GDC: Mario Galaxy this year

By Robert Purchese Published 8 March, 2007

Plus new Mii channel.

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed in his GDC 2007 keynote address that we'll be playing Mario Galaxy this year.

Following the announcement he showed an impressive trailer for the game. Attendees saw Mario zoom round spherical worlds, bounce between planets, explore a lava level and confront a plant monster.

He also revealed that we'd be seeing a new Mii Channel on Wii, which will let you compare other people's avatars and enter different contests.

It wasn't quite the headline grabbing address some were perhaps expecting, with reports of people with their heads in their hands as Miyamoto waffled on about the Wiimote and his wife's gaming preferences.

You can catch up with all of the action from our blow-by-blow Live Text coverage, which has just finished elsewhere on the site.

Alternatively you can head over to Nintendo's site, which is hosting a video of the conference.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 5 years ago

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

  • #1 5 years ago

    Thanks.

  • MORZTAN #2 5 years ago

    hehe. All the revelations is in the tag-line. Brilliant :)

  • CivilD #3 5 years ago

    Compared to Phil's keynote yesterday, there wasn't much new announced at all. What a shame.

  • BartonFink #4 5 years ago

    The only revelation is in the tag line.
    Will we see it in Europe though? We all know Nintys record here.

  • gypsumfantastic #5 5 years ago

    As has been mentioned COUNTLESS TIMES, Nintendo were barred from significant new announcements because of a forthcoming large stock deal.

    Sheesh. People don't listen.

    When's mini-E3?

  • Steroyd #6 5 years ago

    July... or was that june.

    I at least know it's on a month begginning with J.

  • Kazzahdrane #7 5 years ago

    As has already been said, nice to know the Americans will get it before the end of the year - but what about Europe? I wish Nintendo would take a page out of Microsoft's book, all their big 360 releases (bar one or two) are released here in a timely fashion, and the XBLA games are released globally so we all play them on the same day.

    As someone who really believes in the Wii and has an opportunity to spread the word (I work in games retail), Nintendo aren't making me very happy just now. I assumed (stupidly) that we were past the days of huge waits to get games over here. Trauma Center is getting beyond a joke now, especially when it's by all accounts between "pretty good" and "excellent" and the Wii could use some more AAA titles in Europe.

  • kenty #8 5 years ago

    well there's a wii drought, and it would be nice if there were more titles, i'm giong to sound like a fanboy but isn't one mario galaxy this year better than having 5 lesser games?
    the fact there were no actual announcements is a good thing, it's GDC not E3

    If Mario Galaxy is already being localised right now then they can give us a european version at the same time as US as long as their QA and marketing schedule permits. If it's not started until the jap/us version is finished then we'll get it several months later... so it could go either way.
    Edited by 1 at 08/03/07 @ 22:45

  • Overlush #9 5 years ago

    As much as I like the Wii, I don't get this "aren't a few decent titles worth it" argument.

    In a word: NO!

    Even the GREATEST games last me a few weeks (back to back play - which still does happen, work permitting).

    I expect quality AND quantiy.

    It's like saying: buy this £180 book shelf, although in the next 4 years there'll only be half a dozen titles you REALLY want to read.

  • peak_performance #10 5 years ago

    SMG still looks ace. I wonder when Nintendo will start countering PS3 Home for real with the new Animal Crossing? Flagnam'it, I want some of that shit as well.

  • Daikon #11 5 years ago

    Note from girlfriend to Mii channel developers: we need more noses.

  • Darren #12 5 years ago

    I was stunned by the Super Mario Galaxy trailer, the game looks simply AWESOME; very imaginative and very 3D! Can't wait to play it.

    The news about the new Mii channel interests me far less now that I've seen what Sony have planned for the PS3 in the form of the wonderful looking Home. Now *that* is what Nintendo's Miis should have been like from the start...

  • dllord #13 5 years ago

    This year as in Japan, and then 9 months later in the UK!!!!!!

  • floppylobster #14 5 years ago

    "Even the GREATEST games last me a few weeks (back to back play - which still does happen, work permitting).

    I expect quality AND quantiy. "

    It's good to expect more out of life but when have we ever had quality AND quantity? In anything? In books, movies, games, it has never happened.

    With time, we can look back and tend to forget the crap and perhaps can imagine there was such a time, but it has NEVER happened. The only way you will ever achieve this is if you don't do anything for five years then suddenly play catch-up for 3-6 months.

    Maybe you're remembering the typically busy three months before Christmas? If you want games in quality and quantity then buy at least four gaming consoles and a PC and make sure you have incredibly varied tastes. It's the only way. I've got an expensive bookshelf and most of the quality books on it are from over 40 years ago.

