RadarScope1

That really is fantastic that the motherboard codename appears right there on the box. I've got the money and am all ready to jump in. I'll just be Falcon hunting from now on ...

Hooray for these guys seeing the light. Most encouraging is the statement that really puts the onus on parents -- where it should be.

They've done this before. I believe one of the first time I ever played a Super NES was at Six Flags. I distinctly remember they had a couple of trailer-like deals set up with tons of those spanking-new 16 bit machines set up inside. I remember playing Act Raiser and SMW.

My wife doesn't play games much, but she generally enjoys watching me play them. Mostly, she really likes Zelda. She's watched me play hours and hours of ZTP and even asks me to turn it on when I'm not playing. Hey, can't argue with that. The only games she really plays herself are Katamari and Brain Age.

I for one will seek out the harshest reviews of ZTP before buying. I was disappointed with Wind Waker. It did NOT deserve the across-the-board accolades it received. Not even close. I want to cut through the hype and read the CG and Wii TP reviews and look for who's really telling it like it is. I want to know if this is REALLY innovation or just more of the same. Link to the Past and Ocarina brought something new to the series while staying true to the essence of the series. At this point, TP looks like nothing more than a improved, but re-hashed, OoT -- with some fancy new controls.

Though I'm as susceptible to nostalgia as anyone, even the fanboys have to admit that the chip tunes and scrolling text are getting old. Zelda will never go away, but Nintendo needs to begin its "new" generation with some new first-party IPs that take us places we haven't been before.

@Grub-

Have you not listened to a word the Nintendo brass has said for the last 14 months? They're not aiming these commercials at college kids. They're going for the middle aged house wives, older people, etc. They're also going for us, the core gamers, but we're going to be into it anyway.

Why the hell do you think they're advertising on freaking Dancing With the Stars??!!

The author of this post has it completely backward: Ninty doesn't want "you" -- as in us, the gamers -- to watch DWTS at all. They're going after people who've never even heard of the thing with this ad. They're going after people who've never even played games before. DWTS has huge ratings, and they're wanting to put the Wii in front of a broad, non-gaming audience with this.

From the hilarious type department:

It should have read "dinky little CAR"

Cool! Looks like they're getting the point across. I noticed the Nintendo logo is nowhere to be seen ... A small move but one meant to emphasize that this is a shift away from traditional video gaming, to be sure.

I say get that dinky little over to my house. I'll take a free Wii. I'll even make the tea.

Ditto #18.

This list talks about the pitfalls of next gen, but I'm going to wait because of the strength of current gen (which for me is PS2 and DS). Namely, cheap prices and plentiful games of all kinds. Someone who bought a PS2 today could easily get years worth of cheap gaming kicks out of it. Not everyone plays every game on every platform as soon as they're released.

Apple will NOT enter the gaming market because it realizes that while games are a niche (sorry, you know it's true) most everyone digs music, movies and TV.

Rhork said: "At $299... It's simply nothing more than a novelty for the technogeeks that Need Everything."

Same could easily have been said in 2001 when the iPod came out, no? The whole appeal of the iPod and iTunes and now, iTV (BTW Jobs said that name will change) is that it's EASY and seamless. A caveman could do it, as the insurance commercials say. Using a 360 and Vista and all that might seem seamless to us, but you guys forget -- we're nerds, we know all this stuff. Check out this story from Wired about why it's the UI, not the hardware, that matters: http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,71774-0.html?tw=wn_index_1

This device IS going to take off, thought not right away. It'll build momentum, like iPod. It's a bit expensive, but the price will come down, like the iPod.

But Apple won't get into consoles, because that space is already crowded, and frankly, they just don't need games to help them take over the living room.