Nintendo confirms ‘Pokemon Battle Revolution’ as first Wii title

Nintendo on Wednesday announced the first Wii title from this year’s second quarter lineup for the North American market, dubbed ‘Pokemon Battle Revolution’, a game that will utilize Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection for online play and enable players compete with one another, nearby or distant friends.

The gaming console maker said that Pokemon Battle Revolution, which is the first Wii game that will take advantage of the console's online capabilities, and happens to be a first of many kinds for the Wii, will hit the markets on June 25.

The game, which compliments the immensely popular Pokemon franchise, is the first Wii game that includes Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Play. It is also the first Pokemon game developed exclusively for the Wii. This game happens to be the first to link Wii and the Nintendo DS handheld and will also showcase the wireless link-up between the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii consoles for the first time.

When Wii and Nintendo DS are linked, Wii owners can use their Nintendo DS units as controllers for the game or import characters from the upcoming Nintendo DS games, Pokemon Diamond Version or Pokemon Pearl Version, into Pokemon Battle Revolution.

Nintendo announced the list of games that will hit the Wii game console, Nintendo DS and even the GameBoy Advance (GBA) at the Game Developers’ Conference.

The upcoming lineup of Wii titles includes Super Paper Mario on April 9th, Mario Party 8, a multiplayer party game on May 29th, and Big Brain Academy, a brain-training game that builds on the phenomenal success of the Nintendo DS brain games on June 11th.

Forthcoming Nintendo DS titles include Pokemon Diamond/Pearl on April 22nd, Planet Puzzle League on June 4th, and the "Opera" web browser also to be released on June 4th, while Shrek the Third Activision for GBA will be available in summer.

"With strong third-party support, Wii and Nintendo DS have games on the way for both casual and veteran gamers," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "Our new ways to play have attracted millions of players around the world. This lineup demonstrates our commitment to leading the industry with the future of video gaming."

Nintendo’s Pokemon franchise has sold more than 155 million units worldwide.

Although, Nintendo DS and Wii both have Wi-Fi functionality built in by default, but while many DS games take advantage of the function, so far no Wii games have offered online play or DS connectivity.

During a keynote address at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Shigeru Miyamoto, game designer at Nintendo, told about one Wii feature that is currently under development.

"We are working on a new Wii channel, which is going to allow people to compare the Miis that they've created, hold popularity contests, and you'll be able to do this with people all around the world," he said.

Unlike its competitors, Nintendo has solely focused on the gaming experience and nothing else, Miyamoto said.