Buying a Wii

[rwjx2khsmj]

We are thinking of buying a Wii as a family Christmas gift. Our dc are 5, 7, 10 & 13. What do we need to know about the Wii? What do we need to get to go with it? What games are most fun? What kind of accessories are necessary? Tell me what I need to know, please!

[Mommyof4ks]

We bought one 2 years ago, and it is awesome! Sam's Club usually has some great packages, but we got ours at Wal-Mart because it was VERY hard to find one back then. I would suggest a couple of extra remotes and nun-chucks (sp?) as well as a remote charger. We did not buy any other accessories for it.

 

Games: The kids love the Lego games Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman. Mario Cart is fun, and it comes with a wheel which makes some other games easier too. Mario Party 8, Wii Fit and Brain Age are fun as well. My 9dd loves Animal Crossing, and she can interact with friends who have her 'code' too which she likes. There are soooo many games to choose from now. My oldest is 9, so I don't know much about older kid games.

[Annie]

Since you have four kids, I would plan on getting three extra remotes/nun chucks. They aren't exactly cheap, but it will save a lot of fights and everyone can play together on multilayer games. For one of the remotes, I might consider getting a game called "Wii Play." The game comes with a remote, so the game itself ends up costing $10. It's not the most advanced game on earth or anything, but my husband and I enjoy playing it.

 

I love Mario Kart, and you can have four players. What size TV do you have? Ours is 26", and it can be a little hard to see what's going on when the screen is split into four. You kids might have better eyes than I do though. ;)

[i.love.lucy]

:lurk5:

 

We're planning on doing the same thing for Christmas I think. I will be reading with interest!:D

[rowan25]

:lurk5: Same here, thanks to my parents getting one for their house! Now the kids want one too and I haven't a clue!!!! Please educate me! :D

[kat19]

My Sims is a fun game. My dd who is 12(gonna be 13) likes to play that. I like to play it as well :001_smile:

[MeaganS]

It can access the internet, so that's something you might want to know. We have ours hooked up to our WiFi and that's just fine. There are browsers you can get on it, though, so if you are concerned about internet safety, you might want to make sure you set the parental controls.

 

It's a ton of fun and a very family friendly game system. We love ours. We have WiiFit, Legend of Zelda, WiiSports (which comes with it), and WiiPlay (the one that comes with the remote). It can also play Game Cube games, but you have to have the original controllers and memory cards.

 

As far as accessories, you can add more space to it with SD cards, and I would get at least 1 extra controller. Most games let you switch out controllers if it's a game where you take turns, but if you all want to play at once, definitely invest in 3 more controllers and nunchucks. Have fun!

[Samiam]

Definately get the remote charger....the remote/controllers are battery-operated, and I imagine, will run through the batteries. We didn't even want to mess with that as we have enough problems getting batteries in the house for everything else, so we went right with the charger. The remotes get charged at least every other week if not weekly, depending on usage, so imagine if that were AA's we were replacing.

 

We have found the Wii Play, Wii Sports Resort are great family games....everyone can get involved, and have their turn. Mario Galaxy which was highly recommended rarely gets played. Same with Raybid Rabbits....fun at first, but now never played. Boom Blox gets great reviews, and that is probably going on our Christmas list, as well as Wii Outdoor Sports.

 

Also you don't technically NEED four remotes...we have two, with 4-5 players at a time, and we just pass them around when it's someone else's turn. We may eventually add more, but at the time of purchase, it was more important to us to get a few good games versus large investment into controllers. One comes with the system, and you will want to buy at least one extra. Not to mention, our family pattern with multiple items tends to be ONE always seems to get misplaced when you have "extras", yet if you only have a few, you tend to keep better track of them.

 

I would highly recommend going to a Gamestop if you have one in your area, or EB Games. These are small game stores, but the employees know what they are talking about, since that is their job AND most of them are REALLY into games. They give GREAT advice, including things that you don't need, or get bad reviews. We don't always buy at Gamestop, but always pick the employees brain, and buy there as much as we can. Plus they have a great trade-in program. About twice a year, my children take in all of their games they no longer play, and use that credit to purchase new and/or used games, along with their own money.

 

As far as worrying about the internet, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It is something you have to activate and pay extra for, so unless your children can do that on their own, it's not a problem. And if it is something they can do on their own, just have that conversation about whether it's allowed or not. It is a great feature if you need it, but with four other computers in our house, we do not feel the need to have internet on the TV/Wii.

[happygrrl]

Just to confirm: we bought one as our family present last year and LOVE it. It is less aggressive feeling than other play systems. We like to challenge each other on Wii Fit and other active games, and our game library is always expanding. Even my husband and I play pin ball late at night when the kids go to bed. (Highly rec. that one... it actually copied real pin ball games that we both remember from our teen years). You won't regret it!

[adams101]

Boom Blocks is a good game too. Stephen Spilburg wanted something he could play with his kids, so he developed it. VERY family friendly! It is like Jenga, where you knock over the towers, or pull blocks out while not knoking them over. It also has some that you have to do in a certain order to get it to work. It's good for all ages, the littles can knock stuff down, while the adults/older kids can compete, etc. There is a 2nd one out. We haven't gotten it yet, but my cousin says they really like it. You can share the remotes, so you really only have to have 1, but it is easier if everyone has their own.