At a New York press event Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime claims that, despite the fact that Wii launches two days after the PS3, there was no marketing ploy to upset Sony's own launch plans. "Our issue isn't about trying to launch the Wii two days after the PS3, our issue is launching the Wii for the kick-off of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend," he commented. "We had to make sure we have enough to fulfill demand. Our concern has always been that we have enough consoles in stores."

He also talked briefly about shipment figures, but remain tight-lipped on how many consoles will be available for the launch window. He has stipulated that the Americas will receive the largest percentage of units, but also stated that Nintendo can't predict demand.

The press event continued with an explanation of the Opera web browser. Nintendo confirmed in May that Wii users will be able to surf the Internet with a version of the Opera web browser and users will be able to navigate the web through the Wii Remote, but they still haven't decided on whether we'll have to pay seperately for the service. Japanese gamers will receive the Opera browser for free for a limited amount of time.

Despite Reggie's close relationship with Microsoft's Peter Moore and the fact that Microsoft have encouraged gamers to buy both a Wii and an Xbox 360, he wasn't drawn into the psychological battle between the three super powers of gaming, "The consumer is going to do what they are going to do, " he said. "The Wii represents fantastic innovation and fantastic value."

Wii launches in the UK on December 8th, priced £179.99.

Pre -orders are currently available from Play.com