Big Publishers Backing the Wii

But the real question is whether things will turn out any differently than in previous generations.

Nintendo's later consoles have done well largely at the expense of third-party game makers who had to resign themselves to sitting back to watch Nintendo's in-house games get all the attention. But that distance between company and outside game makers is also one of the reasons its hardware, and especially Nintendo 64 and GameCube, haven't done as well as they could have. There are signs that things will be different for the Wii.

Ubisoft's bringing Rayman Raving Rabbids to the Wii

EA has shown its commitment to the Wii by setting up a dedicated studio that will be responsible for bringing over its raft of sports annuals. And earlier this week, at the Ziff Davis Electronic Games Summit, both Ubisoft and Midway threw in their hats, according to a report at 1Up.

Ubisoft looks to be using Nintendo's new console as the primary platform for its mascot game Rayman Raving Rabbids, though the game is coming to other consoles too. The company is also working on Red Steel, a mature-themed game where you play a young man battling the Yakuza in Japan, using the Wii controller as a sword and more.

Midway, meanwhile, says that it has six games coming to the console, including Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, and Sega president Scott Steinberg has been vocal in his support too. Sega is prepping Super Monkey Ball and Sonic games for the Wii, both of which are due by next March.

One of the advantages Nintendo has is that, because the Wii isn't the powerhouse the Xbox 360 and PlayStation are, games should cost less to make. And those savings are being passed on to gamers. Going by comments made by both EA and Nintendo during the year, it's likely that games could cost just $50 - $10 less than Xbox 360 games are now and PlayStation 3 games are likely to be.

How much the box is going to cost you is still up in the air too. Nintendo has given us a ceiling, though, stating that the Wii will not cost more than $250 in the US or ¥25,000 in Japan. The hope is that it will go for £150 in the UK.

All this questions should be addressed soon. Nintendo said recently that it plans to announce the full launch details for the Wii by September.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games