Mario 3DS could arrive this year

It’s far from a concrete announcement, but Nintendo has given real hope to fans that Super Mario 3DS could be released some time in 2011.

Speaking in an interview with French site Gamesblog, as translated by Eurogamer, Nintendo’s design boss Shigeru Miyamoto stated: "I promise to do all I can to deliver the new Mario game this year."

We first heard about the game in February of this year, though details remain virtually non-existent. We do know, though, that it’s being developed by the team behind the Super Mario Galaxy series.

Expect more details at E3 in June.