Nintendo Releases 2008 Game Forecast

January 16, 2008, 1:49 pm EST
Total comments: 25

Nintendo remarks on last year's success and releases equally impressive list of games for 2008.

STRONG LINEUP OF GAMES CONTINUES NINTENDO'S MOMENTUM IN 2008

Bold 2007 Set the Stage for Broad 2008 Software Lineups for Wii and Nintendo DS

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 16, 2008 – With their focus on fun for everyone, Nintendo's Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems are leading a new movement in the world of video games. Games based on brain exercises. … New experiences that surprise even core gamers. … Grandparents buying video game systems – for themselves! Surely, these are unprecedented times.

"The video game industry has never had so many new players, and they've never had so much fun," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "Our momentum is not limited to one system or one game. We're going broad and bold in 2008, with something for every member of the family."

Nintendo DS and Wii finished as the No. 1 and No. 2 best-selling systems of the year, respectively. Nintendo continues its momentum into 2008 with a strong lineup of games. In the first half of 2008 alone, more than 65 new Wii games will add to the current library of more than 195 and 80 new Nintendo DS games will add to the current library of nearly 500. Nintendo DS opens the first half of the year with games that demonstrate the breadth of the Nintendo DS library. Advance Wars®: Days of Ruin is a treat aimed squarely at core gamers, while Crosswords DS™ is for all consumers, whether they currently play games or not.

Likewise, the first half of 2008 brings a diverse array of Wii games from Nintendo, including core games like Super Smash Bros.® Brawl; games with universal appeal for gamers old and new with Mario Kart® Wii, which uses the easy-to-pick-up Wii Wheel™; and Wii Fit™, which comes with the Wii Balance Board and has appeal for new consumers well beyond the traditional video game audience. On top of all that, new downloadable WiiWare™ games will make their debut. These unique games have much lower entry barriers for developers and let consumers enjoy an incredibly diverse selection of content.

Third-party publishers also continue their strong support for Wii and Nintendo DS. Some of the innovative Wii games for the first half of 2008 include Ninja Reflex from Electronic Arts, No More Heroes™ from Ubisoft, DeBlob from THQ, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from LucasArts and Okami from Capcom, in addition to compelling Nintendo DS games like FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: Rings of Fate from Square Enix, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword from Tecmo and Quick Yoga Training from Ubisoft.

The following is a partial list of Wii and Nintendo DS software for the first half of 2008. Note that details are subject to change.

Wii

Jan. 7: Kidz Sports Ice Hockey from Destineer

Jan. 8: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law from Capcom

Jan. 15: SAMURAI WARRIORS: KATANA from KOEI CORPORATION

Jan. 15: Furu Furu Park from Majesco Entertainment

Jan. 21: Endless Ocean™ from Nintendo

Jan. 22: One Piece™: Unlimited Adventure™ from Namco Bandai Games America Inc.

Jan. 29: Bomberman Land from Hudson

January: No More Heroes™ from Ubisoft

January: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation™: Hard Evidence from Ubisoft

Feb. 8: Kawasaki Jet Ski from Destineer

Feb. 11: Go Diego Go!: Safari Rescue from 2K Play

Feb. 12: WWII Aces from Destineer

Feb. 12: Dream Pinball 3D from SouthPeak Games

Feb. 18: MX vs. ATV Untamed from THQ

Feb. 25: Agatha Christie And Then There Were None from DreamCatcher Games

Feb. 26: Baroque from Atlus USA

Feb. 26: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors from Square Enix

Feb. 27: Kidz Sports Soccer from Destineer

Feb. 27: London Taxi: Rush Hour from Destineer

February: Garfield® Gets Real from DSI Games

February: Yamaha Supercross from DSI Games

February: Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore from Konami

February: Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30™ from Ubisoft

February: BALLOON POP from UFO INTERACTIVE GAMES

March 3: Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed from THQ

March 9: Super Smash Bros.® Brawl from Nintendo

March 10: Worms: A Space Oddity from THQ

March 25: Okami from Capcom

March 25: OPOONA from KOEI CORPORATION

March: MiniCopter: Adventure Flight from Aksys Games

March: Alone in the Dark from Atari

March: Ninja Reflex from Electronic Arts

March: Obscure: The Aftermath from Ignition Entertainment

March: Target: Terror from Konami

March: Nitro Bike™ from Ubisoft

March: Emergency Heroes™ from Ubisoft

March: HEAVENLY GUARDIAN from UFO INTERACTIVE GAMES

March: Rebel Raiders from XS Games

April 15: Castle of Shikigami III from Aksys Games

April: Pro Evolution Soccer from Konami

April: Wild Earth: African Safari from Majesco Entertainment

April: THE MONKEY KING-THE LEGEND BEGINS from UFO INTERACTIVE GAMES

April: Super Pick Ups from XS Games

May 6: Speed Racer from Warner Bros. Games

May 13: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian from Disney Interactive Studios

