Disclaimer
This is not everything that is announced. The list of announced games is significantly longer. This list only includes games that I found to be worth following for one or more of the following reasons:- It's a sequel to a popular/great game or part of a popular franchise
- There are favourable previews
- The game is already out in EU/JAP and received positive critics there
- There is interesting / good looking footage available
I am well aware of the fact that most probably, not all games will actually turn out to be good.
</disclaimer>
Let's see there. Not a lot of new stuff from the conference but that was to be expected, it's not aimed at people like us, after all, and all the big announcement had been made in the last few days and weeks already. Probably because the devs know Nintendo won't show a lot of non-"casual" content.
We have:
Q2 2009
Grand Slam Tennis (Sports, RELEASED)
Just like the other versions including all the modes + online, but with a different art style and highly praised MotionPlus controls. I have played it, I have played it online, and it's simply magnificent.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (Sports, RELEASED)
If there ever was a reason to get into golf games, it's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 on the Wii with MotionPlus controls. It has been called the definite Wii Sports game.

Let's Tap (Party, RELEASED)
I don't know about you, but I think Let's Tap looks hilarious, and the people who have played it agree. I want to play a videogame by hitting a box. Yes, I do.

Dawn of Discovery (RTS, RELEASED)
The popular Anno series comes stateside in June as "Dawn of Discovery". An incredibly polished, greatly done RTS / Building Sim, this game has been getting nothing but good reviews. RTS on the Wii, people.

The Conduit (FPS, RELEASED)
The art direction is questionable, the campaign may be generic, but the Online Multiplayer makes this a title to keep an eye out on, especially for Wii-only users.

Resident Evil Archives (Survival Horror, RELEASED)
The REmake, now for Wii. If you don't already have it (why don't you?!), now's the chance.
A showcase of why the abandoning of prerendered backgrounds is such a horrible idea.

Another Code R (Adventure, RELEASED)
Adventure Goodness by the makers of Hotel Dusk. Hotel Dusk, people.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (JRPG, RELEASED) WIIWARE
A stupid name and, of course, another cash-in by Square-Enix. But it doesn't mess with the Final Fantay IV formula, so it can't do anything wrong.

Swords & Soldiers (Strategy, RELEASED) WIIWARE
True 2D Strategy with great multiplayer and a liking of detail. Out in Europe and critically acclaimed, look for this game when it hits the US Wiiware.

Tales of Monkey Island (Adventure, RELEASED) WIIWARE
The reskin of the first Monkey Island games comes to Wiiware, as does the episodic content. Woo.

Little King's Story (RTS/Adventure, RELEASED)
Mix Pikmin with Harvest Moon, then add a crapload of polish and some dark, cynical humor and you end up with Little King's Story. It received nothing but the highest praise and 90-reviews all over, and it comes stateside this summer. If you want to play the Wii GOTY contender, there's no way around Little King's Story.

Wii Sports Resort (Sports, RELEASED)
The MotionPlus Tech demo sports compilation everyone needs to play at least once. I am a little more hyped now after the E3 conference. Update: Wii Sports Resort has received the highest praise and reviews and after having played it alot, I can testify that this is more than a tech demo, and offers many hours of entertainment.

Phantom Brave: We Meet Again (Strategy JRPG, August 4)
Wii iteration of the niche, but popular PS2 turn-based strategy RPG. Like Disgaea? Then look out for Phantom Brave. It has gotten AA reviews now.

Metroid Prime Trilogy (FPS, August)
All three Metroid Prime games with Wiimote controls on one disc. Sold.

Contra Rebirth (Arcade, August)
The popular series is coming to Wiiware. Prepare to die. A lot.

Q3 2009
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Survival Horror, Q3 2009)
Every hands-on so far drooled about the goodness of this game. A fresh attempt at retelling the first game, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories looks very ambitious, very good, and the hands-on and footage released from E3 speak for themselves.

NFS Nitro (Racing, 2009)
If you're a racing fan and only own the Wii, this is the title to look for. Of course, you probably wouldn't only own a Wii if you were a racing fan. Still, EA seems to be pretty confident about this title.

The Sky Crawlers (Arcade/Flightsim, Q3 2009)
The japanese made a storydriven game that has you control planes by wiimote and nunchuck tilt. Check out a trailer.

