In Today's Release: DS Leads 48% Profit for Nintendo (and Packs Plenty of RPG Titles), More Wii Previews, and a Look at Reported Potential Launch Selections for Wii's Virtual Console

Anyone know what time it is? Yup, it's Game Time once more. Today I look at rumors concerning some of Wii's first virtual console titles, Nintendo's huge profit for the previous quarter (and where the DS fits in it), look at some RPG titles you can play on DS and preview more Wii titles.

First though, we look at the Wii virtual console rumors. From Australian Nintendo community Vooks comes a list of seven potential Wii downloads discovered on the website of the country's Office of Film and Literature Classification official website. The titles are Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Pinball (from the NES); and F-Zero, Sim City, and Super Mario World (SNES). All the titles are classified with a class G rating in Australia (which roughly equates to an ESRB class E rating here in the States). Of course, this is in no way an official confirmation, hence the rumor label. But it does give a good idea of initial titles that you can expect to be able to download to your Wii at or around launch. And remember also that there's more where that came from, since Nintendo has promised about twenty titles or so for the virtual console during the first couple of months, plus ten more per month for every month afterward.

Next we have news that the DS is continuing to sell like the most delicious pancakes, or so to speak. Profits of over 48% (or up to 72% if you believe gaming community Gamasutra) are lining Nintendo's corporate pockets like crazy for the first fiscal half ending in September, led by the company's cleverly-innovative dual-screened handheld - and it doesn't appear to be letting up any time soon. According to the Associated Press, the Kyoto-based game maker posted "a group net profit of 54.35 billion yen ($456.68 million) in the six months ended Sept. 30, up from 36.63 billion yen a year earlier."

As for the DS, its sales "soared to 10.09 million units in the first half, up from 3.57 million a year earlier," according to Nintendo's sales figures. The company also "plans to sell 20 million of the machines [referring to the DS] during the current fiscal year." By contrast, Sony reported a profit drop of 94% on weak sales of the Playstation 2 and Playstation Portable in the wake of unusually strong competition from Nintendo, according to the Wall Street Journal (on the web:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116178166140503264.html?mod=rss_whats_news_technology) and other sites including even Gamasutra (on the web: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11430), as well as the high costs associated with the run-up to the launch of the Playstation 3 (the latter of which also accounts for an expected wider loss thanks to those pesky production cuts). And Gamasutra also reports that part of the problem with the PS2 and PSP sales, profits for which were still "relatively unchanged" regardless of the facts according to the community site's reporters , was closely linked to price decreases for both of the two current Sony videogame systems. A battery recall largely unrelated to gaming but affecting many laptop computer manufacturers has hurt Sony, as well.

Speaking of (and getting back to) the DS, the handheld is shaping up to be a prominent platform for games that utilize role-playing elements, such as the popular Final Fantasy. And there is, in fact, a brand-new, never before seen in the States in any previous form ever version of Final Fantasy 3 for the DS leading the pack. Literally, this game never made it to the Americas before... until now. Originally released to the Famicom (the Japanese equivalent of the original NES) in 1990, this lost classic introduced, according to Nintendo Power, "some of the series' most popular features, like a job system and summon spells." And the DS version includes some additional features over the original version that may make this game worth the wait, such as "a more-fleshed-out story, revamped 3-D visuals, improved audio, optional touch-screen controls, and more." And an in-game community feature called "Mognet" (which uses a character type known as the Moogles) to send messages to other players using the Wi-Fi features of the DS.