May: BlastWorks: Build, Trade, Destroy from Majesco Entertainment

May: King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga from SNK Playmore

May: THE DOG Island™ from Ubisoft

June 8: Wonderworld Amusement Park from Majesco Entertainment

June: Catch of the Day from Electronic Arts

June: Ford Racing Off Road from Empire Interactive

June: Cooking Mama Cook Off 2 from Majesco Entertainment

June: Rygar: The Battle of Argus from Tecmo, Inc.

June: DeBlob from THQ

June: Wall-E from THQ

Spring: Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel from Nintendo

Spring: Major League Baseball® 2K8 from 2K Sports

Spring: Don King Presents: Prizefighter from 2K Sports

Spring: Top Spin 3 from 2K Sports

Spring: Kung Fu Panda from Activision

Spring: LEGO: Indiana Jones from LucasArts

Summer: Deca Sports from Hudson

Summer: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from LucasArts

Summer: Active Life™: Outdoor Challenge™ from Namco Bandai Games America Inc.

Q2: Wii Fit from Nintendo

Nintendo DS

Jan. 21: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin from Nintendo/Intelligent Systems

Jan. 21: Mazes of Fate DS from Graffiti Entertainment, LLC

Jan. 22: Mega Brain Boost from Majesco Entertainment

Jan. 24: Aquarium by DS from Bold Games

Jan. 24: Fantasy Aquarium by DS from Bold Games

Jan. 29: Pet Pals: Animal Doctor from Majesco Entertainment

January: N+ from Atari

January: Barnyard Blast from DSI Games

January: Command & Destroy from DSI Games

January: Miami Nights: Singles in the City™ from Ubisoft

January: Brain Challenge™ from Ubisoft

Feb. 4: Paws & Claws: Pet Resort from THQ

Feb. 5: Homie Rollerz from Destineer

Feb. 5: Nanostray 2 from Majesco Entertainment

Feb. 10 (street date): Professor Layton and the Curious Village™ from Nintendo/LEVEL-5

Feb. 12: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney from Capcom

Feb. 12: New Zealand Story Revolution from Ignition Entertainment

Feb. 12: Dream Pinball 3D from SouthPeak Games

Feb. 19: Spitfire Heroes: Tales of the RAF from Destineer

Feb. 19: Zoo Tycoon II from THQ

Feb. 25: Bratz: Super Babyz from THQ

Feb. 26: Bubble Bobble Double Shot from Ignition Entertainment

February: My Horse and Me from Atari

February: M&M'S® Kart Racing from DSI Games

February: Garfield® Gets Real from DSI Games

February: Yamaha Supercross from DSI Games

February: Insecticide from Gamecock Media Group

February: Anno™ 1701: Dawn of Discovery from Ubisoft

February: Assassin's Creed Altair's Chronicles™ from Ubisoft

February: Petz® Wild Animals: Tigerz from Ubisoft

February: Puppy Palace™ from Ubisoft

February: Real Soccer® 2008 from Ubisoft

March 1: Project Exile from Graffiti Entertainment, LLC

March 3: Let's Ride: Friends Forever from THQ

March 4: Diary Girl from Konami

March 4: Go Pets from Konami

March 4: Disney Friends from Disney Interactive Studios

March 4: Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest from Majesco Entertainment

March 8: Plushees from Destineer

March 8: River King: Mystic Valley from Natsume Inc.

March 8: Harvest Moon DS Cute from Natsume Inc.

March 11: FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: Rings of Fate from Square Enix

March 11: Lost in Blue 3 from Konami

March 11: Pro Evolution Soccer from Konami

March 25: Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword from Tecmo, Inc.

