E3 06: Midway Blitzes E3 with Wii games
Next-gen Blitz: The League heads to 360, Wii, PSP; Nintendo's new console also finds inner child with Happy Feet, Ant Bully.
Earlier this year, Midway held an event in Hollywood showcasing its upcoming lineup of games for 2006. Shown off was the company's new slate of next-gen games, including Unreal Tournament 2007 and John Woo Presents Stranglehold, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that the Chicago-based publisher had more up its sleeve.
Today the company revealed its E3 lineup, and lo and behold, there were a few surprises mixed into what was previously announced.
The biggest bit of news from Midway's lineup tackles next-gen sports fans. Blitz: The League, the infamous nonlicensed, over-the-top football game that was a surprise hit in 2005, is coming to the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation Portable. Midway released only a vague description of the game, which sounds eerily similar to the current-gen version. Gamers will have to wait until E3 to find out if it's a straight port or if it will include new gameplay and features.
That's not all for the Wii. Midway has been very active in trying to tap into the children's market and has secured licenses for games based on two upcoming Warner Bros. computer-animated movies, The Ant Bully and Happy Feet. Both games will appear on the Wii, with The Ant Bully also in the works for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and PC and with Happy Feet also dancing onto the PS2, GameCube, GBA, DS, and PC.
Midway's two previously announced next-gen games will also appear at E3 in some form; however, it's still not clear when they'll hit shelves. The three versions of Stranglehold (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC) are now set for a "Winter 2006" release period, which likely means that the company is pushing for a release sometime during the all-important holiday shopping season. Unfortunately for first-person shooter fans, Unreal Tournament 2007 for the PS3 and PC, which gamers hoped to see sometime in 2006, was noticeably missing any release period.
The full list of Midway's E3 games with the latest release dates are below:
Blitz: The League - Xbox 360, Wii, PSP (October 2006)
John Woo Presents Stranglehold - PS3, Xbox 360, PC (Winter 2006)
Unreal Tournament 2007 - PS3, PC
Happy Feet - PS2, GameCube, Wii, GBA, PC, DS (November 2006)
The Ant Bully - PS2, GameCube, GBA, PC (July 2006), Wii (November 2006)
Mortal Kombat Armageddon - PS2, Xbox (October 2006)
Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run - PS2, Xbox (September 2006)
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar - PC
Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War - PC (June 2006)
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy - PS2, GameCube, GBA (November 2006)
MLB SlugFest 2006 - PS2, Xbox (May 2006)
RUSH - PSP (September 2006)
Mortal Kombat: Unchained - PSP (September 2006)
NBA Ballers: Rebound - PSP (May 2006)
im wondering how the theyre gonna do the online play on the Wii, sorry i dont kow whether the Wii has online or not i dont like Nintendo stuff, but is cool how its coming on the PSP
Blitz on Wii and PSP. OH YEA BABY!!!!
Where's the TNA wrestling Game they could at least show us some screens
Were is Ultimate Mortal Kombat for XBLA!!!!???
Alright, Inspector Tequila is back! Also the Wii is finally getting more support. Way to go Midway.
I heard also that they're releasing stranglehold for the "wii".
Intersting list...only things which really excite me are Strangehold and Armageddon. All the Wii hype still hasn't kicked in for me and i dont expect it too right now.
Blitz isn't very good. It could beat Madden for the 360 since it stunk so bad. I want more Mortal Kombat for the 360!!!
Wii like getting so many Wii games. Wii hope Wii'll be getting many more. It sounds like Wii'll be buying a Wii and an Xbox 360 for the games that are too graphics intensive for the Wii. PS3 will be too expensive for me, sounds like. However, it sounds like Xbox 360 is getting more exclusives anyway, and sounds like it will be getting most of the good ports as well. I can live without UT 2007 and the new Metal Gear Solid 4. MGS4 will suck to not be able to play, but I'm sure I'll get over it.
i never cared much for blitz....so ...... meh.
OMG Stranglehold is coming out faster then they said it would come out :D cant wait for this game,its going to be so good think about the Online modes people be sliding and hiding behind sofa's etc counter's desks and u can blow everything up
Wii is getting alot of ports
will the new blitz for the wii have more or less features than the new madden coming out on the wii
More and more Wii games... but "Happy Feet"? Is that coming from the film-makers that brought us such amazing crap as "Hoodwinked" and "Doogle"?
Even if Blitz is a straight port, I'm buyin it. It's about time that I can play a good football game on the 360. Madden's too hard.
for the wii.....
Wii getting more love, with Blitz The League.
"That is one impressive list of games right there.... but I'm sad to see that UT2k7 isn't coming out this year. " o_0, theres no release date listed for UT 07'...
sweet blitz for the 360 will be sick
um...Wii is getting some movie games and a sports game. Wiihoo. Not to say that i wont buy one at launch, but this isn't all that exciting.
