Right now I feel great sympathy for my friend Rob. He has the misfortune to find himself a few weeks from Christmas attempting to locate a reasonably-priced Wii. His kid, smug in the fact he has made straight A's and Honor Roll since school started, has informed his dad that A) he has placed his order with Santa well in advance of the usual mall crowd, and B) Santa would not dream of denying him his system of choice. In fact the whole POINT of the Santa business was good behavior plus good grades = toy of your choice. And thus, because Rob is a gamer himself, and his seven-year-old has mastered the fine art of emotional extortion as it applies to single dads, he is now attempting to rationalize paying nearly double the retail price in order to keep his son from nuclear disillusionment. He has about 15 of this fellow friends & coworkers scouting the shops in the hope of finding one on a shelf somewhere (yeah, riiiiiight....), and says things like "Well, I could justify it if I get one with the games included, even if they're not really good games, because if I bought them separate I'd pay that much anyway, right?" while hunting on eBay.
I guess it's interesting to note that he also considers this a worthwhile gift because it's one that both he & his son can spend time together with. They both dearly love stomping each other into the pavement, and spend quite a bit of time doing so. And it's a hobby where both can start out on equal footing. None of this "here's how you do it, son" business. For a seven-year-old, the kid's quick to master controls & concepts, and runs a very real chance of being better than his father at something his dad does a lot. So what if Dad is four feet taller & about 180 pounds heavier? He can still whup him in the wrestling ring. Or driving. Maybe not at shooters, but it's only a matter of time....
Luckily for Rob, I really think he gets it. It's a bit more to him than not bursting his kid's bubble about Santa Claus. It's about having a goal, and being able to realize that it IS possible to live out what you imagine. Expensive game systems are attainable for good conduct. You can take it out on Dad if he ticks you off, and walk away without being grounded until you're 37. And just maybe, one day he can become something great because he knows it can be done.
Personally, I would have loved the chance to have blown my dad up a few times. Not that he was a terrible father, but the grease of parent/child relationships does run dry from time to time. I should be more sympathetic, though...my kid wants a RoboRaptor.

NekoTheSpook