Oh, how the tables have turned, no? It seems just yesterday that Nintendo was considered a toy for children; an afterthought of he market; a pale shadow of its former self in the 1980′s and 90′s. But not today, it would seem, as investors get whipped up into a tizzy of big words and numbers when they talk about Nintendo and its plucky white console (and handheld).

Analyst Anthony Arena (say that five times fast):

We believe the launch of high quality third party games, combined with blockbuster first party games, will allow the Nintendo Wii to command 50% of the console market.

We believe a 50% market share of the console market combined with the best selling handheld to date will allow Nintendo to generate fiscal 2008 revenue of $10 billion. Therefore, we are initiating an outperform rating and a per share price of the ADR shares of $50.

Billion, as in with a B. Arena argues that Nintendo is still under performing because the third party players have only just come around on the Wii. This thing is a juggernaut.