Once upon a time Christmas was about a hammer, tacks, Christmas trees and Santa Claus. Today Christmas is likely to see a video game console under the tree in the morning.

The Wall Street Journal reports that November saw a 62 percent increase in video game software sales. Gamers are really enjoying it this season.

But the kind of games ruling gamers minds are different from the ones there were a few years back. Interactive games are all the rage now. The Nintendo Wii is unavailable in stores and sales of Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band are swifter than ever.

The Wii’s demand is unprecedented. It is just unavailable, with people camping outside stores whenever they hear of arrivals.

The demand for the Wii and Guitar Hero is due to the great new interactive ability of these games. Even those who were not earlier fond of these games are getting drawn into them.

Meanwhile Gamestop has partnered with Nintendo and launched a rain-check program. This will allow customers to reserve Wii’s.

Meanwhile the kids are dreaming of a white Christmas and one filled with video games.