Nintendo's fourth quarter release calendar @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on July 25, 2006

News: A secret Wii launch date might be inside.

Nintendo has updated their release calendar for the end of the year and it is packed with DS games. The one lone GBA title on the list is Square-Enix's port of Final Fantasy V and the only GameCube game is a backhanded mention of Twilight Princess.

Here's the full list (all games are DS games unless otherwise noted):

Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games
Oct. 16: Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends
Oct. 23: Magical Starsign
Oct. 30: Pok?mon Ranger
Oct. 30: Children of Mana
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents
Nov. 6: Final Fantasy V Advance (GBA)
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island 2
Dec. 4: Custom Robo Arena
Dec. 4: Kirby: Squeak Squad

There was no direct mention of anything Wii related, but Nintendo did include this cryptic line in their announcement: "Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item." And I believe they are being serious.

The fourth quarter begins on October 1. Now look at the list. At least one game is released every Monday in the fourth quarter except for the following dates: October 2, November 20 and November 27.

November 27 is after Black Friday, so it's out. November 20 is after the launch of the PS3, so that's out too. That leaves us with October 2.

The Wii will launch on October 2, you read it here first.

UPDATE 1: Walmart.com has several games for the Wii, including Avatar: The Last Airbender and SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature From the Krusty Krab, listed with a 10/2 release date.

UPDATE 2: Several adept codebreakers have studied Nintendo's press release further and come up with several other interesting theories. I still think 10/2 is the day, but these are pretty interesting:

The Roman Numeral Theory: When the word Wii is broken down into roman numerals, VVII, they can be added together to show 10 (VV) and 2 (II). Score another point for the October 2 Theory.

The James Bond Theory: The other theory is a little more complex. Nintendo compared the popularity of the Final Fantasy series to the popularity of James Bond movies. This makes some believe that the Wii will launch the same day as the newest Bond movie, Casino Royale. However, Casino Royale is pegged for a November 17 release, the same day as the PS3.

Still others believe that the Final Fantasy-James Bond connection doesn't point to Casino Royale's release date, but Final Fantasy's. Therefore, they think the Wii will launch on November 6 alongside Final Fantasy V Advance.

UPDATE 3: An additional thought on the October 2 Theory. Many Wii games were announced at E3 this year, but all of them were listed as coming in "the fall". A nice and generic date that can mean anytime between September 1 and December 1.

But one company listed actual release dates for their Wii games: Midway. When Midway announced Blitz: The League for the Wii they said it would be coming in October. When most people heard that at E3 they scoffed because October was "too early". Now I'm not so sure it is.

I can't wait for October.