March: Alone in the Dark from Atari

March: Drone Tactics from Atlus USA

March: Double Sequence from DSI Games

March: Ninja Reflex from Electronic Arts

March: Myst from Empire Interactive

March: Naruto™: Ninja Destiny from Tomy Corporation

March: Petz® Bunnyz™ from Ubisoft

March: Imagine™ Figure Skater from Ubisoft

March: Commando from XS Games

April 15: Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys from Ignition Entertainment

April: Super Dodgeball Brawlers from Aksys Games

April: Rondo of Swords from Atlus USA

April: Quick Yoga Training from Ubisoft

May 5: Crosswords DS from Nintendo

May 6: Speed Racer from Warner Bros. Games

May 8: Organize It from Summitsoft Corporation

May 13: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian from Disney Interactive Studios

May: Winx Club: Mission Enchantix from Konami

May: Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles from Aksys Games

May: Garfield® Fun Fest from DSI Games

May: 1 vs. 100 from DSI Games

June 8: Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness from Natsume Inc.

June: Shining Stars® from DSI Games

June: Catch of the Day from Electronic Arts

June: PipeMania from Empire Interactive

June: Wall-E from THQ

Spring: Sid Meier's Civilization® Revolution™ from 2K Games

Spring: Don King Presents: Prizefighter from 2K Sports

Spring: Top Spin 3 from 2K Sports

Spring: Kung Fu Panda from Activision

Spring: LEGO: Indiana Jones from LucasArts

Spring: The World Ends with You from Square Enix

Summer: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from LucasArts

Summer: Tamagotchi Connection®: Corner Shop® 3 from Namco Bandai Games America Inc.

Q2: Bangai-O Spirits from D3 Publisher of America

Q2: PREY THE STARS from KOEI CORPORATION

Q2: Pokemon® Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time from Nintendo

Q2: Pokemon® Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness from Nintendo

Talkback

DAaaMan64January 16, 2008

Quote
March: Nitro Bike from Ubisoft

Someone didn't get the memo.

GoldenPhoenixJanuary 16, 2008

Nintendo of America is NEVER wrong though, when they say something like, oh a month delay compared to a week is for polishing purposes then they must be right about Nitro coming out in March!

PlugabugzJanuary 16, 2008

There's no mention of Disaster: Day of Crisis.

CrimmJames Jones, Associate EditorJanuary 16, 2008

This lineup...not that good

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterJanuary 16, 2008

Quote
Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
Nintendo of America is NEVER wrong though, when they say something like, oh a month delay compared to a week is for polishing purposes then they must be right about Nitro coming out in March!

Yep, you are definitely living up to your gender...

NinGurl69 *hugglesJanuary 16, 2008

Disaster: The Wii 2008 Release List

vuduJanuary 16, 2008

March 25: Okami from Capcom

Hell Yes. I didn't think this was coming out until the summer.

vuduJanuary 16, 2008

Quote
Originally posted by: Crimm
This lineup...not that good

Oh hush; there's more than enough on this list to keep me busy.

January: No More Heroes? from Ubisoft

Jan. 21: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin from Nintendo/Intelligent Systems

Feb. 10 (street date): Professor Layton and the Curious Village? from Nintendo/LEVEL-5

March 9: Super Smash Bros.? Brawl from Nintendo

March 25: Okami from Capcom

March 25: Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword from Tecmo, Inc.

Spring: Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel from Nintendo

darknight06January 16, 2008

Good to see Karaoke Revolution on that list, didn't know that was happening. Maybe that'll fix the deep wound Boogie created last year in that front.

Wii Fit Q2, no surprise there, same for Mario Kart in the spring.

KOF in May is better than no KOF at all. Now how about supporting progressive scan SNK.

Heres hoping that 2K games actually thinks out MLB 2K8 on the Wii. Could be real good if they do.

Not bad, I'd say by the time I'll be interested in buying something again at least 2 or 3 of these games will be out by then. I can work with that.

NWR_insanolordJ.P. Corbran, Community ManagerJanuary 16, 2008

I'd say this is definitely a good lineup considering it only covers the first half of the year, which is usually not as good as the latter half in terms of games. And if Nintendo still plans on releasing Mario Kart early in the year I can't wait to see what they're going to fill the rest of the year with. Of course it could easily be delayed and/or Nintendo could be stupid and let their two heaviest hitters come out early and leave the holidays (relatively) empty

that Baby guyJanuary 16, 2008

March 9: Super Smash Bros.? Brawl from Nintendo

Spring: Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel from Nintendo

Proabablies

January: No More Heroes? from Ubisoft

Feb. 26: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors from Square Enix

March 25: Okami from Capcom

Feb. 12: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney from Capcom

March 11: FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: Rings of Fate from Square Enix

Maybes

Feb. 26: Baroque from Atlus USA

March 3: Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed from THQ

March 25: OPOONA from KOEI CORPORATION

Jan. 21: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin from Nintendo/Intelligent Systems

Feb. 5: Nanostray 2 from Majesco Entertainment

There's a few others on there that can climb up on my list, but that's it right now.

