Where's Wii?

Anyone else thing it's a little odd that Nintendo is setting up to launch its newest console in a little over two weeks, and yet there's no advertising for it?

Yes. I know you NYC'ers have a gigantic bilboard at the Times Sqare Toys R Us, but what about the rest of American society?

No commercials, no movie trailers, no magazine adverts? Is word of mouth from Nintendo zealots and game industry chatter really the way to sell the console that's supposed to break down the barriers between the hardcore, casual, and non-gamers?

Case in point: when I waited outside to preorder my Wii, no less than 10 people asked what the small group of us were waiting outside for. When we told them "its for the Wii," we were met with "huh?" Then said "the new Nintendo," which was met with "oh, is that coming out today?" And we're only talking a couple of weeks ago, which means a little more than a month out of a momentus launch which is making Nintendo stock soar.

So where are you hype-machine? When will you finally get a media presence that's not a gaming media presence? When do we start seeing Nintendo and the Wii reaching into the mainstream, and grabbing the public conscious of news anchors who will have no idea how to pronounce "Wii" correctly? The clout of PS3 adverts and 360 consciousness is heavy, and the Big N is potentially losing ground in the market share before they even launch if people don't know it's something they should notice and buy.

The House that Mario built can hit a homer, but let's rev up the engine and get the lead out, shall we?