mrpayroll

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=5455

Rob Fahey 11:56 12/11/2004
Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, Fire Emblem, WarioWare and more on track for 2005

A new release line-up from Nintendo of America has given a clear picture of the firm's plans for the GBA, Cube and DS in the first half of 2005 - with almost all of its major franchises due for an outing during the period.

While the list doesn't contain many surprises, it does feature a couple of titles which hadn't previously been confirmed for launch during the period - most notably the new Legend of Zelda title on the GameCube, which could appear in Q2.

In fact, Q2 is looking like the strongest quarter in quite some time for the GameCube, with Legend of Zelda potentially appearing alongside supernatural FPS title Geist, Donkey Konga 2 and RPG title Fire Emblem, while the first quarter will see the likes of Capcom's Resident Evil 4, Sega's Virtua Quest and Namco's Star Fox: Assault turning up.

The GBA, meanwhile, will see new Legend of Zelda title The Minish Cap appearing in early January (almost two months after its European launch, in a peculiar move from the company) with titles including Namco's Ace Combat and Klonoa 2 games, WarioWare Twisted, Mario Party Advance, Fire Emblem 2 and, of course, Pokemon Emerald, appearing before the half is through.

The line-up for the new arrival, Nintendo DS, is somewhat thinner; fans of the franchise will be disappointed to learn that Metroid Prime Hunters isn't due until Q2, with the highlights of the early half of the year being WarioWare Touched! in mid-February and Pokemon Dash in mid-march.

You can find a full launch list below. As yet, few of these titles (Minish Cap being a notable exception) have European launch dates.


Nintendo DS

WarioWare Touched! - February 14th
Pokémon Dash - March 14th
Yoshi's Touch & Go - March
Atari Classics - March
Pac Pix - March
Need for Speed Underground 2 - Q1
Metroid Prime Hunters - Q2
Ultimate Card Games - May
Ultimate Brain Games - June



GameCube

Resident Evil 4 - January
Virtua Quest - January
NBA Street Vol.3 - February 8th
Star Fox: Assault - February 14th
Winnie the Pooh - February
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat - March 14th
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - March
Dragon Ball Z Sagas - March
Mortal Kombat: Deception - Q1
Donkey Konga 2 - Q2
Fire Emblem - Q2
Geist - Q2
The Legend of Zelda - Q2



Game Boy Advance

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - January 10th
Banjo Pilot - January
Rave Master: Special Attack Force - February
Shaman King: Legacy of Spirits - Soaring Hawk - February
Ace Combat - February
Klonoa 2 - February
Winnie the Pooh - February
WarioWare Twisted! - March 21st
Mario Party Advance - March
Backyard Baseball - March
Pac Pinball - March
Pokémon Emerald - April
Fire Emblem 2 - Q2
Ultimate Pocket Games - Q2


Chris

SpacemanSpiff

zeldas coming out in q2

wow!

darkside

Let me be the first to say Yaaawn.

They have some good stuff coming out, but there had better be a lot more DS stuff than that coming out.

I am pretty interested in several titles.

WarioWare Touched! - February 14th
Ultimate Card Games - May
Ultimate Brain Games - June

GameCube

Resident Evil 4 - January
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat - March 14th
Donkey Konga 2 - Q2
Fire Emblem - Q2
Geist - Q2
The Legend of Zelda - Q2

Game Boy Advance

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - January 10th
WarioWare Twisted! - March 21st
Pokémon Emerald - April
Fire Emblem 2 - Q2

PixyJunket

That's no surprise really, it's running on the Wind Waker engine so they did not need to develop the game from scratch, just add to the current engine and create new content.

Bluebomber

I was thinking the same thing, that DS list is looking pretty skimpy .

tanman

That's strange because that isn't even half the list that I have seen. What about Advance Wars DS. Some sites have it listed for January.

Gizmo

Bad start for the DS. With the PSP launching in March, Nintendo better have some cards up its sleeve.

PixyJunket

I doubt that's a compete release list for all developers for any of the three systems listed.

BeckysBoy

Yeah, seems skimpy to me too. Methinks they're holding off on a couple titles.

The title I was most looking for, Animal Crossing DS, is not on there.

mrpayroll

Me too, I cannot wait for Animal Crossing and playing with 3 (?) other players.

Chris

SpacemanSpiff

zelda is using the same engine as WW but with realistic graphics?

GreenMonkey

The new engine doesn't look at all like WW.

Glad to see a date for it, and for Star Fox. Mmmmm Star Fox.

Michael Corvin

No shit! That is the first thing that caught my eye. I thought we were looking at Christmas next year.

Can't wait.

Breakfast with Girls

That doesn't necessarily mean it's a different model, though.

zero

I believe when they say "engine" its only in the form of controls, how much is on screen, and such. Anyone care to expand on that?If I'm wrong?

The DS lineup is looking very solid (IMO) Need For Speed DS? Cool! And a Klonoa sequel?! FINALLY! Two Zeldas? Man this is shaping up to be a great year!

Trigger

RE4 and Geist... that's all for me, thanks.

Pbear

have they released any info on Donkey Konga 2? I know it's still early, but if they are going to package bongos with it and it has better songs, I'll return the one I have stashed away for christmas.

ClownFace666

Zelda: The Minish Cap I will be playing by Thanksgiving.

Looking forward to it. I bought it from overseas in the UK where it was just released.

I paid more, but I didnt want to wait until January.

Joe Molotov

Isn't Mario Kart DS supposed to be coming out early next year?

ClownFace666

Joe Molotov,

A few games previously mentioned are missing from this list.

Super Mario Bros DS
Mario Kart

being two I was looking forward to.

rfduncan

Yeah - this is a list of NINTENDO releases. I'm willing to bet third parties have their own list of titles for the DS.

Groucho

There are several third-party games on that list.

What is Geist?

marioxb

Yeah well kinda. Sounds to me like it's just Klonoa 2 which was released on PS2 a LONG time ago. Though that is still cool to me, as I only played the first level.

Geist

"Haunt hallways and possess people in this dark first-person shooter designed exclusively for GameCube."

PixyJunket

No, it's a new game. Well it's old actually (2002 in Japan). It's pretty much the same as Empire of Dreams. Hopefully they'll release Klonoa Star Heroes after this, that is a really cool game.

Schloob1

Zelda Q2 Suprised no one has said this yet, but I'll believe it when I see it. Zelda has been by far probably the most ever delyed title out of any series of games out there. This is for the U.S. release list correct? If so that would have to mean Zelda possibly in Q1 in Japan. Sure.

Otherwise, this is of course at the very top of my want list.