IBM confirmed that it has sent the first shipment of "Broadway" processors, the CPU to be used in the Nintendo Wii, from it's facilities in East Fishkill, NY, to Nintendo of America.  This is the first necessary step for Nintendo to begin mass production of the system itself.

For Nintendo to be receiving final processors now, early-mid September, and not as of yet beginning actual system production,  would seem to disprove the rumors of a surprise early system launch in October.  While this would of course be nice, I think we've all known all along to expect an early November launch.  A remaining question, however: will Nintendo have enough time in the next two months to launch with the number of units they have claimed?