The president of Enterbrain, publisher of weekly gaming magazine Famitsu, claims 67% of Wii owners aren’t even using it anymore. But wait, what about all those stories about how the Wii will beat out the other consoles this holiday season? Or the continuing issues Nintendo has with production (which aren’t actually production-related but instead due to the “unprecedented popularity” of the console)?

Well, I know two things. One: the people I know who’ve bought a Wii, including myself, don’t play it anymore. My friend, who has far more Wii games than I do, even had his unplugged and lying on his kitchen counter for months because he was too lazy to plug it back in. Mine would go completely unused if not for my brother, who’s stocked up on such groundbreaking games as Carnival Games, NBA 2008 and Pacman. He still puts in a fair amount of time on Wii Sports. Too bad he’s not the one who bought the damned thing.

Two: the completely unscientific Joystiq poll suggests we’re not alone. About 55% (or 4,000 voters) also claimed they hadn’t turned on their Wii in a while, with a further 17% going the usual “haha Wii iz 4 luzerz” route. Did we all make a colossal mistake in buying a Wii, then? Well, let’s put it this way: I’m seriously considering waiting until I pick up a real console, like a PS3 or a 360, before I go ahead and buy Guitar Hero III and Rock Band. And between Bioshock, Dwarf Fortress, Team Fortress 2 and Portal, I haven’t even had a reason to look at consoles at all for the past couple of months. I heart my computer.

And my Weighted Companion Cube.

Toronto budget crisis not an issue in provincial campaign, says the CBC. Gee, what a surprise. Who could’ve seen that one coming? Besides everyone in Ontario, I mean.

With metro Toronto split between the Liberals, likely to win another term come tomorrow, and the NDP, who is certain to remain an also-ran, exactly what incentive did anyone have to woo Toronto voters? The Liberals have most of the city locked up no matter what; the NDP doesn’t have the resources to make a whole lot of aggressive moves outside their home ridings; and the Tories will never, ever win many votes inside the downtown core. That means the Liberals don’t have to do much to win our loyalty, the NDP can promise the moon because they’ll never have to deliver, and the Tories can tell us to fuck off because we always tell them the same. No wonder we don’t have any bargaining power in the provincial government. Oh, and consider that the federal electoral situation is pretty much the same, with the Tories shut out of the major cities—including Toronto. We don’t seem to be having a whole lot of luck with the Harper government either.

Seriously, anyone who couldn’t see this coming—like the city councillors that voted to postpone a decision on tax hikes in order to see what the provincial parties would promise us—must be willfully blind.

Harper to Toronto: drop dead. Not only is Toronto unlikely to see any direct benefits from the recent federal budget surplus, but it turns out the feds want their pound of flesh too:

The Royal Canadian Mint, a corporation of the federal government, has now demanded that the City of Toronto pay $47,680 for the public education campaign. Included in this amount is a request for $10,000 for the use of the words “one cent” in the campaign website address (www.onecentnow.ca) and the campaign email address (onecentnow@toronto.ca), and an additional $10,000 for the use of the words “one cent” in the campaign phone number (416-ONECENT). The remaining $27,680 has been assessed against the City for the use of the image of the Canadian penny in printed materials such as pins and posters.

(Prelude: I will gladly take more suggestions for stupid Nuit Blanche puns. Send ‘em in!)

So the word is Nuit Blanche 2007 was a bit of a disappointment. And as a first-time night wanderer, I can sympathize with many of the criticisms. The crowds were fierce, both in number—greatly expanded beyond last year’s attendance—and in attitude—lots of angry people, including one fellow who just kept swearing and going “LOOK AT YOUR FUCKING ART, YOU FUCKING PRETENTIOUS FUCKS! ARE YOU FUCKING PLEASED?” The descriptions in the guide were vague at best and downright misleading at worst. Things wrapped up too early in some cases, leaving the 6am crowd disappointed. And the transit situation was far less rosy than the initial description—all-night subways! shuttle buses! additional blue light service! Exactly one of those promises worked out as expected; meanwhile we walked from Trinity-Bellwoods all the way back to OCAD and then the Eaton Centre without seeing a single streetcar going our way.

Also, I’m still dealing with the strange guilt I feel about taking my shiny new camera to events. Usually I think of cameras as a great way to remove yourself from the moment and create distance between yourself and whatever fun thing is going on at the moment, but that wasn’t really the problem this time—instead, it’s the creeping feeling that I’m some mercenary contract killer, but instead of taking lives I’m stealing souls and experiences. I’m like that kid who collects Star Wars action figures not because he wants to reenact light saber battles, but because those figures will be worth thousands of dollars someday. Instead of just picking Nuit Blanche events based on what would be a fun or intriguing experience, I was often reframing the festival in terms of “can I get a good shot out of this?” Though I did get some great shots, I’m not sure how I feel yet about taking out the camera so much. It’s a lot easier to see that mercenary side of yourself as photographer when you see all the other people with cameras, themselves coldly examining scenes to figure out the best angles and where the light is best. Toronto was full of soul stealers that night.

But that’s not to say the whole thing was a devastating failure; rather, it was a tantalizing glimpse of what could be Nuit Blanche a couple of years down the line (maybe next year?), when the festival matures and everyone gets their departments sorted. And another example of why I need to chill out with the overthinking photography thing. A quick rundown of events:

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