Europe to get 27 Wii titles this year

Nintendo has announced that 27 Wii games will be released in Europe by the end of the year, with a further 31 retro titles available via the Virtual Console service.

The Wii will launch here on December 8 alongside first-party titles such as Wii Sports, which comes bundled with the console, Wii Play and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Electronic Arts's launch day games will be Madden NFL 07 and Need for Speed Carbon, while THQ is promising Cars, Barnyard and Spongebob Squarepants: Creature from the Krusty Krab.

From Activision there's Call of Duty 3, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, and Midway will offer Happy Feet and Rampage: Total Destruction. Sega will release just one launch day title - Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz - while from System 3 there's Gottlieb Pinball Classics and Super Fruit Fall.

Ubisoft is the most prolific supporter of the Wii at launch, with no less than eight titles slated for release - Blazing Angels, Far Cry Vengeance, GT Pro Series, Monster 4x4 World Circuit, Open Season, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Red Steel and Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

Later on in December, System 3 will release three more Wii titles - Impossible Mission, Leaderboard Golf and Tennis Masters. January will see WarioWare: Smooth Moves hit the shops, while Excite Truck will follow in February.

The Wii will retail for GBP 179 / EUR 249, and first-party games will cost between EUR 49 - 59 or GBP 34 - 39.

Nintendo has also confirmed that December will see the release of 31 games for the European version of the Wii's Virtual Console. NES titles already lined up include Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros., Solomon's Key, The Legend of Zelda, Urban Champion and Wario's Woods, plus sports titles Baseball, Pinball, Soccer, Tennis and Ice Hockey.

SNES classics Donkey Kong Country, F-Zero and Sim City will also be on offer, along with N64 favourite Super Mario 64.

Sega's European VC line-up includes Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Columns and Gunstar Heroes, plus Ecco the Dolphin, Space Harrier II, Toe Jam and Earl, Ristar and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.

Hudson is planning to release five Turbografx titles - Bonk's Adventure, Super Star Soldier, Victory Run, Bomberman '93 and Dungeon Explorer.

NES games will retail for 500 Wii Points (around EUR 5), while Turbografx titles will cost 600 points. SNES and Mega Drive games are priced at 800 points, and N64 titles are the most expensive at 1000 points.

The Virtual Console games are saved on the Wii's internal flash memory and added to the Channel menu so users can get easy access. Nintendo has pledged to add more titles to the catalogue in 2007 "and beyond, creating a constantly growing library of games".