The video gaming market has entered a new generation once more and with that shift there’s been a realignment in the expectations of games and the general influx of gaming into the mainstream. The last generation was the first true mainstreaming of the video gaming sphere as more than 2000 games saw release for the major consoles in the 5 years they were on the market. With the 2005 release of the Xbox 360 and the 2006 release of the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 an entirely different approach to the art of gaming has come as well.

Not only are games bigger and more impressive than ever before, they’re more innovative, opening up entire new genres (the Wii has more than a few all by itself) and making online gaming more than a novelty, but an integral part of all games the world over. We’ve yet to see what will really come out of this generation, but we do get to speculate. There are hundreds of top tier titles waiting on the horizon for all the major consoles, games that none of us can wait for.

The Nintendo Wii broke out with one of the best launch titles of all time, but as the months have waned so too have the amount of people who haven’t yet beaten Twilight Princess. But, if Nintendo is good at anything, it’s creating the best in house developed games of any console producer. Their coming soon list is a who’s who of Nintendo’s biggest franchises and for those that are starting to swing a little lethargically at your Wii Tennis matches, it won’t be much longer until your next big outing.

Metroid Prime 3 – Who knows – Nintendo does this occasionally (by that, I mean every single time) where they have a release date and it steadily gets pushed back by up to a year or two. It’s the quality of the product they produce and we are more than willing to wait. That said, the next entry in the Metroid series was supposed to be out with the Wii’s launch, which would have put the nail in the coffin as the Wii being the best launch ever, but alas it was not and we’ll see it sometime this year. I just can’t wait for a good shooter with that Wii Remote.

SSX Blur – March – The SSX series has always pushed fun to a whole new level in sports gaming and the Wii specific next entry looks to do the same. It’s a brand new control scheme and all sorts of killer new slopes. I can’t wait to flick my way down the course.

Dragon Quest Swords – A first person sword fighting Dragon Quest? It sounds odd, but coming from Square Enix and using the Wii remote, this could be one fun game. We’ll see how they execute it, but for now I’m as intrigued just to see as I am to play it.

Super Mario Galaxy – this year – Finally, a new Mario entry. Sunshine barely counted and it’s been years even since that. Mario has seen a lot of spin offs lately, but very little console love. A new concept, new control scheme, and giant worlds with super jumping mean one hell of a Miyamoto mind trip is on the way.

Smash Bros. Brawl – This year – The most anticipated game of this year, Smash Bros is probably going to stick with the traditional control scheme, but in my mind that’s a good thing. Why mess with amazing gameplay for innovation’s sake. It’s too good to mess with. Add online play and more characters and I’m more than happy, and that’s what they’re doing. And with as massively huge as Melee was , I’d expect even more challenges and collectibles in the next entry. I can’t wait.