2010 Publisher Forecast: Nintendo

Written by John Scalzo  on February 25, 2010

Special: I declare this... the Summer of Nintendo!

Tweet

Comments

The Summer of Sequels
Nintendo used their Spring Media Summit to lay out a Summer release schedule that will make even the most jaded "hardcore" gamer yearn for their DS and Wii. And the whole thing kicks off on May 3 with Picross 3D, a picture puzzle game for the DS and sequel to the well loved Picross DS.

OK, actually, the whole thing kicks off for real with the surprise May 23 release of Super Mario Galaxy 2. After setting the world on fire with the 2D New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo is bringing their main man Mario back to the 3D world with Galaxy 2. And not only that, but they're also bringing Yoshi back as well.



The Summer continues with a franchise resurrection that shooter fans have been waiting a long time for: Sin and Punishment: Star Successor. Developed by Treasure, this scrolling shooter is a sequel to one of the last Nintendo 64 games ever produced (and which only came to America via the Virtual Console). Released in Japan at the end of last year, it has garnered plenty of critical support with most saying that if you loved the first game, you'll love Sin and Punishment 2. It crosses the Pacific on June 7.


While the existance of the third Golden Sun was a nice moment at last year's E3 (more on that later), the biggest surprise was the debut of the Team Ninja-developed Wii game Metroid: Other M. Returning the series to a third person perspective, Nintendo has entrusted one of their most well-loved franchises to the now Itagaki-less developer. At least we know Samus Aran won't be parading around in some revealing battle (swim)suit. Set between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, Other M will mix 2D and 3D gameplay in a Ninja Gaiden-like action title. The next entry in the Metroid series will be released on June 27.

The Summer will come to a close with the release of Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies for the DS. Yes, like the first Dragon Quest game way back on the NES (which was then known as Dragon Warrior), Nintendo will be handling the publishing duties of one of Japan's biggest franchises. Let's hope this time the Dragon Quest series catches on in America in a big way.

Late 2010 and the Question Marks
As is customary for the company, Nintendo is playinging the rest of their 2010 release slate pretty close to the chest. We have a vague idea of what's in the works, but none of the games have been extensively demonstrated to the public and most are little more than concept art and developer interviews.

Nintendo has two other major titles in the works for late 2010 as well as a variety of question marks:

Golden Sun DS - The third Golden Sun game has been a long time coming. After Golden Sun: The Lost Age was released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003, fans clamored for a continuation of the series. They'll get their wish this year as original developer Camelot has teamed up with Nintendo once more to bring the series to the DS. First revealed at E3 2009, Nintendo will likely have more details about Golden Sun DS for us at this year's show.

The Legend of Zelda - Shigeru Miyamoto has been talking up a storm about the first Wii-exclusive Legend of Zelda game since it was announced at E3 2009. But really, all we know for sure is that it will star a mature, adult Link, it will require the Wii MotionPlus add-on and it will be on hand at E3 2010. What we don't know for sure is if the game will be released in 2010 with Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata saying it will and producer Eiji Aonuma saying it might be pushed back to ensure it's perfect.

Debuting to groans and confusion at last year's E3 expo, the Wii Vitality Sensor will make another appearance at the industry showcase in 2010. Whether or not Nintendo has any games in development to use the peripheral, or if it'll even be released this year, is unknown.

Line Attack Heroes and Fling Smash are two Wii games that are little more than names on a release calendar at this point. The only thing that isn't a mystery about this puzzle-based action games is that it will use the Wii Remote's motion control features. Although Fling Smash should be available sometime over the Summer.


Finally, Nintendo plans to jump back into the RPG arena by partnering with Monolith Soft on Xenoblade (which may be known as Monado: Beginning of the World in America) and with Mistwalker on The Last Story. Both games are in development for the Wii and both have tentative 2010 release dates. Xenoblade, which has nothing to do with Monolith's Xenosaga series, will take place on the corpses of two deceased gods. The game's plot and other details were revealed in a recent preview in Famitsu. Less is known about The Last Story. Coming from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mistwalker studio, the game's logo and title have several artistic similarities to the Final Fantasy series, but that's all that has been revealed so far.

The BIG Question Marks
Announced several years ago, Nintendo has been quietly working on Pikmin 3 and a new Kirby game for the Wii. Will they finally be released in 2010? Probably not, but an E3 appearance would go a long way towards convincing gamers these games are more than just vaporware.

The Forecast
With a return to RPGs in a big way and no less than four new games from their biggest franchises (including three that now have "surprise" Summer release dates), Nintendo looks to have a very successful 2010 ahead of it. And with The Big N's penchant for E3 surprises (and the now almost total lack of major games for the Fall), it's likely that this is just the tip of the iceberg.