When I get something in my head it’s really hard to get it out. Usually this is tied to desiring new technology or something of that nature. Luckily I have a wife who tempers that urge to buy every new gadget the minute I want it. Sometimes that means I don’t get it, or instead I think of inane arrangements to justify my purchase.

The wheels in my brain are still spinning about wanting to play the latest and greatest baseball game on PS3, so I start to find all these ways to pay for it, without actually spending money, which of course is ludicrous. But it sounds like it’s not costing any money, which is the genious of my plan. You might remember my WoW fast back in ’04. I could pull a similar stunt here, but it would take a while. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

$60 – Money left in my old Wamu checking account that’s been there since we got married.

$170 – Money I made at school doing supervision, like watching kids on my lunch break. (This is above and beyond my regular pay, so it’s easy to argue that I can do whatever I want with it, like buy videogames.)

$80 – Money in my paypal account from selling the old Gamecube (which was supposed to pay for the Wii. Shhhh!)

$50 – Approximate money I could get from selling my original Xbox since I wouldn’t need it anymore.

$27 – Money I could get from selling Zelda: Twilight Princess. (I tried to play it over the weekend, and I almost went insane it’s so boring. But my new found distaste for adventure games is another post entirely.)

Sub-Total: $387
Remaining: $313

I’m still well shy of my $700 target. I’ve made almost $250 on my Nintendo stock, but I’m not sure I can justify including that in my scheme.

Time to look around the house for stuff to sell.

Back before Christmas I decided to buy some Nintendo stock. I had $500 sitting in a retirement account that was not invested, so I bought as many shares of Nintendo stock as I could. I didn’t buy enough.

Since then Nintendo stock has gone up 25%! In terms of investing those numbers are unheard of. Even on my measly $500 investment I’ve made over $100 even after the commission.

Of course hindsight is always 20/20, but have you bought your Nintendo stock yet?

We went to Gamestop in Cerritos last night to play the Wii. We walked in to find an empty store with a Wii in all it’s glory. When the gentleman behind the counter asks if we need any help, I motion to the Wii and ask "Can we try it?" The man responds that unfortunately people can’t play it until the next day, and we were out of luck. I try to be understanding and begin browsing the DS games. A few minutes later he says "If you preorder a Wii, then I could probably let you try it." WHAT?! You just confirmed that the darned thing is working and you’re able to let people try it, but you’re choosing not to. I no like you very much.

In case you are curious about where to find Wii info, here are a few good sites:

IGN Wii
Nintendo Wii Fanboy
Go Nintendo
Gamespot Wii

From the time I was a young boy the release of a new Nintendo system has been a milestone in my life. First there was the original NES. I wasn’t quite old enough to be excited about it’s release, but I still got one! I have fond memories of guilting my parents into buying one and getting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. After years of good memories with my trusty Game Genie, it was time for the SNES. Still a young boy with no purchasing power, and with a price tag of $200, I was yet again unable to enjoy the splendor of a new videogame system at its release. Eventually though my NES and all that went with it was off in the mail to Funco, which would be the first of many videogame sales.

The sale of my NES led to the purchase of the SNES, and of course, Street Fighter II, Mario Kart, and Star Fox to name a few. As the N64 approached I was finally in High School. Still not a member of the labor force, I was again resigned to selling my beloved Nintendo system for its successor. My memory of this occassion is quite clear…we brought the system home from Toys R Us with the brand new Super Mario 64. It seemed as though videogames had been turned on their head forever. Nights of Mario Kart, GoldenEye, and NHL ensued during the High School years.

By the time GameCube arrived I was a proud employee at the library, saving my money for months before the launch. For the first time in my life I didn’t have to sell my old console. The GameCube and I had a great time, but it also saw my life change from a teen to an "adult." With that transition came a change in my videogame habits. Gone are the 2 a.m. gaming sessions that marked High School and College. Videogames have always been a part of my life, so I’m almost glad to see that excitement come around again with the pending launch of the Wii.

If I was in High School or College I would probably be running to Gamespot to try the Wii, but instead I have quietly been reading every article I can find on the web. I’ve cashed in my credit card reward points (that makes me old!) to finance this new purchase. I’ve once again leveraged my previous Nintendo console (though for different reasons than in previous sales). I’ve even bought Nintendo stock!  When exactly a Wii will be at Toys R Us and available to me, I don’t know. I sit here and patiently await the release of an exciting new Nintendo console…maybe I’m finally growing up?

