To move or not to move; that seems to be the question.

Not a whole lot is riding on the launch of the Wii - just the company's future. Consider for a moment that if Sony's PlayStation 3 was to be a disappointment and its gaming business suddenly crashed, Sony itself would surely go on. As for Microsoft and its Xbox business, well, I doubt anybody weeps for a software giant with $40 billion in cash reserves. Nintendo, however, has taken more than a few lumps during the last decade. Both the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube were beaten badly by Sony, and the GameCube also lost out to the new kid on the block in Xbox. As a result, the company with the most to lose has taken the biggest risk with a radically revamped controller for a console with a much-derided name.

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After spending a few minutes walking around at the Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles Saturday evening for the Wii launch party, it was clear that Nintendo wasn't going to be overshadowed by the PlayStation 3's headline-grabbing launch. There were hundreds of people in line for the Wii (the GameStop/EB Games store had 600 units, which included 300 pre-orders) and playing Wii titles on kiosks as well as Segways rigged with flat screens. Folks from Nintendo were demonstrating how to use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers to the crowd outside, while other Nintendo employees handed out free hats and T-shirts.

I chatted with the first person in line at the store, Jonathan Mann, who also goes by "GameJew" and was dressed like Mario. No, I'm not making this up. Anyway, Mann said that Nintendo still has a strong following among game lovers. He even sang songs outside that expressed his love for the game company and its new console. "I don't think you'll find anyone in line here that is going to sell their Wii," Mann said. "These guys in line are true gamers."

A number of folks in line at the Universal CityWalk claimed to be "true gamers" unlike some of the folks waiting in like for the PlayStation 3, who were only interested in selling the item for three to five times the retail price. There were plenty of Wii consoles on eBay, but the markups weren't anything close to what we saw with the PlayStation 3. As for the people waiting in line, it seemed like a different crowd that the people I had seen waiting for the PS3. There were a lot more children and pre-teens in line with their families, for example. There were quite a few people that were wearing Nintendo-influenced apparel, too, like a Shigeru Miyamoto T-shirt and Luigi caps.

I also chatted with a 12-year-old youngster toward the back of the line, which extended out of the CityWalk and into the parking garage (which was cleverly named the "Jurassic Parking" garage). I asked him what his favourite game was, and he replied "Twilight Princess." I guess it didn't matter that the game hadn't technically been released yet. He also said the original Legend of Zelda was one of his all-time favourites. This kid wasn't even born when the original Zelda came out. Yet somehow, the games that I played when I was his age had got their hooks into a new, younger generation. That's a testament to Nintendo's magic touch.

But will the magic touch be enough? Who will the Wii capture besides diehard fans like GameJew? This is a tough question. Surely, there will be some element of family friendliness that will make the Wii an attractive purchase over the more expensive PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which rely on more M-rated titles. And no doubt there will be a number of people who grew up with Nintendo, skipped the GameCube era and are now curious to see how their favourite game company of old has reinvented itself.

Then there's the PC gamer. The Wii certainly has a couple of things going against it. First, PC gamers are used to superior graphics, and the emphasis for the Wii is most certainly not on advanced visuals. Play Red Steal after, say, F.E.A.R., you can't help but feel you've taken a giant step down on the graphics ladder. And Red Steel isn't the signature action title that many hoped it would be. Second, PC gamers are used to sitting comfortably at their desks, tapping the keyboard and using a mouse for precision aiming and movement. In that sense, the Wii will be a drastic departure from their comfort zone (for more on the Wii, check out Mark Raby's first impressions at TG Daily).