As part of a massive data dump accompanying their E3 2008 press conference, Nintendo has announced some slight adjustment to the previously announced release dates for Wario Land: Shake It! and Kirby Super Star Ultra. Both games are now listed for release on Monday, Sept. 22, a bump up form the originally planned release dates later in the week. On the plus side, now you'll be able to get your hands on the games earlier. On the downside, now you have less time to save up enough dough to blow. Drag!

Yesterday, we saw a clip of how the Wiimote will be used in the upcoming Wario Land: Shake It!; today, we get several new gameplay videos. In the clips (all found after the break) we see Wario, the yin to Mario's yang, using several different skills to make his way through his all-new 2D adventure for the Wii. The game currently has a release date of September 26 and 29 for Europe and North America, respectively.

This is going to be hard for some of you to hear, so we're just going to come right out with it. This new video shows off how the Wiimote is used in upcoming Wario Land Shake and it doesn't look ... well, it doesn't look fun, OK? There, we said it.

Maybe we're putting too much pressure on Wario after his delightful minigame outings, but we really expect Nintendo to be able to come up with something better than "Tilt the Wiimote to tilt the cannon." We should also point out that the above video is completely in Japanese, so there's every chance the announcer could be saying "This isn't at all what you'll be doing" or "We've intentionally made this look not fun so you won't expect the fun when it arrives." ... But we doubt it.

Scheduled to be released later this month in Japan, Wario Land Shake has been largely invisible ... until now. A little too dramatic there? Fair enough, but we're excited is all. While Mario and his fancy blue overalls snubs his mustachioed nose at 2D console games nowadays (even on a handheld, it's 2.5G or bust for Mario), there are still believers in the cause. Yes, dear reader, that's a plural believers; it's not just Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi who still thinks 2D platform gaming is "somewhat alive".

Now you can add Nintendo's rascally un-mascot Wario to that list as well, as evidenced in these videos from his latest console outing. Above you'll find the animated intro (don't worry, your inability to understand Japanese shouldn't interrupt your ability to follow along) and after the break, you'll find the first gameplay footage, in all it's 2D, sprite-based glory.

Wario Land fans won't have to worry about their oft-forgotten favorite platformer making an awkward transition to 3D. Wario Land Shake, first revealed yesterday, will feature old-school 2D platforming flavor, akin to Super Paper Mario's better moments.

A Japanese fact sheet -- lovingly translated by the NeoGAF community -- describes the gameplay as being largely 2D, with hand-drawn animation and backgrounds, and the requisite Wiimote waggling interactivity (hence the "Shake," we presume). According to the fact sheet (and according to NeoGAF), the game is slated for a 2008 release. You know, for now.

[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

Nintendo of Japan has rolled out its schedule for the summer session, dropping a few surprises along the way. First, Wario Land will graduate from handheld to console with Wario Land Shake for Wii on July 24. No further details have been given, so it's up to each of us to pray, dance, sacrifice some virgins (or whatever!) so that "Shake" doesn't end up an inept deviation from the mostly excellent Game Boy predecessors. Thankfully, DS owners will be served a far more promising sequel in Rhythm Tengoku Gold, arriving July 31 from the capable hands of Nintendo R&D1 (you know, the WarioWare team). Here are some highlights from the release date calendar:

• June 19: Mario Super Sluggers (Wii)
• June 26: Band Brothers DX (DS)
• July 10: Resident Evil Zero (Wii)
• July 24: Wario Land Shake (Wii)
• July 31: Fatal Frame IV: The Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Wii)
  
• July 31: Rhythm Tengoku Gold (DS)
  
• August 7: Fire Emblem DS (DS)
  

[Via NeoGAF & DS Fanboy]

Source - Nintendo June Calendar (Japanese)
Source - Nintendo July Calendar (Japanese)
Source - Rhythm Tengoku Gold announcement (Japanese)
Source - Fire Emblem game page (Japanese)