Excite Truck

20th Dec, 2007 Gaming is an up and down experience. Some years cram top quality titles into our every orifice until were bursting with videogame joy and have excess polygons dripping messily out of our ears, while some other years… Well, some other years are 1983. In 2007 though, weve had a very good year indeed. A scarily good year in fact. One which has provided us so much brilliance on every format that its a genuine worry that the laws of karmic balance will soon bring us a plague

For the late-comers, Japanese magazine Famitsu has four editors award points on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the best. Here's this week's: Bionicle Heroes (PS2) - 6, 6, 6, 5 Shining Force Ikusa (PS2) - 9, 9, 8, 9 .hack//G.U. Vol. 3 (PS2) - 8, 7, 8, 8 Dragon Shadow Spell (PS2) - 8, 8, 8, 8 Meitantei Evangelion (PS2) - 6, 6, 6, 4 Excite Truck (Wii) - 8, 8, 7, 8 Gears of War (Xbox 360) - 10, 9, 9, 9 The Sims 2 (PSP) - 6, 6, 5, 5 FIFA 07 (PSP) - 7, 7, 7, 7 Mahha Combat Heroes (PSP) - 8, 7, 8, 7 Sekaiju no Meikyu (DS) - 8, 8, 8, 8 Ochaken no Heya DS 2 (DS) - 8, 7, 6, 8 Wario: Master of Disguise (DS) - 8, 7, 7, 7

Hot on the heels of the European launch of the Wii, when Nintendo shifted some 325,000 units over the first two days, the company has announced the first post-launch wave of new releases for the system. The 26 Wii games Nintendo expects to ship in the first quarter of 2007 include WarioWare: Smooth Moves on January 12, Excite Truck on February 16, Kororinpa on February 23, and Mario Party 8 in March. The Nintendo DS will be getting a massive 67 titles added to its European library over the first three months of next year, including Children of Mana on January 12, Star Fox Command on January 26, Actionloop on January 26, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All, as yet undated but due sometime in the first quarter. Nintendo has not yet listed the GameCube and GBA release dates. The full release schedule for the Wii and DS follows...

Nintendo have revealed dates for two of its first-party titles in Europe. Both Wario Ware: Smooth Moves and Excite Truck now have European release dates after both games were seen at the Japanese and USA launch respectively, but missing for the Wii launch in Europe. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves will be one of the top Wii titles to own in the post-Christmas period with a release penned in for 12th January, far earlier than expected. Meanwhile if you want to play the Wii's first driving game, Excite Truck will be released on February 16th.

Nintendo's Wii is set to arrive this Sunday on November 19. The Wii launch will have 28 retail games available including The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Red Steel, Madden NFL 07, Need for Speed Carbon, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Metal Slug Anthology, Excite Truck. Also available are 30 so-called Virtual Console games [NES, Turbografx-16, Genesis, SNES, and N64] from Nintendo's online store. These downloadable classic games include Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, Toe Jam & Earl, Gunstar Heroes, Bomberman '93, Bonk's Adventure, F-Zero, SimCity, Super Mario 64.

And here's Best Buy's list of expected Wii games and when they should hit the store: Wii-Avatar: The Last Airbender 8130667 E10+ $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Call of Duty 3 8030329 T $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Cars 7918266 E $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 2 8147427 T $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Excite Truck 7917463 E $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy 8131078 E10+ $49.99 Nov. 14 Wii-Gt Pro Series 8140665 E $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Happy Feet 8147524 E $49.99 Nov. 14 Wii-Madden NFL '07 7917169 E $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Marvel Ultimate Alliance 7917427 T $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Metal Slug Anthology 7918239 T $39.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Monster 4x4: World Circuit 8140745 E $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Open Season 8141496 E10+ $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Rampage Total Destruction 8131032 E10+ $29.99 Nov. 14 Wii-Rapala Trophies 8130907 E $39.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Rayman Raving Rabbids 7917481 E $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Red Steel 7849876 T $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Splinter Cell Double Agent 8141263 M $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Spongebob: Creature From The Krusty Krab 7918328 E $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz 7917515 E $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-The Barnyard 8130603 E10+ $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess 7917132 T $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam 7918186 E $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-Trauma Center 7918195 T $49.99 Nov. 15 Wii-World Series of Poker TOC 8138142 T $39.99 Nov. 15 Hit the jump for the accessory list

While you would-be European Wii purchasers out there will get a bonus game that we in the states will not be seeing, a party game called Wii Play, you're going to have to make due without Excite Truck, as it's not scheduled for European release until February.

The PS3 could launch with 24 titles and Wii with 30 titles according to new documents detailing the two companies' plans. PlayStation 3 Resistance: Fall of Man - Sony Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom - Sony Genji: Days of the Blade - Sony Gran Turismo HD - Sony NBA 07 - Sony Call of Duty 3 - Activision (600,000) Marvel Ultimate Alliance - Activision (300,000) Tony Hawk's Project 8 - Activision (300,000) Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Bethesda Softworks Fight Night 3 - Electronic Arts (400,000) Madden NFL 07 - Electronic Arts (700,000) NBA Live 07 - Electronic Arts (500,000) Need for Speed Carbon - Electronic Arts (800,000) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 - Electronic Arts (400,000) Mobile Suit Gundam: Target In Sight - Namco Bandai Ninja Gaiden Sigma - Namco Bandai Ridge Racer 7 - Namco Bandai Full Auto 2: Battlelines - Sega Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega NBA 2K7 - Take-Two Interactive (400,000) NHL 2K7 - Take-Two Interactive (200,000) Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII - Ubisoft Rainbow Six: Vegas - Ubisoft F.E.A.R. - Vivendi NINTENDO Wii Wii Sports (bundled with hardware) - Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Nintendo Excite Truck - Nintendo Call of Duty 3 - Activision (200,000) Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Activision (200,000) Rapala Tournament Fishing ¿ Activision (50,000) Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam - Activision (300,000) World Series of Poker - Activision (50,000) Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 - Atari (200,000) Trauma Center: Second Opinion - Atlus Madden NFL 07 - Electronic Arts (500,000) Need for Speed: Carbon - Electronic Arts (500,000) Elebits - Konami The Ant Bully - Midway m (100,000) The Grim Adventure...

US magazine Nintendo power claims that the Wii will launch with just 6 games later this year, They are Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Red Steel, Monkey Ball, Dragon Quest and Rayman. It seems strange that if this were true, Nintendo would release without Mario or Wii sports and I would expect that Tony Hawks and Madden 07 would also be launch titles along with excite truck.

If there's one type of gaming that truly benefits from Wii's sensory-overload controller, it's the racing genre. Instead of holding the wand like a pointer, you use both hands to position it horizontally - like a steering wheel. Everyone, in theory, knows how to drive using a wheel. This makes Excite Truck all the easier to play, and its accessibility is only enhanced by its amazing simplicity. For E3, Nintendo had two levels to try out, one tropical and another an arid desert. Regardless of