Q4 2009
Guitar Hero 5 (Party Music game, September 1)
It's Guitar Hero. Surprise.

Cursed Mountain (Horror / Adventure, September 3)
Very little is known about this one, except a few trailers and a general idea of the direction. I'm gonna go and mark it as "promising". The art direction is clearly something noteworthy.

Muramasa (2D Action, September)
There's absolutely no denying that this will be awesome. I played the japanese version and if you don't think it looks interesting, something is very, horribly wrong.

Dead Space: Extraction (Arcade FPS, September 29)
Unbelievably polished, very pretty, very atmospheric and praised by everyone. This Dead Space episode, I think, will surprise everyone very much.

Cave Story (Action Adventure, September 30) WIIWARE
Boost-up release of the immensely popular PC game on the Wiiware. Cave Story has been completey redrawn, composed, improved and made bigger. THE Wiiware hype right now.

TMNT Smash-Up (Brawler, September)
It's SSBB. With Ninja Turtles. Made by the guys who made SSBB. Got that? Okay.

Formerly "Feel", this semi-guided survival/horror experience has not much information, other than the trailer. Coming to NA, there's no reason yet to not look forward to how this might turn out.

Rabbids Go Home (Platformer, October 6)
Word got out that this game transfers the traditional Rabbid humor into a twisted Adventure quite nicely. Keep an eye out for this title that many gamers will miss simply because of the cover.

Red Steel 2 (FPS, November 25)
After the new footage, I don't think there's a lot of doubt left that, at the very least, Red Steel 2 is highly ambitious, gorgeous, and will have great swordplay MotionPlus mechanics.

F1 2009 (Racing sim, November)
I don't know what people see in these games, but F1 2009 is coming to Wii and PSP later this year.

That one trailer showed the extremely cinematic presentation and got me ready for another arcade shooter. If it straightens out the issues with the first game, Darkside Chronicles could be a fantastic multiplayer experience. And it looks sweet, too.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (Fighter, Q4)
Finally confirmed for a NA release + new content and online MP

Super Meat Boy (Plattformer, Q4) WIIWARE
Another one of the PC-title Wiiware releases, Super Meat Boy sports 2D goodness with a weird, gorey humor.

Wii Fit Plus (Sports, Q4)
Slightly less interested in it now since it's really just an expansion pack and does not actually support MotionPlus. Still, if you played the first one, you know what you're in for.

Colin McRae DiRT 2 (Racing, Q4)
As long as the Arcade-approach is seen through with care, I don't see why not. Though not a lot is known about this version.

Coming to the US via XSEED. The art direction is beautiful, let's see what the localization will do to this very promising game.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Platformer, Q4)
The E3 presentation wasn't really representative, be sure to check out the trailer for tome "real" level design. If it is anything like the DS game, it'll be great. Especially in multiplayer. A big Boo to Nintendo for not including online MP, though.

A Boy And His Blob (Platformer / Puzzle, Q4)
Charming 2D platformer that is getting the first hands-on reports, all of which are extremely positive. More 2D awesomeness. Can't wait.

Arc Rise Fantasia (JRPG, Q4)
Another upcoming Wii classical JRPG by the makers of Luminous Arc.

TBA 2009
Final Fantasy: Chrystal Bearers (RPG)
Squeenix long-time RPG effort on the Wii is slowly nearing it's release. Lots of trailers and info has peaked even my interest, even though I despise FF spin-offs. High production value open-world storydriven action RPG goodness on the Wii.

Night Game (physics puzzle platformer)
A 2D physics platformer that- Oh, just look at that goddamn screenshot.

Monster Hunter is Monster Hunter is Monster Hunter. A guaranteed smash hit in Japan, this game will come stateside and will, most probably, be about hunting monsters in beautifully crafted Fantasy environments. Online Co-Op monster hunting? Yes, I say.

Span Smasher (Puzzle/Arcade)
The third title announced that required MotionPlus to work. Frenzy, puzzle-ish, IGN's "surprise E3" title and most probably excellent in multiplayer.
BIT.TRIP.CORE (Music) WIIWARE
Bit.Trip.Beat was awesome. Hands down. Short, hard, but great. Will CORE be even better? I like to think so.

Icarian: Kindred Spirits (Puzzle/Platform) WIIWARE
Breezy physics-puzzle-platformer in the spirit of LostWinds. Check out a trailer.

