The cat is out of the bag. Finally some information from Nintendo.
First things first, $250 for North America on November 19, 2006 (2 days after PS3). There will be an amazing 25 games out at launch, yes, that includes Zelda: Twilight Princess. Sadly, no Metroid Prime 3 until next year.
The cost of games will be on par with XBox 360 prices. First party games will go for $50 bucks, but it hasn’t been disclosed what 3rd party games will sell for. See below for a list of the games. For all of you nostalgia lovers, the Wii will launch with 30 games from previous systems available. The unnamed games will be from Donkey Kong, Zelda and Mario franchises. The only two that have been confirmed are the acclaimed Mario 64 and the original Legend of Zelda. There will be 60 available by the end of 2006. The system will also come with a game packaged with it in the box, that’s right, just like the old days. The game that was demonstrated at E3 ‘06. Wii Sports, will let fans play baseball, bowl, golf, tennis and boxing using the Wii’s remote.
Wii’s online strategy seems to almost be outdoing XBox Live. Wii will offer a Web Browser using the Wii controller as a mouse. Wii is also taking online capabilities in a different direction from other consoles with “Wii Channels.” These functions offer a Wii Weather Channel, news channel and a messaging service. The “Mii Channel” is basically your customized home page for the Wii. You can customize it with cartoon-like avatars that can be used in game along with allowing you to upload your own photos from an SD memory card.
So, the information has been announced and the anticipation is growing. Technically it’s not very long until launch date, but it seems like it’s forever and a day away.
List of Wii Titles from gamespot.com:
FIRST-PARTY US WII TITLES
Battalion Wars II
Big Brain Academy (temporary name)
Excite Truck
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Mario Strikers Charged
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Super Mario Galaxy (temporary name)
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Wii Sports (bundled with Wii console)
THIRD-PARTY US WII TITLES DUE BY MARCH 2007
Activision
Call of Duty 3
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Rapala Tournament Fishing
Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam
World Series of Poker
Atari
Dragon Ball Z Budokai: Tenkaichi 2
Atlus
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Buena Vista Games
Chicken Little: Ace in Action
Disney’s Meet the Robinsons
Codemasters
Dance Factory
Sidewinder
EA
The Godfather
Madden NFL 07
Need for Speed: Carbon
SSX
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Konami
Elebits
Majesco
Bust A Move Revolution
Midway
The Ant Bully
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Happy Feet
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Rampage: Total Destruction
[Missing and presumed canceled: Blitz: The League]
Sega
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz
SNK
Metal Slug Anthology
THQ
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Barnyard
Cars
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
Ubisoft
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Far Cry: Vengeance
GT Pro Series
Monster 4x4: World Circuit
Open Season
Prince of Persia (working title)
Rayman: Raving Rabbids
Red Steel
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Vivendi Games
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown