There may be no clear winner in this generation’s console wars, but there is definitely a clear loser, at least according to the people that broke into my apartment this weekend and stole every piece of electronic equipment they could get their hands on.


While they took every other gaming console hooked to my television, they passed on the Nintendo Wii.

Why did criminals hell-bent on stripping my entertainment center bare of every piece of electronics bypass the little white box with the glowing blue light on it? Was it an indication of the current status of Nintendo’s console in the industry, or were the perpetrators’ hands full? Should I be thankful or offended?


My fiancée Emily and I left my home at around 3:00PM on Saturday afternoon to fetch something to eat. We had a pleasant lunch, stopped at Wal-Mart for some cleaning supplies and food to make a dish for my parents’ big Easter Sunday meal, and then headed home for a little cooking and weekend cleaning. Two and a half hours after we left we discovered that some nice people had broken into our apartment and done some heavy cleaning of their own.

My heart jumped when I noticed the sliding glass door leading into the hallway between apartment buildings was opened slightly. I felt relief when I went in through the sliding door into what will soon be a nursery for our incoming twins and saw that Emily’s computer was still sitting there on her tiny desk where we left it.

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Then I turned the corner and saw the living room.

The first thing I noticed was actually my computer desk in the dining room, recently moved to make way for the babies. The computer was still there - I had been working on it so the case was removed - but the two 21 inch monitors I use for work were nowhere to be seen. Neither was my iPhone 4, which I had recently used to record a Gaming App of the Day.


Emily came running out of the bedroom to tell me the television in there was gone about the same time I turned to see my entertainment center stripped bare.

Well, mostly bare.

They took the 42 inch Westinghouse television. They took the PlayStation 3. The Xbox 360, complete with 25 hour Star Ocean: The Last Hope save, was gone. The laptop that connected to my video capture device was gone as well. They even grabbed Emily’s laptop, which had been mostly hidden from view beneath one of the tables next to my couch. The living room was a complete mess, the entertainment center in shambles.


And sitting there on its shelf, seemingly untouched, was my Nintendo Wii.

Did they miss it in their rush to strip my apartment bare? It doesn’t seem likely. They pulled the empty iPad box that was sitting next to it out to make sure it was empty. They discovered the hidden laptop. They even had time to lock Emily’s Pomeranian in the bathroom (incidentally where my 3DS, iPad, and an old netbook managed to escape notice).


Perhaps they’d been following the Project Cafe news and realized the Wii wouldn’t be worth all that much in a year?

Or maybe they were just worried I didn’t have any good games for the system. They stole my copy of Mortal Kombat for the Xbox 360, and DC Universe Online was in the PlayStation 3. Maybe if they had hit the eject button and noticed Donkey Kong Country Returns was in the tray I wouldn’t even have a Wii right now.


It’s a horrible situation I find myself in, but I have plenty to be thankful for. I am thankful they didn’t break in while I was out and Emily was home. I am thankful none of our pets were hurt. I’m thankful that they left me my work computer and didn’t find my spare monitor in the closet. I am thankful I am such a lazy bastard that I didn’t bother taking the 3DS, iPad, and Netbook out of the bathroom.

And yes, I am thankful I still have the Wii.

My insurance company is currently awaiting a police report to see if I can get any of my things back, though with no overt signs of forced entry, I may not have much luck in that department. With two babies on the way I can’t afford to replace them on my own, so it might be quite some time before I have access to a television set.


As soon as I do, however, I’m hooking up my Wii and playing the hell out of it. It’s feeling very unloved right now.