The confirmed Wii launch lineup

Hey caeonosphere - much as I love your sentiments, I call viral marketer. I mean, come on, next we'll have Daryl talking sense.

RED STEEL
WII SPORTS
EXCITE TRUCK (if you have extra)
ZELDA (only because i preordered it for the gc over a YEAR ago!)
maybe METROID, but thats over doing it.

man id consider myself set if i had those on launch.

Impressive. This is going to be fun! Don't care about Blue-Ray, or "Look at that shiny-ass rock gleaming on the screen!" graphics, just plain old FUN! This is what gaming is all about. Can I get an Amen?

Matt Cass from IGN said in a podcast to not count on Metroid being at launch 100%.

But what does he know that we dont?

i heard that podcast too, and i trust him more because of his prior predictions about nintendo and how they were more accurate after E3.

Amen. And yeah Impulse, I wouldn't be too surprised to see Metroid pushed back - I think it is just too similar in fanbase to Zelda, and the two titles shouldn't compete.

I'd also like to add that my second year of college will be destroyed academically because of all these launch titles.

I'd like to see a virtual console launch lineup as well.

"THAT SUCKS THAT WARIOWARE: SMOOTH MOVES, SUPER MARIO GALAXY, AND SUPER SMASH BROS. BRAWL ARENT IN THE LIST!!! THOSE ARE GOING TO BE THE BEST MONEY MAKING GAMES!!! I WOULD PROBABLY BUY WII SPORTS, RED STEEL, EXCITE TRUCK, AND MAYBE THE LEDGEND OF ZELDA."

OKIE DOKIE. THANK YOU FOR INFORMING US OF YOUR DISPLEASURES AND INTENTIONS.

The Wii will launch with under 15 titles. There you go. Also, Nintendo will NOT release two out of there three hottest franchises on one day (Zelda and Metroid). They will spread the love. If Zelda launches, then Metroid will come out a month or so later.

For everyone that is dissing the Xbox 360 launch, you need to reevaluate the situation. Look at the last several product lanches. The PSP launch lineup is self-explanatory. The DS lineup was weak. The best DS launch game was a mediocre remake of a 5 year old Mario game with control issues. The PS2 launch had few marquee titles, which was proven by the "games-to-system" selling rate which was actually below one game per system (people bought it for DVD player). And Nintendo's last two system launches have been starving for games (do we have to remind anyone of the N64 nightmare, where there were only two games available for the first 3 months)? I'm no Xbox fanboy, I bought EVERY system I mentioned here on the launch date (except PSP). I just wanted to point out how dumb some of you sounded.

One more quick note...

Think about this... The Wii controller is unlike anything these game companies have ever created for. What do you think is the chance that these companies aren't going to run into any problems, or need little tweaks that will possibly delay their games? I don't see how you can come out with something completly brand new, where nobody has any background experience creating games for, and have the biggest launch ever. Call me crazy. I'll be there on day 1 to pick up my system, and if there are 15-20 games on the shelf that day, then I will be pleasantly surprised.

It should be noted that it is more likely that there will be 30 titles in the launch window. It should also be noted that Nintendo is hinting at the launch window being a 14 week world wide launch to Japan, Europe, North America. 14 weeks isn't too bad for 30 titles to come out.

It should be noted that Far Cry Wii will look like the PC version which is considerd the best looking version. It should also be noted it will have many enhancements that should justify the price for rebuyers and those that have never picked it up.

Call of Duty 3 will have many things on the wii version that will not be on the other versions. So people who care about having a unique expierence will go to the wii version.

Graphics are losing their appeal to many gamers since there isn't so much you can do with them and graphics have been used to make crappy gameplay shine for so many years.

Invader Zim "My heart explodes with joy {fall down dead}"
That is what i am thinking,
and yes i am a nintendo fanboy and a boy.
hopefully the third parties will say with them.

Looks like I'm not getting a Wii this holiday, 250 smackers plus all those games is to much when I can play with my 360 in the snowy holiday. I guess I could look at getting a DS though.....

Just think, a big reason there will be so many games is because of how cheap and easy and quick the wii is to develop for.

So dont think the launch will be the only time when there are a lot of new games available, because developers are gonna keep churning them out.

Compare it to the PS3 though, where many "launch" titles have either already been or are waiting to be pushed back.

Regarding Far Cry, it may look as good or slightly better than the PC version, but it's a new game, or at least heavily changed.

"IGN Wii: You announced Far Cry for Wii. Will this be a port of the Xbox version or based more on the 360 game? What can we expect in terms of graphics and gameplay control from this version of what is a very popular franchise?

