Nintendo Announces 2009 First Quarter Line Up

Nintendo of America has just released to the press a list of videogames for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS it plans to launch in the first quarter of 2009. The most important properties that the company is releasing are Pokemon Platinum for the Nintendo DS handheld, arriving in North America on March 22, 2009, and Pikmin for the Nintendo Wii, which is also set to come in March.

Cammie Dunaway, who is the vice president of the Sales & Marketing division of Nintendo of America, stated that "Our fans expect a diverse selection of entertainment options, and we're eager to deliver exactly that. We're building on the momentum of a strong holiday season by offering new and experienced players an even greater library of game titles in 2009."

Pokemon Platinum is set to offer a compelling story and new, very powerful Pokemon forms, like Giratina's Origin Forme, and the mysterious Distortion World. The game will allow 20 players to interact with one another using the all new Wi-Fi Plaza. The DS also receives a new entry in the Personal Trainer series, centered on learning Math, and a fresh Fire Emblem game, called Shadow Dragon.

Meanwhile, the Wii is getting remakes of old GameCube games like Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis. The Wiimote will be used to enhance the player experience and make sure that the game proves more fun than before.

Big third party games include Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time from Square Enix, which comes to the Wii and the DS, while SEGA is getting ready to release Madworld and Rockstar is preparing GTA: Chinatown Wars. Electronic Arts is also readying NASCAR Kart Racing for February 10, while D3Publisher is releasing Puzzle Quest: Galactrix for the Nintendo DS. A Jagged Alliance port from Empire Interactive is also coming on February 17.