Huge drop in profits compared to this time last year.

Capcom have reported a net income of 216 million yen ($2.4 million) for the quarter ending June 30, 2010. Compared with the same period in 2009, this is a 94.8 percent drop. While profits are down, net sales are similar to last year, with just a 2.4 percent drop to 19,037 million yen ($219 million).

The shrinking US and European markets due to the state of the economy and the strong yen are large factors in the profit decrease. Titles such as Super Street Fighter IV and Monster Hunter Frontier Online showed steady sales growth, but Lost Planet 2 sales failed to match projected earnings, leading to overall stagnant sales. The slow sales rate of Monster Hunter Tri for Wii and the struggle of Ghost Trick for DS in the Japanese market has contributed to the figures.

The guns look bigger, and there's more text!

Sega released the official box art for Conduit 2 today, and it is saddled with prominent text that says it has "single, split-screen, and online combat."

Alongside the release of the box art, Sega also teased that more exciting information about the game is on the way. This could be anything from new content or a specific release date.

Conduit 2 is adding four-player split-screen cooperative and competitive multiplayer, more online features, Wii MotionPlus support, and much more when it comes out this fall.

Lots of videos showcasing the early parts of Metroid: Other M.

As well as yesterday's trailer, a series of video clips from Metroid: Other M reveal the early areas of the game. There are seven gameplay trailers showing a mini-boss, the biosphere style "Sector 1", visor battling, and fighting in corridors. Cutscenes from the beginning of the game have also been released, showing the events that happened prior to the beginning of Other M.

You can find the videos embedded below, or on our Youtube channel.

European Q4 releases include Donkey Kong Country Returns, but Kirby's Epic Yarn is due 2011.

Nintendo's Japanese release list from their financial forecast has confirmed the European release timeframes for several upcoming Wii games from Nintendo.

While no specific release dates were given, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Flingsmash, and Wii Party are due before Christmas. Kirby's Epic Yarn is set for release in the first quarter of 2011, with Mario Sports Mix and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword also listed for 2011. 

For Nintendo DS, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future will be released in October. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn and Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs are also coming this year.

Slowing DS sales and stronger yen are contributing factors.

For the first time in more than two years, Nintendo has posted a loss for the quarter ending June 30 2010. Net loss was 25.2 billion yen ($289 million), a 42 percent drop compared to the same period in 2009. Sales revenue dropped 26 percent to 188.6 billion yen ($2.1 billion).

The large drop in revenue has been attributed to slowing demand for the Nintendo DS, including a 33 percent drop in US sales last month, and the stronger Japanese yen. In total, 3.15 million DS units were sold compared to 5.97 million in the same period last year, a 47 percent drop. Software sales experienced a 23 percent drop to 22.4 million units. Wii hardware sales in fact increased to 3.04 million from 2.23 million. 

Launch information for 3DS expected in September.

Bloomberg's Japanese division has confirmed that Nintendo will reveal price and release date details on September 29 in Japan. This follows a telephone conversation between Bloomberg and Yasushi Hiroshi Minagawa, Nintendo spokesperson. Shipment targets for the fiscal year are expected to be part of the announcement.

The event is due to take place shortly after Tokyo Game Show, scheduled for September 16-19. It is expected that the announcement will be only for the Japanese market.

Get ready to meet the cast.

Nintendo has released a new Metroid trailer on the game's Japanese website.  It features a rundown of the game's characters, as Samus docks aboard a space station and runs into some old friends.  The soldiers that she talks to are, in the order of their introduction:Anthony HiggsMaurice FavreauK.G. MisawaJames PierceLyle SmithsonianAdam Malkovich

Samus and the soldiers chat for a while, but then come under attack by various alien creatures.  They eliminate the threat, at which point the trailer cuts to gameplay.The gameplay footage shows Samus blasting monsters, scaling vertical shafts by jumping from wall to wall, and pulling off some sweet finishing moves on a pesky alien.

The new RPG features time-travel gameplay and staffers from the PS2 RPG Radiata Stories.

Atlus unveiled a new DS RPG in Famitsu called Radiant Historia.

Hitting Japan on November 4, the game's story is focused on a hero named Stok, who is on one side of a war that broke out because people in the world are suffering from "Sand Person Disease." In a fight, he is wounded, and is then transported to an alternate world. From then on, Stok must travel between the past and future of two worlds and try to create one good timeline.

The turn-based battle system uses a 3-by-3 grid to show the enemies. Some foes take up more than one space, and more than one enemy can stay on a space. You can line up shots to take out multiple enemies along one row or column.

Another country deems the DS storage devices illegal to sell.

The popular R4 cards, which are widely used to play retail DS games illegitimately, are now illegal to be imported, sold, or advertised all throughout the UK, according to a recent ruling by a British high court judge.

The official decision is that the card is illegal because it thwarts Nintendo's security to play content. R4 and similar cards are used to play downloaded retail DS games as well as for homebrew purposes, the latter of which has been the main argument for their sale by supporters since homebrew software by itself doesn't involve piracy.  The judge ruled that "the mere fact that the device can be used for a non-infringing purpose is not a defence."

The Virtual Console looks to be getting another 16-bit Final Fantasy game.

Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest recently appeared on the website of the Australian Classification Board, meaning that it will likely soon appear on Virtual Console as well.

Mystic Quest, a simplified take on the Final Fantasy formula, was originally released by Squaresoft in North America in 1992 for the Super NES.  The game will be the second SNES Final Fantasy game to appear on Virtual Console, with Final Fantasy VI (III in North America) still unreleased.  Final Fantasy II was released on the Virtual Console in North America on March 8, 2010.