Laurent Detoc: First, Far Cry Wii will include elements from Far Cry Instincts Evolution, in addition to a fresh storyline, new maps, characters and equipment. Second and even more importantly, Far Cry has strong diversity of gameplay so the game is a natural fit for the Wii remote. "

According to the same IGN interview, Red Steel, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Far Cry, Blazing Angels, Open Season, Monster 4x4: World Circuit, and GT Pro SeriesPublisher are all confirmed launch titles: "Ubisoft on Thursday morning announced that it would bring seven new games to Nintendo's Wii console in time for the system's launch."

I fear my family shall be poverty-stricken come Christmas...

Ubisoft seems to have been keeping a lot of their wii development under lock and key for so long I wouldn't be surprised at how many other titles they will have coming out after launch.

After all Red Steel got 100 people to work on it. I think they have made a lot of people work on those other titles as wel.

Nintendo has said they have added 1000 people to work on wii and DS titles if memory serves so they can keep pumping titles out. They said they have learned from the N64 and Gamecube era in which they hadn't increased the number of assests working on the games. Games got far more complex in design from the NES and SNES era but they hadn't done any compensation.

I seriously think Iwata deserved his taking of the reins from Yamunchi. That crazy old man made the best decision in the history of Nintendo when he stepped down and nominated Iwata.

I hate to be the one with doubt, but there's no way 27 games are released the same week as the Wii is released. That's just too many games at one time competing for attention.

The number released the first week are purposely kept to a managable number. If you have too many, some titles are going to suffer sales lost to more popular titles.

Now I can certainly see some of these titles being released week 2, week 3, and so on. But all 27 right at launch? I find it hard to believe.

Crap. Thats like 7 games I'm getting at launch.

Damn you Wii and your impressive history-making launch line-up!!!

Oh, counting Virtual Console it's more like 14 games at lauch for Mii!

to #26 GSI:

Not to put a damper on your tactics, but at twice the price of a PS3, you could buy an XBox 360 and a seperate blueray drive, with money to spare (and if we're lucky, that money can go towards a Wii as well). Good luck with it anyway, and hope your tactics don't backfire..

(Alternatively, you could do the same with Wii: even if you can't manage to sell online at exorbitant prices, it shouldn't be too hard to convince family/friends/colleagues/neighbours to buy them off you)

Ok, let's see.
1. Twilight Princess I'm getting at launch.
(How long have I had that receipt for now?)
2. Metroid Prime 3... Christmas?
3. Red Steel... Christmas?
4. Elebits... CHRISTMAS?!

There's way too many great games on that list. For once, I'm looking forward to the game drought that usually happens after the new year begins. If Super Mario Galaxy manages to hit launch... I'll be in big trouble.

Yeah, this Holiday season is gonna be a damn financial nightmare. Luckily for me, I have the very FIRST pre-order for Twilight princess Wii, so I'll be getting that without a doubt. I sincerely doubt they'll run out of stock in the first day, since Nintendo doesn't appear to be selling out these consoles like Microsoft was.

Also, on top of the impressive launch lineup, very few people mentioned the further investments spent on the virtual console. I know for a fact that as soon as I try out the Wii games for a bit, the next thing I'll do immediately is start downloading away.

Yoshi's Island, Mario Bros 3, every Donkey Kong Country game, Mario RPG, every Final Fantasy, as well as another uncountable plethora of games.

By the end of it all, I'll probably spend the same amount that I could have used to buy a PS3 XD

Go Wii Goooooo !!!!!

"It should be noted that Far Cry Wii will look like the PC version which is considerd the best looking version. It should also be noted it will have many enhancements that should justify the price for rebuyers and those that have never picked it up."

I hope one of those enhancements includes having any discernable gameplay or enjoyment after the first 4 levels! Those first few outdoor levels were pretty sweet, but after that...phew. Well, now that they know what they're doing, Crysis is going to be pretty amazing.

#67 Ichidou -
"Also, on top of the impressive launch lineup, very few people mentioned the further investments spent on the virtual console. "

That's because most people have heard of something called emulators. Although that does lack the new Wiimote's functionality to cast AMUT in FF1 when you pull the white dongle-thing vertically. AMUT!!!!!

Oh-my-god. This is going to be expensive. :(

I just counted I'll have to buy at least 7 games with Wii at launch, and I have never even bought a console at launch. (Well, if you count out DS Lite, who can resist that sexy beast?)

ZELDA, Metroid, FF, DQ, RS, RRR... Seriously, at launch!? FFS.

@EP:

You've got your "Amen".

The only one I'd be interested in is Zelda, but I'll probably be getting that for Gamecube, when I get around to it. FarCry? I'm disappointed that Nintendo's standards have sunk so low. The last thing the Wii needs is a few-years-old, third-rate FPS.

