Though no one could begrudge him for being (ahem) green with envy about his longtime secondary status, Mario's ectomorphic brother Luigi will star in his very own videogame to be released in early 2013, Nintendo revealed on Thursday, Feb. 14.
Going as far as wearing Luigi's signature green hat throughout his announcement of "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata took to a direct video broadcast to explain why the seminal video game company has decided to place Mario's sidekick brother in the spotlight.
The 35-minute (plus) video also grants a history of Luigi, including notations about the various other games in which he's appeared in the past.
According to the rather effusive video history, Luigi first hit the burgeoning videogame marketplace in the "Mario Bros." arcade game on July 14, 1983.
"Luigi has appeared in many games since then, but most of them in a supporting role," says Iwata in the video. "Even though he has appeared in so many games, he is still timid after all these years."
Iwata's perhaps gratuitous personification is then followed-up by a quick montage of game boxes in which, indeed, the visage of Luigi has been relegated to the background, sometimes barely discernible at all.
Continuing that Nintendo has "several games featuring Luigi" that will be released in 2013, Iwata suggests that we are now living in the "Year of Luigi."
The aforementioned kick-off to Nintendo's soon-to-be-released Luigi litany, "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon," will actually mark the third time Mario's beleaguered brother stars in a Nintendo game. Previous installments include "Mario's Missing" (1991) and the first "Luigi's Mansion" (2001).
Originally announced on June 7, 2011, the sequel to "Luigi's Mansion" will see the world's (second) favorite mustachioed plumber with a penchant for pizza exploring new mansions, battling ghosts and mummies, and wandering around eerie underground crypts.
With a release date set for March 24, Luigi's new 3DS adventure has been updated for multiplayer mode, supporting up to four players at once.
The Year of Luigi will also present gamers with RPG "Mario & Luigi: Dream Team," though Luigi has found himself sublimated to partner status once again in this one.
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