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Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

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E3: Super Mario Galaxy 2 announced

Out 2010. Has Yoshi.

Nintendo has announced Super Mario Galaxy 2 - the second Mario game of its E3 conference after New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Due on Wii next year, it looks to be chock-a-block with all of the traditional and much-loved Mario elements, in a style very familiar to players of the wonderful original.

Much of the action shown took place on the mini-planetoids and cylinders of SMG's universe, and we caught some of the star-launching malarkey which was the first title's hallmark.

Snow, ghost, flower and puzzle worlds were all present and correct, as well as the trademark giant goombas and bosses. Switches in perspective and colour scheme spiced up the action a little, as well as sections drilling through asteroids to navigate internal passages and strike at the underside of a boss.

Drawing the biggest squeal of delight from an excited Tom, however, was the arrival of Yoshi in the closing seconds, suggesting that the reptilian mount will return in his capacity as chummy locomotion.

Our day just got a bit sunnier.

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