Nintendo Aims For 'Marquee Party Game' With Wii Party

Hoping to replicate the success of Wii staples Wii Play, Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, Nintendo has revealed its next "marquee" title will be Wii Party. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who talked about the title with investors as part of the company's first quarter results presentation, said that like the other "Wii something" titles, Wii Party will star user-created Mii avatars as its playable characters. "We are developing this game with the aim to make it a marquee party game for Wii," Iwata said. "The developers are spending significant time for this title so that they can include elements that are must-haves in a party game as well as making sure that adequate volume of game play are available." He also revealed that Wii users have made over 160 million Miis in the U.S. and Europe. Although he declined to give numbers for Japan, he did say the success of social DS title Tomodachi Collection was encouraging Mii adoption among Japanese gamers. "In a sense, it is a natural move for your Miis and your friends’ and family members’ Miis to show up in a Wii party games," Iwata said. He referenced Mario Party 8 as the last "marquee party game" Nintendo has launched -- and pointed out that that title has sold 7.6 million units since launch, suggesting the company is aiming at building another "evergreen" multi-million seller in Wii Party.