Nintendo announces some dates

Nintendo has unveiled its lineup for the second quarter of 2006 - and what a lot we've got to look forward to.

Let's begin with the DS titles - Top Spin 2 is out on April 7th, followed by Megaman Battle Network 5 Double Team on April 17th. Then on April 21st it's time for crazy music maker Electroplankton, Tetris DS and Tamagotchi.

Rounding off the month are Pokémon Link! and Trauma Centre: Under the Knife, perfect for budding surgeons and those who've always wanted to see cut someone open and see what their insides look like but are too frightened of the legal ramifications. Both games are out on April 28th.

May will kick off with the arrival of Beetle King and Gugu Gugu Naget, no idea, with Metroid Prime Hunters arriving on the 5th. Super Princess Peach is out on May 26th - though it might be called something else by then, since SPS is listed as a "tentative title". May will also see the release of DS titles Miss Spider and Cameltry. A sequel, titled Cameltoe, is probably not in development.

There are just three titles locked down for a June release so far - Metroid Prime Pinball, Puzzloop and Brick'em All. Other quarter 2 titles which have yet to be assigned a specific release date include New Super Mario Bros., Harvest Moon DS, Game Fortune Bag (another tentative title, perhaps unsurprisingly) and Konami's Dragon Booster.

Plus you can look forward to giving your grey matter a workout with Big Brain Academy, if you're a child, or Prof. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain if you're not. Ours is 37, by the way, but we were only allowed to have one go and the room was very noisy and we didn't sleep very well the night before.

As might be expected the Q2 line-up is a little smaller for the GBA, but there's still lots to look forward to - Polarium Advance and Top Spin 2 are out on April 7th, and Final Fantasy IV will arrive on June 2nd. Wario Ware Twisted! still hasn't got a release date, but it should be out by summer.

For GameCube owners there's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in April, followed by Chibi Robo! on May 26th. Super Monkey Ball Adventure is out on June 2nd, and Harvest Moon: Magical Melody is down for "spring". How very pastoral.

So that's Q2, then - but there's still plenty to look forward to before then, with Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Project Rub sequel The Rub Rabbits and Mario Party 7 all arriving on February 10th. Viewtiful Joe will make his DS debut on the 24th, and FIFA Street 2 will hit GameCube and DS on March 3rd.

Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble is out on GC a week later, followed by Sonic Riders, Ice Age 2 and crazy feudal Japan-themed pinball game Odama. And March 31st will see the release of Animal Crossing: Wild World, rounding off the month nicely for DS owners who like their games with plenty of furry animals, flowery scenery and pirate hats. Bring on the Blue Skies!