Source: An e-mail "Wii Launch Party" invitation posted on the Gaming-Age forums.

　　What we heard: Secrets are tough to keep in the gaming industry. Leaks, moles, and cocktail hours generally spill the beans on the juiciest details before they're intended to go public. It's a wonder, then, that the season's biggest secret, the release date of the Nintendo Wii, remains unearthed.

　　The latest bit of quasi-information on the system's launch comes via the message boards over at Gaming-Age. Melissa from Web show GameLife posted an e-mail (pictured--click to enlarge) she received from Nintendo that invited her to a Wii launch party in Los Angeles...on November 17.

　　The date is no doubt familiar to gamers as the day the PlayStation 3 launches, but is it also the day the Wii launches? By all accounts, it would appear so. So that's it, case closed, right?

　　Not so fast. As reported by several gaming sites, including game blog Kotaku, Nintendo is also holding an event in New York City on September 14 which will be hosted by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. With Nintendo promising to release information on the console's price and release date in September, the smart money says that the NYC event will be the place the final details of the Wii are out of the bag.

　　But what of the Los Angeles event? Of course it could be the console's release date--after all, it is a launch party. But why would Nintendo make such a blatant error in sending out the information in a simple party invite rather than making an official announcement? The company is too smart to let something like that slip by.

　　Nintendo has insinuated that it plans to take the console on the road to prove its "Playing is Believing" slogan, so the LA party could be part of that tour and doesn't necessarily need to fall on the actual launch date--it could take place before or after. In fact, the rest of the invitation mentions the following: "These 'secret' parties will be held all across the globe to celebrate the worldwide release of the Wii..."

　　Something fishy is going on here (including the possibility of a Photoshop monkey hard at work nearby). Looks like we'll all have to wait until September to find out what Nintendo's up to.

　　The official story: Nintendo was unavailable for comment.

　　Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus that Nintendo is planning some mega prelaunch (and launch) events, but likely bogus that November 17 is the launch day.