IBM has bounced out some news today regarding the fact that it's now shipped 50 million processors for the Wii. The information is framed in such a way as to make fun-loving, family-friendly Wii family members nod off... for example:

"IBM partnered with Nintendo to develop and manufacture in volume a custom-designed, high-performance microprocessor to support Nintendo's goals of participatory game play and a compact, energy efficient console."

That said, skipping past the 50 million processor mark - if we accept the fact that all these chips work when they reach the army of people building the consoles in China - is indeed a milestone. The figure also chimes with Ninty's most recent officially published life-to-date figures for global Wii sales stated that the company had sold 44,960,000 boxes at the end of December last year.