Nintendo readies a budget range of popular Wii titles in Japan. Head inside to find out which ones make the cut...

In a somewhat surprise move, Nintendo has announced plans to retail several Wii games in a budget range in Japan.

The games eligible for entry into the "Everyone's Recommendation Selection" have to have been rated high enough by gamers on the Nintendo Channel to have received a Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze status.

Seven games are set to kick off the initiative, and will retail at the price of 2800 yen:

• 428: Fūsa Sareta Shibuya de (SEGA)
• Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Marvelous)
• Arc Rise Fantasia (Marvelous)
• Family Ski World Ski & Snowboard (Namco Bandai)
• One Piece Unlimited Cruise Episode 1 (Namco Bandai)
• Tales of Symphonia: Ratatoskr no Kishi (Namco Bandai)
• Dragon Ball Z Sparking! Meteor (Namco Bandai)

The more observant will notice that all these games are third party titles. There's been no word on whether this range will be exclusively for third party titles, but it's rare these days for Nintendo to pitch their own popular games at budget price.

Hopefully a similar range is in the pipeline for the west. There are many, many great third party Wii titles begging to be played by the mainstream.