You know the holiday shopping season is underway when people stand in line for days and trample or shoot each other to get their hands on the latest, expensive toy.

 

This year, one of the hottest item seems to be the PlayStation 3 gaming console, which went on sale in the U.S. November 17. In some places supplies already are running out.

 

But what makes PlayStation 3 so sought-after, and what are people saying about its main competitor, Nintendo’s Wii?

 

A CNet review of PlayStation 3 gives the new gaming console thumbs up for quiet operation, high-def games, ability to play Blu-ray discs and DVDs, 60GB hard drive, and Bluetooth support. Downsides include lack of USB port on the back, few available games, and the price--$600.

 

Nintendo’s Wii gets kudos from CNet for its revolutionary controller design that includes a wand users can wave with their arm to control game functions, built-in WiFi, compatibility with GameCube, and built-in SD slot. CNet does complain, though, about Wii’s battery hungry controller, lack of advanced HD graphics and surround sound, and inability to play CDs or DVDs.

 

Perhaps the most innovative feature of the Wii is its remote, a controller that, as Nintendo puts it, fuses “the familiarity of a remote control with the sophistication of motion-sensing technology,” the result being “a multifunctional device that is limited only by the game designer's imagination.”

 

The remote controller can, for example, serve as a racket in a tennis game, as a steering wheel in a driving game, or a weapon in a first person shooter game.

 

“In addition to its pointing and motion-sensing abilities, the Wii Remote also includes a speaker, rumble feature and expansion port for additional input devices, such as the Nunchuk,” Nintendo explains on its Wii product site.

 

As cool as the remote is, at least one report warns it could be hazardous to overzealous players who overuse their playing arm, the result being a back and shoulder ache dubbed “Wii elbow.”

 

The potential for injury seems unlikely to dampen the enthusiasm of gamers, though, and Nintendo doesn’t seem worried.. In fact, an Evening Standard report Wednesday quoted a Nintendo spokesperson who went so far as to say that “If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more.”

 

Wii has been pretty popular so far, perhaps because of its remote. In fact, it’s sold out a lot of places, including (as of Dec. 1), Amazon.com (News - Alert) which notes on its listing for the gaming console that “We sold out of our initial supply of the Wii on Sunday morning, November 19, in less than one minute.”

 

PlayStation 3 also was out of stock on Amazon.com as of Dec. 1.

 

High demand and low availability of PlayStation 3, a Post & Courier article Thursday noted, is turning many shoppers into entrepreneurs, buying as many of the gaming consoles as they can find and then reselling them at a hefty profit.

 

“The object is to make as much profit as you can before everyone else has one and the demand dries up,” Post & Courier said.

 

The report notes that eBay (News - Alert) has been flooded with listings for PlayStation 3 units, with prices set at $800 and up. One enterprising seller waited in line for 48 hours at a Best Buy, snapped up two consoles (for a total of $1,260) and then sold one of them on eBay for $1,200.

 

Another PlayStation entrepreneur waited for 70 hours outside a Wal-Mark, bought two PlayStation 3’s for $635 each, then turned around and sold one for roughly $1,100.

 

All signs point to the market being saturated with resale PlayStation 3 units, though, the Post & Courier report said. At the peak of demand, one of the consoles sold on eBay for $25,000, but now sellers generally are finding that the $900-$1,300 range is the sweet spot.

 

Demand could raise prices again just before Christmas, though.

 

For manufacturers of the new game systems, too, high demand for both PlayStation 3 and Wii is translating to a pretty profitable holiday season so far. Associated Press reported Wednesday that more than 600,000 Wii systems sold during an eight-day period, translating to roughly $190 million in sales.

 

Sony, AP reported, said it plans to ship about a million PlayStation 3 systems to North America by year’s end. Nintendo, meanwhile, plans to reach the 4 million mark with shipments to North America

 

“We’ve shipped retailers several times the amount of hardware the other company was able to deliver for its launch around the same time -- and we still sold out,” AP quoted Nintendo of North America president Reggie Fils-Aime as saying.

 

Wii and PlayStation 3 sales also are having a positive effect on holiday season profits for retailers. A Daily Oklahoman report Thursday noted that retailers enjoyed higher sales the day after Thanksgiving (often referred to as “Black Friday”) this year than last.

The report cited ShopperTrak data showing that Black Friday sales for 2006 were up six percent over the same day last year. The report also included data from a National Retail Federation survey showing that more than 140 million American shoppers visited stores over Thanksgiving weekend, spending an average of $360.15.

The most popular items, the Daily Oklahoman report said, were clothes and accessories, with runners up including CDs, DVDs, videos, and video games.

At stores like Best Buy, popular items included MP3 players, flat panel TVs, and laptops. The list of hot items definitely included Wii once it hit shelves later in the weekend, the report said.

With Wii and PlayStation 3 sold out many places, a Modesto Bee report Thursday noted, shoppers may want to consider Microsoft’s (News - Alert) Xbox 360 console, which retails for $299 and, being a year old, has in a sense passed the test of time.

The report noted that all three systems will be easier to find, and cheaper, next year. As such, patient gamers may want to hold off until the holiday season rush is over before shelling out several hundred bucks for the latest console.