News: 2004
News archive

December 17th, 2004
EBgames.com has the first look at the box art for the GameCube version of EA's NBA Street V3. Near the upper-left corner, one can clearly see Peach, Luigi, and Mario next to an "All-Stars" graphic. Exactly what roles Mario characters have in the game, if any, is not yet known.

NBA Street V3 is scheduled to ship on February 8th, 2005.

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed to point this out.

December 6th, 2004
Yoshi's Universal Gravitation falls (like an apple) onto store shelves in Japan today. Still no word on a possible US release yet.

December 6th, 2004
Mario Party 6 rolls onto store shelves across the US today.

December 2nd, 2004
The Nintendo DS finally touches store shelves in Japan today. Launching with it are Super Mario 64 DS and Sawaru Made in Wario (WarioWare Touched!).

November 24th, 2004
Nintendo of Japan has announced "Mario Baseball" and "Donkey Konga 3" for Nintendo GameCube. No word yet on any US release dates.

November 21st, 2004
Super Mario 64 DS launches with the Nintendo DS across the US today.

November 8th, 2004
Mario Power Tennis powers its way onto store shelves across the US today.

October 28th, 2004
The latest Famitsu magazine has revealed Super Princess Peach for Nintendo DS! We'll post more news about Peach's first solo adventure, including a possible US release, as it becomes available.

Starting November 14th, Nintendo of America will try to make holiday shopping easier by including Mario Kart: Double Dash!! free with the Nintendo GameCube, all for the same MSRP of $99.99. It's the perfect gift for the Mario fan without a GameCube!

October 25th, 2004
Dr. Mario, part of the second NES Classics series for GBA, ships to stores across the US today.

October 11th, 2004
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door flips onto store shelves across the US today.

October 7th, 2004
In a press conference today, Nintendo confirmed that Super Mario 64 DS (formerly Super Mario 64X4) will be a Nintendo DS launch title. The NDS is scheduled to be released November 21st.

Also revealed was Yoshi's Touch & Go for Nintendo DS, which originated as the "Balloon Trip" tech demo shown at E3 2004. The gameplay and graphical style look similar to Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

October 4th, 2004
Mario Pinball Land rolls onto store shelves across the US today.

September 27th, 2004
Donkey Konga drums its way onto store shelves across the US today. The game includes one "DK Bongo" controller for the usual MSRP of $49.99.

While the Japan version already has a sequel of sorts, no plans for a second disc have been announced for the US yet.

September 10th, 2004
The latest Famitsu magazine has the first screen shots for Yoshi's Universal Gravitation (GBA), which would be Yoshi's first solo adventure since Yoshi's Story (Nintendo 64). Yoshi's Universal Gravitation looks like it could be the end result of the Yoshi's Story technical demo shown around the time when the GBA was first announced. It's also possible that the game will use the same motion sensor as the upcoming Mawaru WarioWare, where swinging the GBA to the right and left acts as the main form of control.

August 11th, 2004
Coinciding with the release of the third "Famicom Mini" set in Japan, Nintendo of America has confirmed a second volume of "NES Classics" for the USA. Faithful reproductions of Dr. Mario, Castlevania, The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and Metroid will be released for the GBA on October 25th.

July 30th, 2004
The latest Famitsu magazine reports that a sequel to WarioWare (GBA), titled "Mawaru Made in Wario," is due out in Japan on October 14th.

July 27th, 2004
IGN reported yesterday that Paper Mario 2 has a new name for its US release: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

As I type this, DVDs featuring Mario cartoon episodes are free inside specially marked boxes of General Mills cereal. The episodes are from Yahooligans! TV, and the DVDs will also contain episodes from Heathcliff, Liberty's Kids, and a few other cartoons. It is said the deal runs through August, and includes these cereals: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Corn Chex, Rice Chex, and Golden Grahams. Thanks to everyone who mailed us with the report.

July 22nd, 2004
Paper Mario 2 was released in Japan today, under the title Paper Mario RPG. The US release date is October 11th—less than three months to go!

July 7th, 2004
Nintendo of Japan's third Famicom Mini series for GBA will be out on August 10th. This time, the series is made up of 10 classic Famicom Disk System games. Mario will be in one of them: Super Mario Bros. 2 (A.K.A. "The Lost Levels").

