Question on the Nintendo Wii

[oliegirl]

My son is dying for one of these, and with his birthday approaching, I'm thinking about getting him one. Do you have to have a wireless connection in order to play, or can you just hook it to the TV like a regular game (PS2, Xbox, etc...) and play?

In the expert opinion of all the gamers on the board, would a 10 year old get tired of the Wii and end up being a waste of money? Or is there a good variety of games out there and is something that will hold his attention? Are there "on going" games that you can beat? He loves Halo 2, and likes those types of games where you go through it and not start a new game each time you play (if that makes sense...can you tell I don't play video games????)

Thanks guys!!!!

[MikeVic]

You don't need wireless. If you want to do stuff online and don't have wireless, I think you can buy something that will allow you to use a normal "wired" internet connection.

The Wii doesn't have a ton of games out now, but if your son likes to play with others, the games that are out now are fun in groups (at least for me).

[oliegirl]

You don't need wireless. If you want to do stuff online and don't have wireless, I think you can buy something that will allow you to use a normal "wired" internet connection.

The Wii doesn't have a ton of games out now, but if your son likes to play with others, the games that are out now are fun in groups (at least for me).

He loves to play with his friends...he has an xbox and it seems that there are always 3 or 4 boys sprawled on my living room floor playing. If anyone has game recommendations let me know :)

[MikeVic]

He loves to play with his friends...he has an xbox and it seems that there are always 3 or 4 boys sprawled on my living room floor playing. If anyone has game recommendations let me know :)

Has he played it before at a friend's house or somewhere else? It's a pretty unqiue and different console compared to what has been available before. Maybe he won't like that you can really lay down on the floor and mash away at buttons. You kind of have to be sitting or standing in front of the TV.

(I played Nintendo games on my stomach as a kid too... but that wouldn't be possible with the Wii).

[oliegirl]

He played Saturday at a friends house...he was playing Spiderman, but didn't like it too much, then started playing some sports games - Tennis and something else and those he really liked...he'd been telling me he wanted one, but I wasn't even going to consider it until I knew he'd played it.

[spleen1015]

I think he'd love it. There are a few games that don't really appeal to the hardcore folks on this board that would appeal to a 10 year old kid.

I bet he'd like Elebits.

[TroyF]

I bet he'd like Zelda: Twilight Princess. (I played my first Zelda game around that age I think)

Super Paper Mario is another solo game that he'd like I think.

Mario Strikers and any of the party games are great for playing in groups.

[oliegirl]

He told me about some Mario game, maybe racing? I don't know...I figure I'll get him the base console and whatever game it comes with, and then rent him games for it, doesn't seem like there is much point in buying the games to me.

[spleen1015]

He told me about some Mario game, maybe racing? I don't know...I figure I'll get him the base console and whatever game it comes with, and then rent him games for it, doesn't seem like there is much point in buying the games to me.

There are a lot of good games available for download on the Virtual Console. These games are fairly cheap, $5 - $10.

[Doug5984]

As a 23 year old kid- i don't think he would get tired of it, me and my friends still sit around and play wii sports a lot of the weekends, there are a few other fun games as well (and you can download classic games which is a lot of fun for us that grew up with a Nintendo).

[Pumpy Tudors]

He'd probably have a lot of fun if you have the floor space for it (it sounds like you do). My wife and I don't really have much room in front of our TV, so we don't play with the Wii at home very often. She works with a guy who has a huge TV and lots of floor space, though, and we go over there every few weeks and play Wii Sports, Wario Ware, and Mario Party for hours. In my experience, most of the multiplayer games require a lot of room to swing your arms around, so it's just something to keep in mind.

[TroyF]

He told me about some Mario game, maybe racing? I don't know...I figure I'll get him the base console and whatever game it comes with, and then rent him games for it, doesn't seem like there is much point in buying the games to me.

It all depends on how much he plays it oliegirl. A role playing game like Zelda can take tons of hours to complete. Super Paper Mario will also take a ton of time to complete.

All the party games? Great rentals I would think.

[STK]

Can Super Mario 3 be downloaded? I ordered a Wii from Gamestop yesterday - my girfriend's interest in the console seems to be predicated on this title.

[albionmoonlight]

Can Super Mario 3 be downloaded? I ordered a Wii from Gamestop yesterday - my girfriend's interest in the console seems to be predicated on this title.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Virtual_Console_games_%28North_America%29

[Big Fo]

SMB3 isn't there yet, but SMB, SMB2, Super Mario World, and Mario 64 are all there. Without a doubt it will be on there someday.

[oliegirl]

Is this a good deal? Found it on Gamespot...

This Nintendo Wii Mario Bundle includes the following items:
Nintendo Wii system (system, remote controller, nunchuck, stand, sensor and Wii Sports)
1 additional Wii Nunchuck Controller
Wii Play with Remote
Super Paper Mario
Mario Party 8

$470 after tax and shipping

[terpkristin]

Is this a good deal? Found it on Gamespot...

