Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with Monki's thoughts on Nintendo's news regarding their next gen platform, the Wii. I'm quite looking forward to this console and while I do like me my Playstation I get the feeling that PS3 is fighting an uphill battle. It has to compete with Nintendo now, a console which is less than half the price. The Blu-Ray feature is the only real advantage PS3 has, but is it worth the price?

By the way, this week's Games of the Week has been rolled over to next week's column courtesy of the tech problems we've been having on the site recently. To hold you over, here's Monki!

Hey there folks, Monki here with a general round up of the upcoming next-gen battle.

Now begins the next generation of video games. Nintendo has announced their Wii system will launch in the U.S. on November 19th at a higher-than-expected $249.99. The box will contain the Wii system, a Wiimote, a Nunchuck attachment, and most importantly a pack-in game Wii Sports.

Nintendo claims 4 million units by the year's end. A few fun facts about the Wii, no longer does the unit support DVD playback. Nintendo makes the case that if you don't have a DVD player by now, you are probably using tin cans and string to communicate with loved ones. (Or something along those lines)

The virtual console (much like the XBox Live Arcade) will have some awesome titles available at launch including The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario World and Super Mario 64. Virtual console games will run you $5 for NES titles, $8 for SuperNES and $10 for N64 games. This means another version of CONTRA hopefully. (The upcoming XBLA version is based off the arcade version, not the NES one we all know and love.)

As I said before, the USA launch will be November 19th of this year, Japan will get it on December 2nd and as of the time I write this piece European launch dates have not been specified, but November/Decemberish is the word I'm hearing.

The eagerly anticipated launch title Metroid Prime 3 will be released in March, destroying hopes of Samus lovers for a few more months. The videos I've seen of this game look freakin' awesome and I can't wait to actually get my hands on it.

Additional controllers for the Wii are going to be costly. The Wiimote itself will cost you $39.99 and the nunchuck attachment (extra analog for your alternate hand along with trigger) will be another $19.99. ~$60 for a controller? Not so cool.

The interface for the Wii looks very appealing. From the demos shown, it is almost foolproof. Nintendo is making their reach towards this casual audience and using simple tools they may actually do it. For example, since your Wii is always on, (and plugged in to the internet) all your family would have to do is turn on the TV and switch to the Wii video setting. There, with only a few waves of the hand and clicks they could have access to local news and weather, very convenient for those of us who don't like listening to the morning TV personalities hopped up on 4 expressos.

Nintendo is taking a shot at becoming the next appliance in your entertainment center, not just the next gaming console. Aside from the $249.99 price tag, I think they are on the right path to do it as well.

So, the PLAYSTATION 3 hits on November 17th, the Nintendo Wii on the 19th (which is a Sunday, so you can camp out Friday and Saturday night after not getting one of the two PLAYSTATION 3's that Best Buy gets). What a huge wiikend for the world of gaming.

So, talkbackers, which of the three consoles tickles your fancy in just the right spot? Is it the XBox 360 with it's already established line-up of games and experienced online service that blows in your ear? Will it be Nintendo's small little package Wii that makes you want to join the Touch Generation even more? Or is it the PLAYSTATION 3 with the only true 1080P punching power that will wear you out and tuck you into bed at night? Personally, I have had the 360 for a while now and can't wait to get my hands on a Wii (tee-hee) but I'm still not convinced that I should drop $600 on Sony's latest offering. I'm sure I will get it eventually, but I don't know if I'd get it at launch even if I had the opportunity. But that's just me.