If you thought 2007 was a good year for Wii, let IGN introduce you to your new best friend: 2008. Hot on the heels of a super-successful December holiday, forward Wii momentum is showing no signs of slowing in the new year. In the first few months, good efforts like No More Heroes, Endless Ocean, Bully: Scholarship Edition will lead the way into a very big March, which is set to encapsulate anticipated games like SEGA Superstars Tennis, Worms: A Space Oddity, Okami, and a little fighter called Super Smash Bros. Brawl. You may have heard of it. The year will also house the release of a brand new Mario Kart, Animal Crossing and, obviously, Wii Fit, which could very well become one of the most popular efforts of the year. In addition, IGN expect major software announcements from third-parties, which will be adding AAA titles to Wii's roster on a fairly regular basis. Finally, don't think for a second that the Big N doesn't have several tricks up its sleeves – expect some epic revelations from the company that created Mario and Zelda.
The list of IGN's predictions (details are available on the tenth page of the article):
- Wii best-selling console of 2008.
- Nintendo releases unconventional voice chat solution for Wii.
- E3 2008: Nintendo announces new Wii take on major classic franchise.
- Nintendo releases new Wii colors and wireless Nunchuk with Wii Play-style mini-games.
Alone in the Dark developer Pieces Interactive has been hit with layoffs a month after its release, as per the latest information.
That genuinely, genuinely sucks. The reboot has clear flaws, but it really felt like a solid first step for this team to receive *greater* investment.
That's standard. Teams are together for a Project, after its done some..and sometimes most devs are fired until the next Project is in the works and people are needed again. Only the core members stay in the time between the hot phase of the game development.
What’s annoying is people don’t understand how contractors work, either. All of this is uninformed knee-jerk reactions without any understanding of how employment works in this industry. There are key developers and staff that stay with a studio/publisher, but often times it’s a hire per project and then seeking new employment for a project. That’s how it’s always been…
That's a fair point too. I would say that in light of its tepid critical/commercial response and ongoing mass layoffs across the industry I think it's understandable for fans to worry about the longer-term implications. We'll see how it plays out in the future.
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "In one sense, it feels strange to even think Pieces Interactive had big shoes to fill with this series' legacy. Given what's come before, did it really? And yet, even when considering the last two flops over a two-decade span, there's still something about Alone in the Dark emblazoned on a title screen that carries a sense of revered history. In that respect, perhaps this reboot's best accomplishment is in honoring that spirit through its inventive world. It's also fair to emphasize knocks against its survival-horror design, some puzzle-solving, and so on; it certainly won't be considered a trendsetter like the 1992 classic. Still, the amount of goodwill wedded to its brighter qualities makes for something that dawdles the line between unfortunately-flawed and impressively-enticing."
The new Alone in the Dark remake doesn't do anything especially noteworthy, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's just... cromulent.
wii laughing straight to the bank.. 08 is going to be massive with major exclusive and announcements.. patcher is right.. i expect wii to sell almost double what xbox 360 and ps3 does throughout the whole year
The wii only had 1 good game in 2007. How is that a good year?
great nice to see the wii still alive and kicking with great games in 08- i really want to play SSBB and dragon quest swords
Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, and SSBB will be a pretty good trio, not as good as Mario, Zelda, Metroid, but still pretty good. That is IF Animal Crossing comes out this year, if not, next winter will be pretty cold for Nintendo.
And why the hell is Chun Li golfing!? Crossovers keep getting more bizarre by the second.
SSBB, DQ:swords, Mario Kart, No More Heroes, maybe Okami(have the ps2 one) and possibly TOS2(which didn't get get mentioned on ign 08 preview) are the only games i would pick up, the other games are blah. Other than Nintendo games and most likely DQ, FF and maybe TOS2 doing well in japan i don't see third party games doing that well in 08 especially when casual gamers won't pick up maybe one or two games this whole year which are usually games like wii play or some party game. True its hard not to believe that the Wii will be the top selling console worldwide in 08, it just seems the games looks kinda weak except for a couple games . I expect big things announced at e3(hopefully no more stupid add-ons or stupid peripherals) and some huge games being announced for the holiday seasons. And for god sakes don't delay SSBB any longer that game is one of the reasons I got a Wii. and after beating Zelda, Metroid, SMG, and Zack and Wiki my Wii barely gets played unless people are over here. So Nintendo bring the games and bring them soon with out delays.