Monado: Beginning of the World (JRPG)
Judging from the shootage shown at E3, Monado is a hybrid of Skies of Arcadia, Final Fantasy XII and Fire Emblem. Be sure to check out the ambitious looking trailer!

Shaun White Snowboarding World Stage (Sports)
You guessed it: Balance Board support.

Spyborgs (Brawler)
The 3-player Co-Op brawler with the stupidest name ever. Very favourable previews so far.

Sam & Max: Season Two (Adventure)
If you don't know yet what the Sam & Max games are about, then.. then you probably don't care. Everyone else can play Telltale's latest, also coming to the Wii

Animales De La Muerte (Brawler?)
High Voltage Software is releasing some kind of brawler about zombified gorey mad pinata animal... things. Using the Quantum3-engine (The Conduit). Right? Right. It doesn't look like much, but with the right type of humor, this could be good.

Q1 2010
No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle (Action Adventure, January)
No More Heroes, but with more random randomness and sick humor, and upped production values. Almost finished and bound to be good.

Sin&Punishment 2 (Arcade Action)
It has been called TREASURE's finest, and those who have played it at E3 have come back with the highest praise.

Endless Ocean 2 (Adventure/sim)
The first positively received, but welcomed distantly because of the lack of real challenge. Endless Ocean 2 is said to improve on the first game, which was already praised for its visuals and atmosphere, in every way.

Shiren the wanderer 3 (roguelike)
The heavily stylized third "Mystery Dungeon" game is coming stateside, even though neither the genre (strategic RPG with a lot of randomly generated content) nor the series were ever really popular outside of the east. In Japan, the game competed with Metal Gear Solid 4 in the charts. A feast for some, unaccessible for others, but a quality game nonetheless.

Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga (Action-RPG)
I'm not going to lie to you: The first two games were supposedly sub-par. But we'll see. This game by Marvelous Entertainment (Muramasa) in the vein of Monster Hunter sports 60 quests and a Wifi-mode.

TBA 2010+
Gladiator A.D. (Fighter)
Not much is known about it, other than the fact that it looks pretty and will have a lot of red.

The Grinder (FPS)
An Onslaught/L4D clone from High Voltage Software, this title has not much known about it. Killing vampires and other creatures in online Co-Op, hopefully benefitting from their netcode experience on The Conduit.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Platformer)
Obviously, there seem to be many designs, concepts and ideas that didn't fit into the first game. Mario gets another 3D platformer that looks exactly like the first one, but with more levels. As SMG was outstandingly briliant and beautiful, I don't think anyone minds.

Tales of Graces (JRPG)
Traditional JRPG that, judging from the trailers, seems to have quite a dark edge. Not confirmed for NA yet.

Metroid: Other M (Action / Platforming?)
With a cryptic trailer that didn't exactly reveal what the game was going to be like, this new action game in the Metroid Universe seems to have the production values behind it that could make for a new Smash Hit. We shall see.

Dragon Quest X (RPG)
No info available, not even a single picture. But it's Dragon Quest, right?

Military Madness: Nectaris (turn-based strategy) WIIWARE
Completely non-Japanese turn-based hexagony strategy game by Hudson with a lot of grey, and online MP. On Wiiware. True Story.

Takt of Magic (RTS / RPG)
First-party RTS RPG hybrid that uses Wiimote input for spells - Think TWEWY. A First-Party game co-developed by Nintendo and Teico. Doesn't look like much even by Wii JRPG standards, but it's getting a lot of buzz and praise. I'd keep my eye on it.

Winter (Horror)
Winter is not yet dead. The latest version called Winter 2.0 sports Wii Motion Plus support and n-space is very much willing to continue work on the game - If they find a publisher. I hold my fingers crossed.

And that's it, I think. A great list of upcoming games with HUGE 3rd party effort, spanning over a diversity of genres and styles. The future for the Wii looks FANTASTIC, and if you're mad at Nintendo for speaking to a different audience altogether at their E3 conference, do youself a favour and research a little on the above titles. 50 games, 30+ of which are exclusive to Nintendo's console, there's bound to be a at least one title for everyone. Forget the horrible 07/08. With Nintendo stepping back in the core games department, 3rd party finally stepped up to make this console more than worth it. Have fun.



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