"He must be BURSTING!" I hear you cry, but not so. As we edge closer to the fifth anniversary of the Wii's release in Europe, the games have dried up much like the toilet humour associated with the name of Nintendo's current home console did several years ago.

There are still a few big games yet to trickle out, mainly The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in November, but for the most part many of us are looking ahead to Wii U as we content ourselves with an exciting run up to Christmas with the likes of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 on 3DS.

Despite the relative dearth of content in recent months, Xenoblade Chronicles aside, the Wii has offered plenty over the last few years with great iterations of beloved franchises coupled with fantastic new IPs courtesy of companies such as Capcom and Grasshopper.

If, like me, you're still making your way through the backlog you have acquired since 2006, you'll no doubt understand just how much quality entertainment the Wii has provided, starting with Wii Sports. There has always been an abundance of things to keep Nintendo fans going, particularly when you consider the wealth of great games we've been treated to on DS over the years too.

With many still questioning the worth of the Wii as a console, I speak for myself, and I'm sure many thousands of people, when I say that I'd certainly miss it if it wasn't there. In actual fact, I do miss it because it isn't there.

I'm currently experiencing a week, or potentially more, without the little white box hooked up to my TV as it resides in Nintendo's Service Centre for the repair of my noisy disc drive. Suddenly, the title makes a lot more sense!

Having sent the console off last week as safely packaged as possible, I have to express, with a little sadness, just how much I have missed not having it with me. Nintendo initially designed the console with a view to it being used by the family every day for all sorts of activities, be it gaming, exercise or leaving memos for family members. Admittedly, my Wii no longer resides in the living room as it once did, nor did it ever become a central part of my family's daily life, but it is an important part of my life.

As the only console I own from the current generation, the Wii lives in my bedroom, where I'm currently typing this, along with a collection of other gaming treasures which include the SNES, N64 and Gamecube. With the 3DS currently looking at me with its two cameras as it sits on the charging cradle in front of me, I can only hope it gives me as much joy in the years to come as the Wii has on a daily basis since grabbing it on launch day.

Since reluctantly sending the console away for repair, I haven't been able to check my weight on Wii Fit every morning, I haven't been able to browse the internet comfortably from my bed and, most importantly, I haven't been able to dip into my plethora of classic VC games or my collection of Wii software. With a diet of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (DS), Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (PS2), Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2) and PES 2012 on my brother's PS3 it'll be interesting to see what the balance board reveals when my Wii returns.

I may be enjoying these other games, for the most part anyway, but I feel like there is something missing from my daily grind. With my recent experiences with the Playstation 3, I have come to appreciate the Wii even more than ever. The constant barrage of updates and installations associated with the PS3 help to show just what Nintendo tried to achieve with the Wii with quick and easy access to all the games at your disposal.

On the subject of PS3, the latest instalment of Pro Evolution Soccer has only gone to increase my appetite for the upcoming Wii version as the HD version of it, and FIFA 12, feel distinctly last generation in comparison to the freedom offered by the playmaker controls on Wii.

As for the other games I've been playing in the last week, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to Outrun appear on either Wii U or 3DS at some point in the future and MGS3 has whet my appetite for the upcoming 3DS version. I'm now torn between continuing on with the PS2 game or holding off to enjoy the game in glasses-free 3D in 2012.

The Wii may not be dead just yet, but I can't wait to have it back so I can try to get Fragile Dreams squeezed in before Link arrives with his golden Wii Remote Plus next month. Hopefully there are many more of you still enjoying your Wii as much as I am and that you'll have plenty more years ahead of you with it. My advice is to make the most of the console as gaming is starting to change with the continual push for graphical fidelity and the arrival of the App Store.

As the expression goes, you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Written by Gregory Moffett