From Gaming World Network‘s coverage of a Japanese Wii press conference we learn the prices for the Wii and Wii Virtual Console games, in Yen.

The Nintendo Wii, to be released in Japan on December 2nd, will retail for 25000 yen. This is approximately 212.50$ US. This is by no means an accurate way of measuring the price of the US version.

Below shows the price of the Wii Virtual Console games:

Converting to USD that’s 4.25$ for a Famicom (NES) game, 6.80$ for a Super Famicom (SNES) game and 8.50$ for N64 games. Of course there’s no telling exactly how this will compare to US prices but this gives us an estimate.

There are to be 30 Nintendo Virtual Console titles and 30 from other systems (Sega Genesis, Turbo Grafx …) which supports the idea that the 7 Sega Genesis Wii Virtual Console titles we mentioned yesterday would be the only ones at first for that system.

Yesterday we reported a list of Sega Genesis games for the Wii as metioned on IGN. These were listed on the ESRB’s website where one can search for games by system and publisher. Today I was searching some more and found that these games had disapeared from the list. A search for games on the Wii now returns 12 titles rather than 18 and those Sega Genesis titles are missing. Yesterday a search for publisher “Sega” on the Wii platform yielded 7 results. Today 0.

Why? Could be nothing. Could be Sega doesn’t want people to know what’s out. Could be these games aren’t confirmed and they don’t want people spreading rumours like we have. We can only jump to conclusions so get your mat out!

Compare a screenshot from yesterday (left) to today (right):

IGN reports a list of Sega Genesis games for the Wii Virtual Console. These titles are listed on the ESRB website. The Entertainment Software Rating Board must rate all games before they can go on sale in the US. I guess there’s no surprising them.

By going to the website and doing a simple search for the publisher “Sega” and chosing the platform “Wii” you’ll see that the following games will probably be available:

Though with only 18 titles for the Wii listed on the ESRB site one doesn’t even need to narrow it down to Sega at this point. Kind of funny that Sega has the only exclusive Wii titles listed with nothing by Nintendo there yet.

It’s not known whether or not this is all the games we’ll be getting but if I had to guess I’d say this is probably all we’re getting in the first batch. Why submit just a few of the more reckogniseable titles for approval and sit on others? Still this is a great assortment of some of the best games the Sega Genesis had to offer and I can’t wait to see what else the Wii Virtual Console has in store.

Thanks to powet poster Spooie for the heads up.

The impassioned call rang out above all others in a recent Sony investors meeting:

With the company in the red yet again in its most recent quarter, Japanese investors were in an unhappy mood. “I bought shares in mighty Sony,” cried a woman whose holdings had lost nearly two-thirds of their value. “What are you going to do about this?”

Wired Magazine investiages the company’s future with Can the PS3 Save Sony? and comes to the ultimate conclusion that Sony’s various teams and departments are in such dire straights the fate of the entire company rests on whether or not the PlayStation 3 can be a profitable success.

Sadly, the future is not looking any brighter this day. Joystiq reports: European launch of PlayStation 3 delayed until March 2007, and this heartbreaking blow to the fastest growing game market is quicky followed up with North American, Japanese PS3 launch limited to 500,000 units.

Add on the fact that the unit itself still costs $600, and trendsetters like Penny-Arcade have sworn off the launch as “bullshit” and even the editor of Official PlayStation Magazine will be opting for an Xbox 360.

Maybe I’m not seeing the glow of Sony fans right now. Entire sites like This is Waiting mock the future of the PS3, and literally hundreds of posts on digg, youtube, and blogs all across the net collectively laugh at every single mis-step. The detractors aren’t watching Sony fail, they’re actually cheering it on.

There is little doubt Sony will sell through the initial stock quickly. I’m sure they’ll also meet their trimmed goal of 2 million by Spring 2007.
But with Xbox360 poised for its second year and reporting rapid success, and the Wii celebrated at the most talked about console since console wars began 20 years ago… Does Sony even have a shot now? I mean, could this be the end of the road for the biggest company in gaming? A year ago I’d say this was impossible, but now I wonder if a Playstation 4 will even see the light of day.

The days of Pilotwings 64 and Wave Race: Blue Storm are a distant memory.

