October 11^th, 2004 (4:31pm) - To commemorate Columbus Day, video game icon Mario has taken a contrarian position by declaring that the world is flat. As a result, Mario has stated his intention to relocate to the country’s flattest metropolitan area, Houston. Though Mario readily admits that he is going against hundreds of years of scientific fact, he says all the evidence for the Earth’s flatness is found in his new adventure game, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

The game, launching today exclusively for GameCube, showcases the ability of Mario and his friends to manipulate their flat, 2-D bodies in dynamic ways. Mario can roll himself into a tube and bounce, slip sideways through narrow passages or fold himself into a paper airplane and soar away. The comical role-playing game sets him on a search for Princess Peach and treasure.