Nintendo's Big Secret

Luigi’s Mansion 2
Probability: More than likely at some point

What is it?
Using the Poltergust 3000 - a souped-up vaccum cleaner - Luigi proves he ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts, by traversing a haunted mansion in search of his more famous brother. As one of the first GameCube launch titles, LM1 sold an ungodly amount of copies to thrust the green-capped one in the limelight. A Wii sequel seems completely warranted in this case and we’re surprised we haven’t heard anything yet.

If we designed the sequel, we want an even spookier mansion to play with. We want ghosts and Big Boos scaring us sideways. We’d also want to split our time between first and third-person modes, with first-person playing just like Elebits for the ghost trapping segments. Hell, throw Waluigi in there as the antagonist because that guy needs a backstory of some sort. So long as LM2 lasts at least double the first game’s obscenely short play time, we’ll be happy.

Likely?
Kind of. Nintendo has few seriously strong franchise players… and they’ve all been released. Judging by the roughly2.5 million copies of LM1 sold, we would suspect people would jump all over a sequel. Throw in a four-player ghost trapping mode and you have the casual-family thing down. Hell, we suspect Nintendo would bundle a flashlight peripheral if they really felt it was worth it. Also, a Luigi’s Mansion level was included in Smash Bros. Brawl. Could an announcement be far behind?

Kirby Wii
Probability: Announced!


Above: Actual screenshot from the cancelled GameCube version

What is it?
Our favorite pink ball of sass sucks up enemies and steals their powers. Also: he can float and is known to get scrappy with a sword. Starring in games dating back to the original GameBoy, Kirby is beloved by fans all over the world. His games are better known for being traditional platformers - something we hope will carry over to the Wii.


Above: Apparently totem pole mechanics were originally planned

Likely?
Look, we know it’s coming. Kirby was shown in aseemingly far-along stateback at E3 2005, when it was supposed to come to the GameCube. Since then it was scrapped and saved for the Wii. Developed by HAL Laboratory - makers of all things Smash Bros. - Kirby looks suspiciously like Brawl’s Subspace Emissary mode if that trailer from three years ago is anything to go by. Also, according toa post by Kotaku just four months ago, Nintendo’s financial reports indicate that Kirby is on track for a 2008 release in Japan. One need look only to Smash Bros. Brawl’s inclusion of regular Kirby enemies, Meta Knight and King DeDeDe as playable characters for further hints.