IceColdJanuary 16, 2008

Mario Kart is definitely going to be delayed for the holidays. There's no way it'll come out before.

GoldenPhoenixJanuary 16, 2008

Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold
Mario Kart is definitely going to be delayed for the holidays. There's no way it'll come out before.

That is what I've been thinking unless they have a big title or two for the holidays they haven't revealed.

MarioJanuary 16, 2008

They are doing an awful lot of online testing for it at the moment though.. it's getting more connections than Smash.

King of TwitchJanuary 16, 2008

Smash Brothers at the beginning of the year and Mario Kart for the holidays. Sounds good if they could pop out an Animal Crossing by summertime and some sort of Pilotwings.

Bill AurionJanuary 16, 2008

Quote
Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold

Mario Kart is definitely going to be delayed for the holidays. There's no way it'll come out before.

That is what I've been thinking unless they have a big title or two for the holidays they haven't revealed.

Do you guys really think Ninty has shown all of their cards? O_o

There's no reason to hold Mario Kart for more than half the bloody year...

NeoThunderJanuary 16, 2008

it's missing a third party blockbuster must-have hit. Like a Call of Duty 4 or Assassin's Creed. I don't see Wii being ultimatly successful until we see something like that come along.

A Burnout game would be nice

BlackNMild2k1January 16, 2008

Why can't Nintendo just open up another factory and spit out more Wii's so that they can catch up to demand and they can stop delaying games to coincide with supply.

I might be banished to some sort of non-gamer hell for this, but I want my WiiFit NOW!!

p.s. Its not just for me, but I want it to come out now, that and SSBB.

IceColdJanuary 16, 2008

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion

Quote
Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix

Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold

Mario Kart is definitely going to be delayed for the holidays. There's no way it'll come out before.

That is what I've been thinking unless they have a big title or two for the holidays they haven't revealed.

Do you guys really think Ninty has shown all of their cards? O_o

There's no reason to hold Mario Kart for more than half the bloody year...

Well, I fully expect them at or before E3 to announce Animal Crossing, either F-Zero or Star Fox, maybe Kirby, and re-confirm WiiMusic. Then there's Disaster. But some of these won't make it for the end of the year.

If we're lucky we'll get Pikmin and another Mario sports title.

But I still think Mario Kart will be delayed to October or November.

EDIT: Hmm, maybe Nintendogs Wii too. That and Animal Crossing will seal it for the Wii in Japan.

TheFleeceJanuary 18, 2008

Going through the titles I saw a few that sounded interesting, but then I read "April: Quick Yoga Training from Ubisoft" and now aside from the obvious I am excited. That game is going to own my DS.

Nick DiMolaNick DiMola, Staff AlumnusJanuary 18, 2008

I'm really banking on this not being the full list for this year. E3 time I expect announcements for Animal Crossing and Pikmin, perhaps a new Kid Icarus and maybe even a new Pilotwings title. If they do decide to announce a new Star Fox it better be coming straight from EAD or I'm going to stab someone in the throat.

GoldenPhoenixJanuary 18, 2008

Quote
Originally posted by: Mr. Jack
I'm really banking on this not being the full list for this year. E3 time I expect announcements for Animal Crossing and Pikmin, perhaps a new Kid Icarus and maybe even a new Pilotwings title. If they do decide to announce a new Star Fox it better be coming straight from EAD or I'm going to stab someone in the throat.

You forgot Mario 256 as well.

UltimatePartyBearJanuary 18, 2008

Quote
Originally posted by: Mr. Jack

I'm really banking on this not being the full list for this year.

I don't suppose the part that said "The following is a partial list of Wii and Nintendo DS software for the first half of 2008," tipped you off, did it?

KaironCarmine Red, Associate EditorJanuary 18, 2008

The first half of the year is usually sleepy, but this list still gives me a lot of stuff to stick in and out of my gaming budget.

Also... Karaoke Revolution is awesome but... American Idol? Would that mean that the song selection is...?

Nick DiMolaNick DiMola, Staff AlumnusJanuary 18, 2008

Quote
Originally posted by: PartyBear

Quote
Originally posted by: Mr. Jack

I'm really banking on this not being the full list for this year.

I don't suppose the part that said "The following is a partial list of Wii and Nintendo DS software for the first half of 2008," tipped you off, did it?