While most of the spotlight went to the Sony PlayStation 2 last generation, the Nintendo GameCube wasn't exactly a slouch in the software department.  Nintendo releases plenty of big name blockbuster titles such as Super Mario Sunshine and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but for every major title there seems to be a handful of less famous games that players missed exploring.  While we're heard rumors about this for some time, Nintendo has finally announced that seven GameCube games that you probably missed the last time around will be coming to the Wii.  First out of the gate this year in Japan are Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (with the Wii remote and nunchuk taking over for the bongo controller) and Pikmin.  The next wave of re-released titles will follow in 2009 and includes Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Chibi Robo, Mario Power Tennis, and Pikmin 2.  They'll debut with a budget price, too.

I missed a few of these games last generation, so I bet I'll end up sampling the Pikmin and Chibi Robo titles.  I'm also interested in revisiting the two Metroid Prime games with proper Wii remote controls,  I never did complete both Prime titles because the escalating difficulty level mixed with the oft-complex controls drained me of the will to continue.  If these re-releases can somehow access my old GameCube memory card and allow me to pick up right where I left off, then that would seal the deal for me.