@ Psaakyrn:

I already have the 360...I bought it back in June '06. Considering the small amount of systems that Sony is planning on releasing, it won't be hard to make a profit on the extra PS3s on eBay (or to even a sucker waiting in line.)

As for Wii...I can buy that easily without having to worry about the money and that includes buying a few games as well. I make more then enough to afford it.

Far Cry is hardly a "3rd rate FPS."

It has more depth in it's little finger then the POS Quake 4 and DOOM 3 titles.

I feel acknowledged! God I love Joystiq...

I think wii development time will be much the same as the current consoles. Think about it - all the time getting the control systems sorted will be offset by the speed and ease of getting the game engine working. Remember the core wii architecture is fundamentally the same as the gamecube which was commended for being easier to develop for than PS3.

In terms of the launch games I think we might see a launch 'window' situation. Launching too many titles at once would be counterproductive. To have 20 odd games fighting for the same retail space at once would end up damaging sales for all the titles, well known or not.

What i'm happy about is that they're using SD cards for the memory cards - 20GBP for 2GB! Bargain!

I will be very surprised if the Wii actually launches with 27+ games. In fact, I'll be surprised if it launches with more than 15.

At the launch of a console it can actually hurt to have that many games. The hardware install base is small for the first several months, so the opportunity to sell a lot of games just isn't there. The attach rate for games during a console launch at it's highest is around 4-5 games. That simply means that many of these games would sell poorly.
Plus, any 3rd party dev that makes a launch Wii game is taking a huge risk. Nintendo fans are going to purchase Nintendo games at launch. Who would want to compete with the likes of Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros. and Wii Sports at launch? Expect 3rd party devs to hold off on releasing games until after launch at a time when they don't need to directly compete with Nintendo's first party offerings.

As far as developing for Wii, it's basically a GC. As far as the controller goes, which 3D developer doesn't know how to deal with physics and geometry already?

Also, level 2 calculus can be used to plot a curve between 3 points in space. All they do is apply some game engine physics to the controller and they can start putting together all sorts of movements.

I think that they should release 2 games per week from the middle of October to the end of the year. That should keep most people happy and not flood the market with too many choices at once leaving some games overlooked. Nintendo stated that they want the best launch in history and they are going to get it.

I'm going to pick up Mortal Kombat:Armageddon because Konquest mode has actually evovled into quite a good adventure in MK:Deception.

If I want hi-def gaming, I have an adapter that lets me connect a GC controller to my PC. That will let me play 90% of Xbox and 360 titles and some planned PS3 titles as well. In 2 years, both blueray and HD-DVD drives will be about $60 for PC's. I can wait...

Four action RPGs?

This can't be right. Typically launch day is a time for platform diversity. The last thing you want is four titles in the same exact genre, typically.

You'd want to stagger those out over the first six months of the console.

Ultimatallica, Wikipedia has the list of the announced & rumored Wii games, including notes as to which are confirmed, which are just speculation, etc. Every game listed has a link that cites the source, including each and every game announced as a lunch title.

I don't have the link for that page at the moment, but you can email me (myingling@gmail.com) if you'd like and I'll get it to you later (this goes for anyone reading).

That said, power to Nintendo. This is going to be a good year for us faithful.

- "Bing"

From a financial standpoint, it is unlikely we're going to see that many titles come out on launch day. Why? Competition. Publishers are all too aware of what happens when they release a title at the same time as high profile ones. The Wii has five, arguably six, high profile titles. Those titles are Call of Duty 3, Madden 2007, Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, and Final Fantasy. The sixth could arguably be Dragonball Z given how well these titles sell; arguable given the launch window crowd tastes I'll get into in the next paragraph.

Because of launch window fans, who are usually hard-core gamers regardless of which system it may be or image attached to it, there are a number of games that would be prudent to launch later (sounds strange, I know). The argument is two fold. One, the hard-core gamer angle. Because of the 5-6 listed titles above, other games like SpongeBob won't do well trying to compete against monsters like The Legend of Zelda. Also, titles like Far Cry are too old to make much of an impact. Far Cry has been played out on PC, Xbox, and Xbox 360 already, and most launch window buyers go for new experiences and have likely already played Far Cry in one of its inceptions or another.

The other reason why we may see a number of these games delayed beyond launch is because games rarely sell well after having been available for sale for a stretch of time. Great titles like Beyond Good and Evil show this. If I recall right, it was over-powered by a high profile game when released and never gained the attention. When a game has been on the market for a while, it loses the prominent "New Releases" rack/section of many outlets. The game is no longer in review publications or being talked about on the web. The talk moves on to the hottest new release. They get forgotten. Dumping the title out as soon as possible is a mistake, as is putting it out competing with something huge, no matter how good your game may be. A half-assed Final Fantasy will always beat out the greatest game of all time if said game is a brand new IP.

