Good times

Oh, Luigi. The dream had to end, and Shigeru Miyamoto has brought cold, cruel reality crashing through our screens by confirming that the Year of Luigi will finish on 18th March; we'd hoped the day would never come.

Luigi, for so long the other brother, had a year in which he could shine. He starred in the brilliant Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, stole the show in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, showed Mario how to really jump in his own New Super Luigi U and his brother's Super Mario 3D World; he even picked up his M.D. qualification to lead in Dr. Luigi. Throw in some cameos and retro-fitted NES treats and it was quite a year for the green one.

It all ends on 18th March, however, as Shigeru Miyamoto has stated on Miiverse:

Almost a year has passed since I announced the Year of Luigi, marking the 30th anniversary of Luigi’s debut.
Thanks to everyone's kind support, we were able to release many Luigi games over the course of the year. I hope everyone continues to cheer for the green brother!

However, all good things must come to an end, and the Year of Luigi will conclude on March 18.

From this date on, the Year of Luigi Community and its Developers' Room will sadly no longer accept new posts or comments. (The exact date and time is listed in each community's description.) That means there's one more month to go. I hope everyone continues to share their thoughts on Luigi with people from around the world!

It seems a tad harsh to shut down the man's Miiverse communities, but Nintendo waits for no-one. Miyamoto-san has encouraged gamers to leave comments on his post in memory of the year, so it's a last chance to say goodbye.

What will the next 'Year' be? Year of Yoshi? Year of Kirby? Year of Samus? Year of Ice Climbers? Who knows, but it'll have to go some to upstage the green wonder.

We still love you, Luigi.

[source miiverse.nintendo.net, via twitter.com]