*van constructs a thwomp-equipped bullet-bill upgraded fortress around his copy of Mario Sunshine* BRING IT. *van equips watergun backpack* :)

The Gamecube seems like the generation where Nintendo slagged off on it's flagship titles. Oh sure, there were some great games - Smash Bros, Pikman, yadda yadda. But... Sunshine didn't offer half of what 64 did. Double Dash was no Mario Kart 64. Wind Waker was a cool game, but the triforce hunt at the end was a major pain and the graphic style was a kick in the face to some (Only because of the amazing video Nintendo showed off at E3 though). Blue Storm was no Waverace And Luigi's mansion isn't exactly the kind of game you want to present to the world as your launch title. It seems like on top of everything else going for the Wii (third party support, crazy new way to play...etc etc), It has one even more important factor. The first party games have gotten their groove back. Twilight Princess is amazing and Galaxy looks better than sex. Galaxy will be Mario's console revival much as the Wii is Nintendo's console revival.

For the PickMAN, insult away. But in my opinion, none of the continuations of Major Nintendo Franchises really matched their predecessors (and Mario Kart 64 still kicks all kinds of ass!) Oh sure, Nintendo still made great titles, and even found new flagship titles, ala Metroid Prime. But Nintendo had to carry this console more than any other in their history, and to me at least (and many others) it was also the generation in which Nintendo's offerings just weren't up to standard.

I have to go with the GameCube era had worse flagship games crowd here. Mario Sunshine sucked, not because I expected a revolution but because I expected a game I could run through quickly but that took hours to get every last secret like the other Mario games. What I got was a game that was way too difficult for a Mario game and took far too long to get the next shine. Wind waker on the other hand should have been the hard one but was way too easy, the only time I died was when I wanted to. MK:DD was pretty cool, but it's the only Mario Kart I haven't purchased (maybe when it drops to $15 or 20 I will). Smash Bros. I think was an improvement over the N64 but I never got into either of them. As for games that weren't on the N64, Luigi's Mansion was ok but as I thought in 2001 it was definitely not the game to launch a new system with. Animal Crossing was promising but the interface was terrible (the GC versions sold 3 million and the DS is approaching 8 million so I think it should be included as a flagship, or near flagship, title now). Ditto for Battalion Wars (except for the flagship part). Pikmin, eh. The real standout was Metroid Prime but it also sold the worst of the big 4. It does seem Nintendo has gotten its groove back. Mario Galaxy looks to be the best thing since Mario 64. Super Paper Mario appears to be an excellent throwback to 2D platforming with new elements. Zelda:TP was a lot better than Wind Waker but the linear Zelda game is getting a bit old, I hope the next one is more open like the first one or different like Majora's Mask. AC and BW should both be far easier and better with the Wiimote, not to mention online. Of course practically everything Nintendo has put on the DS has turned gold, Nintendogs, Brain Age, Mario Kart, NMSB, Animal Crossing, etc. The only issue there is what happened to Star Fox? That's the series Nintendo needs to worry about dying off. As for Mario Galaxy, I'll go out on a limb and say if it doesn't outsell Mario64 I'll be shocked. Mario64, Sunshine, and NMSB each sold to about 25% of system owners so Galaxy should have no trouble passing 6 million or 9 million for that matter.

If anything, the Wii's and DS' success will probably usher in Mario's resurgence. 2007 is Mario's year, me thinks. Super Paper Mario, Super Mario Galaxy and Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, all AAA titles. Even if Super Mario Galaxy bombs(VERY UNLIKELY, almost impossible), NSMB on the DS says hi!

I think that Galaxy will sell ok. The pics that have been circulating look good so far. I don't know if it will be another mario 3, though. What is the point of putting a character that normally breathes oxygen, into an environment where he would be sucking void air? This isn't like some japanese game with robot armor that might let you do this....this is some fat itialian guy heavy from pizza lol. I think that mario's traditional forest/outside kind of environment might have been a better idea...