Combine this with limited funds available, saavy publishers will hold off their weaker titles to a later date to avoid being drowned out by Zelda. So, don't be surprised if there is a major drop in launch titles when things become solid.

Please keep in mind, "launch" these days generally refers to the first three months a system is available. Many of the games listed above will not be there for Wii's launch date but will arrive sometime before the end of the first quarter.

Nintendo have confirmed only Wii sports as a launch DATE release.

N

And LoZ:TP. As long as that's there I'll be busy until everything else comes out.

The VC has been confirmed to be a selling point but Nintendo wants to keep new info from us. Rumour is they are testing Saturn games on it. Heck they could have several other platforms all ready for it. Maybe 30 games a week enhanced coming out or even ten.

ROMS of those games aren't legal and 99% of people that would be interested in a console like the wii have no idea what a emulator is or if they do don't want to go through the hassle. I have only emulated a few games and that was because finding virus free ROMs and getting the things to work was a hassle. I know what I am doing as well which most people don't.

The whole thing about the Wii is the new games and getting the word about how attractive it is to play. Nintendo has tossed tons of hint out. Heck it was mentioned in a Japan press conferance that the Wii can recevie the DS game data from say Nintendogs or Jam Brothers and show it on the tv with the sound coming from your system's speakers. So you could say for example have Phoenix Wright playing on your tv. Makes your friends see your DS game play a lot easier. Downloading DS demos would be pretty sweet as well.

The 100 percent backwards gamecube compabilitiy is a nice touch too. Of course the online phantasy star games need to be asked about. Does SEGA know about that?

Maybe Phantasy Star Universe is coming to the Wii as well since it is going on the PS2?

It will be an expensive O' christmas at my house this year. I want like half the games, better start saving. lol

Broad launch lineups are overrated. How many of us think back fondly on NES launch titles like Slalom, Gumshoe, or Clu Clu Land?

Thank you 87. (Rootbeer)! I just realised Detective Gumshoe from Phoenix Wright had his name from that old NES game. ^^

That is all, carry on then.

Hmm...... let me fix that list for everyone.

* The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
* Metal Slug Anthology
* Trauma Center: Second Opinion

That's all everyone should buy. The first few Wii Sports titles too since they're cheap. Metroid Prime 3, and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles will be launch window games. So, pick 'em up for Christmas.

Here's all I will be picking up with Wii though.

The Legend of Zelda; Twilight Princess

I'll pick up the PSP Metal Slug Anthology before I pick the Wii one up. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is all I need though. For the DS, all I need is Final Fantasy III. For the Game Boy Micro, Final Fantasy V. For the PSP, I'll be picking up Loco Roco. PS2 - Final Fantasy XII. XBox 360 - GEARS OF FREAKING WAR. PS3 - Not buying one this year.

Although, if Final Fantasy VI Advance comes out this year, than all bets are off and only the Game Boy Micro and the Wii will be played.. everything else will collect a thick layer of DUST.

No WarioWare makes me a sad sad man.

This is a really strong lineup. Even if a few of the last minute titles are lost, it wont change the draw of the titles there. Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy. So many of the industries largest franchises are represented in this launch.

Internet connection: $50/month
Three PS3s: $1800
Selling three launch-day PS3s on eBay for 3 times the price, and then using the money to buy a Wii: Priceless

oh man! so many good games. im getting red steel, marvel ultimate alliance and if i have in enough call of duty 3 oh and dont forget about twilight princess. though ill still be playing resident evil 4 for the gc im aiming to beat r4 for the 14 time.

this is an impressive line up for what looks like it will be an impressive console, however the main reason for the line up compared to say the 360 and most likely the PS3 launch line up is simply because the previosly mentioned consoles are next generation all new platforms, the Wii was original designed as an add on for the Cube much like the expansion pack for the N64 and so developers both in house and third party have had much longer to work on the titles, they have only have to recode or change any cube titles to incorporate the Wii controller developers for the 360 and PS3 have had to start from scratch.

will still be an awsome console and do well but i think is important to remember this differnce when hyping it up

Well I hope you all know by now that Wii Sports is a pack in game and on top of that, Madden 07 is supposed to launch with the system too. This line up is superior to any system launch ever and I was around for the Atari 2600 so trust me.... Oh BTW for all you people who think Nintendo only makes Barney games, they are talking to Take Two and are trying to get GTA on the Wii... They are no longer avoiding M rated games, and it started with a gem called RE4... This will be the superior system because the DS proves innovation and game selection can beat Prettier graphics...Looking at you PSP!