Wii U's Pikmin 3, Game & Wario missing launch window

Nintendo has announced some upcoming release dates, but the ones to make the list aren't as interesting as the ones that conspicuously didn't. The Wii U launch window closes on March 31, and it appears some of Nintendo's franchises won't be making that period after all.

Pikmin 3, Game & Wario, The Wonderful 101, and Wii Fit U have all been moved to the nebulous "first half of the year." Today's release announcements covered Nintendo's slate through March, so the movement of these titles to a more vague time frame pushes them out of that line-up. Pikmin had previously been called a spring release. The announcement also unsurprisingly pegs Aliens: Colonial Marines in unnamed Q1 territory, positioning it later than other versions.

Aside from those shifts, the surprise of the Wii U announcements was a date for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and the reveal of Need for Speed: Most Wanted on March 19. It also reaffirms Pandora's Tower for spring on the Wii, just in case you thought yesterday's announcement was the product of a geeky fever dream.