Do I want a Wii?

[jondiehl]

I know alot of you guys have a Wii, in addition to a 360 and/or PS3. I've largely ignored the Wii as I've never been into the Mario type of games, or kid oriented games in general.

However....

I was at Sam's Club this morning around 9am and as I'm walking in to show my membership card, the manager at the customer service desk got on the PA and said that they just had a return of a Wii bundle and it's unopened... first come, first served. Never one to pass up buying anything that's in limited supply, I made an immediate turn and the desk was only 10ft away. I told him that I'd take it and about 30 seconds later this woman ran up to the counter, completely out of breath and asked to buy it... but I had already taken it.

Anyway, I just paid $494 for this bundle. It includes the Wii Sports console, 2 extra remotes and 2 extra nunchuk's, plus 3 retail games (Brunswick Bowling, Mario Party 8,Super Paper Mario). Looks to be a good deal ($250 for console, $120 for 2 remotes + 2 nunchuk, $140 for extra games).

I've got 3 kids (5, 3.5, and 1). I'm thinking they're still a little young for video games, even the Wii. My boys (5 and 3) like to pick up my extra 360 gamepads when I'm playing Madden, NHL, Lego Star Wars, etc... and think that they're doing something, but I don't know that either could work a Wii. That's where I'm calling on the community here to see as I know alot of you have Wii's and alot of you have younger kids.

Honestly, I don't see myself playing it much. Maybe I'll get hooked if I play it, but I'm a sucker for my HD resolution 360 games with realistic/life-like graphics and I've got a backlog of 360 games that I've Gamefly'd that aren't even out of the mailers. My wife is a non-gamer for the most part, so I doubt she'll start playing with a Wii either.

Looking at eBay auctions today, it seems that these Sam's bundles are going for $700 "Buy it now", although that's probably not enough for me to waste my time with trying to flip it (I doubled my money with eBay on an extra Xbox 1 and Xbox 360 @ both launches). Perhaps I should be a kind soul and offer it to one of my neighbors or my sister-in-law @ cost as I'm pretty sure they've been looking everywhere for them.

Someone sell me on keeping this Wii. I want to like it but haven't been paying any attention to any video gaming outside of the 360.

[Danimal]

John -

I have one, the only time I play it is with the kids and when friends come over.

My 4 year old can play all the Wi Sports games, she bowls in the 270's and is kicking my ass every time. She tends to beat me at Wi Golf as well.

Both my 3 and 4 year old love making Mi's and they can both play Wi Play and several of the games in Mario Party and Carnival Games

I just got Mario Galaxy for myself, really my first purchase for me and it just confirm that I am not a platformer type guy.

Anyway I would never get rid of my system because the kids love it, parents love it and it's a great party system.

If you're buying it for yourself however, not sure it's worth it IMO.

[wco81]

As long as the kids don't throw the controller through you TV screen ...

[TCrouch]

My daughter was 4 when we got the Wii and she could bowl like a Pro. You'd be surprised at how well little ones can work the Wii remote compared to a "regular" controller. Mario Galaxy even has the ability for a second remote to "gather stars" for you, so my younger kids will collect all the stars by just pointing the remote at them...they get into it.

I don't play it nearly as much as my 360, but there are some fun experiences on it. If you already bought it and it's not like you're going broke because of it, might as well keep it.

[jondiehl]

Thanks for the responses guys. Sold.

My kids are so freaking spoiled.

I guess it's off to Walmart or Target to get the component cables, at least I'll get 480p widescreen that way right?

It's probably in my best interest to also try a return/exchange at Walmart with one of the bundled $40 remotes and swap that out for the $50 Wii Play that includes a remote.

[Leebo33]

My 4 1/2 and 3 year old boys just laugh and laugh while I'm playing Mario Galaxy. They really enjoy just watching. My older son can play Wii Sports (loves the golf), however, I wish there were alternative controls because when he was 3 1/2 he had trouble pressing A and B at the same time.

I almost sold my Wii a few months ago, which probably would have been the dumbest gaming decision I've ever made! Those games don't sound great. Super Paper Mario is fairly good, but certainly doesn't utilize the Wii controls very much.

