Wiimarkable

Reuters:

Kris Smith called it "the equivalent of a man Tupperware party." In early December, he and a few pals gathered in a basement in suburban Chicago to try out their friend's brand new Nintendo Wii video game console.

At the end of the night, Smith, 32, was sweaty, exhausted, and completely sold on buying a Wii for himself.

Smith, who never enjoyed video games before the Wii, said the console has given him a new way not only to enjoy time with his wife and children, but also to socialize with his friends.

That has definitely been our experience with the Wii (correction: our friend's Wii). Where with the other console games it's easy to ignore the one guy at the social gathering playing the Xbox or whatever, the Wii is definitely a more social experience. Any time we have gathered to play it, it's been like a party-game atmosphere, where even though only one person is playing, it's just so damn entertaining to watch them. I'm looking forward to getting one at some point in the future, just for the contrast of having a more active playing experience than the passive stare-and-push-buttons kind I have with my (still fun though) Xbox.

In other news,

Sony may be eyeing price cuts for its next-generation PlayStation 3 video game machine in a bid to break even on the console by the end of fiscal 2008, it told reporters in Tokyo.

Ya think?