If it were me, I'd think about which system I had the most games for, and get that one again. Or maybe just take a look at games I might want to play for the 360, and maybe go that way. Then all the games you're playing are new and fresh.

But from your post, it kind of sounds like you want the PS3 first. Though if you're having to replace a bunch of other stuff unexpectedly, there is certainly something to be said for the lower cost of the Wii. The 360 is absolute garbage without a HDD, so don't even think about the arcade version. Even if you bought a HDD separate, it's priced so that it comes out to be pretty much the same as if you'd just bought the system with the drive already.

Also, I might suggest a game rental service like GameFly until you can kind of get back on your feet a bit. It's like Netflix for video games basically. Kind of nice the way it works, is you can rent the game, verify the disc works, THEN buy it and they'll just ship you the box and manual for it. Something to consider as a money saving proposition for after you've decided what system to get.