To be fair, many past launches had better games in the first years. Especially the Dreamcast. That one spoiled me (first console I bought at launch), and it's taken me the crappy first year of the GC, DS and Wii to finally realize that it's dumb to buy a console before the first price drop.

Well, I guess I didn't mean "kiddiefied" in that sense - I'm just not a fan of sports games in general, and adding "characters" to them doesn't make them any more appealing.
Oh, come the fuck on! Dozens? Is it really too much to ask for more than two must-have games over the span of a year? And yes, many consoles had far more must-have games over the span of their first year.

I didn't expect Nintendo to lie to us when they released the original "release date" list. Of course Nintendo always lies about this. But I expected to get Zelda, Mario, and Metroid by now. 1 out of 3 is pretty good for the mighty "N".

To be fair, the first year isn't up until November. Metroid and Mario should be out by then, and hopefully Smash Bros as well (that will probably be December though if it makes it this year).

So that means 4-5 must haves in the first year, which while not mind blowing compared to some past systems, is not shabby. And better than the N64 or GC IMO.

But, on the other hand, Zelda was also on the GC an Paper Mario was just ported over. But still, they are must owns so I count them.

It's just the first 7-8 months have been pretty slow. Only console I can think of that was as bad was the PS2 which didn't have anything worth owning IMO until Gran Turismo 3 nearly 6 months after launch.

Nintendo had a great month of May as both DS and Wii had strong sales.

May 2007 NPD Hardware sales:

NDS - 423,150
Wii - 338,278
PSP - 221,120
PS2 - 187,765
360 - 154,932
PS3 - 81,604
GBA - 80,554
GC - 10,728

source: NPD

And the PS3 keeps tanking, barely outselling the GBA.

The fact that there is an endless supply of mini game collections coming doesn't bother as much (I'll just skip them). Its the fact that single player games are getting cancelled in order to focus on the more broad gaming titles.

Wii is the first console I've bought at launch, and will probably be the last. It isn't a bad system, it just hasn't been touched since I got my 360.

Is that the treasure island / pirate game?

Which games have been cancelled for this reason? There is one rumor (Project Hammer) which hasn't even been confirmed cancelled, nevermind confirmed cancelled for that reason. It's -- at this time -- a rumor.

Forgot Soul Calibur IV.

Zach and Wiki? Yeah.. It was Project Treasure Island Z

Ah, that one did sound somewhat interesting. So add that to my "keeping and eye on" list.

Nintendo only making "minigame collection" type games? Well if we look at the Wii games that Nintendo have released, and that are coming in 2007, the "minigame collection" specific games are in the minority.

Wii Sports
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
ExciteTruck
Wario Ware: SM
Wii Play
Super Paper Mario
Mario Party 8
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
Pokemon Battle Revolution
Mario Strikers Charged
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
BWII
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Smash Bros. Brawl

It looks like Nintendo needs to announce more "minigame collections" in order to balance out their lineup!

I think people were more talking about games currently out and the announcement of EA's new minigame thing, and in that case your list shows 5 out of 8 are mini-games.

ExciteTruck might as well be one too as shallow as it is.

But like I said, its definitely picking up for the rest of the year and hopefully 2008 will be even better.

No one said Nintendo was only making mini-game style games. But if people want to pigeon hole the XBox or 360 in to "FPS/Sports/Action games" or the Playstation for "Japanese RPG's," the Wii clearly has more mini-games in less then a year then the other systems, not to mention the games that 3rd party's are putting out like Rayman or even Monkey Ball.

Isn't Cooking Mama a Nintendo title as well?

Majesco, I think.

More inconsistent reviews of the Wii's controls:

Scareface
IGN = 8.5. They say "It’s just as entertaining and immersive on Wii as ever before. IR control gives the game a more streamlined feel, and Wii owners that fit in the hardcore crowd will absolutely eat this one up, as it’s currently one of the deepest and most entertaining experiences on the system. "

GameSpot = 5.8. They say "There's nothing else quite like Scarface on the Wii yet, but the gamepad-to-Wii Remote transition has made this lackluster game play even worse."

So.. IGN seems to think the IR on the Wii enhances the game. GameSpot says it makes it worst and it's likely both of their scores reflect those opinions. I really think I'm going to have to rent most games just to see for myself. Also Gamespot seems to have forgotten about Godfather.

I'd agree with IGNs assessment, and I own the game

For some people, including my girl, they have a problem spinning your head by moving the pointer to the edge of the screen, which is different from The Godfather, which uses the D-pad to rotate.

The only control problem I have had was trying to get into stolen vehicles, which can seem hit or miss

Resident Evil 4 won't be on any shelves till tomorrow, apparently.

Anyone have any idea who might have gotten it early?

Yep, as with ALL video games, the 19th is the shipping date for RE4, so most stores won't have it until tomorrow.

EB/GS should just stop listing the stupid shipping dates as release dates and just post in store dates in their ads like Best Buy and the other big box stores do.

Yep, it is Majesco.

Well of course the Wii is going to have more "mini-games" than other systems simply because these are the type of games Nintendo fans enjoy.

Back on the N64, Nintendo released the first Mario Party game and it was a huge success. All us Nintendo fans played this game so much, that we all got blisters on our hands and Nintendo had to send us free gloves after some parents complained (remember that)!

Nintendo saw how popular the "mini-games" were with their fans, they started to include them in other games such as the N64 Pokemon Stadium games (the first PS game had some very fun mini-games). Then Nintendo brought the "mini-games" over to GBA with WarioWare and that game was a huge success with Nintendo fans as well.

Third parties took notice of how much Nintendo fans loved the "minigames" they too started to include them in their games. Sega added them to their Gamecube arcade port of Super Monkey Ball and the game was a huge hit (this was also due to a great main game as well).

There is a reason why Nintendo fans have supported eight Mario Party games. It's because we love the "mini-games"!

We can't get enough of them. Hell I'm already thinking about:

-What will Nintendo add to 'Mario Pary 9'?
-Will there be a "mini-games" section in 'Mario Galaxy' like the fun one found in 'New Super Mario Bros'?
-When is the next Warioware DS game going to come out?
-I can't wait to pick up 'Brain Age 2' in August!

The main point there was many of the people getting their panties in a bunch about comments of the Wii having too many minigames are the same that are always apt to say that the 360 has nothing but FPS, action and sports game. It's the same type of generalization.

Also, not all Nintendo fans love minigames--clearly, or you wouldn't have so many Wii owners complaining about it.

Nintendo has always been my favorite company, but I've always hated Mario Party and mini game collections in general.

That said, I have became less and less of a fan of Nintendo with every console released since the N64 (not counting the GBA and DS).

Maybe I'm just edging out of their market. Mario (including Mario Kart), Zelda and Metroid have pretty much been it from their console games for me the past 3 generations so far.

If you look at the top selling Wii games world wide, you will see Wii Sports (sold seperately in Japan) and Wii Games as number one and two. The Brain Age games are also among the top selling DS games as well. Plus the success of the Mario Party and Wario Ware series speaks for themselves.

Of course not all Nintendo fans love these type of games, but clearly the majority of them do. The sales figures prove this.