The other nine titles: The Mysterious Castle of Murasame, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, New Ogre Island, Famicom Detective Club, Famicom Detective Club Part II, Castlevania, and SD Gundam World: Scramble Wars.

No US release is currently set for the third installment of games.

June 21st, 2004
Mario Golf: Advance Tour for Game Boy Advance swings onto store shelves across the US today.

June 7th, 2004
Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. jump onto store shelves across the US today. Both games are part of Nintendo's "NES Classics" series for the Game Boy Advance.

May 24th, 2004
Mario vs. Donkey Kong for Game Boy Advance climbs onto store shelves across the US today.

May 11th, 2004
New info trickles in from Los Angeles as the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) gears up to showcase new and upcoming games from May 12th through the 14th.

Here are some release dates and surprise titles announced for Nintendo's portable "DS" (Dual Screen) system. We'll have more screen shots soon.

Nintendo DS
Mario Kart DS
NEW Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario 64x4
WarioWare, Inc. DS

Game Boy Advance
Mario Party Advance - December 6th, 2004
Mario Pinball - October 4th, 2004

GameCube
Paper Mario 2 - October 11th, 2004
Mario Tennis - 2005

April 18th, 2004
Nintendo of Japan's Famicom Mini series continues with 10 new releases scheduled for May 21st. Our favorite plumber stars in three of them: Dr. Mario, Mario Bros., and Wrecking Crew.

The other seven games coming out May 21st in Japan are Balloon Fight, Clu Clu Land, Dig Dug, Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu, Makaimura (Ghosts 'n Goblins in the US), Takahasi Meijin's Adventure Island, and Twinbee.

No US release is currently set for the second installment of games. The first Famicom Mini series (released February 14th in Japan) comes to the US as the "Classic NES Series" on June 7th.

April 5th, 2004
Scheduled to ship today is WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ for GameCube. The MSRP of $29.99 USD is not surprising because not a whole lot changed from the Game Boy Advance version.

April 2nd, 2004
Nintendo have revealed some release dates for games due out near the end of 2004. First, a few surprises for the Game Boy Advance: Mario Party, Mario Pinball, and Mario Tennis, all coming in Q4 (Oct/Nov/Dec). For GameCube, Donkey Konga is scheduled for September; Mario Party 6, Mario Tennis, and Paper Mario 2 are currently scheduled for Q4. Some awesome, awesome, Paper Mario 2 screens scanned from the latest Famitsu (Japanese video game magazine) are up at Game-Science.com.

I would've posted this yesterday but no one would have believed it.

March 27th, 2004
Another Mario cartoon DVD is due out July 6th, featuring the first four episodes of the SMB Super Show and one Zelda cartoon. TVShowsOnDVD.com has more info. If you can't wait until July 6th, Yahooligans! TV is showing a different episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show each week.

An "NES Classics" series is coming to the Game Boy Advance starting June 7th. The series will include Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. On the same day, Nintendo will also be releasing a special edition GBASP which will be colored like the NES controller.

The other games in the series are Excitebike, The Legend of Zelda, Ice Climber, Pac-Man, Xevious, and Bomberman.

February 4th, 2004
Nintendo.com recently updated the release info for three upcoming Mario titles. For Game Boy Advance, Mario & Donkey Kong is now Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and is due out May 24th, 2004. Also for GBA, Mario Golf: Advance Tour gets a date of June 28th, 2004. On the GameCube front, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ now has an official name, and its release is set for April 5th, 2004.

January 14th, 2004
On February 14th, 2004, exactly one year after the Game Boy Advance SP launched in Japan, Nintendo of Japan will be releasing a "Famicom Color" GBA SP, using the color scheme of the Nintendo Famicom (the Japanese equivalent to the NES). On the same day, 10 classic Famicom games will be re-released for the GBA, including Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. Reportedly, SMB will also be bundled with the Famicom Color GBA SP.

The other classic games to be released in Japan on Feb. 14th are Ice Climber, Excitebike, The Legend of Zelda, and third-party titles Pac-Man, Xevious, Mappy, Bomberman, and Star Soldier.

Currently, no NES-themed special is announced for the USA.

Pictures at Nintendo of Japan's website.