Mini games for the masses

May 10, 2010 20:21 GMT  ·  By

Nintendo has officially announced that its next big attempt at creating a million selling blockbuster is called Wii Party, a title using the player made Mii avatars and delivering a wide array of mini games, which can be enjoyed both solo and in multiplayer. It seems that the launch date for Wii Party is set for this fall and the Japanese giant will probably show more of the videogame at the upcoming E3 trade show.

Wii Party is the direct successor to the original Wii Sports, which launched with the Nintendo Wii, showcasing its motion tracking capabilities, Wii Fit, which introduced the Balance Board and spawned a lot of copycats, Wii Sports Resort, that introed the Wii Motion Plus, Wii Fit Plus and Wii Music.

The company said that more than 160 million Mii avatars had been created since it introduced them and that players would be able to use their full collection in Wii Party. Nintendo must be hoping that those who picked up the abovementioned titles will be itching for a new Nintendo first party title on Christmas time, making Wii Party a must-have party title.

The initial announcement showed off such mini games as bingo, dice and roulette, something called Balance Ship and Mii Alignment. It will be interesting to see whether the new games need the Wii Motion Plus in order to be played, considering the maker has begun bundling the add-on with the console in North America.

Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, stated, “We are developing this game with the aim to make it a marquee party game for Wii. The developers are spending significant time for this title so that they can include elements that are must-haves in a party game as well as making sure that adequate volume of game play are available.”