2007
From the Nintendo Wiki, your gateway to information on everything Nintendo
2007 is a year that features major games such as Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and others.
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[edit] Nintendo
Months before 2007 began, the Wii was released and became an astounding success. On the 23rd of January Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime explains how he was shocked just how successful the Wii has become. That same month Nintendo released the popular Hotel Dusk: Room 215, which would go on to earn near perfect scores across the board. The game is the spiritual successor to Trace Memory, being made by the same developers and featuring similar gameplay.
Next month in February Nintendo would release their final published Game Boy Advance video game: Final Fantasy VI Advance. While it marked the end of the GBA's life, February also marked the beginning of another: the Wii Play craze. The game had already been released elsewhere, though upon being released in America Wii Play would become one of the most successful video games of all time, still soaring at the top of the charts years after its release. In March, not too many hits were released. Nintendo didn't deliver anything in the way of Wii, though for the Nintendo DS they released Wario: Master of Disguise and Custom Robo Arena. While this month didn't deliver super sellers, it did come with the announcement of a title that no one would've expected 10 or even 5 years ago: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for both Wii and DS. The first appearance of Mario and Sonic together would be met with commercial success when it was released later in 2007. The next month, however, would offer two fantastic titles for both formats.
In April Nintendo released Super Paper Mario for Wii on the ninth. The game was the third in the Paper Mario series and featured radically different gameplay, being a mix of a platformer and an RPG rather than exclusively featuring mechanics that are usually found in the latter. The game ended up being the most successful game in the series, though its sells were nothing compared to Nintendo's next juggernaut released that month: Pokémon Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo DS. The games, which marked the beginning of the fourth Pokémon generation, sold millions upon millions when it was released, and continued to sell before being succeeded by Pokémon Platinum in late 2008 (early 2009 in America and Europe).
On the ninth of May Nintendo of America moved some of its Redmond, Washington company over to San Fransisco in California. Also this month Nintendo released Mario Party 8 for the Wii, which became one of the most successful game in the series. In June Nintendo released Planet Puzzle League and the Nintendo DS Browser on the fourth, while later in the month they gave Wii gamers Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree and Pokémon Battle Revolution. On the 27th of June Nintendo announces its WiiWare service, which wouldn't start until May of next year. The service would allow gamers to purchase unique titles on the Wii's Shop Channel, similar to what they could do with the Virtual Console.
In July Nintendo gave, on the same day (30th) Mario Strikers Charged for the Wii and Picross DS for the Nintendo DS. In August Nintendo would release the sequel to the ultra popular Brain Age titled Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!. For long-time Nintendo fans, however, Nintendo released Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the final game in the Metroid Prime trilogy. The game would introduce the series to IR pointing and would be welcomed to critical and commercial acclaim. The next month in September Nintendo would only release one title: DK Jungle Climber for the Nintendo DS.
October would offer a more appropriate amount of Nintendo games. On the first of that month Nintendo released the long awaited successor to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker titled The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS. The game featured some of the most engrossing touch screen gameplay offered on the system and would go on to sell millions of copies. The next day Nintendo released Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol! exclusively to Wal-Mart. On the 15th Ninendo gave the more casual players Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day, while on the 29th Nintendo released Battalion Wars 2 for the Wii.
With November Nintendo would release four titles. The first of the four was Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn on the Wii. The game was the sequel to Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, which was released on the GameCube two years prior. Radiant Dawn didn't go on to sell an outstanding amount of copies, though it did do well critically. The next day on the sixth Sega released Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. On the 12th would come the most successful game, critically, of the year: Super Mario Galaxy. The sequel to Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy went on to become the highest rated game of all time when it was released. After a couple weeks it went below The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and in 2008 Grand Theft Auto IV for the PlayStation 3 surpassed it. Later on in the month Nintendo would release Mario Party DS and Master of Illusion, both for the Nintendo DS.
[edit] Important events
- January 23 - Reggie Fils-Aime explains to the gaming world how shocked he is that the Wii is a huge success.
- May 9 - Nintendo of America moves some of its company into San Fran.
- June 19 - Manhunt 2 becomes an AO rated video game.
- July 10th-15th - THe first E3 gaming convention that took place in the Media and Business Summit.
- July 17th - Peter Moore leaves Microsoft and becomes president of EA Sports.
- October 5 - Bungie becomes an independent gaming company and leaves Microsoft.
- October 10 - Monster Hunter 3 merges to the Wii after being killed off on the PS3.
- October 17 - First E For All.
- November 1st - EA closes EA Chicago
- November 30 - Jeff Gerstmann fired from GameStop.
[edit] Merges
- October 11 - EA buys BioWare/Pandemic
- November 7 - Warner buys TT Games
- December 2 - Activision merges with Vivendi
[edit] New companies
- Gamecock, an independent gaming company opens its doors to unique titles for multiple gaming consoles.
[edit] Release Dates
[edit] Japan
| Date | Game | Console |
| April 12 | Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney | DS |
| October 4 | ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat | DS |
[edit] North America / USA
| Date | Game | Console |
| January 9 | Arthur and the Invisibles | DS |
| April 24 | [[Bionicle Heroes] | Wii |
| May 15 | Art of Fighting Anthology | Wii |
| July 24 | Alien Syndrome | Wii |
| October 31 | Dementium: The Ward | DS |
| October 25 | Arctic Tale | Wii, DS, GBA |
| November 20 | AMF Bowling Pinbusters! | Wii |
[edit] Europe
| Date | Game | Console |
| January 12 | Bionicle Heroes | DS |
| March 19 | Alan Hansen's Sports Challenge | Wii |
| May 25 2007 | Bionicle Heroes | Wii |
| June 8 | Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery | DS |
| September 7 | Alien Syndrome | Wii |
| October 26 | Arctic Tale | Wii, DS, GBA |
| December 4 | Alvin and the Chipmunks | Wii, DS |
[edit] Australia
| Date | Game | Console |
| September 13 | Alien Syndrome | Wii |
