I HAVE PLAYED THE WII AND IT IS GOOD

That's right people, I HAVE PLAYED THE WII. And not just ten little minutes, I'm talking several hours of pure awesomeness, while shitty bands played loud music in the background!

The Controller(s)-It's definitely a little awkward initially, especially since many games handle the controls in different ways, but you quickly really get into it. The remote is really light and sleek, and the response is damn near perfect on everything.

The Games I played:

Excite Truck-Unfortunately, this for me was the one real disappointment. It controlled really loosely, turning was a complete bitch, and it after a few cool jumps, it gets really old. If they can tighten up the controls and add a good variety of trucks with differing abilities, that would help immensely.

Wario Ware: Completely bizarre beyond definition, but totally fun, and probably gets the most variety out of the controller, as you do things like hold it various ways and at various points on your body depending on the minigame.

Wii Sports: Ok, anybody expecting a solid & realistic sports sim on any level should just go and buy and actual full blown sports title. This is simply meant to be a fun, but very rough interpretation of these genres of sports. That being said, everything was fun and really easy to pick up. Baseball is very simple, as one person bats and one pitches, and you do actually swing and throw, the computer handles out-fielding and there is no stealing bases or anything of that sort. Team AI was definitely flaky and some questionable calls, but it doesn't spoil the fun. Tennis is the simplest, as aside from serving and swinging the racket, all other movement is taken care of for you. Very fun, but surprisingly simple, perhaps a little too simple. Bowling is perfect, you can affect spin and speed and it's just very satisfying to hit a strike. Finally, Boxing is the most intense and most complex, as you really, really box-you dodge, left hook, keep your guard up, all with actual movements-This is the only game that really made my arms tired, but it was also the best use of the controller out of what I played. Unfortunately, golf was not playable.

Zelda: YES, IT WAS PLAYABLE. It's essentially a the level you've seen in all the gameplay videos. The swordfighting is tremendous and works flawlessly. The bow unfortunately was hard to aim, which wasn't a huge problem until I faced a fire giant boss who had to be hit in the eye with the bow while he is rushing at you very fast.

Bottom line-the whole experience was just incredible, and I can't wait to play it some more when it's finally out.

I'm about 5 hours into FFXII, and it's pretty damn good so far. I really like how the new battlefields play out, as not every monster is an enemy, and some are even extremely helpful. My one real complaint is how far they they take the license board system. Essentially, you use it to gain new abilities, but this aspect is taken to far as you need it for things as simple as being able to upgrade your equipment.

Already salivating at the mere mention of Halo 3 even though it's nearly a year away? EB Games is counting on it, as they are officially starting in-store pre-orders tomorrow. I think it's jumping the gun a bit, as we've all seen that games over a year away can get easily delayed, but then again, with the legendary edition supposedly coming in at $100, might be smart to start putting aside a little money right now.