superpapermario
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Super Paper Mario makes with the screens
Famitsu has dished out some new screens for Super Paper Mario, showing some of the title's proposed 2-and-3D gameplay. Super Paper Mario is a bit of an oddity though; there's hardly ever any news on it aside from screenshots, despite the title jumping ship on the GameCube and boarding the more comfortable ride of the Wii, as well as featuring (arguably) Nintendo's most popular mascot. This should change come April 9th, however, as the game has been confirmed for release in the states at that time. One little tidbit can be taken from the Famitsu post, however: Peach's umbrella will allow her to access secret areas. Sweet!Images have been embedded past the post break.
New Super Paper Mario Wii screens (in our favorite ratio)
Since its announcement at E3 2006, Super Paper Mario has made a format shift and still managed to keep a suspiciously low profile. It's a game that has been developed in the shadows, with only occasional flashes to give the poor gaming press anything to write about. At last, though, Super Paper Mario is coming out into the open. Nintendo today confirmed an April 19 release for Japan, which means that Super Paper Mario (like the Wii itself) is going to debut in North America. The new 16:9 screens here show how beautiful the game has become and, although Wii Remote functions are yet to be properly explained, Famitsu reports that Peach's umbrella can be used to access secret areas. (Here come the Super Mario Bros. 2 flashbacks.) We're intrigued to see how Super Paper Mario can flit from 2D to 3D at the press of a button and retain some sort of consistency. America can discover on April 9 whether Intelligent Systems' ambitious project has succeeded -- and more importantly, find out whether Bowser ends up marrying Peach. The horror.%Gallery-1722%[Image credit: Famitsu]
Super Paper Mario releases April 9
Portly paper plumber platforming news now, with Nintendo announcing a release date of April 9 for Super Paper Mario. Initially developed as a Gamecube title, the Wii adventure sees Mario switching between charming 2-D and 3-D landscapes in an effort to thwart the ill-advised marriage of Princess Peach to Bowser. Who knew a mere platformer could provide such sweeping social commentary on the liberal, inter-species marriage laws of the Mushroom Kingdom?The platformer also underlines the state of the ongoing Wii games drought. Short of Sonic's Wii debut later this month and Wario's notable appearance early this year, the console's Q1 release schedule has been decidedly barren. Ideally, Super Paper Mario will kick off a more vigorous second quarter, complete with the evolved form of an overlooked Gamecube ape. %Gallery-1586%
Wii to get Super Paper Mario, lose DVD playback? [update 1]
IGN's Matt Casamassina is reporting that Super Paper Mario, currently planned for the GameCube, will come out for the Wii instead. The comment came in response to a question on the IGN Wii mailbag, along with a rather cryptic hint about "reading between the lines" of the rather direct statement that "Paper Mario will be headed to Wii and not GameCube."Super Paper Mario was one of the bright spots for GameCube owners in a largely 'Cube-free E3 for Nintendo. Since the game's announcement, there has been next to no additional information released, save a couple of leaked videos from Japan's World Hobby Fair. With that game's official release date of Oct. 9 quickly approaching and no Japanese release or additional information from Nintendo forthcoming, many sites have updated their projections for the game's release to Q4 '06 or even Q1 '07.In the same mailbag, Casamassina also points to a blog post where he speculates that the Wii will not ship with previously-announced DVD-playback. The feature is not mentioned on Nintendo's official spec sheet for the system, and the Nintendo big wigs refused to answer Casamassina's questions about the issue.We've put in a call to Nintendo for an official comment on these rumors, and we'll be sure to update once we hear back.[Update: A spokesperson for Nintendo has given the stock reply that they do not comment on rumors or speculation. However, Casamassina has reiterated to Joystiq that his statement was not pure speculation and was based on information he's heard from insider sources.]
A smorgasbord of mini-rumors
A recent IGN Podcast has unveiled some interesting tidbits related to the Wii. Now, we all know IGN's information comes from the shadiest of places...scarred men whispering secrets in dank alleyways, unnatural seances with souls departed...but if they're willing to dive into hell's inferno to obtain some info, then we're certainly willing to take all the credit relate it to you, the faithful reader. So, without further ado: Nintendo may decide to move Super Paper Mario directly to the Wii, as the Gamecube is essentially dead in the water. This would not only make financial sense, but finally allow us at Wii Fanboy to cover this excellent looking game. We want to believe it. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption may not make the Wii launch after all. This is directly contradicting several months' worth of continuous confirmations by Nintendo and Retro Studios, and would take a lot of steam out of the superlative launch lineup. We doubt it. Dragon's Quest: Swords also may not make the launch window. We see no reason to disbelieve such a thing; Square-Enix loves their delays. Excite Truck has been confirmed as a launch title. Why not? LucasArts has indeed been developing a lightsaber game for the Wii. Yeah. We know. Publisher THQ has 6 to 8 titles in development for the Wii. Seeing as how they're handling the more lighthearted affairs (Cars, Spongebob), it seems plausible, but none too exciting. At the Leipzig Games Convention (coming soon!), Nintendo and third parties will reveal exactly how they intend to port more traditional game fare from the PS3 and Xbox 360 over to the Wii. Uhhh...sure. And, there you have it. As a special bonus gift from us at the Fanboy, here are some complimentary grains of salt.
