Nintendo trickles out Q1 games list
by Kyle Orland 
{ Jan 23rd 2007 at 4:45PM }
After bursting onto the scene with 34 titles in the Wii's first two months, Nintendo today announced they would "continue the flow of fun" with ... 12 new Wii games through March. Wait, what?
We understand that things tend to slow down a little in the months after Christmas, but even accounting for that the Wii's first quarter line up is kind of lacking. A few potential standouts like SSX Blur and Sonic and the Secret Rings are left to flounder among the usual mess of licensed crap (TMNT, Bionicle Heroes, Meet the Robinsons) and warmed-over third party games reworked for the Wii controller (Tiger Woods 07, The Godfather, and Blazing Angels, which was originally listed as a launch window title). What's more, Nintendo's Wii Play (a game which hit Europe and Japan in early December) is both the only first party game on the Wii's Q1 list and the only game we're likely to see for the system in all of February.
It might be a little early to declare Reggie's "no game drought" promise a failure, but this faint trickle of early games is, frankly, not that inspiring. Keep reading for a complete breakdown of the Wii's amazing "flow" for the next few months.
Feb. 14 Wii Play with Wii Remote Nintendo
March 27 Disney's Meet the Robinsons Buena Vista
March Bust-A-Move Bash Majesco
March Prince of Persia Rival Swords Ubisoft
March TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) Ubisoft
March Bionicle Heroes Eidos
March Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII Ubisoft
Q1 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 EA
Q1 SSX Blur EA
Q1 The Godfather Blackhand Edition EA
Q1 Medal of Honor Vanguard EA
Q1 Sonic and the Secret Rings Sega
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
v1cious @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:50PM
spin it guys
John @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:51PM
Better games than the gamecube recieved.
Hope this is a sign of things to soon come. Third party support ftw!
Chris @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:53PM
Welcome to every game console launch ever!
Luks0r @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:58PM
What about Mario Party 8 coming out on March 5th? Does that not count as Q1?
Martin @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:55PM
Kyle Orland should become an arch-nemesis of Nintendo... he can call himself the Blogginator... and build various traps and pitfalls for the big 'N to fall into inspired by the use of text or written word. Then, after Reggie and Miyamoto fall into said trap, he can reveal his plan for world domination and then walk away.
On a side note... can we get a post revealing the other two systems Q1 releases...?
Narf!
Mal F4cti0n @ Jan 24th 2007 9:59AM
Isn't that what killed the GC?
Poor third party ports and lack of AAA titles.
I think the Wii is a good idea. I want to get one for my girlfriend. She is stoked about it too. But the system wouldn't fly with me because of the lack of games and the CONSTANT delay of the First Party games.
Gerwurztraminer @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:55PM
One man's drought is another man's windfall I suppose.
Jan - WarioWare
Feb - Wii Play
Mar - Mario Party 8
Apr - Super Paper Mario
Not to mention I'm still working on Zelda:TP and Virtual Console titles. It may be a drought to you, but I've got more games on my plate than I do time and money. Then again, I am easily amused and distracted... Ooh, look, a string!!
Ryan @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:01PM
That's where the Virtual Console games come in, to fill in the void at times when there are no good Wii games being released. Besides, the Wii is pumping out more games than the PS3 right now, which is quite impressive. Um, and why didn't you guys mention that we're getting MARIO KART 64 on the Virtual Console next Monday?????????
It's not all doom and gloom as you guys make it out to be.
Arglor @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:57PM
wow when i read the article i thought the games would suck as well, but they don't seem all together that bad. We would all love more i guess, but they aren't horrible.
games i'm looking forward to:
- Wii Play with Wii Remote Nintendo
- Bust-A-Move Bash
- Prince of Persia Rival Swords,
- Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII,
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07,
- SSX Blur
- The Godfather Blackhand Edition
- Medal of Honor Vanguard
Then again i don't own a 360.
McManus @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:12PM
It's not great news, but Microsoft had a similar problem this time last year with the 360: a whole bunch of launch titles, most only so-so, and then little in the spring. It was Oblivion that ended that drought, so here's hoping that Nintendo pull something similar out of the hat!
sheppy @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:43PM
Martin, every other post is about the drought on PS3. The attention finally just put on an equally barren Wii and you say "But.. what about PS3 and Xbox 360?" Personally, I'm fucking tired of hearing about their droughts. It's time to get a post on Nintendos drought for a change.
TxdoHawk @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:29PM
This is unsurprising. How many people predicted the Wii would take off like this? So now third parties want to support the Wii, but they need to start from scratch.
Expect this to be much like the DS...where quality titles post-launch were very few and far between for a year, and then, bam, there they were.
HourGlassEyes @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:05PM
Mario Kart 64 comes out on the VC next week!!! news via Kotaku.
