Well, it’s nearly here. E3 starts in a mere two days. Keynotes will soon flood the internet. Announcements will be made. Awards will be handed out. The hype for upcoming games will begin. Some will rise to the occasion upon delivery, others will be miserable piles of excrement. This is the time of year when journalists look at games in development. These games will have promise. Reporters will look at them and say that the controls need work, but that the developers have plenty of time to work that out. We all know that never happens though. When the game comes out the controls will still suck. Sigh… So, what am I looking forward to? Let’s find out:

• Halo 3
• Too Human
• Any and all things Wii related
• Super Smash Bros. Wii
• Zelda (Gamecube and DS)
• Phantasy Star Universe
• Some Japanese RPGs for 360
• Nintendo sending me a free DS Lite (Please!)

There’s probably a few more things I could put up there, but that’s the big list. You may notice my lack of excitement for the PS3. Well, I’ve learned not to get too excited about Sony when it comes to trade shows, at least not when they’re talking about upcoming hardware. I’m sure there will be some real-time offerings this year, but I’ll wait and see. For me, this year is all about the Wii. It’s the only thing that’s really exciting. There are some potentially great games coming to 360, but the Wii really has a chance to bring something entirely new to the table. We all sit with bated breath to see what Nintendo is going to do.

 Ah…who am I kidding. I just want my new Smash Bros.

—oops. Fixed a spelling mistake.

Okay, as all of you are no doubt aware, Nintendo announced the official name of the Revolution. If by some miracle you don’t know, the name…is Wii. Pronounced simply “we.” As in “wheeeeeee!” I really saw no point in posting this yesterday, thinking it was better to wait a little bit and let the concept settle in my brain. Some of you probably feel anger. Others feel hate. Still others feel fear. Of course, all of you should know that any one of these emotions eventually leads to suffering.

Whether or not it’s a good name I’m not sure. Discussing it with Thomas last night I made an observation that went something like this:

Real gamers will buy this thing no matter what it’s called. Nintendo knows this. Random and casual folk who don’t care about video games—or perhaps even dislike them—won’t be threatened by something called Wii.

Seriously, who could be threatened by Wii? Anybody? Thomas made the observation that Nintendo was trying to create something that would not be considered a game console, but rather something else entirely. In much the same way the iPod is not called the Apple MP3 Player, Nintendo doesn’t want the Wii referred to as the Nintendo Game Player. Wii suggests something altogether outside of the traditional console wars. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s a great name. I’m merely stating that I understand why Nintendo chose it. It’s not like I’m dying to tell my fiance that I’m up for some multiplayer Wii.

In the end it doesn’t really matter, as people will call it whatever they want. I don’t remember anybody calling the NES by its given name, it was just “Nintendo.” I wouldn’t be surpised if that exact phenomenon repeats itself with the…ahem…Wii.

 …God it’s still hard to say.