According to online reports, Nintendo of Japan has revealed its line-up of first party releases for 2007 on the Wii, with the majority of the company’s currently announced titles all still scheduled for this year, including
Super Mario Galaxy,
Super Smash Bros. Brawl and
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
The Japanese documents were first obtained by
consumer website IGN and although only one title is given a specific release date, the rest are all specified as 2007 releases, with some, such as
Animal Crossing Wii, listed as “TBA”. The full 2007 line-up is as follows:
Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race (aka
DK Bongo Blast) – June 28th, 2007
Wii Health Pack - 2007
Disaster: Day of Crisis - 2007
Mario Party 8 - 2007
Project H.A.M.M.E.R. - 2007
Wii Music - 2007
Super Mario Galaxy - 2007
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 2007
Battalion Wars II - 2007
Forever Blue - 2007
Mario Strikers Charged - 2007
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 2007
Mario & Sonic at the Olympics - 2007
The only titles confirmed for release so far in the West this year are
Mario Party 8,
Mario Strikers Charged and
Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, although many of the others have been implied to be 2007 releases.
The list will come as some comfort to observers worried at the lack of new first party releases so far this year – as the format endures the usual post-launch lull common to every new console.
Although the list is specifically for Japan only, few of the titles are likely to require extensive localization. Indeed, the
Metroid series’ relatively unpopularity in Japan, compared to its large following in the West, is likely to see it released in North America first.
If the equally eagerly awaited
Super Mario Galaxy and
Super Smash Bros. Brawl are also released this Christmas, then it will provide Nintendo with one of its strongest winter line-ups for many years.
