We can reveal that Mario 128, the massively anticipated true sequel to Mario 64, may well be unveiled at this year’s ECTS, on Nintendo’s piggyback event, The Nintendo Show.
Talk emerged today of the game being shown in Europe for the first time since a rolling demo featuring 128 Marios was shown in 2000, again in Europe.
At least one other console manufacturer has caught wind of the possibility, as all three firms vie for supremacy at the show, likely to be something of a games bonanza compared to recent years.
This talk also begs the question, if Nintendo doesn’t show the game at ECTS, at which other time will it be able to give it a decent public launch? Indeed, there is no SpaceWorld this year, and Nintendo, as usual, won’t be exhibiting at the Tokyo Game Show. Given that 128 was formally announced by Miyamoto six months ago, surely Nintendo will want to put the game on show before E3 2004, almost a year away.
Nintendo Europe simply stated, “As of this time, our plans for that time haven’t been decided”, though we hardly expected iron-clad confirmation of Mario 128 in playable form.
Nintendo is aiming to be more Euro-friendly, that is now an established fact. In our recent interview with European MD David Gosen, he showed that the Japanese giant understands that certain localisation issues must be bottomed in order to maximise revenue from European operations. Perhaps showing Mario 128 on our shores would be a good gesture of good faith.
After what has to be described as an overly-cautious E3, timing might prove perfect for this year’s key European event. Given that Half-Life 2, Halo 2, Mario 128, Doom 3 were all kept away from the public, perhaps a friendlier European audience seeing a later build of the games is a more attractive option to publishers?
Stay tuned for updates and confirmation as we get them.
Talk emerged today of the game being shown in Europe for the first time since a rolling demo featuring 128 Marios was shown in 2000, again in Europe.
At least one other console manufacturer has caught wind of the possibility, as all three firms vie for supremacy at the show, likely to be something of a games bonanza compared to recent years.
This talk also begs the question, if Nintendo doesn’t show the game at ECTS, at which other time will it be able to give it a decent public launch? Indeed, there is no SpaceWorld this year, and Nintendo, as usual, won’t be exhibiting at the Tokyo Game Show. Given that 128 was formally announced by Miyamoto six months ago, surely Nintendo will want to put the game on show before E3 2004, almost a year away.
Nintendo Europe simply stated, “As of this time, our plans for that time haven’t been decided”, though we hardly expected iron-clad confirmation of Mario 128 in playable form.
Nintendo is aiming to be more Euro-friendly, that is now an established fact. In our recent interview with European MD David Gosen, he showed that the Japanese giant understands that certain localisation issues must be bottomed in order to maximise revenue from European operations. Perhaps showing Mario 128 on our shores would be a good gesture of good faith.
After what has to be described as an overly-cautious E3, timing might prove perfect for this year’s key European event. Given that Half-Life 2, Halo 2, Mario 128, Doom 3 were all kept away from the public, perhaps a friendlier European audience seeing a later build of the games is a more attractive option to publishers?
Stay tuned for updates and confirmation as we get them.
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