There are other new RPG games for the DS that I can provide information on, also courtesy of Nintendo Power, that you might also want to check out. Some can even be played on the Game Boy Advance if you still have one. These include Children of Mana (the latest entry in Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix's long-running Mana series); Magical Starsign (which involves interstellar elemental affinities that relate to the game's characters and spans an entire galaxy much like Star Wars), a whimsical game with a lighthearted story about six students from a magic academy seeking to save their teacher from who-knows-what; Yggdra Union, whose titular princess has summoned the help of some unlikely heroes to fight back against an invading empire; and Final Fantasy 5, which despite appearing on the Japanese Super Famicom missed the SNES days and wound up appearing on Sony platforms during a later generation for all I care (but can now be played on both the DS and GBA.
Finally today, I have some more game previews to share for those of you awaiting Nintendo's Wii console. First, I'll take an even closer look at Madden NFL '07 than I did the last time. Now that I have a more complete list of actions you can perform with the Wiimote and Nunchuck to play this innovative verson of Madden, I can give you an in-depth look at the whole playbook. I'll give you the list in the order given by Nintendo Power's first-look preview of the game for your convenience. I'll start with kicking the ball, which is performed by pointing the Wiimote at the ground, pressing the A button, and swinging the Wiimote upward. Like many of the motions in the Wii version of Madden, the force of your motions determines the power of the onscreen actions. In this instance, how fast you move the Wiimote determines the force of the kick.

Next up is passing. First you use the control pad (or the A button) to select your receiver, then you thrust the Wiimote forward. Much as with kicking, the amount of force determines whether you lob, bullet or simply pass the ball. Juking is performed by moving the nunchuck quickly to the left, right or back. The ball carrier responds accordingly, and hopefully he'll send defenders straight down to the turf. Catching the ball, whether on offense (to receive a pass) or defense (for an interception), requires raising both hands as high as you can - and the higher you raise your hands, the better your chances of catching the ball. And to stiff-arm (if you wish to try to break a tackle), a sideways slide of the Wiimote at just the right time will do the job.

So that's the full story on Madden NFL '07's gesture-based gridiron action. Next up on our preview hit list is Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. One of the biggest surprises when the GameCube launched, the original Super Monkey Ball was an extremely fun port of what Nintendo power called a "moderately successful arcade game," and Banana Blitz hopes to do it again on the Wii. The idea depends on whether your playing solo or as a group.

In the single-player mode, you steer your encapsulated primate through the course by literally tilting the stage itself - a task that Nintendo Power describes as similar to "those handheld gizmos where you try to roll the marble into a hole." But unlike previous versions that relied on an analog stick, you use the Wiimote to do the job here, which is like having a direct connection to the onscreen action. There are eight themed worlds in the game initially, and more can be unlocked. At the end of each one, in a departure from previous titles in the series, you can jump by pressing the A button or flicking the Wiimote, and you also get to face off against some huge boss characters, a first for the Super Monkey Ball series.

And in the multiplayer mode, you have an assortment of mini-games to play (and what would Super Monkey Ball be without them?) such as a hammer throwing contest in which you hold the B trigger and literally spin the Wiimote around before releasing the trigger to let it fly, with the spoils going to whoever tosses the hammer the farthest without going out of bounds; and a home run derby in which you try to hit the ball out of the park by swinging the Wiimote like a baseball bat (much like in the baseball portion of Wii Sports).

My third and last preview today is a short one, as I only have very limited information at this point. But here it goes anyway. In Far Cry: Vengeance, which is "roughly based on Far Cry: Instincts Evolution from the XBOX but with a new storyline, equipment, maps, and of course the necessary Wii-specific controls" according to Nintendo Power. Slated to hit during the Wii's launch window, the game pits protagonist Jack Carver against a rebel army after being subjected to some strange experiments on one island that give him animalistic abilities prior to getting mixed up in a some shady dealings on yet another island... and even getting blamed for a murder he didn't commit! Controls are simplistic and fit in well with the overall Wii philosophy: you move Jack around the island using the Nunchuck and aim your guns with the wiimote, but that's not all: you can use the Wiimote and nunchuck in plenty of other ways depending on whether you're driving one of the many vehicles deployed throughout the island or taking down an enemy from behind with a machete. Strong stealth elements, interactive environments and a fast-paced Chaos multiplayer mode (though whether the latter includes online play is still up in the air at this point) round out the mix.

Well, that's it for today, so until next time keep those gaming fingers moving and stay in the game like there's no tomorrow! In the meantime, post your thoughts here in the comments or drop me a line at jdavis9172@hotmail.com if you have any gaming tidbits to share. Happy gaming!