Mario, Godzilla coming to GameCube
Video game giant Nintendo announces that the next game featuring its popular character Mario will appear this summer.
"Super Mario Sunshine," an action and adventure game featuring the mustachioed plumber, will go on sale Aug. 26 for Nintendo's new GameCube console.
Nintendo introduced Mario 20 years ago in the hit game "Donkey Kong." The character has gone on to star in dozens of top-selling games, several animated TV series and a feature film.
Analysts have said franchise characters such as Mario and Pokemon are key to Nintendo's dominance of the pre-teen segment of the video game market and vital to the GameCube's prospects as it competes against Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. The GameCube debuted with a Nintendo-published game featuring Luigi, Mario's nearly identical brother.
Game publisher Infogrames also announced Monday that it is bringing another Japan-born legend to the GameCube. "Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee" is set to go on sale this fall and will feature the ornery lizard battling foes such as King Ghidora and Mothera.