In a corporate management and third quarter results briefing at Nintendo, President Satoru Iwata announced that fans of the Super Mario franchise should look forward to a "totally new" 2D side-scrolling Mario adventure for the 3DS - a key title they are looking forward to bringing to the handheld.

It goes without saying that the Super Mario franchise has seen great results on the 3DS already. Super Mario Land 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 took the top two spots on Japan's list for top-selling games of 2011. If that wasn't enough to satisfy, this new Super Mario game is something that no one has talked about until now.

The new 2D side-scrolling Super Mario wasn't the only thing Nintendo was looking forward to releasing this year. Additional games anticipated for release included Paper Mario, Luigi's Mansion 2, and Mario Tennis (see image below).

Upcoming 3DS Games

Satoru Iwata had no further statement on any of the games or release dates nor did he hint about what the new Super Mario would entail, but he did state that with the addition to this game and the many more to come — specifically many unannounced third party games — the company is confident that they can make the 3DS a fully active mainstream platform for 2012.

Initially the 3DS had a poor start-up and Nintendo had taken a big loss during their second quarter, but due to the price drop for the handheld things started to pick up. From the briefing, Iwata points out that thanks to big titles such as Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land, the 3DS has seen substantial growth worldwide. Nintendo believes that in order for the handheld to survive they must continue bringing more key titles to the platform.

On a side note, Iwata had also mentioned that at E3 this year Nintendo will unveil the final format of the Wii U — it has been confirmed that the Wii U will be released at the end of this year.

Ranters, what would you like to see made possible in the next 2D side-scroller? Should they go back to their roots or continue what they have been doing with such games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii?

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Source: Nintendo