Since there has been some talk about how many titles and specifically big franchise titles Nintendo is releasing in it’s first year, people have questioned what’s in store for Wii in 2008. So I’ve put together an extensive analysis of Nintendo’s development sutdios to piece it all together and get some kind of 2008 picture. It’s not a solid list by any means but since they probably won’t announce anything anytime soon, it’ll be fun to discuss, if I’ve made mistakes let me know, if it’s too long to read for you I’ve double posted and the bottom post is a brief end assumption of my research, so enjoy!!. EAD(as EAD is the core of Nintendo’s internal teams it’s quite hard to know exactly which titles are theirs, so these a guesstimates.)(this will probably include their console R&D teams as well.) Gamecube Titles (10): Luigi’s Mansion, Pikimin, Pikimin 2, Mario Sunshine, Zelda: Wind Waker, DK: Jungle Beat, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Zelda:Four Swords, Zelda: Twilight Princess Wii Titles 2006-07 (7): Wii Sports, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Music, Wii Health Pack, Wii Play, Big Brain Academy. Analysis of Studio: Despite releasing their two motherships Mario and Zelda in this time frame we know they’ve been in development for a while. And another Zelda has been in the making for a while, yet we have no assurance that that Zelda will be ready for 2008. There is also Animal Crossing that may come out by year end or may not, I’m guessing it won’t. The rest of these titles are fairly small productions, and possibly have been made by other teams outside of EAD. Pretty early in the Gamecube cycle we got Luigi, Pikimin and Mario. And since Twilight Princess was originally designed for the Gamecube I’m betting there is something else big cooking in EAD, really big for 2008 and they’ve yet to spill the word on it. Although with that said it could very well be Pikimin 3. I’m hoping it’s not. But we’ll have to wait and see. Intelligent Systems: Gamecube Titles (5): Warioware, Cubivore, Paper Mario, Fire Emblem, Puzzle Collection Wii Titles 2006-07(3): Super Paper Mario Warioware Fire Emblem Analysis of Studio: They already or soon will release the 3 big franchises they worked on the Gamecube, although two of them were moved from the Gamecube to the Wii. It’s possible they could hit the Wii with 3-5 more titles but most likely not in 2008. HAL Laboratory(1): Gamecube Titles (2): Super Smash Bros. Melee, Kirby’s Air Ride Wii Titles (1): SuperSmash Bros. Brawl Analysis of Studio: From what I can tell they’ve only made two titles for the Gamecube. HAL has very much went into GBA, and DS development after the N64 days. So it is difficult to know if that will or has changed. There quite possibly is a Kirby title in store for the Wii for 2008. I’d love to see an Earthbound sequel but for now it’s safe to assume that anything other than Kirby is unlikely. Retro Studios Gamecube Titles (2): Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Wii Titles 2006-07 (1): Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Studio Analysis: They started out with 4 games, cancelled them all in favor of Metroid. Since then they’ve had smooth sailing and successful launches and Corruption looks to be no different. I would suspect Nintendo at this point would allow Retro to work on two titles at once and focus on the American market, and while that’s entirely possible for the future, it seems unlikely that it’s currently happening, considering they haven’t had any massive hirings. So expect either another Metroid or new IP in 2009, but nothing for 2008. NST Gamecube Titles (2): Waverace: Blue Storm, 1080: Avalanche Wii titles 2006-07 (1): Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Analysis of Studio: Waverrace and 1080 were brilliant yet there has been no word on sequels and being that NST is heavy in development for HAMMER, and tend not to have more then one project released at a time, I’m betting that we won’t hear from them in 2008 unless of course HAMMER gets pushed. Genius Sonority Gamecube titles: (2): Pokemon Coliseum Pokemon XD Wii titles 2006-07 (1): Pokemon Revolution Analysis of Studio: This is a studio specifically dedicated to Pokemon. Being that Revolution is designed to work with the DS Pokemon, I expect Genius to start work on another Wii spin-off for the series. Being that their 2 Gamecube titles were only about 18 months apart they could conceivably have something ready for Nov./Dec. 2008. Camelot Studios Gamecube titles (1): Mario Tennis Wii Titles 2006-07(0): Analysis of Studio: They are hard at work on a golfing PC title, and have supposedly been working on a console rpg for a while, during the Gamecube days people assumed it would be a console sequel of the beloved Golden Sun. Since there has been little talk about this title, there is no way of knowing if it’s still in development of still being made for the Wii, it could very well end up on the DS for all we know. But if the Wii does see this game it will probably release in 2008. Skip Ltd. Gamecube titles: (2): Giftpia, Chibi Robo Wii 2006-07(0) Analysis of Studio: They have yet to announce anything for the Wii, but as long as they’re not moving production to the DS it’s safe to assume they’re first outing will most likely be in 2008. Ambrella Gamecube Titles (1): Pokemon Channel Wii 2006-07(0) Analysis of Studio Nothing special they might go the way of DS spin-off titles for the pokemon series or create a pokemon spin off title for the Wii. And would most likely be ready for 2008, yet not terribly exciting. Fuse Games Prior Titles were a Mario and Metroid pinball titles for Nintendo handhelds. Analysis of Studio: While nothing has been announced, and they’ve yet to make a console title, they have said in recent interviews there next game would be a huge departure for them and would be for Nintendo. So it’s possible they’ll move away from handhelds and produce something for the Wii, possibly with a Nintendo Franchise considering their 2 prior titles worked off of Nintendo properties. And there is a strong chance it will be ready in 2008. Of course there are always the games made by third parties with Nintendo’s Licenses such as: Mario Strikers Charged (Next level games) Mario Party 8 (Hudson Soft) So that will always be a wild card in development. And that’s about all I can muster up, if you’d like to add to it let me know and I’ll update the list I hope someone can post lists for Sony and Microsoft as well. That would be great. And the post below is my summary. Enjoy!

