Notable Nintendo titles for the DS are Pokémon Platinum and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon—a remake of the very first Fire Emblem on the Famicom. Wii owners can look forward to enhanced rereleases of Mario Power Tennis and Pikmin under the "Play Control!" brand.
Third party titles confirmed for an early 2009 release in Nintendo's statement include Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (DS/Wii), and Madworld (Wii).
POKÉMON PLATINUM TOPS NINTENDO'S DIVERSE GAME LINEUP FOR EARLY 2009
New Releases Also Include New Play Control! Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis for Wii, Fire Emblem for Nintendo DS
REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 17, 2008 – Continuing its commitment to create fun and engaging experiences for everyone, Nintendo of America Inc. today unleashes a broad list of exciting new games for the first quarter of 2009. Topping the list is Pokémon™ Platinum version for Nintendo DS™, a remarkable new entry in the beloved Pokémon series, slated for a March 22 launch across North America. Nintendo's roster of more than 100 new games includes an impressive array of challenges and experiences for new players and loyalists, as well as everyone in between. Notable titles include the enhanced New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis™ and New Play Control! Pikmin™ for Wii™, and Fire Emblem™: Shadow Dragon, Personal Trainer™: Math and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for Nintendo DS.
"Our fans expect a diverse selection of entertainment options, and we're eager to deliver exactly that," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "We're building on the momentum of a strong holiday season by offering new and experienced players an even greater library of game titles in 2009."
Pokémon fans in particular will have plenty to cheer about as Pokémon Platinum is readied for its U.S. debut. Following the vast popularity of Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, Pokémon Platinum is the newest in the core series of Pokémon games. Pokémon Platinum features a new story full of adventure, never-before-seen forms of powerful Pokémon – including the legendary Giratina's Origin Forme – and the Distortion World, a mysterious new world that suddenly appears in the Sinnoh region. In addition, with Pokémon Platinum up to 20 players can interact with other Pokémon fans from around the world in the new Wi-Fi Plaza, featuring mini-games and activities. Players can also enjoy the new features in the Global Terminal, such as posting battle videos using the new "Vs. Recorder." In addition, Pokémon Platinum features a new Battle Frontier, where the toughest Trainers can test their skills in new ways. Pokémon Platinum already has broken previous Nintendo DS sales records in Japan, selling more than 1 million copies in its first two days of release.
For the portable Nintendo DS, Personal Trainer: Math builds on the new Personal Trainer™ series, which launched with Personal Trainer™: Cooking, now extends its reach beyond the stomach to the brain. Personal Trainer: Math introduces 40 fast-paced exercises to give players a fun way to improve their arithmetic skills. The Personal Trainer series is designed to help users enrich their lives and learn new skills in fun and interesting ways. Also for Nintendo DS, fans of the Fire Emblem franchise will enjoy the arrival of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, a revamped and re-imagined version of the NES™ classic, featuring touch-screen controls. Players with a broadband Internet connection can enjoy worldwide battles over Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo's online gaming service.
Meanwhile, for the Wii console, Nintendo is offering up two classic Nintendo GameCube™ games: New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis and New Play Control! Pikmin enhanced for play using the Wii Remote™ controller. The enhanced New Play Control! Pikmin game lets players point the Wii Remote controller at the screen and use it as a cursor, making it easy to select either a single Pikmin or an entire army. When a player tosses Pikmin, they fly wherever the cursor is pointing. New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis lets players enjoy an afternoon on the court as their favorite characters from the Mushroom Kingdom, complete with motion-controlled serves and swings. With Wii controls, players can swing the Wii Remote controller to hit forehands and backhands and to apply spin. Experienced gamers can also attach a Nunchuk™ controller for additional precision. Both games are scheduled to launch next March.
Third-party publishers continue to bring diverse, creative games like FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: Echoes of Time™ from Square-Enix for Wii and Nintendo DS. These games offer unique features that allow users to play multiplayer across Nintendo platforms. MADWORLD™ from Sega will be available exclusively for Wii, and the highly acclaimed franchise Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars from Rockstar Games will be available for Nintendo DS.
Below is a partial list of upcoming games for Wii and Nintendo DS. Note that game titles and launch dates are subject to change.
