Give me the lowdown on the Wii

[MWM]

OK, so I won all three of my fantasty football leagues (a total fluke and will never happen again), so I've got about $700 coming my way. I have 3 kids at home (12, 8, and 6) and they love playing the Wii at friends' houses. So I'm thinking of getting one because I hear they're a lot of fun for everyone in the family. I've been anti-video game as I don't want my kids wanting to do nothing but play. We also limit their TV to 30 minutes a day, with a little more on the weekends, but not much. It's worked wonders as my kids all love to read and read more than any other kid their age that we know.

But I keep hearing of families that enjoy the Wii together, so I think I might relent and pick one up.

I've never played on a Wii. Heck, I've never even seen one. If anyone here can educate me on the Wii - what I should buy, what I shouldn't buy, the best way to get a good deal, etc... - that would be greatly appreciated by me. Thanks.

[camisadelgolf]

Even for people who have never played video games before, there is a lot to enjoy. The tutorials are great, and the game play for a lot of games is very simple. My parents are in their 50s, and they play Wii almost every night despite having no one else in the house to play with. Neither one of them enjoy any other gaming systems, though. To be honest with you, knowing that my parents enjoy it almost motivates me to not like Wii, but even I have to admit that it's a great system.

Are there downsides? Well, yeah, of course. It's not exactly cheap, and it won't take long at all for a better system to come out. However, if you don't mind spending a few hundred dollars for something that would probably give, in the case of your family, a few hours of entertainment per week, then I think it's worth it. For me, without a question, there isn't a more family-friendly gaming system than the Wii. That doesn't necessarily mean that everyone would enjoy it, though. I just don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy it.

[nate]

For starters, just get the Wii and enough Wiimotes (controllers) for everyone (a maximum of 4). I recommend getting one of those charging station dealios to keep them charged up. The game that comes with the Wii, "WiiSports" is still probably the number 1 game played at Chez Nate.

Wiisports is really an excellent family game in addition to being fun at a grownup party. I'll generally rent new games to see if I like them enough to buy. The Tiger Woods gold series is pretty good, Madden football is a little less complex and MarioKart is well worth trying.

Mrs. Nate really likes the WiiFit. I like it too...except when it tells me my WiiFit age is >60.

[MWM]

However, if you don't mind spending a few hundred dollars for something that would probably give, in the case of your family, a few hours of entertainment per week, then I think it's worth it.

Well, I live in Minnesota and it's the winter time. My kids need SOMETHING. And my wife need an outlet on the weekends without telling them to go watch TV.

[MWM]

Thanks, Nate. My wife's BFF just got a Wii fit and my wife really wants one. So that might have to be a must.

[dougdirt]

The thing that makes Wii even more fun is if you buy the sports pack to use with the Wii remotes. You get mock tennis rackets, golf club, baseball bat... it makes the gameplay even more realistic. They also sell a steering wheel for games like Mario Kart that you place your remote into.

[Falls City Beer]

Your kids are perfect "Wii-age" kids. Get it. It's a lot of fun.

[redsfanmia]

I think it is impossible to not have fun playing the Wii. Its wonderful but like Nate said the Wii fitness will give you a dose of reality, I am probably 25lbs overweight and it made my Mii really large and told me I was obese, the wife thought it was funny until it told her she was overweight.

[camisadelgolf]

That's another thing that tends to get over-looked. People tend to connotate that video games equal inactive and lazy, but with a lot of the games, you can get a pretty good workout going.

[Emin3mShady07]

My aunt bought the Wii a few months ago and she lives in Indiana so I rarely get to visit her, but when I do, I really love playing the Wii and my aunt enjoys it too. She only has two games, wii sports and wii fit, but I love playing them both. My younger brother and I are extremely competitive so we have a lot of fun challenging each other in boxing and wii fit fitness challenges. I really like the wii because I am trying to stay in shape for the baseball season, so I get to play a video game and not feel like a total couch potato at the same time. It's really addicting, but at least there is some physical activity like others have mentioned previously.

[RichRed]

My 71-year-old mom kicked my butt in Wii bowling. Definitely fun for the whole family.

[Johnny Footstool]

You can get Competitive Eating for the Wii, too.

[dougdirt]

My 71-year-old mom kicked my butt in Wii bowling. Definitely fun for the whole family.

I love Wii bowling.

[RosieRed]

Another game I really like on the Wii is Boom Blox. Makes good use of the Wii technology, and it's appropriate for any age really. Consists of building things, tearing things down, Jenga-like games, throwing things, knocking things over, etc. Lots of fun.

[redsfanmia]

I love Wii bowling.

You are the man!!!!! I am a bigger fan of tennis I am over 2200 on the scale.