In the unfolding video game war, underdog Nintendo has lined up powerful allies — game makers, who like the new Wii’s unconventional features and game development costs that run about half what’s required for Microsoft and Sony’s new consoles.

With two potential hits ready for launch and nearly three dozen titles expected by year end, Nintendo is scheduled to ship units and games faster than its bigger rivals, who significantly increased the power and graphics capabilities of their machines.

In their attempts to future-proof their machines with gee-whiz technology, Microsoft and Sony are forsaking the immediate profits Nintendo will reap with the Wii, which debuts November 19.

At $250, Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s Wii will sell for roughly half the price of Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. It clearly stands out from the crowd of three, thanks to a motion-sensitive remote that could redefine video game play as users swing it like a sword or a golf club.

“Does it have to have high-end graphics to be fun? No,” said Laurent Detoc, who leads Ubisoft’s North American business, and expects to have eight Wii games in stores within a month of the console release.

Nintendo, which was the leading console maker before Sony’s PlayStation debut in the mid-90s, will sell its own games for $50, compared with the $60 price on most new games for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The cheaper price may mask fatter profits for developers. Consumers buy Wii titles for 17 percent less than next-generation console games, but publishers say development costs for Wii are only half as much — or less.

A gamer I’m not; but, the business model ain’t bad. At this rate, Nintendo can expect plenty of game developers to work for Wii.