In the past 24 hours (at the time of writing) there has been excitable chatter around a 'leak' for a 3DS version of the GameCube classic Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, considered by some to be the best of the charming RPG series.

We'd love to believe it - originally shared on Reddit, a video for it was taken down, though the following image and GIF have been doing the rounds.

Paper Mario Top Screen

There are a few reasons why we think this 'leak' is fake, albeit no one can definitively say what Nintendo is working on at any given time. Rather like the recent rumoured Rayman Smash Bros. DLC it's very selective in what's visible; the video clip in that GIF shows a standard load-up and a Start screen lacking the intro from the GameCube original, while we're conveniently not shown the bottom screen. It doesn't progress into gameplay, and the supposed screengrab of game footage could quite easily be faked; it's a trend with these leaks that transpire to be fake that they tease, but in reality are dealing with the limitations of Photoshop or simply running a video file on a modded or homebrew system.

In addition, it's not typical for a legitimate build like this to be running on what appears to be a standard retail 3DS XL system. Development or demonstration units that run code are often seen at press events or on the Nintendo Treehouse streams, and typically they're smaller 'original' units with slightly different design and often a bespoke, chunky connector sticking out of the back. The fact this is a bog-standard 3DS XL - based on the pictures - only reinforces suspicion that this is a modder keen to get fans excited.

Papermario Artwork

We may be wrong, but there have been enough of these fakes with similar approaches for us to be somewhat dismissive. That doesn't mean we can't talk about whether we want such a rumour to be true, however. In recent weeks we've actually been promoting the idea in Features that Nintendo should fill out the 3DS library with choice remakes and ports in the next couple of years. We listed five Nintendo 64 remasters we want on 3DS, and a separate list featuring GameCube and Wii games we'd like on New Nintendo 3DS. Our reasoning is simple - as Nintendo is under so much pressure to fill out the release schedules of its system itself, projects like these can be quicker, easier wins than all-new games.

Given the choice of long software droughts on Nintendo's systems or gap-fillers in the form of ports and remasters, we'd like the latter. Yet we want to know what you think, and particularly whether you'd like to see Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, as an example, on the 3DS. Is that a release you'd welcome with open arms, or would you be disappointed to see another remake / port on the way?

The rumour may be fake, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to talk it over. We need to amuse ourselves until Nintendo finally delivers its next Nintendo Direct, in any case - let us know what you think in the comments.

Update:

As we expected this was indeed fake, with the culprit owning up in a video. It had all the hallmarks of a fake, as we pointed out above, but at least there's now confirmation.