Watch It Be Starfox

News came down the pipe yesterday about Nintendo telling Gamestop to keep some shelf space open for a major first-party title at the end of the year.  Good news, considering how sparse the pickin's were on the Wii during the last holiday season.  E3's coming up in June (and Nintendo allegedly plans to have a big presence there this year), so we'll probably get an announcement then, but in the mean time we can speculate.

Obviously it could be something related to the DS or something tied to a new peripheral (although I'd guess that both are unlikely, since the DSi just came out the Wii MotionPlus is due out in June with Wii Sports Resort to follow in July).  So let's assume it's for the Wii and let's assume that it's something unannounced (otherwise, why be vague?)

So what do we know is being worked on?

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - good potential here.  We know the Mario team had reassembled as of E3 '08 and that they had lots of ideas that didn't find their way into the first game.  Additionally, the first Galaxy was a tremendous hit for 2007, so fast-tracking a sequel for holiday '09 release is certainly reasonable, especially since nothing about the game would require any major redesigns.

The Legend of Zelda - likewise from E3 '08, we know the Zelda team has been working, and the franchise has yet to see a true Wii release (Twilight Princess was slated for GameCube originally, but it ran behind schedule and was adapted to become a Wii launch title).  IGN seems to think this is the best bet, but I don't agree (keep in mind, however, my lousy track record when it comes to making predictions).  At E3 '08 they demo'd bits of TP as a first-person hack-and-slash, saying that they were looking for new directions to take the series, and to think that they'd have turned it around by now just doesn't strike me as very realistic.  Those games take a while to develop, especially if they're planning on a ground-up redesign.  Also, they just announced Spirit Boots for the DS, so if this mystery juggernaut WERE a Zelda title, you'd think they'd have announced them both at the same time.

Pikmin 3 - we know it's in the works and the timing would be right, since Pikmin was just re-released for the Wii and Pikmin 2 is soon to follow.  But I don't consider this to be a triple-A franchise.  Much-beloved though it is, its roots only go back to the GameCube.  Consequently...

Kid Icarus Wii - is where I would put my money.  When Pit was added to last year's Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it was a big deal and Nintendo doled out more than a few winks and nudges about maybe possibly seeing more of him.  Also, having hit their primary and now secondary franchises, Nintendo is in dig-up-old-franchises mode (what with Punch-Out Wii releasing in May and the ongoing mad rehashing of GC titles with Wii controls); so I think we'll be seeing a Kid Icarus announcement in June for a release in November.

Of course, there are also undoubtedly things in the works that we don't know about (the "unknown unknowns" to use a Rumsfeld-ism).  It's a little soon to see new additions to the MarioKart or Super Smash Bros. lines, but those games are pretty modular, so turning around a new sequel wouldn't be record breaking.  Although, those two really do live in one-title-per-console land.  Donkey Kong has yet to see a genuine Wii release (unless you count Barrel Blast... and no one does).  Pokemon, WarioWare and Metroid are due for sequels and there've been no rumblings there.  Or hell, it could be a combination.  But I stick with Pit.

I guess we'll find out more in June,

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