Hmmm…no, not really….

There are yard sales and garage sales, but it seems the "ebay sale" has not become a part of our lingo yet. If it does, it will come to mean what a yard sale or garage sale does, except all done on ebay. I’m not one of those people that is constantly selling on ebay, but instead I sell a bunch of stuff all at once very rarely. Since now is one of those times, I thought I’d share my listing with you and the stories attached to each item.

1) 90 Used Tennis Balls in Great Condition

You may wonder why we have this many tennis balls to begin with. Originally we bought them on ebay for Stacie’s classroom to put on her chair legs so they would slide around nice and quietly. Literally a day or two after we got them, someone went through all the classrooms and put sliders on the feet of everyone’s chair. That’s nice of them, but now we had a box of tennis balls and no use for them.

2) Winegard Squareshooter HDTV Antenna SS-2000 Amplified

Originally when we moved into the townhouse I didn’t realize there was an antenna in the attic, so I got this guy and had it put up outside. About 6 months ago though they started to redo the roofs, and our antenna was "illegally" mounted. I knew it would have to come down, but "how" I wasn’t sure. I was hoping the roof guys would just take it off for me. One day though the next door neighbors were having their satellite dish moved, so I paid the guy $20 to just take ours off (because by then I’d put a new antenna in the attic).

3) Nintendo GameCube Console Indigo w/Controller/Component

I know, selling videogames can be quite shocking! The reason I’m selling it though is because I have a ton of AMEX reward points, and one of the best ways to renew them is for giftcards to Toys R Us. I did that today, and plan on using the money to buy a Nintendo Wii. The nice thing about the Wii is that it plays gamecube games, so everything in that listing I will no longer need. The only downside of this plan is that Toys R Us is the only place I can get the system, and who knows when they’ll have them in stock.

4) Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP Classic NES w/Case

What Nathan, two videogame sales in one post? Yup. I decided to sell this system and get Stacie a pink DS Lite. The DS can play old game boy games, so that makes this system unneeded. I’m hoping it fetches a premium for being a "limited edition" version. The DS can also talk to the WIi…for what reason I’m not sure, but it could come in handy.

5) Firefly PC Remote Snapstream Media Beyond TV USB

The least exciting of the listings, but oh well. Part of my HD recording solution was to buy Beyond TV to schedule and record my shows. For whatever reason they had to bundle this remote with it. Because I use the Snazio box downstairs to watch the shows Beyond TV records, I don’t need this remote. Not very exciting, but there it is.

This all reminds me of great ebay buying and selling of the past. Hopefully other people will be motivated to start this new trend of having an Ebay Sale.

Despite the lack of time available to me for playing videogames, I can still get excited about them. This week is the annual Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3). All the big videogame makers get together and put on a show for the media and let them try out new games and all that stuff. Mike and I snuck in one year.

This year is a big deal because both Sony and Nintendo have new consoles on the horizon. Sony has PS3 and Nintendo has Wii (pronounced "we"). If you’re interested you can visit IGN and check out their E3 coverage.

Now for my 2 cents on everything. PS3 is from $500-600 depending on your model, which is an insane price for a videogame system. If there are any redeeming qualities I would have to look to the Blu-Ray drive inside. I’m really excited to see what people think of Wii once they get their hands on the controller. The Nintendo conference looked really cool, but I wasn’t overwhelmed. Because Wii isn’t a huge graphical jump over Gamecube (and it’s not supposed to be), I think simply watching a game isn’t that impressive. I’m hoping that once you hold the controller in your hand and get used to the brand new controls it will be a truly unique experience. Sony added a "tilt" sensor to their controller at the cost of a rumble device. I think it’s an attempt to take some of the wind out of Nintendo’s sail, but it’s too little, too late. It will work for flying games, monkey ball, and marble madness…but that’s it. They’re trying to tell people that a rumble feature is "so last year," but I think they’re wrong.

Nintendo has an amazing marketing team. The positioning that they’ve come up with for their new system is hands-down the best of the three. They’ve been able to distance themselves from the competition in a sector that was drowing in copycats. They aren’t competing with Microsoft or Sony in terms of graphics or ports anymore. Now they’re competing based on the fun factor. Nintendo is also insisting that this will be the system to bring videogaming to the masses. Your Mom, Grandpa, and red-headed stepchild will all be playing this system, flailing about like a bunch of idiots in front of the TV, and oh will it rock. The marketing guy in me is very impressed with Nintendo.