How Wii Can Dominate in 2011 (by Carl B.)
March 17, 2011, by Carl B. - Across the board, every current generation console other than the Wii is set to have a great 2011. Playstation 3 gamers will have exclusives such as Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and The Last Guardian, and Xbox 360 owners will have Gears of War 3 to look forward to. There are also some awesome multiplatform games that will hit both PS3 and 360, including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Mass Effect 3. Sadly, when one takes a glance at the Wii the only thing they see is The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. As amazing as the new Zelda will surely be, one game won't satisfy millions of Wii owners. If Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime, is to be believed, then there are several new Wii games set to launch – they've just been pushed back to focus on the Nintendo 3DS. With that in mind, here's how the Wii can dominate the competition in 2011.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The first Wii-centric Zelda title, Skyward Sword, has really seemed to lose out on the launch of the Nintendo 3DS. This game was originally supposed to release in winter 2010, but was then pushed back to Q1 2011. Since then, Nintendo has obviously made the decision that Skyward Sword won't overshadow Ocarina of Time 3D, which is set to release this June. This essentially means that Skyward Sword won't release until at least two months after Ocarina of Time 3D releases. An August or September release date makes sense, but don't be surprised if Skyward Sword is pushed back even further and becomes Nintendo's big holiday game for 2011. Nevertheless, the recent combat trailer shown off at GDC '11 has the iNintendo staff very excited for the game, even if the art style looks a little bit flat. With Miyamoto and Aonuma's past comments about how they're looking to shake up the Zelda formula in this game, specifically the dungeon to field to dungeon progression, and coupled with the fantastic 1:1 motion control, I expect Skyward Sword to be the first revolution of the series since Ocarina of Time released in 1998.
Conduit 2
The first Conduit was a good game, but it felt limited since most of the game took place indoors. The best level of the game was where Agent Ford explored the streets of Washington D.C, and luckily, there will be even more levels like that in Conduit 2. The sequel to 2009's Wii shooter releases on April 19, and we couldn't be more excited for the game. Conduit 2 substantially ups the ante compared to the first game, as players will travel across many different locations around the world, both real and fictional, that include the lost city of Atlantis, Siberia, and China. The scope of each level has also been improved greatly, as environments are now huge with multiple branching paths and even more hidden secrets to find. Multiplayer is also greatly improved on, with all the best modes from the first game making a comeback, along with several new modes, perks, and tons of customization features. High Voltage will even be able to release patches for online multiplayer, just in case hackers manage to ruin the experience.
The Last Story
Developed by the father of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, exclusively for the Wii, The Last Story is the definitive RPG on the system. The Last Story really innovates on the standard RPG formula. Players take control of Elza, a mercenary on Ruli Island, as he and his companions uncover the secrets of the island and its corrupt government. What makes The Last Story so innovative is its use of a cover system and its different take on combat. Whenever players come across an enemy or group of enemies, they'll be able to assign different takes to their party members as the battle takes place in real time. There's been speculation that The Last Story won't release outside of Japan, but due to strong sales in Japan and Sakaguchi's optimism on the subject, I believe it will release outside of Japan, but not for another few months.
Xenoblade
Xenoblade is another RPG that may never see localization; however, unlike The Last Story, Xenoblade continues to appear on Nintendo's North American and European release charts for 2011. Developed by Monolith Soft, Xenoblade is a more traditional RPG than The Last Story, but it features enormous environments for players to explore, giving them the feeling of freedom. Xenoblade also features gorgeous visuals, and scored a 9/9/9/9 in Famitsu Weekly, a popular Japanese magazine.
Kirby Wii
Kirby's Epic Yarn was released only this past October, and just recently in Europe, but a new Kirby game is still on its way. This new title, dubbed Kirby Wii for now, is a far more traditional take on the Kirby series than Kirby's Epic Yarn. It features a visual style similar to Kirby 64, gameplay elements we've grown to love from the Kirby series (Epic Yarn aside), and to top it all off, this game has been rumored to be in development for more than four years.
Pandora's Tower
Nintendo announced a new Wii game titled Pandora's Tower at the same time they announced the new Kirby title. Literally nothing is known about Pandora's Tower, but something tells me it's another RPG being developed by Monolith Soft.
Pikmin 3
Miyamoto has continually said that Pikmin 3 is coming, and after a good two to three years of this, it's finally time for Nintendo to release the game. Some people have speculated that Pikmin 3 is going to jump ship over to the 3DS, but I'm a firm believer that the 3DS's screen is far too small to give players a good look at all the Pikmin they're controlling. Plus, the Wii Remote's pointer is perfect for real time strategy games like Pikmin.
When will these games release?
I already touched on Skyward Sword's possible release date of August or September, but Reggie Fils-Aime also said that there are going to be some titles releasing on Wii before E3 rolls around. The Last Story is a great candidate for a May release, that way it won't be overshadowed by the release of the Nintendo 3DS. Xenoblade is really a mystery, but I think it's a safe bet that the game will have some sort of presence at E3 2011, if only to announce that it will be coming to North America and Europe in September or October. Kirby Wii is set to release this spring in Japan, but we're not likely to see it in North America or Europe until later this year, possibly July. Pandora's Tower is releasing this year in Japan, so if we're lucky, it'll release in the west at the end of the year. Depending on when Skyward Sword ends up being released, I think that Pikmin 3 will be Nintendo's big Wii title for the holiday season. Expect a November release date or early December at the latest.
