Speaking in Japanese weekly multiformat magazine Famitsu, famed Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto has made some bold claims about the future of the Mario series, naming the target platform but refusing to give any launch window indications.
“The next Mario, which we still are calling Mario 128, will be released for the Nintendo GameCube when it is complete,” he said, “Though at this time, I cannot comment on when you will see this game launch.”
As you will be aware, speculation, in part fuelled by the chattering lips of various NOA staffers, had pointed to the GameCube version being scrapped in favour of beefing up the mysterious Revolution’s launch roster. Apparently, this isn’t happening, though this will leave Nintendo with something of a quandary to overcome. Essentially, in order to provide Revolution with a Mario launch title, two teams will be required to work on two separate projects, further disassembling the franchise which is still recovering form the knock of confidence caused by Mario Sunshine.
Of course, Miyamoto might well be lying, that’s not outside the realms of possibility. To say right now that Mario 128, the only game of substance for the GameCube aside from the frenziedly-anticipated new Zelda, has been scrapped and shifted to a new platform would be akin to giving up on the current generation of hardware – simply not acceptable at this phase in its lifecycle.