Frankly, I'm not sure if this is good news, bad news or no news, but IBM confirmed today that they started shipping the brains of the Nintendo Wii for their New York fab plant about three weeks ago.

Ron Martino, director, of IBM Technology Collaboration Solutions, wouldn't tell me how many of the "Broadway" chips have been produced so far or how many they will be able to manufacture by Nintendo's still to be announced launch window later this year. Nintendo also declined to release details about chip production.

While Nintendo hasn't quite gotten around to releasing the date or price for the Wii, I'd be shocked if that information didn't come out at their New York City press event next week.

At least we can be pretty sure that Nintendo has already started, or is gearing up to start, production for the Wii. A July job posting by the company for a "production agent trainee" practically glows with confirmation.

This is IBM's second console launch with Nintendo. The chip manufacturer also designed and produced the Gekko chip for the GameCube. This time around IBM and Nintendo signed a multi-year deal for the chip manufacturer to produce "millions" of the Power Architecture-based chips featuring IBM Silicon on Insulator technology at 90 nanometers.

Yeah, I'm not sure what all of that means either, but I do know that the chip is designed to consume about 20 percent less energy. So there's that.

I tried to get Martino to spill with some more technical details, but he referred me to Nintendo who passed on commenting.

Nintendo was happy to say that the first of the chips, which are being produced at IBM's 300mm semiconductor development and manufacturing facility in East Fishkill, New York, are already in their hot little hands.

"Today's milestone marks the final stage of our drive to reach both core and nontraditional gamers with an inviting, inclusive and remarkable gaming experience," said Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director and General Manager for Nintendo's Integrated Research & Development Division.

Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing and corporate affairs, said all is well in the world of the Wii.

"Everything is on schedule, Nintendo is very happy," Perrin said. "We still plan a hearty launch in Q4."

In a prepared statement Martino said they are proud of their customized Power microprocessor for the Wii.

"When millions of gamers take the controls of Wii this holiday season, the IBM logo will once again be front and center on this innovative new product," he said.

Ironically, IBM is also producing the Cell chips for the Playstation 3 at the same East Fishkill, New York fabrication plant.

Martino said production for the Cell chip is "going well and is meeting our objectives."

Sony declined to say when IBM started producing the Cell chips for the Playstation 3, but did say that they already have more than three million of the chips for their console. Brian Crecente

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