Nintendo appears to be getting huge support from 3rd parties, with Ubisoft promising 7 launch titles, including the previously announced Red Steel and Rayman. PC/Xbox island survivor shooter Far Cry will likely get the Wii off to a good start with a solid online multiplayer. Monster 4×4 World Circuit and GT Pro Series will add racing action, and Ubisoft is also planning an adaptation of the forthcoming animated movie Open Season. Finally, theres Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII, which is about squadrons of WWII or something. Prince of Persia has been mentioned but not yet confirmed.

Thats not all! Midway is in on the act too. The Chicago based publisher will bring Rampage: Total Destruction, Blitz: The League, and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon! While all 3 of these are current gen titles, they have no presence on the PS3 or 360. Rampage is an update on a classic arcade game. Blitz is a football title stripped of the NFL license but beefed up with arcade play and a more true to life atmosphere. MK: Armageddon is the final installment in the legendary fighting franchise, featuring every character in the series thus far (see right).

EA’s been eerily silent on the Wii but plan on Madden NFL, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, SSX, Need for Speed, Harry Potter, and The Godfather to make it out sometime. Madden NFL and Need For Speed are the only titles from their camp likely to make it out in the launch window, but the rest won’t be far behind.

Sega’s Sonic Wildfire has slippsed to the beginning of 2007, but Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz is planned for launch.

Finally, Activision is going to port Marvel Ultimate Alliance to Wii as well, giving the Wii an awesome action RPG and comic books fan’s dream all in one.

Thats over a dozen third party games to hit on or near launch for the Wii! And don’t forget they’ve still got Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy, and Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Also, if you love reading tech specs, look at a breakdown of the Wii, and if you like rumors, check out the The Ultimate Wii Rumour Compilation . All that stuff is secondary to what we’re really excited about: a ton of good games.

I’ll try to compile some info on the PS3 launch too when I get more info. But honestly, just look at whats happening here. Nintendo in less than a year’s time has gone from the 3rd place purple box to the developer darling. Got to admit, its getting better. Getting better, all the time….

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Click the thumbnail on the left to find a desktop friendly promotional image for the Virtual Console. Luigi is driving the Sega Outrun car, Raccoon PacMan, ROB, and Kirby dressed as Simon Belmont all show up in this mish-mash classic characters.
If you love Emo as much as you love Nintendo, check out Nintendo Fusion Tour. No word on anything playable, but they’ll at least be showing off new games along with the music.
Kotaku heard rumblings about a Cross-Country Tour for the Wii, but now it looks more like it will be more of a secret invite-only tour. I hope Nintendo realizes the trendsetters at Powet would love to attend.

Finally, a keynote at the Leipzig Germany games conference has been booked called “Wii Prove Our Promise” for Aug. 23.

After a weekend of the blogosphere bouncing around a November 6 launch date as fact based on a remark in Sports Illustrated for Kids of all places, theres a little bit more legitmate info to be had.
CNN Money‘s game guru Chris Morris report the Wii could be here earlier than that. In fact much earlier. The Wii has been in production since June 21st apparently, meaning a launch date could be feasible as early as September! It remains to be seen if Nintendo will hold back the date to launch at a time when there is a better supply, but after shortages rocked the Xbox 360 and the DS in the past few months, It would be nice to know you could walk in a store and get one on launch day without having to trample someone’s grandma.
As the Nintendo fanboy in all of us is no doubt thinking: there is a working complete console fresh out of the factory right now. Obviously games aren’t done, and launch titles like Red Steel, Metroid Prime 3, or Twilight Princess won’t have to go gold until literally a few weeks before systems hit stores. But, new hardware is new hardware, and I’d be happy to have it just to play GameCube titles on it right now. Right. Now.

In an interview with Nintendo Power Magazine this month, Retro Studios speaks of the Wii-bound latest installment in the Powet favorite Metroid franchise.
So whats the scoop?   X-ray Visor and Hyper-Mode are back, and you’ll traverse multiple planets like in the recent DS release, Metroid Prime: Hunters.  Backtracking an exploration will remain in tact, something woefully missing from Hunters.  Also makin appearances will be more Phazon, more competing bounty hunters, and more Metroids.
They also say multiplayer will be back, but not in the same way it was included in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.  Wii’s WiFi capabilities are a given.

The best part is they confirm Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will be a launch title for the Nintendo Wii, due out by the end of the year.
Click here for highlights, though they are transcribed from the magazine by someone without the use of a spellchecker.