Final Prototype @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:15PM
This looks bad, PS3's looks bad, and you know what? Xbox 360's wasn't too great either the first few months. Granted, there ARE titles coming out but none of these are "selling point" games.
And I'm sorry but WiiPlay is a pack-in tutorial game.. nothing more.
Mister Disco @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:02PM
Hm, is this a big deal? I mean, PS3 is also only releasing a dozen games between now and April, with about as many standouts, and the 360 only has 15 games coming out between now and April. Hardly a landslide difference. Not only is that typical of console launches, but the 360 is barely above water by that standard. It's the typical post-Christmas release schedule.
Fred T @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:03PM
After the third party devs are done porting the last gen titles to Wii.. what will they have left to port?
Zertoss @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:16PM
I was wondering about Mario Party 8 as well. That, Paper Mario and Sonic are about all I'm looking forward to, but for me, that's plenty to last the rest of the quarter.
Still, not what I'd call an "amazing flow" but it's better than what the Gamecube got, which was better than what the N64 got. Maybe the next system will be completely droughtless (yeah, right!) :P
Antonio @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:56PM
I think the "no drought" claim is holding up rather well. February isn't looking too good IMO, but after that we have Mario Party 8, SSX Blur, and Sonic thrown in somewhere. I'm pretty happy with it.
It's certainly better than the GC, where nothing good came out until May with a remake of Resident Evil.
student @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:06PM
Honestly, it's probably for the better. Until Wiis are readily available, releasing a flood of games is stupid. If they did that, everyone would be faced with a massive array of games to buy when they first get the system. Give it time, say a year with a slower but still strong release line (like this offers), and then you can hit us with everything you've got.
Ritz @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:59PM
I imagine that isn't an exhastive list. Notice the keyword here: "includes", not "is". There may be other games they don't want to announce yet, maybe. I can't say I am too disapointed, but clearly some people will be.
Steve @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:18PM
I'm a little disappointed too. Nintendo's main titles are throwaway titles like WarioWare and WiiPlay. Yea, I'm going to get WiiPlay, mainly for the bundled controller, but that's a pretty sad offering from Nintendo. Some of the other titles are scary too, for example look at all of the titles on the list with "Ubisoft" behind their names.
But is this the entire list? I thought Heatseeker was coming out next month? Normally two games (Heatseeker and Sonic) in 3 months would be well more than enough console games for me, but I'm having so much damn fun with my new Wii that I've been buying games much faster than normal.
Hopefully this drought will be softened by a lot of great VC releases.
NeverSage @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:49PM
Ugh, ports for the Wii. I'd rather not play games with inferior graphics and tacked on controls. I love the Wii, but I'd rather just get the game for 360.
icelandman @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:19PM
Wow, talk about melodrama... a picture of drought? Come on now... Wii has had a great start, and this is gonna slow it down? Everything has a slowdown after the holidays, its simple economics.
~PEACE
Earl @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:23PM
Why are people complaining about the Wii releases coming out?
Does PS3 have a better line up? Did the 360 when it was first released?
logan @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:15PM
That's funny. This afternoon I got sick of hunting Poes and gave up on Rollergoal, and just went ahead and beat Twilight Princess.
Half an hour ago I opened a text editor and stacked up all the Wii games I want to play this year (including GC titles I missed or haven't finished) against all the 360 games I want to play. Then I marked the ones that were already available, or would be available in Q1.
Wii60 is the end goal for me, but I'm seriously considering selling my Wii now, putting the money into a 360, and repurchasing a Wii in a year or so.
Darkness @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:15PM
I'm a little upset that there aren't any awesome games to get until March, but this does give me some time to work through the games I have. I wish The Godfather, was coming out in Feb. At least I'd have something new to play, but right now it seems like everything is coming out in March. Not sure I'm gonna have enough money to get all of these games.
JodyAnthony @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:17PM
my favorite thing is that 95% of the people that will complain about the lack of wii games coming out are going to be people that don't have/never will have a wii.
Mr. Khan @ Jan 24th 2007 9:47PM
Don't get these people saying there are a lack of titles
Given 1 title per month for me
I have NO drought of games for the entire year of 2007, and all i have is Wii and DS
After this comes the April launch of Wii Online, which will come with its own idyllic titles (Strikers and BWii) which will, of course, have the added replay value
Padriac @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:17PM
Mister Disco hit it. This release frequency is only slightly worse than the 360 and matches the PS3. The list also ignores Mario Party 8, which for some is a big deal. This time is slow for every system.
I'm fairly convinced that Reggie's "no draught" statement is referring to an average of one Nintendo released title every month. (Obviously he will think all Nintendo releases are great, so bitching that certain games suck won't really affect that logic). Observe.
