We’ve heard the rumors, but now we can read the financial reports: Nintendo expects the Revolution to launch in Japan in the spring of ‘06.

[UPDATE: IGN claims that this is a misinterpretation of the 2006 launch estimate. (See the Cube mailbag for today.) An official translation would sure be nice. Thanks, Andy!]

That may not be news to Revolution watchers who figured the console would try to launch with (or get a jump-start on) the PS3, but that little tidbit may have been missed in our previous post on the GameCube’s slumping North-American sales.

Unfortunately, it may take quite a bit longer for Nintendo’s new console to rev up sales in other territories. After all, the Revolution may not launch in the U.S. until November of next year, and in Europe or other PAL countries until 2007. We’ll have to wait and see.