Nintendo`s Wii Gamble - The graphics, on the other hand...

You'll notice that I haven't mentioned the graphics or sheer awesomeness of the upcoming games for the Wii. Well, it is true that some people will be buying the Wii just so they can play Legend of Zelda or Excite Truck or some other releases. On the other hand, you should probably take note of a question-and-answer exchange that occurred at the Wii conference Nintendo conducted in New York. When Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime was asked about the Wii's visuals when compared with other next generation systems, he responded, "If you want power, you're going to go somewhere else."

Indeed, many gamers who have read the news about the Wii have commented that the console sounds like little more than a souped-up version of the GameCube. It costs less than the Xbox and the PS3 for a reason: the graphics technology is not exactly state of the art. And it isn't yet clear whether Nintendo will allow Wii users to play the kinds of massive multiplayer online games that Xbox 360 users enjoy so much (though with Disney's Buena Vista games on board, we might well see something there; the entertainment company has had a virtual version of its Magic Kingdom theme park with various games available for at least a year).

Still, Nintendo apparently has high hopes for the system. The company estimates that it will sell more than four million Wii consoles by the end of the year. One wonders if it figures it will steal Sony's thunder; the PS3 has been plagued with manufacturing problems. Sony will have only 400,000 PS3 units available in the U.S. for its November launch. P. J. McNealy, a game industry analyst for American Technology Research, doesn't think that will be enough. "There are going to be more than 2 million consumers this holiday who are predisposed to want to buy a PS3 who aren't going to be able to. A certain percentage of those are either going to wait or buy a Wii or buy a 360."  We'll see whether that prediction is something Nintendo can take to the bank.