Ones to Watch for Wii in January, 2008.

By Stephen Munn | January 1, 2008

Nintendo’s Wii console is barreling into 2008 with a full head of steam, and most of us who expected it to kind of slow down a bit by this point are getting tired of saying so. December’s numbers are likely to break the million mark if Nintendo can count their voucher sales, and while prices on eBay are likely to slide some in January, I wouldn’t expect them to fall down near retail.

So aside from the huge hits we’ll see this year, like 12-player online Mario Kart and persistent-world Animal Crossing… ok those are wishful thinking… what can we expect from the platform? This isn’t that forward-looking an article, so let’s just start with January, shall we?

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law | Williams Street Games, Capcom | Official Site
Capcom balked at the idea of trying to sell their Gyakuten Saiban series to the unpredictable US console audience, despite the series’ success on DS in North America under the name Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Instead, Capcom US took it upon themselves to produce a clone of the franchise, using the characters (and voices) of the Adult Swim TV show, Harvey Birdman. Ace Attorney is a great series that lot of people are very fond of, and it will be fun to see how this one turns out, and also how it sells at a $40 price point. It will be hitting PS2 and PSP at the even lower price point of $30, if you’re interested.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity | Sonic Team, Sega, January 8 | Official Site
Even 2006’s fun Sonic and the Secret Rings fell just shy of the excellence we had hoped for from the more-off-than-on Sonic Team. Mixed reviews greeted their Nights: Journey Into Dreams, but with the original Sonic Riders being somewhat of a turd, it’s hard to expect much of anything from the sequel. This game is also coming to PS2.
See also:
Sonic Rings reviews show major step forward.

Nitro Bike | Left Field Productions, Ubisoft, November 15th | Official Site

Racing is, as I’ve mentioned in the past, an underrepresented genre on Wii. Strong racing titles are even harder to find… they’re almost nonexistent. The hopes for Nitrobike, which is being developed by most of the team behind the impressive Excitebike 64, are pretty high. A fun, exciting, full-featured racing game could be just the ticket for those of us looking for a speedy experience on our console. With six-player online multiplayer, it’s certainly moving in the right direction.
See also:
Nitrobike to be first third-party online game on Wii, might not suck.

Samurai Warriors Katana | Omega Force, Koei | Official Site
Samurai Warriors? Well, wonders never cease. This will be the first appearance of the Samurai Warriors franchise on a Nintendo platform since its 2004 debut. The Samurai Warriors games are about mowing down huge crowds of enemies with an assortment of attacks, but Koei’s new game for Wii will take the whole thing in an interesting direction by taking on a first-person perspective. It reminds me of nothing more than the upcoming Dragon Quest Swords game, which takes the classic franchise and turns it into a first-person fantasy rails thing.

Endless Ocean | Arika, Nintendo
The Everblue series of PS2 ocean exploration games continues on Wii with Forever Blue, or as it is now known here, Endless Ocean. Link up online and swim around the ocean, looking at and capturing fish. Oddly enough, no voice chat. So you swim around online with someone and… have no way to communicate. Hmm. Sounds… exciting. The game was delayed from last year, let’s see if they can hit a ship date in January.
See also:
IGN to Nintendo: Where’s the Freakin’ Headset!?
Eternal Ocean goes filet in Japan.
Endless Ocean at E3 2007.
Forever Blue continuing N’s ungame trend.

Rygar: The Battle of Argus | Tecmo
An enhanced port of the PS2 Rygar game is on its way to Wii with a completely redone control system that has been specifically designed to hurt… or at least make you tired. It’s an interesting idea, but I have trouble imagining that being a great idea. I could see a lot of reviewers hitting the game hard for such a control scheme. Enhancements include a dramatic redesign of the art in the game, as well as the aforementioned control changes. Unfortunately, since Tecmo hasn’t updated their website with any current games in a very long time, we have no direct word on a release date. The consensus seems to be… January.
See also:
Name, Impressions provided for Rygar: The Battle of Argus