Speaking exclusively to SPOnG recently, Nintendo Europe's recently-appointed head of sales and marketing Laurent Fischer outlined the company's plans for the PAL roll-out of the Wii, reassuring us that Europe will not be left out in the cold.

When asked directly if Nintendo will launch the Wii into Europe during 2006, alongside the rest of the world, Fischer stated, "The announcement has been made that it will be released in 2006," he said. "To me, by the end of 2006, all the various countries are going to have Wii released. I have no other, more precise information."

Of course, European gamers have, for a long time, been left out in the cold by Nintendo hardware release staggering, though recent drives to bring PAL territories and all the troublesome localisation work they require closer inline with the release dates of Japan and the US have made headway. Having the Wii launched in time for Christmas in all territories should be high on Nintendo's agenda. Offering the game-buying public a console at less than half the price of either Sony or Microsoft, combined with an astute marketing campaign, should form an attractive deal to parents and gamers during the Festival of Consumerism.