At midnight EST in New York City's Times Square the first Nintendo Wii system was sold by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. The system was gleefully purchased by a rather enthusiastic man named Isaiah Triforce Johnson, who spent an entire week camped out to get the first system armed with a Nintendo Power Glove and perhaps a little too much excitement. Johnson is such a fan that he legally changed his middle name to honor the popular Zelda series, so his enthusiasm isn't suprising..

But Johnson isn't the only one excited about the Nintendo Wii - according to published reports thousands of gamers lined up and waited hours for Nintendo's next-generation system. And Nintendo, unlike its rivals, was prepared for the launch here in North America with 4 million units. We're pretty sure the system has sold out at most retail locations, but for those that missed out don't worry - more are on the way before Christmas.

Nintendo's system may not support high definition gaming and it may not support Blu-Ray or even the basic DVD format but what it does do is attempt to offer something different. And this difference is a stark one to it's rivals because it truly is a step forward for the industry. Nintendo is certainly no stranger to innovation and while its competition may mock its talk of "revolution" as the diatribe of a dying breed you need only look to the sales of its Nintendo DS to realize the genius of it all.

Much like the Wii, the Nintendo Ds was different than the rest of the pack including it's own sibling the Game Boy Advance because it offered more unique avenues for playing games. The Wii will do the same with new controller technology, a massive back catalog of Nintendo classic available for purchase and a line-up of games in the future that have been the staple of the system for decades. Don't be fooled by this little system with the funny controller - it's definitely a contender and something it's rivals should be wary of.

Inside Wii

While the Wii may not have the processing muscle of the PS3 or the Xbox 360, it does offer a more robust technical pedigree that gets the job done. The Wii console has 512 MB of internal flash memory, a PowerPC CPU (90 nm SOI CMOS process, jointly developed with and manufactured by IBM), graphics technology provided by ATI, two USB 2.0 ports and built-in Wi-Fi capability. The system offers an SD memory card that will let players expand the internal flash memory as well.

Other important technical features include four ports for classic Nintendo GameCube controllers, two slots for Nintendo GameCube Memory Cards and an AV Multi-output port for component, composite or S-video. The systems is about 8.5 inches long, 6 inches wide and less than two inches thick and isn't as bulky as the Xbox 360 or PS3.

The Wii has been designed processing technologies that minimize power consumption, which also serves to keep the system pretty compact. This also means that the Wii, when combined with broadband internet access, can be connected and constantly updated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This "sleepless", always connected technology is being billed as WiiConnect24 mode. Basically it means that the system will constantly update data and games without any kind of user intervention, save your own personal preferences.

The Wii may not be as powerful as its competition but it is twice the machine the GameCube was, which should allow it to create better game content, which is pretty important. A quick glance at many of the third-party games developed for the system will assure gamers that the Wii is just as good as any other system for developing high end gaming content that requires slick graphics and fast processing speeds. Rumor has it that developers are embracing the Wii because it is a lot easier to game content on.

Backwards Compatibility

One of Microsoft's biggest sins has been the unfulfilled promise of backwards compatibility on its Xbox 360 system. Nintendo and Sony both know that being able to play old games on your new system is very, very important to gamers. So the Nintendo Wii is backwards compatible out of the box. As already mentioned gamers will be able to load up all of their GameCube on this system and will be able to plug their GameCube controllers and memory cards for instant access to their favorite GameCube titles.