Eric is downstairs playing Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, so I thought it time for a quick update on our family’s favorite gathering spot.

Even though we now have Gamecube controllers, we just haven’t gotten around to downloading any of the classic games. Too much fun playing with the new stuff.

We have a Gamefly subscription and it’s the best $10 or so a month we could spend. We’ve now made a pact to only buy games that we’ve tried through Gamefly first. It’s like Netflix for video games. Had we tried Trauma Center through Gamefly first, we never would have bought it. I got bored of it quickly. The kids aren’t interested. We’re likely going to sell it back somewhere at our first opportunity. Interested? Make an offer.

The kids and Eric love Wario Ware. I played it once and I’m not as enthused. It’s a whole bunch of minigames, some suggestive of classic Nintendo games like Super Mario Brothers, Nintendogs or Animal Crossing.

My current favorite game, and one we ended up buying from Gamefly at a discount rather than send back, is Elebits. The concept is simple. You use the Wii remote to scavenge through a house looking for these little balls of energy to “capture.” The physics are fun. When you move items around, you can almost “feel” their weight. Like most games, in story mode you earn a grade on how you do, and you have to meet a minimum standard to clear the level and unlock others. Each time I’ve replayed a level, I’ve found something new.

We also have Excite Truck out. It’s fun. Emily and I are the only ones who have been somewhat successful at it. Eric is not good at the driving games. I do enjoy it, but it’s going back.

We previously had Rayman. Eric loved this one and we may use our credit for Trauma Center (assuming we sell it back to a store) towards its purchase. I didn’t get as much time to play with it as everyone else.

The new news channel is pretty cool, but we get the most use out of the weather channel to quickly check the temperature before heading out the door.