We were a bit skeptical when we first heard of the possibility of a "premium Wii" with DVD playback coming to Japan next year -- why would Nintendo announce such a console now and risk cannibalizing their sales? Well, Nintendo, who just confirmed just such a console for both Japan and North America in 2007, is spinning it exactly so: "If DVD movie playback is so important, people can wait for the later model next year. For most consumers it'll be about the games, so they'll likely not want to wait to purchase the new system." That way nobody is bitter about a 3x sexy console mere months after the original... not like that ever happens. As much as we'd love to gripe about the current absence of this fairly common-sensical feature, and though we still can't figure out why Nintendo didn't at least figure this out as a firmware-update (they're still citing cost concerns for the current exclusion), we can't really see this standing in the way of most Nintendo fanboys and their unabated Wii lust. We suppose we'll find out soon enough.