Nintendo has announced that the highly anticipated New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Wii is set to be released on North American markets on November 15. The date is a bit of a surprise, as rumors coming out last week only mentioned a December 3 launch date for the Japanese market, which usually gets such releases a bit ahead of the international release.

No price has been announced for Western markets, but, in Japan, it is said to cost 5,800 Yen, which is the equivalent of about 66 dollars. Another source says that the New Super Mario Bros. Wii is set to arrive in Australia even earlier, on November 12, which might see the Land Down Under getting an influx of Mario fans eager to get a hold of a copy of the new game

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the big announcement made by Nintendo at this year's E3 trade show, in an effort to please the more hardcore audience of its main console. The game is getting a graphical upgrade, making it the best looking representation of Mario and its companions on the Wii, but also a slew of gameplay-related enhancements.

For the first time in a Super Mario Wii release, four players will be able to join into a multiplayer match at the same time, one of them as Mario, one as Luigi and the other two as toads, one blue and one yellow. They will need to work together to progress through the levels, but there will be a lot of opportunities to take each other out. There are two new costumes introduced, one that offers a propeller and allows players to fly and another one that allows for enemies to be frozen. There is also a possibility to actually ride on Yoshis present in the game.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii also offers the Super Guide option for the first time, allowing for players who are not up to the challenge to actually be guided over the toughest sections of the game.