Nintendo plans to launch its Wii game console in the United States on Nov. 19 and in Japan on Dec. 2, the company said Thursday.

The console will cost $250 in the United States and ¥25,000 ($213) in Japan. Both prices are considerably cheaper than the ¥59,800 price tag of the competing PlayStation 3 that will go on sale Nov. 11 in Japan and Nov. 17 in the United States. European launch details for the Wii are expected Friday.

Wii will go up against two tough opponents: Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. Many gamers await the former, while the latter has been on the market for a year and has been generally well received by gamers in Europe and the United States, though less so by those in Japan.

Nintendo, the smallest of the three companies, is well known for its family-friendly video games, and for pursuing the market with an emphasis on light-hearted fun in an effort to widen the gaming audience. The company has already had some success. While sales of the PlayStation Portable are expected to decline this year, sales of Nintendo's competing Nintendo DS portable are surging, thanks to the surprise hit of a brain-training game.

The company's innovations with the Wii include its controller, which looks similar to a remote control. The device features motion sensors and links via wireless to the Wii so that it can be swung like a bat in a baseball game or jabbed like a fist in a boxing game. The idea behind the controller is that anyone, not just experienced gamers, can use it.

The Japan launch software lineup will consist of 16 games, and there should be 22 on sale by year-end, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said at a Tokyo news conference Thursday. Several will come from Nintendo, including Wii Sports, a package including baseball, boxing, tennis and bowling that will retail for ¥4,800. There will also be Zelda: Twilight Princess, which will cost ¥6,800.

Nintendo will also offer so-called classic games for download at prices between ¥500 and ¥1,000. Titles from the days of the company's Famicon and Super Famicon will be offered and accessed through the console's Wii Channel service. Wii Channel will also offer the latest news and weather information, a sticky-noteslike message service that can be used by family members, and access to the Internet through a version of the Opera Web browser.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.