Paper Mario 2 Web site opens

Japanese-speaking gamers awaiting the arrival of Paper Mario 2 are in luck. Today Nintendo opened the Web site for the upcoming GameCube role-playing game. Although it features only a small amount of teaser content--five of the six tabs on the home page are marked "coming soon!" in English--the site does offer a decent amount of information in Japanese.

However, you won't have to know your kanji from your katakana to appreciate the new trailer of the game. Titled "Introduction Movie," the trailer runs around two minutes and shows ample footage of the paper Mario folding and bending his way through various sticky situations. Also seen are a variety of worlds and levels, including a sky world with blimps and numerous castle interiors and exteriors.

Paper Mario 2 will ship July 22 in Japan, and the site features a picture of its Japanese box art. The game won't hit American shores until October, but GameSpot editors got a hands-on preview at this year's E3.