Nintendo Wii Launch Games

With the secrecy surrounding things like the basic specs of the Nintendo Wii, it's impressive that the company has managed to provide enough support to software developers that they will have a solid raft of game titles ready to accompany the console on its American November launch.

While there are rumours around up to fifty games in development for the Wii, there are sixteen games guaranteed as Nintendo Wii launch titles.

The majority are sports games, which may have something to do with Nintendo's emphasis on their revolutionary controller, the Wiimote. The bundled Sports title comes with the console and features baseball, bowling, boxing, tennis and golf. It supports up to four players, as well as the Mii avatar system.

In addition to this, games available at launch will include two football games; EA Sports' Madden NFL 2007, and Midway's Blitz: The League. Super Swing Golf PangYa and Rapala Tournament Fishing will also be available for the Wii, though the latter only in Japan.

Still sporting, but a little more 'alternative' is Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. While skateboarding doesn't seem a natural format for the Wiimote, the game supports four players and looks to be aiming for a party-game market. It uses the 'classic' gamepad style controller, which still allows for tilt.

As far as first-person shooters to utilise the new 'zapper' controller go, Ubisoft has produced Red Steel. Set in both the U.S. and Japan, the game combines classic FPS gameplay with hand to hand swordfighting. Using the Wii controller, players can wield their swords, block incoming attacks, shoot, jump, and hide behind objects on screen. This looks to be a big launch title for the new console, though it's also a single-player game.
Ubisoft has put together a platform game for the Wii, Rayman: Raving Rabbids. Using the nunchuck controller and Nintendo's classic cartoon-style graphics, the action mostly consists of thumping cute fluffy bunnies. Entertainment value is obvious.

Possibly the oddest game in the Wii's launch arsenal is Trauma Center: Second Opinion, the sequel to the Nintendo DS original. Atlus Software's virtual surgery game is remarkably addictive, and the Wii controller much better suited to the job of cutting and stitching than the old gamepad. Possibly a little on the squicky side for Nintendo's mainly family audience, it's still more amusing than graphic. Just disturbing.

Bearing that family market in mind, Nintendo is launching with two licensed titles, Pixar's Cars and Spongebob SquarePants: Creature From the Crusty Crab. The Spongebob game appears to be full of mini-games, including a flight sim and a racing game. Cars is a port that uses the Wii controller sideways, as a steering wheel. As far as racing games go, it's hoped that Need for Speed: Carbon will be ready by the Wii's launch date, which would have to make it one of the new console's hottest titles.

The Nintendo Wii's launch titles also include a swathe of adventure/action titles. They're led out by the latest game in the iconic Zelda series, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Nintendo have release two demo levels of this game, featuring fishing and fighting. It's been a hit.

Zelda will be backed up by Metroid 3: Corruption, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the bizarre but fun Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Metal Slug Anthology (a re-release of games 1 through 5), Elebits (possibly odder than Super Monkey Ball), and Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors from Square Enix, who should be developing a Final Fantasy title for the Wii before too long. The Call of Duty and Splinter Cell franchises are also expected to have titles out at about launch.

The launch titles are not playable on line, however many of them there end up being. The first game available for online play will be Pokemon Battle Revolution, which is expected by March 2007.