Nintendo has confirmed its North American launch window titles for its Wii console, including 32 full titles to debut before the end of the year from a multitude of major publishers, and 30 classic NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Genesis and TurboGrafx games for download on the Wii Virtual Console.
Some of the highlights of the 32 full titles, according to Nintendo include
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Madden NFL '07, Need for Speed: Carbon and
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, alongside
Red Steel, Elebits and
Trauma Center: Second Opinion, as well as "Hollywood favorites" like
Cars, SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab and
Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Nintendo comments of these Wii launch window titles: "Some of these games might be familiar, but if you haven't played them on Wii, you're only getting half the experience."
As for the Wii's Virtual Console games, players redeem Wii Points in the Wii Shop Channel and download their games. NES games start at 500 Wii Points, Super NES games start at 800 Wii Points and Nintendo 64 games start at 1,000 Wii Points. Sega Genesis games start at 800 Wii Points and TurboGrafx16 games start at 600 Wii Points. Wii Points can be purchased online or at retail at an MSRP of $20 for 2,000 points.
The full list of Wii launch window titles to debut before the end of 2006 is as follows:
Activision:
Call of Duty 3, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Rapala Tournament Fishing, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions
Atari:
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Atlus:
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
EA:
Madden NFL '07, Need for Speed: Carbon
Konami:
Elebits
Midway:
Happy Feet, Rampage: Total Destruction, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, The Ant Bully
Sega:
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
SNK:
Metal Slug Anthology
Tecmo:
Super Swing Golf
THQ:
Avatar: The Last Airbender, Barnyard, Cars, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Creature from the Krusty Krab
Ubisoft:
Far Cry: Vengeance, GT Pro Series, Monster 4X4 World Circuit, Open Season, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent
Vivendi:
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Also before the end of December, the following Virtual Console titles will be available:
NES:
Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Ice Hockey, Pinball, Soccer, Tennis, Urban Champion, Wario's Woods, Baseball, Solomon's Key
SNES:
F-Zero, SimCity
N64:
Super Mario 64
Sega Genesis:
Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Columns, Ecco the Dolphin, Gunstar Heroes, Space Harrier II, Toe Jam & Earl, Ristar, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
TurboGrafx16:
Bonk's Adventure, Super Star Soldier, Victory Run, Bomberman '93, Dungeon Explorer
"Developers worldwide have enhanced Wii's launch library of new games with countless new ways to play," commented George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Whether you pick a completely new property or a classic franchise, the Wii experience draws you in."
