Nintendo of Europe outline their marketing plan for Super Mario Galaxy 2 - coined "the biggest launch of the year"...

Here in Europe, we love us a bit of Mario. Blockbusters like New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Mario Kart DS are among the most popular titles on their respected platforms, and Nintendo of Europe are hoping to keep the trend strong this summer.

The company has been outlining its plans to hammer Super Mario Galaxy 2 into the subconscious of the public come its launch in June. Plans to market the game include the following.

• A 60-second trailer will be shown in cinemas nationwide during the run-up to the game's release. These will run before some of this summer's biggest family films.
• A pre-launch campaign will also take over all major gaming sites, with creative targeted at both long-time gamers and loyal Mario fans.
• A massive three-week TV campaign will kick off from Galaxy 2's launch week, with advertisements running on key terrestrial and satellite channels.
• This will be accompanied by a separate ad campaign targeted specifically at children's programming, raising awareness among young gamers as the summer holidays approach.
• A second burst of TV advertising will run throughout July to maintain awareness of Super Mario Galaxy 2's release.
• A huge range of POS (point of sale) will be available to retailers, utilising the eye-catching artwork and familiar character to showcase some of Galaxy 2's key features.

The delightful NoE marketing manager Rob Lowe has particularly high hopes for Galaxy 2.

"Super Mario Galaxy 2 is being widely acclaimed as Mario's greatest adventure yet � which is saying something, given the sheer quality of his previous outings � both on Wii and other Nintendo consoles. We fully expect this game to be one of the biggest hits of the year, anybody who even has a passing interest in video games needs to experience this title. It's simply amazing. We hope this will be one of the biggest Mario launches in the UK to date. Mario Kart Wii is the current record holder, and the buzz around Galaxy 2 is even bigger. It's a very different type of game but we think the gaming public will be astounded how the EAD team have managed to improve on a virtually flawless predecessor. We also hope that those people who entered the Mario world with New Super Mario Bros Wii will make the next step onto Super Mario Galaxy 2 and find it as amazing as astounding and beautiful as we have. Galaxy 2 is the biggest launch of the year on Wii � and this is reflected in the campaign we've put behind it."

It looks like NoE's hopes for Galaxy 2 certainly are optimistic, especially given the greater success New Super Mario Bros. Wii enjoyed over the original Galaxy.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 launches at long last on June 11th.