Much of the focus of Nintendo's press events today was on the Wii's launch date and price, but as the company's mantra states, it's all about the games. Nintendo says there will be 30 games available for the console in North America by the end of the calendar year, with approximately two-dozen games ready at launch.

　　Nintendo listed off its confirmed first-party titles but did not specify when most of the games would be in stores. Excite Truck, Wii Sports (included with the system), and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess were confirmed for launch day during the press event in New York City, but some others, such as Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, won't arrive until 2007.

　　Outside of the Mario house, the company says 41 third-party games from 14 different publishers will be available between launch and March 31, 2007. Ubisoft leads the pack with 10 games for the system through the end of March, including the recently revealed Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell Double Agent. Electronic Arts, Midway Games, and Activision all follow with five.

　　While the dozens of games bode well for future Wii owners, there were a few omissions that leave some question marks. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was nowhere to be seen, nor was Midway's Blitz: The League--further fueling the fire that the latter game has been canceled.

　　The rest of the launch lineup is expected to be whittled down in the coming months.

　　FIRST-PARTY US WII TITLES

　　(confirm launch titles in bold)

　　Battalion Wars II

　　Big Brain Academy (temporary name)

　　Excite Truck

　　The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

　　Mario Strikers Charged

　　Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

　　Super Mario Galaxy (temporary name)

　　WarioWare: Smooth Moves

　　Wii Sports (bundled with the Wii console)

　　THIRD-PARTY US WII TITLES DUE BY MARCH 2007

　　(confirmed launch titles in bold)

　　Activision

　　Call of Duty 3

　　Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

　　Rapala Tournament Fishing

　　Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam

　　World Series of Poker

　　Atari

　　Dragon Ball Z Budokai: Tenkaichi 2

　　Atlus

　　Trauma Center: Second Opinion

　　Buena Vista Games

　　Chicken Little: Ace in Action

　　Disney's Meet the Robinsons

　　Codemasters

　　Dance Factory

　　Sidewinder

　　EA

　　The Godfather

　　Madden NFL 07

　　Need for Speed: Carbon

　　SSX

　　Tiger Woods PGA Tour

　　Konami

　　Elebits

　　Majesco

　　Bust-A-Move Revolution

　　Midway

　　The Ant Bully

　　The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy

　　Happy Feet

　　Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

　　Rampage: Total Destruction

　　[Missing and presumed canceled--Blitz: The League]

　　Sega

　　Sonic and the Secret Rings

　　Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

　　SNK

　　Metal Slug Anthology

　　THQ

　　Avatar: The Last Airbender

　　Barnyard

　　Cars

　　SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab

　　Ubisoft

　　Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII

　　Far Cry: Vengeance

　　GT Pro Series

　　Monster 4x4: World Circuit

　　Open Season

　　Prince of Persia (working title)

　　Rayman Raving Rabbids

　　Red Steel

　　Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

　　Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent

　　Vivendi Games

　　Ice Age 2: The Meltdown