E3: Super Mario Galaxy dated

By Kristan Reed Published 11 July, 2007

November 12th in US.

Super Mario Galaxy has finally been given a confirmed release date of November 12th, Nintendo said today.

The long-awaited follow-up to 2001's Super Mario Sunshine has been through one of the most protracted periods of development in Nintendo's long history The news will certainly come as a relief to those who have followed the title's progress since it first appeared on the radar as a GameCube offering, known for years as 'Mario 128'.

Sadly, European gamers desperate for the moustashioed plumbers next adventure face an uncertain wait to find out if the game will also make it over here in time for the festive period.

Historically, Nintendo's record for simultaneous worldwide releases has been patchy. During the Wii's launch period, European gamers suffered no delays for any of the first party titles, but so far this year we've had to endure a long wait for Super Paper Mario, while other less high profile titles have also slipped for their PAL release.

Expect clarification shortly - and hands-on impressions from the show floor in the coming days.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • rhinoxious #1 5 years ago

    First!

    And YAY finally!

    Can't wait for this, looked excellent even in early demos, so it should be super polished in time for release. Lets just hope it's as big as previous AAA mario titles.

    EDITED MANY TIMES IN EXCITEMENT.
    Edited by 4 at 11/07/07 @ 18:26

  • Tomo #2 5 years ago

    Huh?

    I thought Mario 128 went on to become Pikmin? Galaxy doesn't really have anything to do with it does it?

  • spongebob #3 5 years ago

    What about Europe, then? December, right, please!

  • wopr-lower-case #4 5 years ago

    March 1st 2008.

  • Canyarion #5 5 years ago

    We need a Christmas release!

    And yoy, it looked good, though they didn't show much.

  • Ignatius_Cheese #6 5 years ago

    @Tomo - The idea behind the Mario 128 tech demo was 128 Marios running about a spherical object.

    Take away 127 Marios, add a few more spherical objects, set the game in space... I think you'll see where I'm going! ;o)

  • Hunam #7 5 years ago

    Thats my birthday that is.

  • Spong #8 5 years ago

    @ Ignatius_Cheese

    You don't know how funny that "set the game in space" line is to me. If BMXer reads this thread, he should find it just as funny as me.

    You see, the phrase "set it in space" has long been lauded between BMXer and myself as the default move a company takes in order to make a staid product more profitable. Want a guaranteed money-spinner? Set it in space.

    So, that's what they've done to Mario. Just proves that the moustachioed dungaree man is getting a little past his best before date.

  • spongebob #9 5 years ago

    If we don't get SMG and/or Super Smash Bros for Christmas, then what do we get? MP3 surely and new Zelda for DS. Quality over quantity, but that's a bit ridiculous.

  • Wayne #10 5 years ago

    Is there a Freeloader for Wii yet?

  • Ignatius_Cheese #11 5 years ago

    @Spong - I don't think anyone will doubt that Nintendo is feeling a little long in the tooth at this stage...

    They may have given two fingers to the hardcore with the majority of their pre-E3 conference but bugger me they know how to make money! And unfortunately it would appear that they don't need the "core" market as much as other competitors...

  • Spong #12 5 years ago

    @ Ignatius_Cheese

    Can't argue with that reasoning. But my initial reaction was purely to your use of the phrase "set it in space". It just makes SMG sound SO bad.

  • penhalion #13 5 years ago

    My Wii is gathering dust because of all these european delays. It is absolutely unfair to have England wait for a euro version of a game releasedin america. Hello Nintendo! We speak english here too and aside from some spelling differences it's a simply convert!

  • muftak #14 5 years ago

    @penhalion

    firstly Nintendo don't care about Europe they never have and secondly you do realise that not every place in Europe speaks English right ?

    they realise games in regions so have to get all the languages sorted out first.

  • spongebob #15 5 years ago

    I guess they're making so much money they just don't care about the "core" audience anymore. It's all about toys now.

  • FaceOmeter #16 5 years ago

    @ penhalion: broad agreement, though at least we got Mario Strikers first. Which is odd considering it was developed in Vancouver..

  • smelly #17 5 years ago

    @penhalion:

    Surely i dont need to go over AGAIN stuff which people keep posting in answer to that? Okay.. European languages, pal tv format, bbfc submissions, etc etc. It's not just a simple case of putting it in a box.

  • BMXer #18 5 years ago

    Ello Spong!

    /Tips Hat

  • L0cky #19 5 years ago

    'European languages, pal tv format, bbfc submissions, etc etc. It's not just a simple case of putting it in a box.'

    All of which has to be done to get it from JP to US and can be done at the same time, by the same department for Europe.

  • smelly #20 5 years ago

    Well Locky.. once you've released a game worldwide at the exact same time, making sure all duplication/distrubution/marketting networks were properly in place come back and tell us all how you did it.

  • Psychotext #21 5 years ago

    @smelly: So tell me, how do Sony and Microsoft manage no more than a week or so delay on most of their games? Don't excuse Nintendo for this bullshit.

  • GingerNathan #22 5 years ago

    "@smelly: So tell me, how do Sony and Microsoft manage no more than a week or so delay on most of their games? Don't excuse Nintendo for this bullshit.
    "

    Because Microsoft concentrate on US first, Europe second, and Japan last (with the odd exception of their JRPGs which where in development specifically to increase Japanese market share). Nintendo and Sony concentrate on Japan first (it is their home market after all), US second (as it's the largest market) and Europe third. Sony are as bad as Nintendo, unless you forgot the wait we got for high profile PS2 games like FFXII, Okami, SoTC, Kingdom Hearts2 and Rogue Galaxy.....oh wait we haven't even got that yet!
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/07 @ 22:31

  • jonsaan #23 5 years ago

    That's Easter for us worthless Europeans then.

  • L0cky #24 5 years ago

    'Well Locky.. once you've released a game worldwide at the exact same time, making sure all duplication/distrubution/marketting networks were properly in place come back and tell us all how you did it. '

    Same can be said for you, you can tell us what problems gave you a 8-9 month delay ;)

    Duplication and distribution is a logistical problem with a knock on timeframe of days, not months. Pick a distro date for a product that's already gold and you'll hit it. When was the last time you heard of a game going gold and then got delayed by 2 weeks to 9 months before hitting retail? I've seen games get mastered and go on to hit the shelf within 3 weeks. The bottleneck certainly isn't after mastering.

    Marketing is outsourced and can be done simultaneously.

    The problem is with localisation, and localisation QA. No doubt Nintendo outsource their localisation like everyone else and there's no reason French, Italian, German and Spanish can't be done at the same time as English, at both the localisation and User Acceptance stages.

    It will be quicker to focus soleley on English first, but an 8 month delay shows that by the time the US version is released, they haven't even got the ball rolling for Europe yet.

    Besides, if everyone else can do it, why not Nintendo?