If Nintendo allows Coduit to have LAN play, Wii will be THE core console.

[Resident_Hazard]

There are two obstacles to the Wii becoming the ultimate gamer machine:

Lacking a harddrive.
AAA franchise 3rd party support.


Don't worry about the online mumbo-jumbo. Given enough 3rd party support with AAA franchises, it'd eventually become a non-issue.