Nintendo dates DS, Wii games

In March, Nintendo of America's vocal CEO Reggie Fils-Aime shifted the company's hype machine up a gear, saying "what we announce during [the E3 Media & Business Summit] is going to be fantastic." Giving breathing room to whatever reveal(s) that may be, the publisher today dated and confirmed for North America a number of previously announced Wii and DS games.

As revealed yesterday in Nintendo Europe's lineup dispatch, Wario Land is being revived after laying dormant since 2001's Wario Land 4 for the Game Boy Advance. Available for the Wii on September 29, Wario Land: Shake It! continues with the franchise's side-scrolling platformer gameplay. Players will be able follow the game title's advice and shake it to attack enemies, open loot, and create earthquakes.

Also a revival of sorts, Kirby Super Star Ultra is a DS remake of the Super Nintendo platformer of the same name, originally released in 1996. In addition to revamped visuals and cutscenes, Kirby Super Star Ultra offers a variety of new modes, including Revenge of the King, Meta Knight Ultra, and three minigame challenges that support multiplayer gaming for up to four. The game will be released alongside Wario Land on September 29.

Joining Kirby and Wario in the ninth month of the year, Big Fish Games' Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir will be released for the DS on September 8. Previously a PC staple, this latest Mystery Case Files offers the classic puzzle-solving adventure gameplay, in which players will become private dicks to sleuth out the heir to a million-dollar estate. Puzzles will require both touch-screen and microphone interaction, and, in a first for the series, the game will include a multiplayer mode.

Lastly, Nintendo has dated Mario Super Sluggers on the Wii for August 25. First shown stateside in April, Mario Super Sluggers is a sequel to 2005's Mario Superstar Baseball for the GameCube, and features the mighty, mustachioed plumber and more than 30 of his Mushroom Kingdom crew taking to the diamond for power-up fueled stickball. Expanding on Wii Sports' swing mechanic, players will also be able to take the mound and mimic pitching the ball using the Wii Remote.