Nintendo unveils Q1 and Q2 2005 lineup

Late Thursday, Nintendo revealed their release schedule for the first half of 2005. And while they emphasized that "new titles for Nintendo franchises like Mario Kart, Animal Crossing and Advance Wars remain in development," the lineup offered few surprises. [br][br][br]What was somewhat surprising was the dearth of new titles for the company's newest format, the DS. Besides the nine previous announced titles, the most notable being Metroid Prime: Hunters and Need for Speed Underground 2, no new titles were for the two-screened handheld. That is likely to change, however, if the platform does well following its November 21 release. [br][br]On the GameCube tip there weren't any new revelations either. That platform's big gun will be Resident Evil 4, which is still arriving in January. That will be backed up by Star Fox: Assault in February and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory in March. Notably, the schedule did not nail down any firm dates for two of the most anticipated GambeCube titles, Geist and still-unnamed Legend of Zelda game. [br][br]Last but not least, the Game Boy Advance schedule will feature several favorites, but, again, few surprises. The year will kick off with The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and Banjo Pilot, followed by Ace Combat in February and Mario Party Advance in March. Q2 will see Fire Emblem 2 hit the venerable portable, along with Pokémon Emerald in April. [br][br]However, Nintendo is notorious for throwing surprises every year, so expect more than a few titles to appear on this roster in the coming months. [br][br]Nintendo DS [br]Feb. 14: WarioWare Touched! (Nintendo) [br]March 14: Pokémon Dash (Nintendo) [br]March: Yoshi’s Touch & Go (Nintendo) [br]March: Atari Classics (Atari) [br]March: Pac Pix (Namco) [br]Q1: Need for Speed Underground 2 (Electronic Arts) [br]Q2: Metroid Prime: Hunters (Nintendo) [br]May: Ultimate Card Games (Telegames) [br]June: Ultimate Brain Games (Telegames) [br][br]Nintendo GameCube [br]January: Resident Evil 4 (Capcom) [br]January: Virtua Quest (Sega) [br]Feb. 8: NBA Street Vol. 3 (Electronic Arts) [br]Feb. 14: Star Fox: Assault (Nintendo) [br]February: Winnie the Pooh (Ubisoft) [br]March 14: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Nintendo) [br]March: Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft) [br]March: Dragon Ball Z Sagas (Atari) [br]Q1: Mortal Kombat: Deception (Midway) [br]Q2: Donkey Konga 2 (Nintendo) [br]Q2: Fire Emblem (Nintendo) [br]Q2: Geist (Nintendo) [br]Legend of Zelda (working title) (Nintendo) [br][br]Game Boy Advance SP [br]Jan. 10: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Nintendo) [br]January: Banjo Pilot (THQ) [br]February: Rave Master: Special Attack Force (Konami) [br]February: Shaman King: Legacy of Spirits – Soaring Hawk (Konami) [br]February: Ace Combat (Namco) [br]February: Klonoa 2 (Namco) [br]February: Winnie the Pooh (Ubisoft) [br]March 21: WarioWare Twisted! (Nintendo) [br]March: Mario Party Advance (Nintendo) [br]March: Backyard Baseball (Atari) [br]March: Pac Pinball (Namco) [br]April: Pokémon Emerald (Nintendo) [br]Q2: Fire Emblem 2 (Nintendo) [br]Q2: Ultimate Pocket Games (Telegames)