The big news from Nintendo"s livestream might be the announcement that New Super Mario Bros. 2 is on the way, but there"s also some exciting news for fans of one of Nintendo"s more neglected characters: Kirby. The lovable pink blob will be turning 20 this year, and to celebrate Nintendo will be releasing a special collection of Kirby games for Wii, as is being reported over at Nintendo World Report.
Although Nintendo president Satoru Iwata didn"t give much info about the upcoming collection, Kirby has appeared on just about every Nintendo console to some degree or another since his first appearance in 1992.
He first appeared in the Game Boy title Kirby"s Dream Land (interestingly, although the actual game was black and white, the American box art portrays Kirby as a white blob, rather than a pink one), followed up by 1993"s Kirby"s Adventure, one of the last games released for the NES, and one that pushed the aging console to its limits. Other titles, of course, include classics like Kirby 64 and Kirby Super Star.
Even though Kirby"s never been nearly as popular as Nintendo"s other star franchises like Mario or Zelda, he"s got his fans, and no doubt they"ll be glad to see him getting some much needed love.