November: Zelda
December: Excitetruck (I split the launch titles since November was only a half month for the Wii)
January: Warioware
Feb: Wii Play (I'll be the first to say that this barely qualifies as a release)
March: Mario Party 8
April: Super Paper Mario
Thus, I declare Reggie technically correct, but we all need to realize that our tastes won't perfectly match what Nintendo serves up at all times. Also, I don't think SSX or Sonic should be underestimated (We really need a decent Sonic game after that 360 abomination).
kiwi @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:20PM
Honestly, what's wrong with this list, how is it a drought?
Sure, February is a slow month, but in March we get Tiger Woods, SSX Blur, Sonic, Mario Party 8, Prince of Persia, the Godfather, and TMNT... obviously we'll have to wait for reviews to see the quality of the games, but of those, only one is a first party game... which is good news to see third party developers releasing games.
Then in April we get Super Paper Mario...
Just how many games per month do you guys want?
Azurite @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:35PM
There are few games since most developers doubted Wii would sell as well as it actually did, they're regretting(developing) now as we speak.
BPM? @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:30PM
Student makes a good point (a gold star on your paper, Student!). Developers are probably holding off on Wii releases a bit until the system is more readily available, so the game can reach more customers.
12 isn't a bad number of games, nor is it great. But even if all 12 of those games were B- or A- or higher-rated games, how many of them would you even buy?! You can only stretch your gaming dollar and time so far (though, I guess when game journalism is your job, you've got all the time to play games, eh?).
Plus, we still have old games to look forward to on Virtual Console. Mario Kart 64 may be the first VC title I download (I've yet to get any Wii Points). My two rules for VC downloads is:
1) I haven't played it before (Super Castlevania IV and Gunstar Heroes falls under this category, so I'll be downloading them eventually)
2) Great multiplayer (Mario Kart 64 and Bomberman '93 fall here, though I haven't played Bomberman '93 before, either!)
Given the newness of the Wii interface, it may be a while before we start seeing top-tier games for it (a la DS).
Developing visuals and audio for Wii games will be relatively easy, given its the same architecture as GameCube, but twice as powerful. But the player interface is the real trouble here.
Sean-O @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:33PM
Mario Party 8 is now listed for Q2 on the Nintendo press site. Darn! Though if they add Wi-Fi to it (think Metroid Prime Hunters), best delay ever...
Jess @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:30PM
Via IGN(not necessarily 100% correct):
PS3(16):
Sonic the Hedgehog
College Hoops 2K7
Virtua Fighter 5
Formula One Championship Edition
Major League Baseball 2K7
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
NBA Street Homecourt
Def Jam: Icon
Enchanted Arms
F.E.A.R.
Armored Core 4
Virtua Tennis 3
Godfather: The Don's Edition, The
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
MotorStorm
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent
**Lair
360(32):
Battlestations: Midway
Darkness, The
Rapala Tournament Fishing
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007
NBA Street Homecourt
Crackdown
Bullet Witch
Dance Dance Revolution Universe
Samurai Warriors 2 Empires
Major League Baseball 2K7
Def Jam: Icon
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Castle Crashers
Forza Motorsport 2
John Woo Presents Stranglehold
UEFA Champions League 2006-2007
Captain Blood
Medal of Honor: Airborne
Mobile Ops: The One Year War
Disney's Meet the Robinsons
Rapala Trophies
Earth Defense Force 2017, The
Sensible World of Soccer
Alone in the Dark
Half-Life 2: Orange Box
GTR
Culdcept Saga
Two Worlds
Haze
Theseis
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Guitar Hero II
*I counted Q1 as now through the end of March
**Lair's release date, though not listed on IGN as March is said to be in march(not included in the count)
I thought some of those games were confirmed cross platform between 360 and PS3, especially Half-life 2: Orange
... whatever
/PS3 fan
//bored
///farker
Matt @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:35PM
#3
Hardly. The 360, barren as it was at launch, had Fight Night, Oblivion, and GRAW by March. Both Nintendo and Sony need to get their asses in gear and start putting out some good games for their systems. Relying in Twilight Princess and Resistance to carry them to summer just isn't going to cut it. For Nintendo not to have a single quality title lined up for Q1 is worrisome indeed.
Rubang B @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:36PM
I have a Wii and I'm not looking forward to a single game on that list, but I'm not complaining about a drought. I already have too many games.
I just bought both Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Gems Collection yesterday at GameStop. Both copies used, with the 10% off from the membership card, and then after tax, was $27. If I unlock all the secret games, that's 20 games for $27. And yes, most of them suck, but it was worth it just for Sonic 2 and Sonic Spinball. And as soon as I find a used Mega Man Anniversary Collection (10 games for about $10), I'll be set until Mario Strikers: Charged comes out.
It's not like I have time to play any of these games anyway, as every time friends come over it's Wii Sports tennis until the sun comes up. My skill's at 2199 biyatches.
