones place on your coins counter when touching the flagpole (e.g. 77 coins and 137 seconds), you gain an extra life.}