Electronic Arts Chases the Wii

EA says it has begun such a plan. It will have at least four exclusive games for the console in fall and at least one of them should put EA on top of the charts, says John Schappert, senior vice president at Electronic Arts.

For instance, the company is working on a game based on the popular TV show The Simpsons, and plans to offer it on the Wii, among other consoles. With voices of the original cast and lines written exclusively for the game , EA expects The Simpsons to take off.

Overall in fiscal 2008, EA plans to offer 10 to 13 game units for the Wii and Nintendo DS, which would include originals like MySims, Playground, Boogie and a new game being developed with Steven Spielberg. EA rival THQ(THQI Quote) plans to have 11 titles for the Wii.

But cracking the charts with a game for the Wii won't be easy for EA -- or the independent publishers, also known as third-parties. Historically, Nintendo's own software has dominated its consoles.

Though Nintendo says it's working closer than ever with independent publishers on games for its latest console, research firm NPD's monthly top-10 game charts show Nintendo's games like Legend of Zelda continue to rule the Wii. Nintendo has sold nearly 29 million Wii games since the product's launch.