2slick @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:08PM
why do you guys (most commenters and the blogger) expect anything from the new Sonic game. Every time Sonic has a game coming, all the previews are "this will save the sonic series" and it never happens, instead stockpiling more crap on the Sega and Sonic franchise.
I don't have a wii yet, and while I'd love to play some tp, wii sports, warioware, and a couple more standouts, unfortunately, nothing on that list impulses me to buy it any quicker.
I rate the 360 #1, but it had a HUGE drought, so all wii owners should be excited your getting 12(or 15?) first quarter games. I mean, god, 360 early adopters lived through about one game a month until when.....September? The 1st quarter was especially rough w/ the quantity, although the quality was AWESOME (scrolls, fight night, graw, anyone?).
Here's hoping that Wii Play doesn't suck as bad as the reviews GameInformer gave it. (Average was abotu a 6 or 6.5)
Go wii60
puddlejumper @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:22PM
This has confirmed it for me. I tried to be open minded, but the Wii is turning out to be Gamecube all over again with a gimmicky remote. Nintendo can now die for all I care. They should just go the way of Sega and start releasing Mario, Zelda, Metroid and others onto the future gen consoles. I am disgusted with Nintendo. I'm selling my Wii. The gimmick wore off real fast.
hef @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:13PM
Logan's comment was on the money. Sell your Wii and repurchase when the library is established. We all know how painful it is to watch the games trickle by with nary a quality title amongst them. As for people who think there is already too much excellence you are the best customers ever!
dantebk @ Jan 23rd 2007 9:29PM
Right now, I've got Twilight Princess, Super Swing Golf, and Wii Sports. I'm also renting Elebits, and have plans to rent Monkey Ball, ExciteTruck, Rayman, Trauma Center, and MAYBE Red Steel. Plus I'll probably buy WarioWare in the next couple weeks... then Sonic looks good... then Mario Party 8 will hopefully come out... yup I'm fine until Super Paper Mario. No drought worries for me.
And of course I have a 360, a DS, a PC, a PS2, and a few GameCube games I never played.
jman @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:34PM
maybe this would be a good time to release the great vc titles.. Zelda OOT, Mario kart, Metroid.....I know you can do it Nintendo!!!
tom @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:37PM
Wii definately has a sad lineup of games this quarter. While 360 owners get Crackdown and Mass Effect, along with tons of original live games, Wii has crappy ports with bad graphics and probably bad gameplay.
Just admit you guys are screwed for a couple quarters. It'll all be ok when you finally get to play smash brothers, metroid prime, and super mario galaxy. But thats about 6 months off.
tack @ Jan 23rd 2007 6:37PM
4 exclusive games I look forward to on the wii in 2007. There were 4+ great games in just about every genre in 2006 on the 360 and the A+ release list continues into 2007. Guess Zelda will have to last 9 more months. Welcome to Gamecube 2.0
Jeff @ Jan 24th 2007 11:12AM
Between all the old Gamecube games (never had one) to catch up on, the new wii and VC titles, the friggin' assload of DS titles, no nintendite has anything to worry about unless the drought goes past May. Then we should panic.
Justin @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:25PM
So, basically, I'm getting 12 games, many of them A-A+ titles, all in the span of 8 weeks? And you want me to be upset why? Dude, it's not like that's the list of releases untill July or some shit, its untill March, a little over 8 weeks away. Go cuddle up with Vlad somewhere remote and cold.
Miniboss @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:05PM
Hooray for owning more than one system.
Vince @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:09PM
Oh hell YES, the Password system is fixed! An epic win for Joystiq (which is cancelled out by the fact that it was busted in the first place)
Anywhos, Sheppy, you're an idiot. There IS no drought for EITHER system. THEY BOTH JUST CAME OUT.
If you're looking for AAA titles this soon within a console's life, you're an idiot in your own right.
And last I checked, only 2 posts were about the PS3 'drought'... leave a fanbot like you to blow it out of proportion.
Fatass of Kickassness @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:10PM
Testing. My name is Fatass of Kickassness, not Vince!
Justin @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:13PM
I'm quite fine with the amount of games coming out in the coming months. So what if there isn't five thousand games coming? The ones that are coming are quality.
idioteraser @ Jan 23rd 2007 7:37PM
Remember the Wii can play gamecube games so you got more games to buy.
Also there will be a lot of VC releases and quite frankly a lot of people have not played those turbografx games.
Also this is not all the games that are coming out till March it's just some of the titles.
Wii play is like wii sports meant to lure in the nongamers. It's another weapon in the arsenal to increase wii sales.
All game consoles in their first six months have what people complain about not enough games.
PS3 is no different, PS2 was no different.
Heck Wii with it's 30 titles in the launch period till March beat most game consoles of the past and of the future.