It looks like the story of Nintendo's success has reached even the far shores of Europe. The company's next-gen gaming platforms outdid themselves, when the Wii console dethroned Microsoft's Xbox 360 as the leading console in the region while the DS gathered an astounding sales record of 20 million units sold.

For more hard numbers of Nintendo's success, check out the full article!

One of the most satisfying words in the English language is probably "Checkmate." With Wii Chess you're going to have a lot of opportunities to say it (or have it said to you, come to that). At any rate, the game will soon be out and the official website for the game is now live. Check out the full article for more details.

We've already been reporting on the recent success that Nintendo's been picking on their DS console, and while we've yet to figure in how big an impact their Wii will have in the long run, we have been wondering: just how much is Nintendo worth this time around?

In a nutshell: If all goes well for Mario's home company, Nintendo's net profit will be worth a total of US$ 862 million by the end of the year, at least according to Nintendo's financial report, published on October 26 this year.

Also noted in the report is their expectations for next year, which seems to indicate their faith in the Wii's success even before launch: forecasts for March 2007 indicate an expected net sales of US $6.378 billion. Quoting the report:

In order to expand gaming population in the console business as well, Nintendo will aim to popularize "Wii" (the latest video gaming console to be launched at the end of the calendar year) as an "everyday-use gaming device for all the family" allowing the new emergence of gaming console inseparable from daily lives, under the concept of "brand new days with Wii". As for handheld gaming market, Nintendo will continue to strive to gain more popularity with an expansion in software lineup by launching new types of games that expand user base such as "Touch! Generations" as well as easy accessible games to challenging games in due proportion.

Think of this as a show of optimism on Nintendo's part, with that fat a profit expected by March, we'll just have to wait and see how things will really turn out for their recently launched Wii. All we need now's a financial report from Sony and Microsoft for a better perspective. Rememeber: Wii, US$ 250; DS, (As of Black Friday) US$ 100.00; Nintendo (as of March 2007) US$ 6.378 billion, SmashymyWii: Priceless. For full details, read up on the source document.

So what Famitsu's saying is that Nintendo packed up all the contents of the Nintendo World Tour in lucky Nagoya, to spread the Wii wealth next in lucky Osaka (as scheduled). So residents - and out-of-towners itching to Wii, we can bet - flocked to the Osaka Intex (International Exhibit Center), and Famitsu was there to take notes and pictures.

Taking the stage were Wii Sports, which took the largest floor space in Intex, says Famitsu, and dedicated booths for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Sonic and the Secret Rings, and Need for Speed Carbon. But it was not all about the Wii in the World Tour, after all, as the DS Lite attracted just as much attention for Nintendogs Touch! Generations (complete with helpful little maids attendants to guide players) and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, among others.

But the sight (or the pic) that drew the tears from our eyes? It was the picture we used as a banner above. And what Famitsu said (via weblator): "From midst of the person who attends to the meeting place presenting Wii to 100 names with pulling out selection!"

Let's see if we understood the weblator right: A Wii lottery? And we were not there? NOOOOOES!!!!! KHAN! KHAAAAAAAAN!!!

(While we're consoling ourselves to missing out on such a freebie - presuming the web-lator correctly translated Famitsu, enjoy these pics of Osaka dancing to the Wii and DS. Or join us in drowning our missed-freebie miseries in a keg of auto-dispensed Asahi beer at Tokyo Narita...).

More pictures at the full article. Our tears of misery are drowning QJ staff as we speak.

For Business Week, it's the Wii that triumphs over the PS3, at least according to the online edition of the paper. The report states that while the Playstation 2 is still holding the current-gen crown, the "disruptive approach" Nintendo has taken with the Wii may prove highly successful, similar to the DS. But the report also noted that the handheld and console markets are different, and the problem that was the GameCube - now seeing sales as low as 10,000 in one quarter - could duplicate once again.

Another selling point for Business Week was the "games aimed at a wider audience," similar to the Touch! Generations titles on the DS, which have essentially changed the meaning of "mainstream" with regard to videogames. An analyst at KBC commented on the audience Nintendo is trying to gain: "Non-gamers are coming back because there are interesting games people want to play. The PSP is a beautiful piece of kit but the games are just rehashes of what you would play on the console."

The report also stated that the raw power of the Playstation 3 will attract the hardcore gaming audience, but in comparison to the potential Nintendo sees in "average families" with no video game experience, that is, if you think about it, an almost forgettable small audience.

It looks like all the "different audiences" talk by Nintendo really amounts to nothing, because in the end, it's all about the money, and sharing the same market means competition, no matter how different the approaches.