To Wii or not to Wii, that is the question

[uglygoat]

get a used one... or see if there's a place that will rent you one for the weekend. we borrowed my brothers, and it was fun, but my daughter lost interest after a week...

edit: it also brought out a nasty competitive side to her that i'd not seen before. she hates to lose apparently...

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

I had a Wii and wasnt really happy with it. The graphics are a generation behind and the games pretty much suck. Maybe for a family with younger kids that want a current console without breaking the bank...but its not for me.

 

[jspence1]

Thanks everyone for all your responses!

Generally speaking, we do have a 'Go out and play' mentality. The best part is that I don't have to force them to go outside and play. The girls have a HUGE play set outside and everyday when they come home from daycare they run around back to go play on it. The wife & I also have a huge garden which takes a lot of work, and the girls like to help with it. So basically, when the weather's good, we're outside.

The downside, of course, is fall & winter. As of about a week and a half ago, its been too cold outside to do much. Last night we went real-life bowling and the girls had an awesome time.

We're def. getting a Wii. Thanks again, everyone, for your input.

The wii bowling is bang on. I bowl exactly the same in RL as on the wii. My kids go through spurts of play. But after a year i can say its a great purchase. Two recommendations buy extra remotes and nunchuks you'll definitely want more than one. and spring for the charging station .

 

[heyvail]

Living in the cold our family goes in spurts, very little in summer and about every weekend through the cold nights here in Michigan. How else are we going to golf, play baseball and tennis in February when it is -15 degrees outside. Worth every penny. And once or so a month through winter the so called "adults" get together on a Saturday, brew a batch, drink homebrew and play the Wii until the early morning. IN other words. . .

GO FOR IT!!

 

[IrregularPulse]

To everyone saying the graphics suck and the games are "lame"/ No Crap. The graphics are lame. The concept for the system is not based around the latest and greatest graphics, it's about the motion. Compare the prices to when each first came out. $400 for Xbox360, 6-700 for PS3, $250 for a Wii! Of course it's not a graphics power house. If you bought one and were disappointed in the graphics, then you made a stupid uneducated purchase. Research something more before you buy it next time.

I have a 360 and a Wii. The Wii gets played more for sure.SWMBO will actually play it. All 360 and PS3 games are geared toward the 300 lb 12 year old sitting alone in his room all night. they're all one player. Sure you're playing online with people, but you're still alone. The Wii encourages social and family activity. They both have their place but are completely different. We're getting a WiiFit for christmas instead of buying each other gifts this year.

 

[jds]

We've had our Wii for a while now, and it still gets a regular workout.

Shortly after we bought it, my in-laws came over for a visit. Watching my then 5-year old play wii bowling with her grandparents was a treat. In fact, THEY went out and bought one for themselves!

While hard-core gamers may not have much love for the wii, as a family game system, it's tough to beat. SWMBO is big into the cutsey role-playing games (Animal Crossing and the like), and we're all having fun with Wii Music and the Mario Baseball game.

We'll have the whole family over for Thanksgiving, and I bet the wii gets as much or more attention than the football games.

 

[G-E-R-M-A-N]

I've got a Wii and a PS3. I had the PS3 for awhile before I got the wii, and I'll just say this: since we got the Wii, I haven't played anything on the PS3. It's NOT the same. Don't get me wrong, I love the PS3, I have logged many hours on the Orange Box and GTA IV, and the graphics are awesome! I use it all the time as my BD player, too. But there's a huge, huge difference between playing a game with your thumbs and playing a game with your whole body. I've never liked golf games before, but with Tiger Woods 09 on the Wii, you actually swing the remote like a club...and I'm freakin addicted! The graphics aren't as cool, no, but in terms of real-deal fun, it's pretty great. You really can't compare the two consoles, because it's a different concept. That, and, well, there are few things quite as cool as being able to download and play old NES games on my big Aquos for $5.

I own both also and they are on different ends of spectrum. I am visually stunned by PS3 (cant beat 1080p). I play Wii with my son, but PS3 for more violent shooter type games by myself. It is fun going back in time with downloadable nes, snes games. I have to say the online on the PS3 is way better however.

One thing that helped the 480p resolution on the wii was using a component cable vs the standard red, yellow, white hookup. It seemed to sharpen up edges and patterns on the wii. Look up comparisons online, for anybody interested.

Wii is a way more get the family involved system by all means.

 

[Joe C]

My girlfriend got me a Wii in May of 07, and I can't even tell you how many hours we have logged on it. There has yet to be a complaint with the system. One of our remotes stopped working and a box was at our door with a replacement in under 5 business days.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Another yes vote here. We got ours on the release date and haven't regretted it one bit. My kids are 9,7,5 and 2 and they're something that they can all play on it. It gets them moving around and they have fun. Guitar Hero World tour with 2 of them on guitar, 1 on drums and 1 singing is so much fun that it's just ridiculous.

I'm an old school Nintendo guy though. I get every Nintendo hardware platform when it comes out so that I can play Mario, Metroid, Zelda, etc.

 

[IrregularPulse]

While hard-core gamers may not have much love for the wii, as a family game system, it's tough to beat. SWMBO is big into the cutsey role-playing games (Animal Crossing and the like), and we're all having fun with Wii Music and the Mario Baseball game.
QUOTE]

How is the Wii music? Looks interesting on the commercials. I really like the popularity of music in video games now-a-days. We have GH3 for 360 and rockband for 360. Wanna at least play wii music. Rockband is the best party game ever.:rockin:

 

[jspence1]

How is the Wii music? Looks interesting on the commercials. I really like the popularity of music in video games now-a-days. We have GH3 for 360 and rockband for 360. Wanna at least play wii music. Rockband is the best party game ever.:rockin:

Wii Music is probably the worst game ever made! ok that I have played at least. My BIL picked bought it and his kids didn't like it, my kids found it fun for about 15 minutes and then moved on and haven't gone back to it yet.

John

 

[malkore]

Other than an extra Wii-mote controller, you don't have to 'buy any junk' out there.

you don't 'need' the steering wheel cover or the gun stuff...those just slip over the wii-mote. save money and don't buy em.

the Wii does have plenty of edutainment games. you should try Video Game Rentals: Rent/Buy Wii,PS3,PS2,Xbox,360,PSP,DS,GC,GBA Games – GameFly.com for easy renting of games on the cheap (think Netflix for game consoles)

plus you can download old games onto the Wii. I play Super Metroid, the wife has Gradius.

the game we play most...Wii Sports - bowling

we have no kids, and i'm 31.

 

[farmbrewernw]

My work just bought a Wii and Wii fit from some sort of healthy lifestyles fund. I guess I'll finally get to see if I want to actually get one at some point