Nintendo's Wii conference in Tokyo actually started this morning at 5am GMT. It was headed by Iwata Satoru, the President and CEO of Nintendo. After talking about how Nintendo have shifted the market with the DS by making games for everyone- even non-gamers -he went on to reveal the prices of virtual console games. 500 yen (£2.25) for NES games, 800 yen (£3.60) for SNES games. 1000 yen (£4.50) for N64 games.

Apparently there will be 30 Nintendo games and 30 PC Engine/Megadrive games before the end of the year on the virtual console, and there will be ten new virtual console games every month after that!

And the big news. The Nintendo Wii will launch in Japan on December 2nd for a price of 25,000 yen (£115).

Nintendo then posted an official Japanese press release that lists the contents of the Wii box: Wii console, Wii remote (w/ strap), nunchuck attachment, Wii AC adaptor, Wii A/V cable, Wii console stand, sensor bar, sensor bar stand and two AA batteries. Also, it seems the 25,000 yen price includes tax.

Apparently to buy seperately the remote will cost 3800 yen (£17), and 1800 yen (£8.15) each for the classic controller and nunchuck attachments.

There will be 16 titles from ten publishers at launch. Cost of games: 4,800 yen to 6,800 yen (£21 to £30). The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will cost 6,800 yen. Wii sports will apparently not be a pack-in game, will cost 4,800 yen. Wii Sports features tennis, baseball, golf and previously unannounced bowling and boxing games.

The Japanese part of Wii.com is now up and contains a list of Japanese launch games. These include Zelda, Warioware, Wii Sports and a game either called Wii-play or 'Your first Wii games' which comes packaged with an extra controller, are the offerings from Nintendo. Other games include Red Steel, SD Gundam Revolution, Tamagotchi, Trauma Center, Elebits, Necro-nesia, Monkey Ball, Pangya Golf, Wing Island, Kororinpa (a Marble Madness-style game), Machariku Domino (a domino game) and "Ennichi no Tastsujin" which seems to be carnival style games in the tradition of Taiko: Drum Master from Namco rounds off the Japanese launch list.

One or two more final titbits from the Nintendo Tokyo conference. Iwata says "The success of the DS does not ensure the success of the Wii.", thus showing that Nintendo do not have the arrogance/overconfidence of Sony. Also one Wii point = one yen for virtual console shopping in Japan.

Some apparently official details regarding the US launch of the Wii have been revealed already, despite Nintendo's conference in New York not taking place until 2pm this afternoon GMT. The news comes from The Seattle Post Intelligence who have posted this information from a trusted source, The New York Times' Seth Schiesel.

The NYT article states that the Nintendo Wii will be released in the US on November 19th at a price of $250, which includes a copy of Wii Sports. The article also states that there will be 25 to 30 titles available for the Wii by the end of 2006, and that Nintendo plans to ship 4 million consoles by the end of the year.

The US virtual console titles will apparently be sold at around $5 to $10, similar to the Japanese price, and that Nintendo will be selling brand new Wii games at a retail price of $50, which is $10 cheaper than the price of similar Xbox 360 games.

In a surprise announcement, Nintendo said that it wanted to make Wii a living room centerpiece by shipping the system with features outside of the videogame realm. Wii will include a photo channel, enabling users to display their digital photos through the console. It will also boast regularly updated news and weather channels. In addition, the system will ship with the Opera Web browser, enabling users to connect online.

One of the channels available on Wii is called the "Mii Channel." Here, players can customize avatars by selecting from a variety of face shapes, hair styles, color schemes, and so on. The hook is that these avatars can not only be stored on the console itself, they can also be transfered to the Wii remote itself -- presumably so players can easily access their personalized characters and take them with them when playing against friends.

So it seems that North America will be getting the Wii first, although launching the console on a Sunday after the PS3 seems a strange choice. Nintendo will confirm the official details at their press conference in New York later today, and us Europeans have to wait for Nintendo's announcements in London at 12:00am tomorrow for our launch date and price details.

[Update]

Nintendo of America boss, Reggie Fils-Amie is heading Nintendo's conference on New York. He says:

"Yes, we will reveal all of the relevant information for Wii. Date, price, how many, titles -- all of that information," Reggie says. "But more importantly, today marks our next planned step in driving this industry forward."

"Our strategy is based on one core belief: that the next step in gaming is bringing gaming back to the masses. It literally is that simple. Appealing to those current games as well as broadening this industry to new gamers," Fils-Aime adds.

He also talks about Nintendo DS. "So far in 2006, everyone is pleased with industry revenue growth that is just about 8 percent through August. But the main contributor to that success is Nintendo DS. If you back out DS growth from the equation, the total equation is 2 percent growth."

He also confirms that the Wii goes on sale in the US on November 19th. "The worldwide debut of the Wii system happens right here in the Americas -- the same place where we debuted Nintendo DS. On November 19, it will be available at more than 25,000 points of distribution across the Americas. And with a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $249.99. One price. One configuration. One color." Which is, for the record, white. Confirms that they plan to ship 4 million Wii consoles between launch and December 31 and that the Americas will receive the largest share of stock. He also confirms that Wii Sports will be included as a pack-in game with every Wii purchased in America.

"We'll also offer consumers the widest range of launch titles ever in the history of videogames. The list is big and -- as you'll see -- it's new and nostalgic. Unique. Delivering a brand new type of entertainment."

"In all, approximately 30 Wii games will be available at retail during the launch window. And about half of those will be available at launch," Reggie says. Games will be priced at $49.99.

He also talks about Zelda:

"First time we have a Zelda title available on launch day. It gives us a huge boost and huge momentum right out of the box. It's a masterpiece game. We will continue to make those big masterpiece titles for the core gamer, as well as new games to drive market expansion. If you were to play Zelda all day to day for six hours, you'd only be scratching the surface..."

Bill Trinen then takes stage to talk about Wii channels. Says that these channels will make non-gamers want to pick up the Wii. Trinen goes into the Mii channel, which enables users to create virtual versions of themselves. He says he wants to create Samuel L. Jackson. Modifies hair and face on a 3D model. Changes eyes. Changes nose. Changes lips. Gives him a mustache. Changes the color of his clothes. Enter his name. This is all done easily with the Wii-mote by pointing and clicking.

Bill goes into the photo channel. "For the first time ever, photo viewing is not a time-consuming thing." Take SD Card out of your digital camera, insert into the front flap on Wii and "boom -- you're looking at digital photos." The interface is smooth, fast and easy.

He shows off a movie-playack mode. You can apparently transfer home-brew movies to your Wii, view them and modify them in real-time.

Reggie comes back to the stage. "When connected to the Internet, users have access to news and weather channels." News is constantly updated via WiiConnect24. Also a Wii message board where users can send messages and photos to other Wii owners; or to PC owners or cell phone. You can also leave messages on a calendar-based note system.

Back to channels. You can download the Opera Web browser using Wii points. So you'll need to buy it. Then you can surf the Net.                                                                      "We want consumers to come to rely on their Wii channels every day. Because then it's a short hop from using the Wii remote to playing their first game."

Reggie recaps. First, a revolutionary new way to play game. Second, the ability to time travel to the best of legacy content. The biggest combined software launch in history. Fourth, the unique channel system acting as a pied piper for new gamers. And finally, a price point that says mass market ready from day one.