Nintendo Wii Fanboy

As we type, the world's crazy time differences mean that Wii Fit has been available in Japan for, ooh, a few hours at least.

How will it fare? We don't know for sure, and as our closest friend isn't a De Lorean-owning, wavy-haired scientist, the best we can offer is a guess. That said, the 300,000 preorders reportedly taken by Japanese retailers prior to the game's release tell us that Nintendo has probably just conjured up another mass appeal mega-hit. If all of those preorders are honored, that would also make Wii Fit a bigger opening week success than a certain other title, but we won't dwell on that, as it's proven a touchy subject recently.

Check back with us next week for the full lowdown on precisely how many Japanese people are precariously poised on their Balance Boards.

[Via The Tanooki]

Of the many scandalous practices that game shops often subject us to without fear of reprisal, pre-order harassment is one of the worst. Not only will you be sneered at and interrogated for not reserving a new release, you'll be castigated in front of your friends and family, your manhood and the chasteness of your mother called into question. We are told that someone will also sneak under you and tie your shoelaces together so that you'll trip when you try to walk away. This is the reality of video game retailers around the country.

Buying from electronics superstores like Best Buy or Fry's cuts down on the unchecked tomfoolery that governs mall-based game shops, but Circuit City is taking an extra step to satisfy its customers. As marked in last Sunday's advertisements, if you're not able to find a copy of Super Paper Mario at Circuit City tomorrow after 2 PM, the store will compensate you with a $20 gift card.

A guarantee and good will gesture like that puts Circuit City at the top of our list of places to buy Super Paper Mario and other games from. We'll just have to make sure that we wear our velcro strap shoes when we go to cancel our pre-orders.

[Via Opposable Thumbs]

According to the Guardian Unlimited, the UK site Play.com has been awash in Wii preorders -- 7000 in the first nine days, making it the "biggest and quickest launch ever on the site." With months to go yet until the console's release (December 8 in Europe), people are already jumping to reserve a Wii. In the vacuum left by Sony's decision to delay the PS3 in Europe, it looks like the Wii's going to be a little popular.

And, inadvertently, the Guardian reminds us why Wii Sports has been bundled with the console to push units outside gamer markets. In an attempt to explain what the Wii is and what can be done with it, they said, "you can play tennis, golf, or baseball, you can bowl or box or play something called Zelda Hands-on, which is a sword fighting game." The uh, emphasis would be ours. When you hit Play.com to reserve your Wii, don't forget Zelda Hands-on. We hear it's a real winner.