Wii In Motion

Nintendo made a couple of smart moves regarding the launch. First, I loved the idea of having kiosks - both mobile and stationary - available for the sizeable crowd outside the store, as well as tutors to help people master the controls. Second, they gave away lots of T-shirts and hats. Sure, that created a lot of unnecessary clutter in the already crowded CityWalk, but it helped reinforce Nintendo's rep as a fan friendly game company.

Nintendo also made the right move by having 2 million units ready to go. That ensured that plenty of fans would get their hands on one before the predicable sell-out. It also helped reduce the mayhem and hysteria around the launch. For example, most gamers had only waited in line for a day or so instead of nearly a week for the PlayStation 3.

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But perhaps the most important element is the Wii launch lineup. Nintendo has 20 games to support its new console, and none is more important than The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The early buzz on the game is positive and most of the reviews so far have been outstanding (I have yet to play it). Pretty much any Zelda game is guaranteed to bring in a lot of Nintendoids, but if the franchise has another classic like Ocarina of Time on its hands, then Twilight Princess could be the Wii's answer to Halo.

Other than Zelda, Nintendo has a diverse lineup with action titles like Call of Duty 3 and Marvel" Ultimate Alliance; sports title such as Madden NFL 07, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, and the bundled title Wii Sports; family games like Cars and Avatar: the Last Airbender; racing titles such as Excite Truck and Need for Speed Carbon; and M-rated games Far Cry Vengeance and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Not every title will be worth the money, but Nintendo looks like they have enough games to make early buyers happy.

The Wii didn't sell out as quickly as the PS3, but it sold more units and made more of its customers happy with enough available units to satisfy its core fans and curious shoppers. The issue now will be if Nintendo can sustain the buzz part the holiday season. Again, diehards will snatch up copies of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Super Mario Galaxy and WarioWare: Smooth Moves early next year. We didn't see any glitches, system errors or problems with the motion sensor technology during the launch party, but that doesn't mean there won't be any. In fact, several reports have come in about issues with the Wii sensor bar (again, check out Mark Raby's review) as well as the WiiConnect24.

If Nintendo can take care of some early glitches, then the question will be whether or not the company can redefine what its means to be next generation in gaming. Until now, we assumed the term referred to advancements in graphics, thanks to the powerful processors behind the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. But Nintendo has added a wrinkle to the race. The Wii will attempt to redefine next generation gaming with its motion sensor controller; instead of games further immersing people with visually exhilarating photo-realistic graphics, Nintendo will attempt to immerse them with physically exhilarating (and potentially exhausting) motion-based gameplay. And that's where this next-generation console race will get interesting.

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