Finally, insde the cocoon of Wii. This angry-looking fellow on the right was conducting a virtual orchestra on a turntable.

A selection of Wii controllers. Not exactly sure how anyone with less than three hands is going to handle the center configuration. And, yes, the remote plugs into a grip to become... a Zapper.

People actually playing Wii. Several couches were set up for people to gather around and watch. Attendees could sign up to play whilst being coached by one of NOA's people. One such coach that I spoke with said signing up wasn't necessary because there were many Wii systems with "no line" in the outer ring of the area. That person is not getting a Christmas card this year.

In another line to play Zelda, the only Wii game I managed to get my hands on. The creature on the right is one the Jailers, whos job is to chat idly with the Condemned while the single happy person at the front of the line plays for 10 or so minutes.

Wii Wrap-Up
Hell froze over and I did finally play Zelda. It was good. I was confused for most of my 10 minutes, but that was to be expected. I learned a few things: both parts of the "Nunchuck" controller are motion sensitive. You flick the smaller part quickly left to right to initiate Link's spin attack. The cross pad activates your items. In one instance, holding down on the crosspad put you in bow mode, where you direct your arrow with the remote control and release the crosspad to fire. The single most interesting part was putting on the iron boots and attaching myself, upsidedown, to a giant magnet.

Graphically, the Wii did not impress. I've never seen a less graphically-impressive next-gen system. It looks, for all intents and purposes, like Game Cube. This isn't bad, just unimpressive. For Zelda, a late Game Cube port, perhaps this is not unusual, but even new titles such as Mario Galaxy and Red Steel could have easily been Game Cube games. If the Wii does come out at $199 or under, I can fully appreciate this strategy, considering PS3's ridiculous $499 base price tag.

Note to Nintendo: I clearly remember E3 1995, when Nintendo debuted a much more impressive N64 on an open floor for all to play. It was crowded, of course, but people did get to play, and they didn't have to wait 3.5 hours to do so. Please don't ever do this again.