Wii - Please Educate me

[mamacatnv]

DD 11 wants a Wii for Christmas and we are contemplating making it the family gift.

We have never owned a gaming system. DS has an xBox but he takes it to school and now that he lives in year round off campus student housing it does not come home. He bought his first one, we bought the second one for his 18th B-day but it was his, not the families.

I'd like to have some things the 3 of us can do together

So, what do we need?
What are "must haves" and why?
What is a good "starter" package?
Can't live without accessories?
How much should I budget?
Where to buy? Is it hard to find like in years past?

My Dr. recommended Wii fit but I recently blew out my ACL in my knee and anything with impact is going to be out for a long time.

Thanks

 

[Sparx]

you need at least one wii mote for each member of the family (up to four players) if you want to play together.

good family type games are racing games like mario kart (or cars racing, for a disney one), wii play (this comes with a free wii mote!) toy story mania, etc.

in the box itself you will get one wii mote, and no nunchuck (the nunchuck is used for certain games. i suggest buying one) and a disk called "wii sports" this has your boxing, tennis and baseball games. its fun, and helps you learn how to play the wii.

if you buy mario kart, it comes with one "wheel" to put your wii mote in. i suggest buying a few more (usually 10.00 each?) because its a lot easier to play the game with one.

i don't find hte tennis rackets or baseball bats that you put your wiimote in to be terribly necessary, its easy to play without them.

i also have two "guns" that hold my wiimote because i play some First Person Shooter games (think Duck Hunt?)

wii points cards are available for 20.00 at walmart or target. this allows you to download games onto your wii, like classic mario games. its a GREAT investment. for 20.00 you get 2000 points, but you can get 2-4 games for that price, usually. (these are full length games)

 

[N.Bailey]

To address the cost issue, I don't think anyone is going to be able to tell you to go here, there, or over there. Since the gaming industry fully expects to take a huge hit in sales this holiday season, I think you will likely get a nice deal. You can always return a console if you pick it up and find a cheaper one on down the road (or in some instances, take your receipt in and ask to be compensated for the difference).

For your DD though, I HIGHLY suggest you get, Animal Crossing City Folk. This is not a game you can play as a family, but there are empty houses in each town and different family members can move into those houses and share the town. I think most any girl your daughter's age, will love this game and I'd suspect mom will wind up loving it too. Check the Black Friday sales. I think at least 1 and maybe more than 1 store has this REALLY reduced in price. You'll want to pick up a headset if you plan on visiting other people's towns online (some of the games come with the headset, some do not).

 

[N.Bailey]

Rock Band 2 will also be a big hit if you can afford it. You'll get drums, guitar, vocals, plus there are lots of add ons that you can buy or maybe pick up later.

I don't think there is a shortage this year either, so you're safe in that dept.

 

[MommaSue]

We bought a Wii sstem for our family Christmas gift last year. It was a big hit with the kids!

The one thing that we got was the charger with rechargeable batteries for the remotes. Regular batteries wear out so quickly that it doesn't take long for this unit to pay for itself.

 

[N.Bailey]

I've never played this, but I've only heard great things about it and it's predecessor. There is a video at the link where you can watch Spielberg talking about it. The premise to this sequel was to make it a multiplayer game so that the whole family could get involved together.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=18946

 

[Pixiedust34]

Look at this thread for helpful info.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1287560

 

[wdwgirl03]

Get the Toy Story Mania game. It's great if you need a little Disney fix.

I don't think Wiis are as hard to get as they used to be. My sisters and I got ours last summer (it was also our first ever game system and we are 24, 22, and 19. LOL!) and had trouble finding one. Shortly after that it seemed like they had them everywhere we went.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I bet you would like Wii Fit. A lot of it is balance games, or things like skiing where you have to lean one way or the other. There's a hula hoop game where you have to move your hips, and walking/ running...you could do the walking maybe? There are yoga poses too, you could prob. do some with you knee.

If you can use your knee a bit, you might like Wii Fit.

We also love buying all of the old school nintendo, etc. games through the Wii. Once you set it up, you can purchase wii points and buy games...your daughter may enjoy looking through all of the games and finding some things she would like.

 

[tinkerfan1]

I think a Wii Fit for the family is a great idea. I do this with DS13. It is a lot of fun. You can actually buy the Wii in a Wii Fit bundle, or at least you used to be able to. The Wii itself comes with several games already loaded such as tennis and boxing. So, you do not have to go out and buy a bunch of games for this. It is a lot of fun. I have MS and I also went to physical therapy for surgery that I had on my shoulder (I swear I am not some surgery freak). When I went to physical therapy, they had this "game" at the therapy center and recommended using it for therapy if I had it. I bought it promptly thereafter. Plus, it is something that my DS13 wanted anyway!! We truly enjoy it.