For some time now, the Nintendo Wii has been dismissed as being a toy and a gimmick that does not have the operating power needed to support “real games.”

With the console now being the best sold of its generation, developers and publishers are beginning to shift their position and a lot of so-called hardcore franchises are beginning to get Wii ports that are more than just dumbed down versions of what the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 from Sony are getting. This is a challenge because of the inherent limitations of the device but also because of the unique demographic profile of the gamers that use it.

Codemasters is one of those companies and it aims to bring the next installment in its long-running rally franchise to the Nintendo gaming console. Colin McRae: DiRT 2 was shown as being finished at E3 but only recently has the publisher revealed the first screenshots of the game running on the Wii. The title is set to arrive during the month of September and can be enjoyed on the PC, the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable.

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 should offer nine locations, all of them taken from the regular program of the World Rally Championship. Players will be able to race on ice in Finland while also experiencing more regular racing on normal roads. There are 40 races that players might attempt to beat and all of them can be tackled both via a full career mode and via a more forgiving arcade mode.

The Colin McRae series is well known for sticking close to reality in its simulation and Codemasters needs to balance its own tendency towards realism with the need to offer Wii gamers an easy to pick up and play experience.