Paper Mario: The Origami King Surprise Announcement
Announced only just a few weeks ago, Paper Mario: The Origami King is damn near ready to make its way into your living room, bedroom, bathroom, rooftop, bus stop or wherever else you like to bring your switch or switch lite. And we're not talking ready like a normal, "Hey everyone, this new game was announced. All aboard the 10 month or so hype train." This thing is piping hot and ready to fly out of the factories and into your homes on this July, 17th!
The Paper versions of the Mario franchise have never been tentpole games for Nintendo but this global pandemic has the entertainment industry making adjustments to schedules. Even so, Nintendo dropping a brand new, full price, console Mario game with almost no notice is quite unheard of. This year does mark Mario's 35th anniversary and in the past Nintendo has made it a point to celebrate milestones with new merchandise as noted on their fandom wiki page, by releasing: new games, books, special releases of custom red consoles, or even having various events and special musical performances. This is a very exciting announcement especially with no E3 event and no date set for the next Nintendo Direct.
With this short notice announcement and the anniversary year, one might deduce that Nintendo could pull this fast one a few more times before the year ends. Also In the final seconds of the trailer there’s a nod to Metroid which could imply a bigger reveal later this year. Either way, Paper Mario: The Origami King looks pretty rad, especially with its visual direction utilizing some of the arts and crafts look used in Yoshi’s Crafted World. Here’s hoping that if we don’t get another announcement in the coming months, that this peculiar paper protagonist props up Nintendo for a while longer until the next title is revealed. Mike Wynne Co-singer/songwriter for I Can’t Even, father of the ConfectioNerds and all around lover of all things Japan and gaming.