The company might soon announce another franchise title for the device

Dec 30, 2012 12:46 GMT  ·  By

Video game publisher Nintendo announces that it plans to launch Super Mario Bros. 3 exclusively in Japan on the Virtual Console of the 3DS handheld on January 1, 2013 in order to celebrate the coming of the New Year.

The holiday is important to the Japanese and Nintendo is hoping that celebrations might include some gaming time with one of the best titles in the series, for the low price of just 500 Yen, a little over 5 dollars or just under in Euro.

It’s unclear whether Nintendo has plans to also bring Super Mario Bros. 3 to the Virtual Console service of the 3DS in the West at a later date.

Fans of the Super Mario franchise will probably take the re-release as a sign that the Japanese publisher has big plans for the franchise on the 3DS, although an official project has not yet been announced.