Wii
Activision
Monsters vs. Aliens - March 24
Crave Entertainment
Monster Pals™ - March
Solitaire & Mahjong - February
Puzzle Challenges and More! - February
Crayola Colorful World - March
D3Publisher
Onechanbara™ Bikini Zombie Slayers™ - February
Coraline - January
Destineer
WordJong Party - January
Battle Rage - February
Cradle of Rome - February
Cate West: The Vanishing Files - March
Burger Island - March
Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Sing It: High School Musical 3: Senior Year - Winter
DreamCatcher
Play the World - March
Electronic Arts
NASCAR® Kart Racing - Feb. 10
SimAnimals™ - Jan. 27
TRIVIAL PURSUIT - Early spring
Hudson Entertainment
FISHING MASTER WORLD TOUR - Jan. 6
Marble Saga Kororinpa™ - Spring
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
DanceDanceRevolution® Disney Grooves - March
Majesco Entertainment
Escape the Museum - January
Major Minor's Majestic March - March
Marvelous Entertainment USA
Little King's Story - Feb. 17
Rune Factory: Frontier - March
Mastiff
Deer Drive™ - Jan. 20
NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
We Ski™ and Snowboard - March
Nintendo
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis™ - March
New Play Control! Pikmin™ - March
Sega
The House of The Dead: Overkill™ - February
SONIC™ and the Black Knight - March
MADWORLD™ - March
Southpeak Interactive
Roogoo Twisted Towers™ - Feb. 17
Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball™ - March 17
Brave: A Warrior's Tale™ - Feb. 17
THQ
Paws & Claws Pet Resort - Jan. 5
Neighborhood Games - Jan. 5
Ubisoft
Tenchu™: Shadow Assassins - February
Broken Sword™: Shadows of the Templars (Director's Cut) - March
XS Games
Super PickUps™ - Q1
Nintendo DS
Activision
Monsters vs. Aliens - March 24
Pimp My Ride 2™ - March 24
Animal Planet™ - March 10
Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
My World, My Way™ - Feb. 3
Legacy of Ys™: Books I & II - Feb. 10
Trackmania™ DS - March 17
Crave Entertainment
Monster Pals ™ - March
D3Publisher of America
Puzzle Quest™: Galactrix™ - Q1
Coraline - January
Destineer
USA TODAY Puzzle Craze - January
DinoPets - March
Disney Interactive Studios
Phineas and Ferb - Winter
DreamCatcher
Inkheart - January
Learn Math - January
Drivers' Ed Portable - January
Monster Band - January
Zoo Quest - February
My Personal Diary - February
Music Star: Pop Star - February
Paint by DS - March
Matchstick - March
Dreamer: Top Model - March
Sarah - Keeper of the Unicorn - March
Learn Chess - March
Dragon Master - April
Electronic Arts
Zubo™ - March
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure™ - Q1
SimAnimals™ - Jan. 27
Empire Interactive
Jagged Alliance - Feb. 17
Gameloft
American Popstar - Road to Celebrity - March 9
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero™ - Q1
Suikoden Tierkreis - Q1
Little Magician's Magic Adventure™ - Q1
Majesco Entertainment
WonderWorld Amusement Park™ - January
Powerbike - January
Our House™ - Q1
Hot 'n' Cold - March
Marvelous Entertainment USA
Avalon Code - February
Flower, Sun, and Rain - March
Mastiff
Moon™ - Jan. 13
MumboJumbo
Chicken Hunter Star Karts - March 10
Nintendo
Personal Trainer™: Math - Jan. 12
Fire Emblem™: Shadow Dragon - Feb. 16
Pokémon™ Platinum version - March 22
ROCKSTAR GAMES
Grand Theft Auto™: Chinatown Wars - Winter
Southpeak Interactive
Big Bang Mini® - Jan. 6
Roogoo Attack™ - Feb. 17
Brave: Shaman's Challenge™ - Feb. 17
Square Enix, Inc.
FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: Echoes of Time™ - Spring
THE GAME FACTORY
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES™ - Jan. 19
THQ
Paws & Claws Pampered Pets - Jan. 5
TOMY Corporation
My DoItAll™ - February
Ubisoft
Jake Power Fireman - January
Jake Power Policeman - January
Imagine™ Cheerleader - February
JoJo's Fashion Show - February
Petz® Horseshoe Ranch - February
Imagine™ Family Doctor - February
Imagine™ Ice Champions - March
Jake Power Handyman - March
My Fashion Studio Paris Collection - Feb. 17
American Popstar - Road to Celebrity - March 24
Broken Sword™: Shadows of the Templars (Director's Cut) - March
XSEED Games
Retro Game Challenge - Jan. 6
Wii
SimAnimals™ - Jan. 27
Marble Saga Kororinpa™ - Spring
Escape the Museum - January
Little King's Story - Feb. 17
Rune Factory: Frontier - March
We Ski™ and Snowboard - March
New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis™ - March
New Play Control! Pikmin™ - March
The House of The Dead: Overkill™ - February
SONIC™ and the Black Knight - March
MADWORLD™ - March
Tenchu™: Shadow Assassins - February
Broken Sword™: Shadows of the Templars (Director's Cut) - March
Nintendo DS
My World, My Way™ - Feb. 3
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure™ - Q1
SimAnimals™ - Jan. 27
Jagged Alliance - Feb. 17
Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero™ - Q1
Flower, Sun, and Rain - March
Moon™ - Jan. 13
Grand Theft Auto™: Chinatown Wars - Winter
FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: Echoes of Time™ - Spring
So Nintendo just had the most pathetic Christmas lineup I've ever seen and the only first party Wii games they have in Q1 are two remakes of Cube games. What the hell has Nintendo been working on to explain what will end being almost six months of Wii Music and remakes?
Now normally Q1 is rather slow so it's usually pretty normal to not have big titles at this time. But after such a worthless Q4 (and Q3 wasn't too hot either) we need something significant. Why the hell is the Wii having a major drought entering it's third year? Droughts are supposed to be first year stuff.
If instead of a remake of Animal Crossing Nintendo actually did make some major core game this Christmas then Q1 wouldn't even matter. We would all be playing the big mega Wii game we got for Christmas.
It will be nice to see the first Fire Emblem finally released here. I would love it if they also offered a translation of the original version on the VC but that's not too likely.
Gee Ian, maybe because they released Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy, SSB:B and Mario Kart Wii all within about 6 months of each other? Also I think you are forgetting PUnch OUt along with Sin and Punishment 2 which are due out early next year.
What the hell are EAD and IS and Retro doing?
What makes this so hilarious is if they delayed Mario Galaxy until this year and released it for Christmas, Ian would probably be slighly less annoying and whiny. But since we had one of the best years EVER for a Nintendo console last year it is horrendous that the second half of 2008 didn't have some huge blockbuster from Nintendo.
To conclude, I will say, the reason why your comments, Ian, are unpopular here is because that is all you do. It is ridiculous and it is impossible to take your negative ramblings that you've been spouting for years now seriously.
What the hell are EAD and IS and Retro doing?
So Nintendo just had the most pathetic Christmas lineup I've ever seen and the only first party Wii games they have in Q1 are two remakes of Cube games.
I look at the big "front loaded" Wii lineup with Metroid and Mario and SSB and I realize all of those were games we knew about before the Wii even launched. They're really the first wave of Nintendo Wii games. And they're core gamer focused. I'm wondering if Nintendo wanted to core gamers Nintendo fans on board at the beginning as insurance in case the non-gamers didn't bite.
Non-games take much less effort to make and non-gamers are much easier to please. Less effort, more money. It's a winning formula... Thus the b-teams are working on the core games and if the core gamers bail, no biggie.
HOWEVER: Sorry, Carmine. Most of the third party stuff you like...I don't like. Your telling me to just go out and buy third party stuff does nothing for me. I bought Boom Blox and Tales. I'm happy with those so far. I wanted to buy Unleashed until I read some reviews. I bought my Wii first and foremost for Nintendo games I enjoy, and they aren't there this winter or spring. And since my PS3 is at home, I can't sample the PS3/360 lineup right now. :(
Ian, in all seriousness, do you own a 360? You should. That's where the games you seem to want are nowadays. If you want traditional stuff, it's all there. Pick up a 360, let your Wii stay dormant, and let the anger fade away.
