Image created for House of Nintendo by Rob Howard

Reggie is at it again! According to an interview at GameTrailers TV, Nintendo will have some big surprise coming at E3 in July.

Well, yes, I know: Reggie sometimes gets a big FAIL when it comes to surprises. He promised one in th fall that turned out to be, well, either pretty much nothing or something we weren't that excited about.

Yet IGN's Nintendo guru Matt Casamassina seems has been dropping hints all over the place. Any why doubt him? He's the guy with the proof of concept for Halo DS!

In any case, here's five reasons why Kid Icarus is highly likely as a flagship Nintendo title for 2008/2009:

1. Every major Nintendo franchise will have been established on Wii by this time. Once Mario Kart drops in later this quarter, Nintendo will have had Mario (featured in no less than 5 major releases in Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Sonic And Mario at the Olympic Games, and Mario Party!!!), Zelda (Twilight Princess and Crossbow Training), and Metroid (Prime 3) all released on the system. In other words, the keg of Nintendo will have been tapped out.

2. Establishing new IP is hard. Kid Icarus gives you the advantage of "new" IP while keeping the edge of being a known commodity.

3. Kid Icarus lends itself to action adventure, a powerful genre in gaming today and one which the Wii is a little on the weak side. Twilight Princess notwithstanding, the Wii needs action adventure games badly. The PS3 in its short life already boasts Drake's Fortune (the coolest looking game for the system, IMO), Heavenly Sword, Lair, and Resistance, Fall of Man. Pit represent's Nintendo's chance to compete without overusing Zelda and being able to stay family friendly.

4. Kid Icarus has serious Wii Remote implementation potential. Flying, shooting arrows, and swordplay can all have a role with the hardware. Mario and Sonic proved that bow and arrow shooting can be done well and accurately on Wii, and that's a key element for a character that shoots arrows!

5. Nintendo's been building Pit's profile without starring him in any actual games. A big deal was made about Kid Icarus being in Brawl. It was one of the first big character reveals, and Pit is featured very prominently in Brawl's single player adventure mode, The Subspace Emissary. You just get a feeling that this is for a reason...

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