Tech: A Gaming Weekend (Wii preview)

The PS3 launched yesterday and sold out in approximately thirty-four nanoseconds. Check the reseller auctions on eBay if you don't believe me - you can easily get people to pay $1300 to $1500 for the premium version. Well, I'm going a different route:

Tomorrow morning I'm hoping I can snag a Wii, even without preordering. My biggest fear is that all the greedy PS3 reseller-campers will simply repeat what they did for the Wii, raising the price to $500, which I would not pay...

...Or would I? Figuring a $250 console, two $50 controllers ($40 remote + $20 nunchuk attachment - $10 discount), and three $45 games ($50 - $5 discount on each), I'm up to about $500+ easy after tax, which seems kinda crazy. But considering this is a video game console even my sister wants to play, it just might be worth it.

Wii Sports comes with the system, and while it seems like a glorified tech demo, it should be a few hours' worth of good fun, and a great way to introduce the average consumer to the Wii.

Games I'm thinking of getting:

Madden 2007 - Seems to make good use of the Wiimote. Generally favorable impressions all around, plus I've never actually owned a Madden game, even though I like American football (especially all the strategy and athleticism involved).

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz - Again, never owned a Monkey Ball game, though I played one a couple times. The multiplayer minigames, while hit or miss, seem like they could be a lot of fun (Jeff Gerstmann: "I'm dumpin' son, I'm dumpin'!").

Rayman Raving Rabbids - This minigame compilation, from the "Beyond Good and Evil" folks, looks like a ton of fun, too. Deranged rabbits and a delightfully off-kilter sense of humor. Not many reviews up on it, yet.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - A solid action/brawler/RPG. Like most guys my age, I grew up with Marvel comics and cartoons, so it's fun to see Iron Man bust some villains up. I know this won't be a triple-A title like Zelda, but it'll at least be a decent enough launch game.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion - Never caught this one for the DS. Reviews are looking solid and the premise is unique enough. No multiplayer, but I'm sure it won't be too hard to get people to try something this off-the-wall.

Red Steel - The only multiplayer FPS at launch. Gamespot's review really ripped this game a new one, and I trust Greg Kasavin's opinion, so I'm pretty suspicious of the game and won't get it. It would take some fairly favorable IGN, Gamespy, and 1Up reviews to sway me.