What’s this now?  A third-party Wii game that (a) isn’t a lazy PS2 port and (b) actually looks pretty cool?  Yes, it looks like Zach and Wiki will have some company on the Wii in the near future.  Backbone, the developers of Death Jr. for the PSP, are cooking up a brand new IP exclusively for Nintendo’s Wii.  Monster Lab is a story-driven Action RPG that’s all about customization.  Indeed, the object of the game is to build, enhance, and accesorize monsters to fight against each other in turn-based combat.  The Wii’s motion control comes into play in the creation process through minigames, where players will throw brains into empty heads, hoping to maximize their monster’s power.  On hand to make sure that it all doesn’t devolve into complete minigame aimlessness is comic book writer Adam Beechen, who is scripting the game.

The very promising Monster Lab will be published by Eidos and is being groomed for a Summer 2008 release.