The countdown for the Christmas season has begun, but more than the anticipation for the jolly fat man in a red suit coming to town, what's causing even more hype is the release of the Nintendo Wii. Set for its debut on 19 November for the US, 2 December for Japan, 8 December in Europe, and 7 December for Australia, this definitely comes just in time for that festive holiday mood.

For sure, most of you are wishing fervently that some utterly generous friend will find that you've been nice enough this past year to warrant giving you a Wii for Christmas. But then again, as your friends will all probably be wishing for their own Wiis, the prospects of you getting one as a gift ranges from minimal to nil. But then again, there's rich relatives, perhaps?

Of course, the expectation is that you've already begun saving up for the Wii season as early as last year. But if not, granted that you do get yourself the console, you probably won't have enough left for all the amazing games you ought to buy to fully enjoy the holiday season. Sad, ain't it?

However, there's no need to pout, because if ever you only have enough cash to buy just a couple of games, we have here a list of the top 5 must-haves for your Wii from computerandvideogames.com which they figured would give more bang for your buck. Check them out and make your pick:

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess- So Link is now right-handed. But really, we don't really care whichever hand he uses to fight. What matters is that the gang's around to spread some good ol' holiday cheer for us all, especially since we've seen the cool screenshots with all those detailed textures.

Red Steel- Ubisoft seems to be pulling out the stops on this console since they're set to launch seven games in all for the Wii. But Red Steel, with its lit-up Tokyo setting and Yakuza theme, rises above the rest to catch our fancy. It's been said that the motion-operated gun controls will set the standard for all future FPS games on Wii. We shall all soon see.

Call of Duty 3- You must be wondering how come it's here. After all, judging from the screenshots we've posted, the Wii version doesn't seem as glamorous compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, insofar as graphics is concerned. Nonetheless, the franchise itself has proved to be successful ever since its first release on PC in 2003, and the name speaks a lot for itself. Plus, what's important is that the gameplay and controls are supposed to be topnotch. Imagine what you can do with the Wiimote. You can thrust your hand forward for a melee attack, plus there's the motion-detected weapon changing. If that doesn't put you smack in the middle of full-battle mode, we don't know what will.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz- This game definitely put the Wiimote to one heck of a good use. The control mechanics of the game is deemed to be in such perfect harmony with the tilt-sensing capabilities of the Wiimote, it just becomes next to impossible not to think of the game in Wii.

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves- They say it's great for stupendously funny party sessions. With up to four players able to play, the final game as well as the minigames are sure to pick up the beat in your otherwise humdrum family Christmas parties, and beyond.