    "Even the GREATEST games last me a few weeks"
    Since when was length (in gaming) a yard stick for greatness? Buy Oblivion or World of Warcraft. Both are highly rated by many people as quality games. Play games on a higher difficulty. Explore the multiplayer options in many games these days.

    I don't like the "aren't a few decent titles worth it" argument. But I certainly prefer to wait for games that I'll keep and not sell as soon as I finish. Or games that I'll replay again and can still remember years later. Or is it that you have no memory and require constant stimulation?

  • smelly #15 5 years ago

    Hang on a cotton picking minute. If you're talking quantity and quality.

    (im opening a can of worms here.. but please play nice fankids).. How many titles on the 360 can be said to be TRUELY classic after 16 months (give or take) of it being out?

    I'd say 3 or 4. (And no, im not going to list them as that'd just encourage fanboys who are missing out on the point to come in with bigger lists, etc).

    Dont get me wrong, i think 3 or 4 classics is a GREAT number for a console to have after just a year!

    The wii HAS had lots of games already. And it'll keep doing so. I'm tempted to say "compare it to the other two" but i wont, as again, that'll just encourage the fan girls.

    Yes it hasnt had many FIRST PARTY games (Which is what everyone wants), but then how many first party games has..

    DAMMIT.. there's no way of even coming up with a discussion for this without saying something which'll cause th fanboys to come in and start doing huge nonsense lists of games which are coming, etc etc.

    But hopefully you get my point? If not fair enuf.

    Lots of people moan about the lack of cube games. But the cube had LOADS of GREAT CLASSICS.. I've not even played half of them (such as smash bros, killer 7, etc).. I'd imagine the same will be true of the wii.

    And lets not forget that if it continues selling the way it has been doing, it'll outsell the 360 very soon.. if that happens, then we'll see LOTS more 3rd party games. Hell, i'd be suprised if most 3rd party devs havent already started making games after seeing how well its selling...

  • Steroyd #16 5 years ago

    @kenty

    Last year the gamecube only had one top quality game called Zelda yet lots of people wanted to get the wii version.

    @smelly

    This is Nintendo's problem people buy Nintendo console's for Nintendo games the sales reflect that all third party devs always come second to Nintendo by a significant margin, I'm trying to think of the last original IP from a third party that's done really really well on a Nintendo console and I can't think of any.

  • Keso #17 5 years ago

    The gamecube should have had Zelda a whole year before, but we had to wait a year as Nintendo didn't have any other half decent titles to launch the Wii with... Then to rub it in they take Super Paper Mario away from us to...

    I bought a Wii when taken in by all the hype, but sold it again soon after. Other then Zelda and a few plays of wii sports when friends were round, I never used it.
    Edited by 1 at 09/03/07 @ 07:54

  • Blerk #18 5 years ago

    So, the Nintendo love-in's over, is it? :-)

  • trevd72 #19 5 years ago

    so have they ran out of ideas. where is the online stuff and proper friend system?

  • spongebob #20 5 years ago

    Why is it not surprising that on the software front Nintendo is just doing the same thing they've done for years and years now. It's mostly just the same old franchises recycled over and over again. Why don't they innovate more on the software front, just the hardware?

    I can't be bothered to buy a Wii before it has more to offer than the regular Nintendo-fan fare. I used to love Mario, but I am past that. I want something different, something new and also, something more complex than mini-games and gimmicky games (DS has plenty of those). Bring it on, Nintendo.

    Steroyd: I'm trying to think of the last original IP from a third party that's done really really well on a Nintendo console and I can't think of any.

    You're absolutely right. When was the last time 3rd party dev made an exclusive Nintendo console title that sold well and was a great game in it's own right? I think Resident Evil 4 could be that, but it came out on PS2 soon-ish afterwards. Nintendo needs more games that are not based on their characters and franchises. They also need to have exclusive games from 3rd parties, not just ports.
    Edited by 1 at 09/03/07 @ 08:52

  • Killerbee #21 5 years ago

    Despite not having bought a single Wii title since I picked up Zelda and Wii Play with my launch day machine, I'm still far from disappointed with my Wii. I have now completed Zelda and I'm utterly convinced I wouldn't have wanted to have missed out on the experience of playing this with the Wii controller, despite the fact I could have bought it on the Cube and saved myself the cash. Wii Sports continues to be brilliant fun and remains my number one party game.

