Nintendo Wii Help

[Crayons]

I want to buy DH the Nintendo Wii for Xmas. But, I am electronically-challenged to the point of cluelessness. In addition to the console, what I am I supposed to buy so he can play? He liked the bowling and tennis when he tried it at a friends house.

[Tondi G]

You will want Wii Sports then! Wii Play looks like fun too! We have Carnival Games too... my DH and DS (7) play these together (skee ball, shooting hoops, knock down the clown etc.... fun games)!

My Dh is a fan of the bowling and golf on wii sports! I am actually quite good at the Wii Bowling, but IRL bowling skills are seriously lacking! Wii Play looks fun too...(table tennis etc.)

Other fun games are

Zelda
Super Mario Galaxy
Mario Cart
Our neighbor has Guitar Hero and LOVES it!

I think the console and Wii Sports should be enough to start with! You should make sure you have 2 controllers too!

[g-mama]

Yeah, I was going to say about getting extra controllers. We bought a Wii for the boys for Christmas - so they haven't gotten it yet - and an acquaintance was just telling me that you MUST have extra controllers and to get them NOW before the Christmas rush. My older boys have a lot of neighborhood friends who I know will be over here wanting to play and she said if you don't have enough, it's a disaster.

Other than that, I'll be watching this thread to see what else I need to know.

[SnuggleBuggles]

The Wii Play kit used to come w/ an extra controller so you should check and see if you can find that set. IIRC the controller is $30 and as a set it is $40 (or $40, $50?).

Mario Party 8 (my favorite!!)
Super Mario Galaxy
Mario Cart
and any of the Lego games have been a hit here (Indiana Jones, Batman, Star Wars)
Wii Sports

Beth

[aggie01]

Most that i see come with the wii sports already included (read the contents of the box). Make sure you have atleast 2 controllers...some retailers are only selling the wii "bundled" which means the price is higher but you get to pick additional games with it...we bought ours at frys and they only sold it as a bundle which was fine because we would have bought additional games anyway. IMO, when you first get the wii, the games included with the wii in wii sports is enough to hold you over for a while. It includes bowling, tennis, golf and a few others that I can't think of. To save money that's all I would do for Xmas...save buying other games for b-days, etc. I also might purchase the numchucks (sp) that plug into the controllers for better game performance (again, 1 might be included in the box with purchase of wii so read the contents).

[Thatchermom]

The basic wii kit has one controller, one nunchuck and Wii Sports. We are now up to three controller sets and things are happier here. While you can play multiple player sports games with only one controller, it gets pretty old hooking and unhooking the strap from wrists and passing it around.

I think if you have a higher-end HD tv there is a different cable you can use for better quality, but he can research that later. I'm pretty sure the included cables will work on any tv.

Other things we have found helpful but not "necessary":
-a nice set of rechargeable batteries for the controllers (we use eneloops)
-a case for holding games (any cd case works) so we don't have to have all those big DVD like cases hanging around. Also easier for DS to use.
-a travel case, since we do end up bringing it to friends' houses to play
-a wireless sensor bar, also part of the bringing it to other homes plan for when setup is more difficult

[o_mom]

I went through this last year for a friend and here is what everyone I talked to said.

Basically the system will come with Wii Sports, one controller and one nunchuck so you can play head to head. You will want at least one additional controller and nunchuck. Get the Wii Play game package ($50) and it should come with an additional controller.

Those two games (Sports and Play) will be enough to get you started and last a few weeks. That will have Bowling, Tennis, Baseball, Golf, Boxing, Billiards, Hunting, Table Tennis, Fishing, Laser Hockey and a couple others.

Don't get suckered into the "extra" controller accessories such as a tennis racket, golf club, etc. They are not really useful.

Unless there is a game you have played and loved, rent first before buying. Blockbuster, GameFly, etc. all have stuff to rent.

Wii Fit is great, but hard to find, so you may want to wait on that.

[egoldber]

We have the Wii Fit and love it. We bought the Wii Play for the extra controller, but it is not a hit here. Sarah's favs are the Sport and the Fit.

[AngelaS]

I agree--all you HAVE to have is a total of two controllers and two nunchucks (you use the nunchucks for boxing). Wii Sports will tide you over for a while.

If you were going to buy one additional game, I'd get Mario Kart. We LOVE Mario Kart and I'm amazed at how good my 4 yo is on it! We just finally got a total of four remotes (and 4 steering wheels) and playing head to head w/three others is FUN! :D

I also LOVE Wii Fit! You don't need it from the get go, but it's a lot of fun and all five of us enjoy it! :D I spent 35 minutes playing this morning and worked up a decent sweat. (I suck at hula hooping but it really gets my heart pumping!). :)

[Karenn]

AngelaS (or others) how much is your four year old able to play Wii? Any other games that are good for that age?

Thanks for this thread! It answers so many of the questions I had!

[AngelaS]

Meredith can play Mario Kart. From Wii Sports she can play boxing and kinda bowling. We also have Wii Play and she can play most of those. Another good one for her is Playground which she loves!

[Crayons]

Thanks everyone! Just ordered from Costco - more than I wanted to spend, but I had to buy an extra game, which I will probably give him for a different occasion, and every where else was sold out, and I was worried about lots more sellouts before Xmas.