Update: The conference is now available to watch in English. Check out this page when you’ve got 46 minutes spare!

This week Nintendo held an almost surprise press conference over in Japan, revealing many juicy pieces of information about various games, features and downloads we can expect to see from the Wii and DS in the near future. Here is an overview of what was announced:

Smash Bros. Brawl

Nintendo have officially announced that their long-awaited fighting game is going to be delayed until early 2008 in Japan (or 24th January to be exact). It has not yet been confirmed if this also means that the subsequent releases of the game in the EU or US are also going to be delayed.

To make up for the bad news of the delay, Nintendo have announced that SBB will feature an online co-op mode and that Sega’s little blue mascot Sonic will be joining the ever-growing Brawl lineup.

WiiFit

WiiFit was dated and priced for Japan. The software and balance board bundle will go on sale 1st December for ¥8,800 (approx. £38).

Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Wii has been given a tentative release date of Spring 2008, which is slightly later then the originally mentioned Q1 2008.

However, again backing up the bad news, Nintendo have announced that the game will now feature bikes, meaning that we’re going to have something totally new to play with when the game finally hits the shops.

Monster Hunter 3

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced that big-in-Japan franchise Monster Hunter will be coming to the Wii in the form of Monster Hunter 3 [tri], although no mention of a release date or whether the title will be a Japan exclusive or not.

Super Mario Stadium Baseball

A new Mario-based sports game has been announced for the Wii called Super Mario Stadium Baseball. Few details are known about the game itself, but if it’s anything like the other Mario-related sports titles out there, this one is sure to contain some great gameplay, crazy powers and an interesting take on the popular sport of Baseball.

DS Download Station Channel

In the not-so-distant future, Wii and DS console users will soon be able to download DS demo’s from their Wii in a similar style to in-shop DS download stations. Presumably the demos will be downloaded via the WiiConnect 24 service, and will be free to download once the channel has been added to the current Wii lineup.

WiiWare Update

A number of WiiWare downloadable games have been announced for the services launch in March 2008, including a game by Square Enix, something from Nintendo, and some other offerings from the likes of Hudson:

• Updated Dr. Mario - Nintendo
• Star Soldier R - Hudson
• Joysound - Hudson
• Bomberman - Hudson
• Mojipittan - Bandi Namco
• Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Small King and the Promised Country - Square Enix (more details below)

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Small King and the Promised Country

This WiiWare exclusive title is a strategy-based game, and forms part of the Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles franchise. The general gist of the game is that the player has to build and govern their own land, which is a great change to the normal Final Fantasy style game.

Set to release when WiiWare launches and set to cost just 1,500 Wii Points, we think this game is definitely one to look forward to.

Pokemon Farm Channel/WiiWare

This new channel/WiiWare title is aimed at Pokemon fans, and gives them the opportunity to upload their favourite pocket monsters from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl to their Wii console, where they will then be able to tend to their every need, and raise them with the love and care they deserve.

Fire Emblem DS

Fire Emblem DS has been announced for the Nintendo DS, although that is all that was mentioned about the game. No sub-title, release date or storyline details were given, but just the news that the franchise is set to appear on the DS in the future should be good enough news for fans.

Other Announcements

Together with the huge list of juicy details above, Nintendo also made many smaller announcements which also deserve mentioning:

• USB keyboard compatibility
• Message Board URLs now open in Internet Channel
• Mii Contest Channel (aka ‘Check Mii Out’) launches in Japan this November
• Wii Voting Channel to get Game Suggestion update
• Card Hero to appear on DS this December in Japan

And that’s about it! Anything else that appears to have come from the conference will make it’s way here so check back soon to see if you’ve missed anything, or keep an eye (or an RSS reader!) tuned to WiiDS.co.uk for more future Nintendo talk.