Activision commits to Wii, PS3 launch lineups

While Nintendo and Sony may be holding their cards close to the vest when it comes to which games will arrive on store shelves alongside their new systems, Activision CEO Robert Kotick has detailed which games his company will have on shelves alongside the new systems.

In a presentation to the Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment Conference yesterday, Kotick said that Activision would have three games for each of the new systems, calling it, "the largest launch lineup that we've had in the history of our company."

When the PlayStation 3 launches November 17 in the US, it will be supported by Call of Duty 3, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Tony Hawk's Project 8. Wii gamers will get a similar array of games, with Call of Duty 3, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, according to Kotick.

Kotick said that the largest launch lineup in Activision history would be followed by the largest lineup of games in a single year for the company, mentioning some unannounced--but hardly surprising--titles.

"When you look out at our fiscal '08 titles, this is the largest in the history of our company," Kotick said, "starting with our June quarter, with Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Transformers, later in the year new releases [of] Call of Duty, Tony Hawk Next, The Bee Movie, a Marvel title, a new Guitar Hero, and more to come."

While it's impossible to pin down exactly which Marvel property that title will be based on, it's almost certainly not going to be Iron Man. While the golden Avenger has a feature film scheduled to hit theaters in 2008, Activision confirmed in July that it had parted ways with the license.

As for Guitar Hero, Activision made no secret of its intent to extend the franchise when it purchased developer RedOctane for nearly $100 million. Last month saw reports that the publisher was working on not just one, but as many as four new games in the series.

[UPDATE] An Activision representative confirmed the company's launch plans for GameSpot, and added a couple more titles to its Wii lineup. When Nintendo's new system launches, the Activision Value brand will also have Rapala's Tournament Fishing and World Series of Poker on store shelves alongside the new hardware. The representative also noted that Tony Hawk Next is still a working title for the game.