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E3 09: Cooking Mama returns to the kitchen this Christmas

You can put the Cooking Mama in the garden, but you can’t keep the cooking out of the Mama … or something like that. 505 Games has just announced that everyone’s’ favorite fiery-eyed denizen of the digital kitchen has grown tired of tilling soil and growing gardenias, and has decided to head back into the kitchen to whip up some more tasty treats for DS owners worldwide.

The aptly named Cooking Mama 3 will feature over 80 recipes, 200 mini-games, and four-player multiplayer. Along with that, two new game modes will also be making their debut: ‘What dish can you make’ and ‘Lets go shopping.’ What dish can you make allows players to select any two ingredients from a list and Mama will come up with recipe that contains both for you to cook, while Lets go shopping is more of memory based affair, where Mama will send you to the grocery store to pick up a list of ingredients while “confusing food signs and forgetful shop assistants” try to lead you astray.

As you probably guessed from the headline, Cooking Mama 3 is currently set to be out “in time for Christmas,” but that confirmed timeframe is only for Europe, which make sense as 505 is the series’ European publisher. Us North Americans will probably have to wait till Nintendo’s E3 conference to find out when we’re getting it.

Milton Keynes, 1st June 2009 - 505 Games today announced that everyone’s favourite culinary queen will return to the kitchen in time for Christmas. Cooking Mama 3 will see all new features added to the world famous game play recipe the series is famed for as 505 Games have once again secured an agreement with Cooking Mama Ltd., to publish Cooking Mama 3 on Nintendo DS across Europe.

“Mama provides a truly unique gameplay experience which can’t be replicated and always delivers,” commented Ian Howe, Managing Director of 505 Games. “Cooking Mama remains our most successful series to date and we know Cooking Mama 3 will only serve to build upon its existing legacy.”

After a blossoming outdoor spell in the hugely successful Gardening Mama, our favourite celebrity chef is back in the kitchen tantalising taste buds and testing cooking skills with a whole new cooking adventure. As well as boasting over 80 recipes, 200 mini-games, four player multiplayer (using single cart DS Download play) and classic Mama game play, Cooking Mama 3 now offers two totally new game modes. ‘What dish can you make’ lets you choose two ingredients from a list and Mama will come up with a tasty recipe containing them both for you to cook. ‘Lets go shopping’ challenges your memory as Mama sends you out to the shops with a list of ingredients to buy, but watch out for confusing food signs and forgetful shop assistants who will try to sell you the wrong items!

Originally released in December 2006 on Nintendo DS Cooking Mama and May 2007 on Wii, Cooking Mama is an original and fun title that boasts immediate ‘pick up and play’ kitchen action. To date, Cooking Mama DS remains the highest selling third party DS title of all time. Cooking Mama 2 on DS and Cooking Mama 2: World Kitchen on Wii built of the huge success of the original Mama adventure delivering fun and challenging game play for players of any age or skill level. In March 2009 the Mama brand expanded out from the kitchen as Gardening Mama launched on Nintendo DS once again growing the loyal fan base. The Mama brand has enjoyed massive commercial success selling over 2.1m units across Europe since launch.

Cooking Mama 3 is currently set for a Christmas 2009 release, available exclusively on Nintendo DS and published by 505 Games.