That is one impressive list of games right there.... but I'm sad to see that UT2k7 isn't coming out this year. :(
Gives credence to the rumour that Wii will be released in late september/early october time
UT 07' is a PC & PS3 console exclusive only because Epic is already releasing Gears of War as a 360 console exclusive. Their both from the same publisher so it makes sense to release them in different systems. If they release them both on the same systems then one game will outsell the other, as their both releasing quite close together. Business sense people.
The only good game on that list is Unreal Tournament 2007!
It's good to see more support for the Wii... now that EA has announced a Madden game for the Wii, let's se how well the guys at Midway can use the controller.
You would think Unreal 07 would be on 360 also. How stupid of Midway and Epic, oh well at least Epic was smart and made what looks to be the better game for 360. GEARS OF WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!
I might just get these games...the football ones...even though I don't really like football games.
Please take MK:Armageddon to the next gen like Blitz...
MLB SlugFest 2006 - PS2, Xbox (May 2006) How can that be possible -- Take Two has exclusive 3rd party MLB rights, do they not?
Midway is the BEST!
that freekin sucks no ut 07 this year
More Wii support is always good. I wonder how the Wii version of Blitz will compare to the Madden one.
great...more Wii support ^^
interesting but this is not suprise
I hope the games for the Wii aren't just simple things with the controller.
Nothing beats calling someone an idiot, and using bad grammar to do so. Next time, give "you're an idiot" a shot. If I had to guess about this UT2007 thing, I'd venture to say that Sony shelled out big time for exclusivity. And this 3rd party support for Wii thing is reminiscent of Japanese support for the XBox 360. Fantastic in theory, but we'll have to wait and see what it means in practice.
Blitz for the PSP that is cool wonder if the Wii one will be any good. I do have to say korn18m is right the first Xbox has a lot more better FPS games not just the Halo games. I think in time the 360 could see better ones but if Halo 3 turns out like Halo 2 then that stinks. Halo one was so much better even without holding two guns and jumping on another player vehicle. I am also not saying Halo 2 was bad just not as fun as the first.Plus the story was more in depth then the second.
I'm not saying that won't change, because it will, but as of right now the Xbox is better. Just calling it like I see it.
sicone111, I'm an idiot? Looking at the games listed in your profile that you own, you don't even own a regular Xbox game. How can you judge a systems games when you haven't played them? You are just mad that you are wasting so much money on crappy games, when you could get cheaper, and more fun games on Xbox.
Unreal is still only PS3/PC (was hoping to get on 360 but the PS3 will do) Mortal Kombat should have also gone next-gen (they took too long to get MK on PS2/Xbox last generation as well).
UT2007 needs to come to xbox360 , you can email and beg mrein@epicgames.com if you want!
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danmp18 wrote: Anyone else think its strange that Unreal Tournament 2007 isn't coming out for the 360? It is the premier console for online 1st person shooters. Are Midway and Epic being stupid? _____________________________________________________________ Really? I thought the regular Xbox is the "premier console for online 1st person shooters." Atleast in my opinion it is. Many more online shooters, and better online shooters on the Xbox than the 360. Eventually Xbox will lose its place as the best console for online shooters, but not yet, and we don't know what will replace it as number 1. The 360 could end up replacing the Xbox as #1, or PS3 could end up with some great online 1st person shooters that people can't resist, or Rev might just take the number 1 spot because of the quickness of being able to aim with their remote. Maybe Midway and Epic are being stupid, maybe not. But one thing is for sure, you are being stupid with your ignorance. What 360 1st person shooters are "great" online, and not just "good" online? 360 FPS online doesn't come close to comparing to Xbox FPS online yet.
Don't worry.... tis but a Wii blitz... it won't hurt
Anyone else think its strange that Unreal Tournament 2007 isn't coming out for the 360? It is the premier console for online 1st person shooters. Are Midway and Epic being stupid?
I find that odd also...maybe the new blitz will be what replaces UT2k7 for the 360 and vise versa for the PS3.
Great. Yet another company making mention of Wii as the platform on which to focus their children's market. Nintendo, please have one awesome media briefing. Please.
UT 07 will suck and probably bomb on PS3, just like UT did on PS2 at launch. With that terrible controller, it'll be terrible, unless Sony allows people to use a mouse and keyboard. It's surprising to see it not going to 360 though.
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Why would they make a GC and Rev version of Ant Bully? They could just release a GC version with Rev control on the disc, so that when it is played in the Rev it's compatible with the controller. It would save them time, and money, and would be out sooner, and would avoid having to have 2 seperate advertising campaigns and 2 seperate retail packages.
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