Nintendo's Wii [not-so] Little Details Threaten Sony's Game Even More

That's Wii as in Nintendo's next-gen videogame console mind you. Yes, I'm talking about the non-HDTV crowd's motion-sensing, first-timer friendly, nunchuck-toting revolutionary that promises to redefine videogameing as we know it. The same Wii that costs only $250USD, 25,000 Japanese yen, one-hundred something British Pounds or 250 Euros (case depending). The same Wii that lets you use whose hand remote (or should I say "Wiimote") becomes a doctor's scalpel, baseball bat, katana blade, golf putter - even a tennis raquet - as the player's choice of game dictates. The same Wii that... okay, okay, I guess you get the idea!

And it's this same Wii that just insulted Sony's PlayStation 3 for yet the millionth time with a launch that basically says: "We're matching your launch schedule in the States... AND we'll have our Christmas WITHOUT you in Europe this year! So buzz off, moron!" Well, not really, but you know what I mean.

And when are the launch dates, you ask? Well, here they are, buster: on November 19, the Wii hits shelves in America... two days after the PS3! Japan gets its Wii on December 2, with Austrailia and Europe bringing up the rear December 7 and 8, respectively.

So what does this mean for Sony? Those 500,000 units that sell out in November (2 million for the entire Q4 timeframe) and delayed European shipments are no longer the only thorns in the side of the PS3 - now the BluRay-toting, cash-eating, Cell-processor based, 800-pound "videogame computer" behemoth priced at $500-$600 depending upon model selection has been dealt the ultimate blow by the very company that the PlayStation brand almost ran into the ground forever. In other words, if the success of the DS handheld over the PSP (aka PlayStation Portable) asnd the Wii's own very-strong showing at the [now-dead] E3 a few good months ago are anything to go by, then the Nintendo name - and the games and hardware it represents - will have succesfully come full circle and Sony will have been hammered in by the final nail in their unfortunate-yet-untimely-crafted casket.

And believe me, this one occurrence is plenty of good reason for that to be exactly what could (and probably will) happen in the end. There's no doubt (at least in my mind) that Sony - and likewise the entire PlayStation brand - will probably never recover from this anyway. With the very nature of the pricing structures and the release schedule for the Wii - and four million units to back it all up with - Nintendo has just picked up the full force of the revenge and payback against Sony that it deserves after spending all of the past decade bringing up the rear in the videogame marketplace.

So yes, I'm proud to say that the Wii's revolution is well on it's way.

And my advice to you is: Get ready for it.