    But the real clincher for me is the Virtual Console. The Cube was the first Nintendo home console I ever owned, so the chance to catch up on a load of old Nintendo classics from the N64 and SNES eras is brilliant and provides more than enough entertainment to fill the gap between big releases.

    And with Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario and Metroid Prime 3 in the pipeline (plus surely a new F-Zero, a Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles title, Super Smash Bros and more) I remain convinced that the Wii will be at least as good as the Cube was.

    Yeah, the early drought of good titles is a majordownside of being an early adopter, but at least Nintendo gave us Zelda. That alone certainly beats the forthcoming PS3 launch lineup.

  • speedofthepuma #22 5 years ago

    I agree - far from a Wii fanboy but despite lack of software I am quite happy to hang on for more. Zelda was possibly the greatest game I have ever played and the goodness on the horizon keeps me happy.

    Having said that, if Wii was my only console I would be very unhappy.

    Got to say though given the great PS2 releases recently and the ability to get one cheapmas chips, anybody with a Wii as their sole console is rather silly.

  • chupachups #23 5 years ago

    "Why is it not surprising that on the software front Nintendo is just doing the same thing they've done for years and years now. It's mostly just the same old franchises recycled over and over again."

    I don't think that's quite fair, things like Nintendogs, Brain Training, the DS and the Wii are very innovative and have been huge hits.

    I agree they're probably overusing Mario, but Mario isn't the only thing they do.

  • spongebob #24 5 years ago

    chupachups: I don't think that's quite fair, things like Nintendogs, Brain Training, the DS and the Wii are very innovative and have been huge hits.

    I did write mostly in there. Seriously, though, albeit Nintendogs and Brain Training were huge hits they are not enough and they are not video games as such. And DS and Wii of course don't count, since they're hardware not software, although they're admittedly the very definition of innovation.

  • Beano #25 5 years ago

    Anybody know when Super Paper Mario will be out in Europe?

  • asphaltcowboy #26 5 years ago

    Well, SMG might be the game to make me get a Wii....

  • CallousB #27 5 years ago

    "I agree they're probably overusing Mario, but Mario isn't the only thing they do. "

    ...and it's not as if there is no innovation in Super Paper Mario and Super Mario Galaxy. Sure they use a franchise character...but the 2d/3d gameplay switching and the spherical worlds of Mario Galaxy are two of the most original concepts I've seen in the last few years. Both wholly original ideas as far as I'm aware.

    Better to re-use a franchise character in a new concept..than re-use an old concept and slap a new character on it.

  • Darren #28 5 years ago

    @Beano - I heard that Super Paper Mario was out in Europe this April.

  • MoGamer2006 #29 5 years ago

    Just saw the SMG footage - amazing, amazing, amazing. Looks like great fun to play - more impressive than LittleBigPlanet, that's for sure.

    As technically and artistically stunning as that game was, I thought the gameplay seemed a bit... lacking. For example, that bit where one of the players couldn't scramble up the football and so everybody had to wait around while he pushed a plum (or something) up to it looked frustrating.

  • peak_performance #30 5 years ago

    Spongebob, what about Animal Crossing and Pikmin? Nintendo do try out something new once in a while, just not enough.

  • MORZTAN #31 5 years ago

    "I bought a Wii when taken in by all the hype, but sold it again soon after. Other then Zelda and a few plays of wii sports when friends were round, I never used it."

    That just doesn't make sense... did you expect that this lauch would be any different from any other launch? Of course they don't fire out AAA titles from the get go. But I could imagine that you sold it with a nice profit, so you can aways buy it again, once the games starts taking of.

  • spongebob #32 5 years ago

    peak_performance: Spongebob, what about Animal Crossing and Pikmin? Nintendo do try out something new once in a while, just not enough.

    Personally I don't care for AC at all, but you're right about those two titles, I guess. Pikmin was fun, they should make at least one more for Wii.

  • Beano #33 5 years ago

    "I heard that Super Paper Mario was out in Europe this April."

    The US version will be out in April but haven't seen anything reg. EU release.

    Where have you seen/heard this?

  • smelly #34 5 years ago

    >a third party that's done really really well on a Nintendo console and I can't think of any


    Lego star wars sold better on the cube than any other platform.

  • AOFanboi #35 5 years ago

    <em>more impressive than LittleBigPlanet, that's for sure.</em>

    Why do you compare them? They are not the same kind of game. One is the spiritual sequel to Super Mario Sunshine rehasing Nintendo's IP for the fanboys, the other a 2.5D collaborative puzzler with a distinct look using physics instead of golden stars and "jippiii!"s.

    I definitely know which of the two I'd prefer.