JOY

There may come a day when Nintendo's monetization of nostalgia becomes so completely predictable that something as relatively simple as ressurecting power-ups from Super Mario Bros. 3 is no longer sufficient to settle anything that could be bothering me at any given moment, leaving me in a blissful near-stupor of psychological comfort.

Today is not that day:

Image is one of a handful of just-released snaps of "New Super Mario Bros. 2;" a 2D sidescroller previously announced for the 3DS, now revealed and dated for August. Also announced right around the same time (but with fewer details) is a 20th Anniversary "Kirby Collection" compilation coming for Wii. No world yet on which games it would include (presumably the NES/SNES ones I imagine, hoping the GameBoy/GBA/DS and maybe even N64 ones too.)

Nintendo also supposedly registed a "Super Mario 4" domain name, which could mean nothing. However, a yet-unidentified WiiU Mario game (launch title!?) is supposed to be announced at E3. I'm obviously psyched for this stuff because... y'know, I just AM; but I'm also glad that the new-generation fans who got introduced to 2D Mario via "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" (which is still killing, sales-wise) will have more to look forward to than my generation's leftovers.

I wonder... is it perhaps too much to hope that the Frog and Hammer suits will make a comeback here as well?