Okay, so I am not one to play games very often, but after researching the Nintendo Ltd.'s (OTC: NTDOY) Wii gaming console, I figured it would be a good investment for the whole family and would get us all off our collective duffs and force us to be physically active.

Xbox 360? Ehh, a little out of my patience league. PlayStation 3? At this point, I'm not sure how much longer that console will last at the price point -- and it's way out of my league in every way. Nintendo Wii? It invites physical interaction, has decent graphics and is priced right. Ahh, the holy grail for most consumers.

According to recent figures, I'm not the only one who thinks so, as the Wii has reportedly outsold competing consoles from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) after being available for less than a year. There's a good reason for this -- the Wii is incredibly fun and does not require the latest in home electronics gadgetry plus a huge dose of patience to master. In other words, Nintendo has created an iPod-like, easy-to-use gaming system that, while not technically the greatest, fits the mass consumer best. Hence, it's a sales winner.

I've been watching Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE) taking a bit of undeserved bad press as of late and honestly, I don't think I like it. Ever since their PS2 took 70% of the market share in its class, I've been a convert. Unless they really screw up, it's me and Sony to the end. Yes, I have a PS2 sitting on top of my television right now.

I've been seeing Sony's share price wilting a bit and I wondered why that's happening. Surely the jerkiness of the PS3 release couldn't be shaking up investors that much. So I've hunted around to get the consumer-level view of Sony operations as best I could and I haven't found anything that would warrant such a stock value drop. There are some mild concerns about the release price of PS3, or at least that's what some writers are saying. I won't quote those prices here because I'm sure they'll be fluctuating a bit. I also read some comments that PS3 would make it's debut squarely into a lack of supported new gaming titles. What I found was that besides the fact that they have engineered the PS3 to support the previous two version's titles, PS3 even has it's own "maiden voyage" game title called Resistance: Fall of Man. More than 20 PS3 specific titles should be available through the holidays, giving PS3 the best software lineup ever offered to support a gaming console at time of launch. That fact goes directly against much of the negative sentiment I've seen alleged. It's expected that the majority of those game titles will be available for less than $60.00.

Here's a side tip on that, in case you like tangible investments, if the Resistance game gets good reviews, pick up about a dozen copies and keep them sealed in their original packaging. In about five years they could be worth about three times your cost. Be sure you buy copies that state they are "launch issues" if at all possible.

The one slightly negative aspect that I did find in my research was that the hand controller that is used in some of the media presentations I've seen is a prop. From what I can tell, Sony is staying with the old Dual Shock controller design. That's fine by me. I like the old controller, it feels good in my hands and is, in my opinion, a piece of ergonomic brilliance. All I can say about the media prop controller is that it looks sharp but I can't imagine something that is devoid of angles as being easy to control in your hands, but then if you've seen how the kids work those controllers, smoother might be better. Some critics have tried to use the controller scenario against Sony. To them I say, "Give it up".

If you want to get a nice first hand view of the PS3 possibilities and realities check out this site.

The last issue I'll touch on in my defense of a higher stock value for Sony is this: Do any of those negative-comment slinging writers have the fortitude to admit that on November 17th Sony Entertainment Corp. is releasing the latest 007 thriller, Casino Royale which should have box office gross receipts over $450,000,000? Get the full introduction here.