A tipster just sent word on what a Nintendo rep said about the Wii. Some of it is rather obvious, some of it is surprising. Really surprising.

•The promotional material that the rep had with her only contained white consoles and peripherals. The Wii Classic controller was included, as well as the Zapper, as possible peripherals to be utilized at launch.
•There is concern about stores using halogen lighting. Tons of halogen spotlights scattered about may give everything a much warmer and more ambient feel. However, this particular type of lighting can throw off the aiming of the Wii controller when the lights are angled down through the path of the signal. So for people with halogen track-lighting in front of the TV, this could be a problem.
•Nintendo is aiming for an October launch. Since a number of big-ticket crossplatform titles like Madden will be coming out at that time, Nintendo doesn't want to miss them. Apparently the company wants to beat Sony out the gate, and get some buzz going about their non-traditional controller in the meantime.

For most this won't matter, but potential Wii customers with halogen lights in their living room could very well be effed. And with halogen illuminating more and more homes, this might turn into a minor prob for Nintendo. Good thing I play by candlelight, huh? —Brian Ashcraft

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