Much like operatic cringe-group Il Divo, the Wii has been mercilessly destroying familiar records as of late. Aussie-Nintendo picks up the pieces of yet another one, this time in the land of Australia. Selling 32,901 units in the space of four days, Nintendo's Zelda player can now confidently claim "the biggest launch of a videogame console in history." In Australia. Previously, the Xbox 360 held the record for selling just over 30,000 units in four days.

Myer (a chain of stores, not a man) expressed pleasure at experiencing "a strong spike in total business which can be largely attributed to the introduction of Wii. We couldn't be happier with the fantastic products Nintendo are releasing. Our Wii launch experience has really shown that consumers have made Myer a destination store for gaming." Indeed, the folks at Myer would likely be even happier if console launches happened more often, as they're almost always marked by rapidly vanishing stocks and hordes of early adopters. The real trick is to keep the momentum going long after the release buzz has died down.

Keep an eye on those records though, just to be safe.

That's one purchased every second, says Nintendo. Gamesindustry.biz now reports that the UK saw 50,000 Wii consoles fly off shelves (and straight into televisions, shortly afterwards) 12 hours after it launched to massive crowds and immeasurable fanboy delight. David Yarnton of Nintendo says the company is "delighted with the amazing response to the Wii" and that gamers are "embracing the way that we are turning the industry on its head." The official launch event took place on Friday at the HMV store in London's Oxford street where, just hours prior to the Wii's release, the seething mass of people had to be sent home for a while so as to avoid unneccesary anarchy (in the UK).

There may be chaos yet, though, as Nintendo still has to face the challenge of overcoming crippling shortages and making sure everybody gets to flail their arms about this Christmas.

The demand for the system has been "unprecedented," according to Nintendo UK's David Yarnton. He notes that Nintendo is very confident about the Wii's launch and predicts nothing but a huge success -- a prediction very much backed up by the gigantic lines that formed at the UK's HMV store in Oxford Street yesterday. The crowd even had to be broken up and asked to return at a later stage, though not before being given several (likely sturdy) wristbands.

Speaking to Gamesindustry.biz, Tim Ellis, head of games at HMV, says that demand is most certainly exceeding supply and that the retailer could easily have "sold many more times than we've got, to be honest." Despite the presence of orderly lines and a lack of violent, Wii-related crimes (so far), he goes on to label the launch as "bedlam." Not to worry, Nintendo promises more stock is on the way and aims to satisfy everyone that wants a Wii this Christmas. That would be everyone, then.

And yes, that's 2006. After deluging attendees with sales charts, DS success stories and grown men grunting their way through a game of Wii Tennis, Nintendo finally unveiled the European launch details for their upcoming console. Eurogamer reports that the system will see release on December 8th for EUR 249 and GBP 179. The European system will also have Wii Sports bundled, along with one Wiimote and one nunchuck. Software is expected to retail for between 34 and 39 pounds (or between 49 and 59 Euros). Much like other territories, the system is set to receive some 15 to 20 launch games, including the usual suspects -- Rayman: Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz and Wii Play.

"People change. Hairstyles change. Interest rates fluctuate." When Hillary Flammond uttered those words in Top Secret, she clearly hadn't experienced the gaming industry -- a marvelous, often magical place where things change very quickly indeed. As today's cataclysmic explosion of Wii news demonstrates, things can change for better or for worse. Yesterday's truth may become today's obsolete press release. So, what has (and hasn't) changed for Nintendo between then and now?

Then: The Wii could play DVDs via an unspecified and entirely nebulous dongle. The original console description reads: "Two Disc Formats, One Slot: Instead of a tray, a single, innovative, self-loading media bay will play both 12-centimeter optical discs used for the new system as well as Nintendo GameCube discs. Owners will have the option of equipping a small, self-contained attachment to play movies and other DVD content."
Now: Inserting a DVD into the system will likely produce a polite error message indicating a complete inability to play DVDs. Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan explains DVD playback was removed "in order to deliver the machine at a cheaper cost and because most people today already own DVD players." On the plus side, this reduces the amount of times we'll have to type a dubious word like "dongle."

Informants come in many shapes, sizes and trenchcoats, but those who approach us under a veil of secrecy and threaten to bend our limbs in unnatural ways should we reveal their identities are usually the best ones. Claiming to work for an independent video game site on a distant continent, our latest informant (we'll call him Mr. Informant Fronzel Neekburm) lends even more weight to the ongoing theory that the Nintendo Wii launches in October. At this point, said theory could probably kill a passerby if dropped from a balcony.

Fronzel explains that his outlet received a detailed release schedule from Activision, one that listed Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam with an October release, followed by Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Call of Duty 3 in November. Shortly afterwards, a hasty re-issue dropped in his inbox, with the only alteration being to the Wii release dates -- they'd been replaced with a more vague "Upon Wii launch." Had Mr. Neekburm just witnessed Activision in a drunken stumble, grabbing and pulling back a velvet curtain in an attempt to avoid an unpleasant impact with the floor?

Both documents were forwarded to us and we were able to ascertain that the last person to modify the second document is part of Activision's international media relations team. The presence of LucasArts titles on the list had us puzzled for a bit, but it turns out that Activision publishes George's games in certain territories. The last question in need of an answer, of course, is "would Activision already know the launch date?" Considering that they're working on a highly publicized launch title, we're going to go with "yes."

Admittedly, that part is pure speculation. Activision may have just been eradicating a date they pulled from the ether, for fear of people getting the wrong idea and writing deeply entertaining, mercilessly captivating blog posts about it. We'll let you know if we hear anything else.

Note: In the picture above, we edited the spreadsheet a bit in order to highlight the relevant information.

[Thanks, uh, Fronzel!]

The words of CNN Money's Chris Morris, which suggest a Wii launch in late September or early October, are certainly tantalizing and not entirely unrealistic. Getting the machine onto store shelves and into our loving, embarrassingly weak arms would give Nintendo a healthy lead on the PS3 and Microsoft's glut of holiday titles, not to mention the joy it would grant fans of intergalactic bounty hunters and pointy-eared archers. Morris cites an earlier analyst report by P.J. McNealy of American Technology Research which notes that Nintendo already began manufacturing final retail consoles on 21 June, providing ample time until a prospective September launch.

Further evidence comes in the less sturdy form of past release dates of Nintendo consoles, with only the Gamecube missing an October or September release window. Of course, if the Wii launches worldwide immediately, one would expect a strategy similar to that of the DS launch -- that one happened in November as well. While it's not entirely unfeasible, Morris' suggestion is still swathed in speculation. With no details available on manufacturing, Nintendo may have simply started up the production line early (if they did so at all) to avoid launch shortages which plagued the Xbox 360 and are sure to plague Sony's machine.

Unfortunately, it looks like the only words we can fully trust right now are the ones from official (and sober) Nintendo men and women.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

[Update 1: Nintendo has (predictably) put the kibosh on this one, with a spokesperson stating, "There's no change in our plan to release the console in the last quarter of this year."]