So in the end 2008 in my analysis will bring the following: EAD: Animal Crossing 2 more Wii sports/play-like titles Another big game from EAD that has yet to be named(perhaps Pikimin 3, or another franchise revival) Outside of EAD: Perhaps 2 pokemon spin-off titles(or at least 1) Chibi Robo 2(or a new IP from skip ltd.) Kirby Sequel(from HAL) An unnamed Camelot RPG( hopefully Golden Sun) I forgot to mention Zoonami they have something in the works too. Not too mention this Project 0 game that's in the news. And maybe…. HAL will come up with a new IP Fuse might be moving to the Wii with a new IP EAD might have the next Zelda ready for 2008 Project HAMMER might get delayed. There some other secret titles completely off the radar So other then Animal Crossing, and possible surprise revival there isn’t much for 2008 in the way of Nintendo’s major franchises. I hope the new IP’s are strong. Your thoughts?

I would throw in another Mario Party or two for 2008...I think Pilotwings or Kid Icarus is being developed too but obviously I can't prove that. Probably Star Fox and/or Mario Kart at some point as well. Also Disaster: Day of Crisis...

Wow Amazing post fooflexible Animal Crossing - Awosome More wii sports/play - boo Another big name game - Hopefully something I like. I hated pikman2. 2 pokemon spinoffs? more like 1. And it's pokemon... on a home console. Chibi Robo 2 - That would be awosome. Kirby Sequel - Getting a little hopeful there eh? unnamed camelot RPG - most likely for the DS. Zoonami - what did they ever make before? o.O? Project 0 - Looks cool. But it's WAAAY too early to know if it's gonna be worth gettin' or not. New zelda for 2008. I'm gonna rent it. Zelda has been going downhill since OOT. Besides Wind Walker (the only one to break the downhill trend) Project HAMMER - I was not impressed with what I saw. I agree Animal Crossing will be BIG. But obviously nintendo isnt gonna push many of their super hitters in 2008. Unless they can squeze out another zelda. This my friend makes me think 2008 will be the end of mega Wii sales. (quality software is very imporant, but 1 or 2 games for a whole year... is crazy)

I would anticipate that Sega, Konami, Capcom, and Namco may also continue making exclusive games that are based on Nintendo's IP ... (Sega made F-Zero, Konami made Mario Baseball, Namco made Starfox and Capcom has made several Zelda games for the GBA)

Just wanted to add something ... It is also likely that in 2008 Nintendo will want to focus internal development on new franchises. On the DS it was late 2005 and most of 2006 where Nintendo focused on games which were not their "Big Sellers" (they released Nintendogs, Brain Training, Animal Crossing, and so on).

Well I do think BWii has been pushed far behind christmas 2007. Otherwise great post!

Kwaad, im thinking u never even played Zelda... U don't even know the name of the cell shaded gamecube version. Its called windwaker not freakin windwalker...

great list fooflexible, i didn't even know all of the studios you mentioned! I'd like to talk a little about camelot. at first, haven't they produced mario golf for the cube aswell? anyways, I think if they are working on a wii-rpg, this game could become a real system seller, at least in japan. Two reasons for that: On one hand, the two golden sun's have sold well and they were just handheld games and comparable to snes-rpg's. on the other hand, no exclusive rpg with pure gameplay (fantasy-setting, round-based) has been released for a nintendo home-console since the good old days of snes (maybe except for baten kaitos, but it has been released so late in the gc aera that it couldn't change a lot anymore). because of that i would say that a great rpg (90 % in reviews) would sell like hot cakes, and i think golden sun 3 could be this rpg. what do you think about that?