Wii Sports led to Wii Play. Wii Play brought us to Wii Fit, then Wii Music. The next major Wii-branded game from Nintendo is also a Mario Party successor. Ready for Wii Party?
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed the new game in a presentation to investors this week as part of a show of confidence about Nintendo's upcoming game line-up. The user-made avatars for the Wii, your Miis, will be the stars of this party game.
"As you know, 'Wii something' are the titles that we use only with software that Nintendo has developed exclusively for Wii with the aim to make them marquee titles for Wii," Iwata said. "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. We are developing it with the intent that every Wii player will be able to find a game that can be enjoyed. In a game play mode called 'Living Party,' there are unique game play only available with the Wii Remote."
Iwata boasted that some 160-million Miis have been created by Wii owners in the U.S., Japan and parts of Europe, making it "a natural move for your Miis and your friends' and family members' Miis to show up in a Wii party games."
Iwata referred to Wii Party as the company's first "marquee party game" since 2007's Mario Party 8. He said the game will be out during Nintendo's current financial year, which ends on March 31, 2010. We're checking with Nintendo of America to see if the game will be coming to the U.S.
Update: Nintendo of America tells Kotaku "we're not making any further announcements other than what NCL announced in Japan."
Translation of the above Wii Party menu by Kotaku:
Red bar: "Standard Party For 1-4 Players"
Red bar images: Sugoroku, "International Vacation Game", "Mii-jyan", Roulette, Bingo
Orange bar: "Pair Game Recommended for 2 players"
Orange bar images: Compatibility Check, Balance Ship, Match Mii
Green box: "Living Party"
Bottom row of icons: "Ask for a recommendation", "See the records/high scores", "Play mini-games"