10 Reasons to still play your Wii in 2011

Yeah, the future isn't looking entirely bright for the little underpowered console at the moment. Nintendo is most likely focused on launching its new baby, the 3DS, which is just a few months from launch, and they pretty much seemed to have blown their load on catalog releases this past year, coming out with an entry for pretty much all their established franchises. And both Sony and Microsoft have gotten into the motion gaming arena, offering similar options in high def. Might as well dump the Wii now while it's still worth something right? Not so fast. Like every year, there are actually a fairly decent amount of reasons to not only keep your Wii, but possibly play it just as much if not more so than the "hardcore" consoles, and here's 10 to look forward to right now :

10. Retro City Rampage

Unfortunately no longer a Fall 2010 release or aWiiware exclusive, because otherwise it'd probably be higher on the list. But that doesn't changed the fact that this is a real GTA "de-make" that promises to brilliantly spoof both classic 80s games and the sandbox crime saga genre that GTA itself defined is one of the most anticipated downloadable titles in ages.

9. de Blob 2

The original de Blob is one of many excellent third-party Wii efforts that sadly went mostly unnoticed by the Wii audience,so it's no surprise that much like RCR above, it's expanding to all 3 consoles for the sequel. But the original was a great example of awesome gaming using the waggle, so the sequel should be no different in quality, and hey if you already have a Wii, why pay extra to get something that will pretty much be the same on any other console?

8. Mario Sports Mix

Hey not every game is going to be for us hardcore people, and putting three sports into one box Nintendo would usually sell as 3 separate titles is an unusually good value assuming they play well. Mario sports titles have a pretty good record overall, and this is the kind of game you could enjoy with more casual gamers in your family/circle of friends without being ashamed to even own it unlike say Carnival Games. The real icing on the cake would be competent online play(it does have online play, but only one-on-one and still needs friend codes, which should be dropped altogether), but since this is Nintendo, that's probably not going to happen.

7. Conduit 2

The Wii is better built for shooters than most would lead you to believe. It's why games like the Metroid Prime Trilogy are considered a must buy and the Wii version of Resident Evil 4 is considered essentially the best version. Because when done right, the shooters stand right up there with the likes of COD and Gears of War. So, aside from lack of a coherent online system, it's sort of puzzling why more high-profile shooters don't end up here. But the Conduit series was intentioned from the get go to be a hardcore FPS that Wii owners could claim as their own. Now while the first didn't completely live up the ridiculously high bar it set for itself, it was still an incredibly solid game, and the sequel really promises to improve on that experience.

6. Dragonquest X

This would probably be significantly higher if a damn thing was known about this latest entry in the biggest RPG series in the world. But this is actually shaping up to be a rather strong year for Wii rpgs, with several to be known in development, this arguably being the biggest one. All we really know is that this is confirmed for the Wii and it's supposed to be out sometime in 2011. But since it's a DQ title, that may be all fans need to know anyways.

5. Xenoblade

Admittedly all I really know about this title is that it is a critically acclaimed rpg in Japan that seems ripe for a release over here. Though no official announcement has been made, both fanboys and websites  alike have been been drooling over it, so it would make a 2011 release at least seem a likely possibility. It looks gorgeous and seriously long, so any rpg fan should snap it up right away if it does come out here.

4. Lost in Shadow

Just a few days away from release, Lost in Shadow is already one of the more intriguing titles this year. It's a 2d side-scrolling platformer, which is becoming increasingly rare and it uses a really unique hook being that you literally are a shadow and have to pretty much use the background as your guide. Hopefully it lives up to its lofty promise as reviews have been a tad mixed, but those who love it truly think its brilliant.

3. Last Story

It's another rpg (I told you it looks like a good year for Wii rpgs), but this one is from famed Final Fantasy director, Hironobu Sakaguchi. Offering what seems to be a solid single and online component along with an epic quest. Last Story has been looking more awesome with each preview, so this should be an rpg hopefully on par with any other epic out there this year.

2. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

It's ZELDA. Do I really need to explain much more than that? The showing at E3 was awesome, Zelda is always incredible. This will probably be the premier 2011 title for Wii, and that's not because of a lack of other stellar titles. Zelda games stand out pretty much any year, and this one should be no exception.

1. Games You Missed

See that game right there? It's a highly praised Wii title that no one bought. And it's one of many. Other excellent action games like No More Heroes 2 & Sin & Punishment also pretty much died at retail while crap like Just Dance 2 sold like hotcakes. Wii owners who enjoy real games cry time and time again about the lack of non-shovelware but when someone tries to come out with something for that crowd, they hardly show up. If your Wii isn't getting much playtime, odds are there is more than a few noteworthy games released not only this past year, but in the last several that you can pick up on the cheap now and discover. Titles like the original Conduit, the first de Blob, Zak & Wiki, Madworld and many many others. If you seriously wanna bolster your library, the bargain/used section at most stores have plenty of awesome titles for under $20 if you're willing to dig just a little.

So yeah, hardly time to turn in that little underpowered waggle-machine just yet. And 2011 hasn't even started, so I'm sure Nintendo has a few surprises up its sleeve like it usually does. That's pretty much all for today, but I should be back with another post tomorrow. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Line Runner 2