Nintendo recently revealed its holiday software lineup for the Wii, claiming to have “something for everyone.” Admittedly, there is a lot of variety to the list, which includes Need for Speed Nitro, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, A Boy and His Blob, Dead Space Extraction and Wii Fit Plus. Still lots of refuse to wade through, but the 2009 offerings look a bit healthier than the garbage Nintendo peddled last year. Then again, holiday 2008 was beyond pathetic – save for Wario Land: Shake It!, de Blob and Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars, so the bar wasn’t set very high. A beached manatee could have cleared it.
Scanning through the schedule though, I can only find two titles of interest: New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. And, honestly, I’m not really salivating over them either.
The PlayStation 3 is my main gaming platform. I put that son of bitch through the grinder, logging heavy hours with each new purchase. That said, I’m not planning a PS3 software shopping spree. I aim to budget my expenditures, only purchasing the games I want most. However, whereas Uncharted 2, A Crack in Time, the God of War Collection and Brutal Legend are certain purchases, the Wii offerings merely elicit interest, rather than fervent excitement. I will buy A Crack in Time day one, regardless of critical reception. The same can’t be said of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, a promising multiplatform title that remains a bit dubious in my eyes.
I accepted long ago that my Wii was going to be a secondary console. So far this year, I have purchased two Wii games: Punch-Out!! and Mushroom Men. Punch-Out!! is unquestionably excellent, but can’t outweigh Killzone 2, inFAMOUS, and the rest of the 2009 PS3 blockbusters. It’s pretty sad that a $250 machine simply sits idly in a box, but I bought it primarily to play Mario and Zelda games, and thus always considered it a supplemental system. Contrary to popular belief, there are a number of quality third-party Wii games, but they look silly when compared to the likes of Dead Space, BioShock and Batman: Arkham Asylum.
I am sure that holiday 2009 will be memorable for a number of Nintendo fans, but for my money, there just aren’t many compelling titles. On a positive note, WiiWare has some auspicious titles in the pipeline. Of particular interest, to me, are Oregon Trail, LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias, Super Meat Boy and Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth. Without specific release dates, I opted not to include them in my count.
What about you? How do you plan to spend your holiday entertainment funds? Will you favor one console, or spread the love around? Don’t forget about the handheld and mobile devices. I don’t own a DS or PSP, but there are some exciting games coming for them as well.
Source: Nintendo of America
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Only 1 wii purchuse for our household this year…. Dead Space :Extraction
That definitely looks like a solid title. I especially like the integration of the glow stick mechanic, which forces you to choose between defending yourself, and lighting the way. Really wish that would have been in the first game.
Not really a fan of guided – on-rails- shooters, so I probably won’t pick it up. I am anxious to see how it is received though.
The story line is what pushes the title to a must buy, If in fact it is a Backdrop/prequal story. A rail Shooter does get boring, but the counter for this game is the difference in weapons, I was fully engulfed in the Dead space game on PS3, and Movie…. thus the only game I am looking forward too on the wii.
Good article!
I´m interested in Muramasa Demon Blade and Silent Hill plus I´ll try to get Tiger Woods 10 for a fair price, because the Wii Version is one of the best sports games ever! Besides that my focus is on the 360 this winter (Batman, Modern Warfare 2, Assassins Creed 2…)
Wii news….yawn…. resort is quite entertaining though…