Call it Nintendo making money from old rope if you will - and we will, thanks - but we’re still rather pleased to see Gamecube classics Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis repurposed for Wii as part of the ‘New Play Control!’ label.

New Play Control! Pikmin casts players in the role of marooned galactic explorer, Captain Olimar, marshalling herds of flower-like Pikmin in an effort to collect and reassemble the 30 pieces of his crashed spaceship. The skill comes in utilising the right Pikmin for the job - Reds can withstand high temperatures, the blues are good swimmers and the yellow fellows are dab-hands with explosive bomb-rocks. And this time around it’s all controlled using the Wii Remote to select, group and direct armies of up to 100 of the little buggers.

The new controls promise to add fun and fluidity to the proceedings, which should make the game worth revisiting even for Pikmin veterans. The save mechanism has been updated too, allowing players to restart from any previously completed day. New Play Control! Pikmin comes out on February 6th, £29.99 or less.

Moving on and Mario Power Tennis is exactly as before, with the same all-star cast of Mario game stalwarts, themed courts, fun minigame challenges etc. The big difference here being the Wii Sports Tennis-style controls, with players swinging the Remote to effect a full range of shots, including the spectacular Power Shot. It’s not clear how player movement is controlled, though - presumably with the Nunchuk. March 6th is the date for this one.

So that’s two for starters, but Nintendo has more in store, with Pikmin 2 and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat both lining up for release later this year. Wonder what else is in the pipeline?