The February issue of EGM arrived in my mailbox this weekend and they’ve taken a nod from the current presidential hopefuls and mocked up a “Decision ‘08″ feature where each platform candidate lists why you should vote for them in 2008.

As someone that owns all three current-gen systems, I was understandably excited to read about the best each candidate had in store for the coming year.

Just to preface this three-part coverage, I will be confining my discussion to the titles EGM chose to list for each platform. If there’s a glaring omission (of an officially announced title), complain the them, not me.

Read on to see what the Wii has in store for 2008…

The Wii section of the feature listed 10 exclusive titles that should help us make an informed decision on the Wii platform in 2008.  Before we get to the list itself, I can’t help but comment that no fewer than three of the titles are simply new “exclusive Wii versions” of games already available on otherplatforms.  I guess there are good odds that many Wii owners don’t already have those other systems.  Looking at sheer numbers alone, it won’t take a very high percentage of the install base buying a game to make it worthwhile.

Now, EGM’s list of Wii exclusives you’ll need to weigh when making your decision:

• Wii Fit
• Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed
• Samba de Amigo
• Mario Kart Wii
• de Blob
• No More Heroes
• Wonderworld Amusement Park
• Okami
• Harvest Moon Wii
• The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

So, we have one fitness game, one music/rhythm game, one racing game, five action games, and two sim games. To be honest, that’s a decent variety of genres. While I’ve already played most of those on other systems, I might be interested in a couple of them. Frankly, that’s a drastic improvement regarding my outlook toward Wii games. So far, my Wii has pretty much been my “Super Mario Galaxy Machine.”

If forced to issue a letter grade on these exclusives, I’m really caught between a C+ and a B- but I think I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt based on ”expected success.”

I think the platform will do fairly well with exclusives like but I also think they’ll fail to convert any of the gamers waiting for Nintendo to address the hardcore gamer (not to any significant degree at least.)  If all the planets align just right, this list of exclusives couldturn out to be quite compelling, but the chances of more than three of those being bonafide hits aren’t overwhelming in my opinion.

For me, the highlight of this list is absolutely Mario Kart.  Mario Kart shouldbe fun (when I say that, I mean the “experience” of playing Mario Kart Wii, I’m sure the actual game will be fun), if only I had friends that liked to come over and actually play Wii games in person… I’m guessing friend codes will successfully stifle any possibility that all but the most die-hard Mario Kart fans will be taking the time and effort to get fully set up to play their friends online (assuming the game actually allows online play; which frankly, I don’t even know at this point. You’d think it was a no-brainer, but I don’t give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt on anything relating to online multiplayer anymore.)

As a candidate, would you vote for the Wii in Decision ‘08?  Sure, I noticed the suspicious absence of Super Smash Brothers Brawl too, but hey… I didn’t write the EGM article… I’m just commenting on it.  But wait!  Don’t drop that ballot just yet, you haven’t heard from the other candidates.  And while I wouldn’t exactly let them kiss your baby just yet, you may want to hear what they’ve got to say.  I absolutely want to hear what you have to say![Special thanks to EGM for running their feature "Decision '08" in the February, 2008 issue of EGM]

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