Nintendo has updated 22 games at their official website that will serve as the Wii U launch titles expected to be available to purchase when the system arrives in stores on November 18, 2012. They haven’t issued a formal press release stating these are the games to look out for. If they aren’t, then why bother printing release dates on the official website?
These titles first appeared with a November 18 release date on the official Nintendo website a few days after Nintendo announced the console’s release date. Most of them were expected to appear either at or just after launch considering final cover art was officially released, so little seen in the list below should come as a surprise. Due to the uncertainty of software availability on launch dates, some games could appear in stores before November 18 and some just after.
However, despite the number of obvious choices, noticeably absent from the list is Pikmin 3, the first new Wii U title unveiled at E3 this past summer. In fact, Pikmin 3 isn’t expected in stores until the first quarter of 2013. Don’t worry; as the following list shows, there’s a little something to keep all demographics of early Wii U adopters busy over the Thanksgiving break. Don’t you find it odd that Ubisoft has 7 games ready for launch and Nintendo only 2?
- Assassin’s Creed 3 (Ubisoft)
- Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition (WBIE)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Activision)
- Darksiders 2 (THQ)
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (Disney)
- ESPN: Sports Connection (Ubisoft, formerly Sports Connection)
- Game Party Champions (WBIE)
- Just Dance 4 (Ubisoft)
- Madden NFL 13 (EA Sports)
- Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth (Ubisoft)
- Mass Effect 3: Special Edition (EA)
- NBA 2K13 (2K Sports)
- New Super Mario Bros. U (Nintendo)
- Nintendo Land (Nintendo)
- Rabbids Land (Ubisoft)
- Rayman Legends (Ubisoft)
- Scribblenanuts Unlimited (WBIE)
- Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed (SEGA)
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Namco Bandai)
- Transformers Prime (Activision)
- Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013 (Ubisoft)
- ZombiU (Ubisoft)
Here are the remaining Wii U games that are expected to be in stores before the calendar flips to 2013.
- Ben 10: Omniverse
- Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
- Funk Barn
- Jeopardy!
- Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge
- Rise of the Guardians
- Sing Party
- Skylanders Giants
- Tank! Tank! Tank!
- Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
- Wheel of Fortune
You can pretty much figure Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U and ZombieU will be the three top selling launch games. I know I plan on owning all three.
