SHOCKING NEWS: Nintendo plans to make a video game featuring Mario. Oh and something about Pikmin 3.

Having gone almost two months without a new entry in the series, it's hard to imagine what Mario and friends will look like on a modern system. One artist posits this bold vision.

After entire weeks without a new Mario title on the horizon, Nintendo finally broke the news last January that a new 2D Mario game will launch for the 3DS sometime before April 2013. There haven’t been any new details yet, but Nintendo has just registered “supermario4.com”. This could just be a bit of legal cockblockery, but on top of that, Miyamoto let slip in an interview that Nintendo will be showing off “a new Super Mario for [Wii U], in which you will combine the TV screen with the screen in the controller.”

This was later confirmed by Nintendo: “In a recent interview, Mr. Miyamoto confirmed that a new Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii U system will be shown at this year’s E3 Expo. This is based on the Mario experience that was demonstrated at last year’s E3 Expo.” So it sounds like we’ll be seeing more of New Super Mario Bros. Mii:

New Super Miirio Bros.?

It’ll be interesting to see if either one of these games turns out to be “Super Mario 4″ or if that title is just a red herring.

It's always that asshole.

The actual shocking news here is that Pikmin 3, which has been in various stages of development for years, will finally see its debut at E3. At this rate, I’ll have to stop calling it Nintendo’s Duke Nukem Forever by the end of the year. The upside being that Pikmin 3 will actually be something I want to play when it finally comes out. Even though I’m not much for strategy games, the Pikmin games blend in enough adventure elements and are accessible enough that I found myself totally engrossed in them. Especially the original Pikmin, which was more mellow and focused on exploration and puzzles compared to Pikmin 2, which had a bit more emphasis on combat.

Welcome back Mallomar Olimar, the world missed you.