Yes, component cables are a must. I ordered Nintendo cables last year on the Internet but lucked into a cheap brand at Wal-Mart while I was waiting. I ended up returning the Wal-Mart (Cyclone?) cables because the colors seemed so much better with the Nintendo brand IMO.

[Blublub]

I was just thinking what a disappointment mine has been. The kids like it okay, but once the fun of Wii Sports wore off it hasn't been touched much in months. There's a ton of potential, but there just haven't been any compelling titles in the past year if you don't like Mario stuff. Sadly I think virtually all sports titles are mediocre at best. There's so much potential with the controller scheme, hopefully someone will tap into it one of these days, but if you asked me now I'd be in no hurry to buy one.

[jondiehl]

Those games don't sound great. Super Paper Mario is fairly good, but certainly doesn't utilize the Wii controls very much.

Yeah, I'm going to try and return some of the bundled stuff (sans receipt) at Walmart or Target (both are pretty good about no-receipt store credits):

-Brunswick Bowling - $40
-Wii Remote -$40
-Super Paper Mario - $50

for:

-Wii Play - $50
-Component cables -$30
-Mario Galaxy -$50

[jondiehl]

Well, that was easy. Walmart gave me store credit for the entire bundle (less console of course).

I returned all of the bundled items for $260 + tax, so now I have only $234 + tax invested into the console itself.

Now I have to decide on what to buy for it.

While I was there, I went and picked up Wii Play/Remote for $50 and rebought an extra nunchuk for $20 so that I could have two complete sets of controllers (didn't feel like I actually needed a 3rd set at this point). I also got a generic set of component cables for $20.

I figure the 5 included sports games plus the 9 mini games included with the Wii Play + remote should keep the family busy for a while.

Any recommendations on what games to buy (I'm not much of a platform gamer and for sure not a role playing gamer)? A few of you have mentioned Mario Galaxy... and it seems to have gotten good reviews from gaming websites. Perhaps I'll Gamefly it first (cheaper to keep there anyway).

[mobiggins]

I'm really enjoying Zack and Wiki right now. Behind the cutesy exterior is a classic throwback point-and-click adventure game in the vein of the old King's Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, etc. Sierra games. Dunno if you're into that kind of stuff.

Resident Evil 4 was a blast to play through (though not so good for the little ones), and I enjoy Mario Strikers for mindless soccer fun.

[Feanor]

I've still never seen a boxed Wii in any store. Maybe in 2009.

[slyguy]

Zelda Zack and Wiki . Metal Of Honor 2 Hero's is getting very good reviews

[fanatic]

I'm really enjoying Zack and Wiki right now. Behind the cutesy exterior is a classic throwback point-and-click adventure game in the vein of the old King's Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, etc. Sierra games. Dunno if you're into that kind of stuff.

Resident Evil 4 was a blast to play through (though not so good for the little ones), and I enjoy Mario Strikers for mindless soccer fun.

Zak and Wiki is a great game. You really feel a sense of accomplishment when you finally solve each puzzle. Takes some thinking I tell ya!

I'd also recommend Mario Galaxy obviously, Metroid Prime and MLB Power Pros.

I was wondering what else I could pick up, so mobiggins, thanks for the RE4 advice. I'm going to check out some videos.

I'm also wondering if I should pick up the Nintendo first party cables instead of the play-asia ones I have. If the colours are a bit better, it may be worth it.

[jondiehl]

I'm also wondering if I should pick up the Nintendo first party cables instead of the play-asia ones I have. If the colours are a bit better, it may be worth it.

I ended up taking the ones I bought for $20 back to the store. Not because they looked bad (they were fine), but when I went into Sam's Club last night they had a $33 package that included component cables, 2 rechargable battery packs, and a charging station. I bought that instead and the $20 cables are going back today.

I don't see a reason to overpay for 1st party cables when we're talking about standard def. gaming (480p) and graphics that are mostly cartoonish (at least the stuff my kids will be playing... any multi-platform stuff I'm playing on the 360, not the Wii).

[Slumberland]

I'm loving the Wii and I'm love-love-loving Mario Galaxy, but was it REALLY out of the question to make something that at least spit out 720p? Mario looks great but is on the verge of looking awesome.