The power of supply and demand

I managed to get one for the actual retail price after bumping into a bloke who overheard the Selfridges shop assistant laugh at me as I asked if any were coming in.

He led me through Birmingham city centre to a little software shop that had eight left - and I forked out the £200 (including a 'free' game) without hesitation.

Days later I saw grown men roaming the main shopping streets looking lost, bewildered and, frankly, broken.

As a dad I didn't need to ask the reason for their lack of festive spirit.

The big day drew closer and the things were changing hands on Ebay for upwards of £400. Should I, could I? The children would never know.

But I'd lost my wonderful dad a few weeks earlier and I knew my brood would be needing something from Santa to make them smile again.

It worked and we had a half decent, if slightly low key, time.

But my loss coupled with the pre-Christmas frenzy has made me consider what a cynical, materialistic world we live in.

It can't be right when a so-called civilised society is sent into turmoil by needless retailer-driven shortage.

When men carrying sandwich boards proclaim Wiis for sale at exorbitant prices and parents are urged to keep their children happy, something is clearly wrong.

The whole sorry episode was down to the people at Nintendo whose lack of foresight or just plain ineptitude created a Soviet style shortage right here in Brum.

Shame on them and, I suppose, shame on me for being dragged along by the whole hysteria.