Among the gifts my brother found under the tree this year was a GameCube. So while everyone in the sane world is getting their hands on an Xbox 360, DS, or PSP, we are just getting acquainted with a four year old console. Not that that really matters. I haven't felt this enthused about games in a while. I was in a bit of a funk over video games in general - call it a moderate case of sequel-itis. My interest was waning and I was finding new ways to spend my free time. It took Nintendo and a handful of their unceasing dollops of charm to snap me back to my senses. (Them, and Guitar Hero.)

Allow me to make the following random observations, most of which have been observed years ago but I'll still try to pass off as fresh.

- Wind Waker is completely awesome. The visual style is executed so well and so naturally that it almost seems like a shame it won't be used in Twilight Princess. Link's facial expressions, especially, are worth the price of admission alone. But did playing songs on the wind waker and then watching the ensuing animation really need to take 20 seconds.. every single time?

- Animal Crossing is delightfully charming. And oddly addictive. I'm still not completely sure why I keep coming back. But there I am plugging away, planting exotic fruit and trying not to offend villagers when I refuse their trade offer of steel flooring for my rare stegosaurus torso. Scam artists don't usually take the form of adorable little blue ducks.

- Double Dash is.. how do I put this nicely. There seems to be some missed opportunities here. The two driver thing comes off as gimmicky and the track design lacks some serious punch. Maybe it's just because we haven't gotten in a four-player session yet. I have played this with a full line-up of living, breathing opponents before, and I remember it being a good deal more fun.

- Paper Mario will (hopefully) own. I am so going to devour this game when Wind Waker is done.

- Metroid Prime cannot arrive soon enough. It has been on my Amazon.ca "Will Be Shipped" list for weeks. If they cancel it now, there will be minor injury to some small wildlife.

- I need to play Mario Power Tennis and Mario Strikers at some point. And Pikmin 2 - anything that Miyamoto worked on must be gold.

I'm gonna disappear back into my little hole now. Join me once more in the year 2011, when I finally go and purchase a Revolution.