In addition to a brief mention of a release date at their press conference yesterday, Nintendo is showing off a brand new four-level demo of Super Mario Galaxy at this year's E3. A quick recap of the levels and new stuff available this time around. Warning: Potential spoilers ahead.

Stage 1: The basic training level shows you how to jump around some small grass- and dirt-covered planets. Falling into a pit doesn't necessarily kill you -- sometimes you just fall to the other side of the planet. Be careful of black holes, though -- fall into ones of those and it's "too bad" and a restart from the same point.

The boss of the first demo level actually takes place on the inner edge of a giant sphere. Mario has to avoid moving electrical conduits and jump on panels to shut down a giant generator. A nice, simple introduction.

Stage 2: A little tougher than the first stage -- there are more enemies this time around. Luckily, there are also plenty of stars to collect with the pointer. Once you have some stars, a quick point and a flick of the B button can fire them to stun or knock over enemies. A second player can even pick up another remote and help with the shooting.

Reggie Fils-Aime just announced that the much-anticipated Super Mario Galaxy will be released in America on Nov. 12, 2007 at Nintendo's E3 2007 press conference. The announcement accompanied an extensive new video of the game. More new photos direct from the conference after the break.

That is, until Reggie Fils-Aime administered an unforgiving slap to the face and instilled hope once more. Speaking at the recent Nintendo Summit in Seattle, the Nintendo of America president confirmed that the musically rich Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy would both be out before your Official Iwata Swimsuit 2007 calendar becomes worthless. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for DS was given similar assurances and will likely join the anticipated Wii duo in this holiday season's battle for shoppers. You'd best start stocking up on that financial ammunition.

Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will arrive in late 2007 according to the latest round of whisper down the lane. CVG reports that "sources close to Nintendo" have cited the delays and have also verified that Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass will be released at the tail-end of next year.

Officially, Nintendo would only acknowledge that Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and Phantom Hourglass would debut in 2007. But the holiday stretch (October-December) is the obvious release window. Be patient.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has updated Stephen Totilo on the planned release for Super Mario Galaxy. Mark your calendars with a big sharpie drawn across many pages: Fils-Aime expects the game to come out sometime between the end of March and Christmas.

Why not say "by the end of 2007?" Well, it's bad business -- Nintendo has three titles (WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Wii Play, and Mario Party 8) coming out between now and March, and then Metroid Prime 3 seeing a release sometime after March. To say Mario Galaxy is coming out before Christmas gives analysts the clue that it might be poised to elevate their holiday lineup, unless Smash Bros Brawl or some heavy-hitting third-party titles can step up to the plate by then.

Past March 2007, we don't yet know Nintendo's first-party lineup. Fils-Aime hints that some announcements will be coming in January. If Nintendo has learned from their follies with the GameCube, then we should have a consistent release schedule for the next year. If not, then we'll probably get one hit game every now and then, followed by long intervals of drought.

[Update 1: It's StePHen Totilo, not SteVen. The change has been made, you can call your snipers off at anytime now.]

There is no Space World planned for 2006, according to Nintendo of America PR Manager Matt Atwood. The confirmation, told to Advanced Media Network, dispels some speculation as to when Nintendo would announce the Wii's launch details. As there is no Space World, and no one from Nintendo speaking at the Tokyo Games Show, the likely location for launch announcements will be at the Leipzig Games Convention during the August 23 "Wii Prove our Promise" presentation.

As goes Nintendo's modus operandi, the secretive company cannot destroy a rumor without spawning a replacement. Atwood also told AMN that, since the official launch lineup has not been announced, Super Mario Galaxy might still make launch lineup.

"Anything is possible," he said. That is not a confirmation by any stretch of the imagination, but just enough to tantalize the masses. O, Nintendo, why must you torment us so?

[via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

The December 1991 issue of Nintendo Power was recently unearthed, revealing eerie similarities between lil' Jimmy Peterford's "ultimate game system" fantasy and Nintendo's forthcoming Wii. As it turns out, Peterford nailed the Super Mario Galaxy name and likely came within a few dollars of the actual Wii launch price with the $259.95 figure he offered up. But the connection between Peterford's seemingly innocent wish and Wii doesn't end there...

Though players have long become accustomed to controlling Nintendo's iconic and portly plumber, Super Mario Galaxy marks somewhat of a departure from that tradition. You still control Mario's movements with the analogue stick on the left nunchuck, but the wiimote in your right hand actually allows you to exert an influence on the world itself. A little on-screen star indicates where the wiimote is pointing and by holding down the B-button, you can grab onto various items and structures. For instance, if you run the cursor through a patch of flowers, it willl gently rustle in reaction to the presence of your invisible hand. While you have Mario running and jumping about and doing his usual platforming, you can manipulate objects in the environment in order to help him out.

The game world seems to be comprised of a bunch of little planets floating in space, with Mario seeking out different ways to travel between them. One method of transportation is what appears to be a giant elastic plant. Mario climbs to the top and, using your wiimote, you grab onto the plant, stretch it into one direction and then release the button to have Mario slingshot to a different panet. It's an extremely intuitive experience and really creates the impression that you are reaching into Mario's little universe and making things a little easier for him. You can also stun and tip over the meandering Goombas by running your cursor across them, allowing Mario to finish them off with a good 'ole butt-stomp.

Mario's usual repertoire of moves remains intact, with a vigorous shake of the wiimote activating a furious spinning attack. It's effective for clobbering enemies and activating the various star lifts scattered across the levels. The levels themselves look excellent from a graphical standpoint, boasting some stylish lighting effects and crisp and colorful textures. As far as depictions of plumbers in outer space go, I'd say this is probably the best one I've seen. Super Mario Galaxy really does make up for a lot of the graphical shortcomings of other Wii games. In fact, its unusual and engaging control system provides one of the best glimpses of the system's potential we've seen so far.