This Nintendo Wii Mario Bundle includes the following items:
Nintendo Wii system (system, remote controller, nunchuck, stand, sensor and Wii Sports)
1 additional Wii Nunchuck Controller
Wii Play with Remote
Super Paper Mario
Mario Party 8

$470 after tax and shipping

I went over to Gamestop.com and looked at their offer.
Wii is usually $250 I think.
Wii Play (w/Remote), Super Paper Mario, and Mario Party 8 are each $50
Extra nunchuck = $20

Total = $420 before tax and shipping...i.e. exactly what they're charging. It's a bundle, but it's not a bundle "deal."

And though I can't speak to it, as I can't find a Wii on my local shop shelves, I've heard that Mario Party 8 isn't as good as previous iterations of the game.

/tk

[oliegirl]

You can tell I don't know anything about video games when I don't even know the name of the website! Ugh...I'm in way over my head here.

He's now telling me he wants a 360, but he only wants it so he can play Halo 3, and we have an xbox so I'm having a hard time justifying buying a 360 for just one game. I like the idea of the Wii and it's something I might actually play with him...just trying to find a good deal.

Thanks TK!

[terpkristin]

You can tell I don't know anything about video games when I don't even know the name of the website! Ugh...I'm in way over my head here.

He's now telling me he wants a 360, but he only wants it so he can play Halo 3, and we have an xbox so I'm having a hard time justifying buying a 360 for just one game. I like the idea of the Wii and it's something I might actually play with him...just trying to find a good deal.

Thanks TK!

To be absolutely honest, a 360 isn't worth it "right now." In a few months (in time for the Christmas rush), it will be worth it, as they'll be shipping it with HDMI out and with the smaller (and in theory cooler-running) chip. My 360 is 8 months old and is RROD'ing on me (I have to do the towel trick), which is absolutely absurd to me. And it's noisy as sin.

Though there are some games you could play with him, if you ended up going that route...Lego Star Wars comes right to mind, it has 2 player co-op and is pretty damn fun (I have my mom hooked on it, among other people).

Of course, at the moment, if I had a PS3, a new 360, and a Wii on a table in front of me, I'd pick up the Wii.

Good luck!
/tk

[Atocep]

And though I can't speak to it, as I can't find a Wii on my local shop shelves, I've heard that Mario Party 8 isn't as good as previous iterations of the game.

/tk

For me its not that its not as good, its just pretty much the same game as the others. There's not much depth to it, at least not enough to keep an adult interested.

My five year old, however, would play it all day if I allowed him. I can stand it for an hour or so tops. Mario strikers is another story...

[stevew]

If you happen to have a hollywood video around where you live, for 20 bucks per month you can rent any one video game at a time. Basically for the price of 4-5 games per year, you can play whatever you want, for as long as you want to. At least it's a good "try before you buy" method.

[oliegirl]

If you happen to have a hollywood video around where you live, for 20 bucks per month you can rent any one video game at a time. Basically for the price of 4-5 games per year, you can play whatever you want, for as long as you want to. At least it's a good "try before you buy" method.

We do have one that is not far from our apartment...I'd definitely do something like that, he would have to LOVE a game to play it enough to justify the cost of buying it. Renting definitely sounds like the better option for me. We also have the Blockbuster Rewards and the free rental coupon we get every month is good for games as well...

I'm going to start checking around on ebay and Craigslist...birthday is in 2 weeks so I need to make a decision soon if I'm going to get him one.

[stevew]

Go to your nearest Toys R Us and ask if they are selling Wiis for the sunday add. Then head there about an hour before they open, wait in line, and get your Wii. Worked for me anyways. All of those bundles are a rip off, especially when it's questionable if you'd want those games for more than a few months.

[terpkristin]

For me its not that its not as good, its just pretty much the same game as the others. There's not much depth to it, at least not enough to keep an adult interested.

My five year old, however, would play it all day if I allowed him. I can stand it for an hour or so tops. Mario strikers is another story...

Well, my rationale is this:
I have a 360 that is...workable (with the towel trick) and I won't replace it until the new chip and HDMI are the "standard" (i.e. around Christmas time, or, more likely, early next year is when I'll actually try to get it). So I don't need a 360.

I have a PS2 that's working just fine, and there aren't enough PS3 games out right now for me to actually want one of those. I forsee that coming in the first half of 2008.

The Wii, I'd want it for some party stuff and there are at least a couple of games I want to play, including Zelda.

So, given the options, at this point in time, the Wii is the one I'd go for. It's also the one I can't find on shelves anywhere (though I haven't tried as hard as I might, I fully admit).

Plus, I have my DS and PSP keeping me plenty entertained right now...and my hand is making it hard to grip any of my controllers or portables, but that's another matter. ;)

And now we've totally side-tracked oliegirl's thread. Sorry about that, og!!

/tk

[oliegirl]

Well, I took a friend who knows about video games to Game Stop with me on Saturday to look at purchasing a used Wii. I had not been able to find one anywhere, so I was considering a used one - depending on the warranty, return policy, etc.

After going around and around with my friend, trying to make a decision, I asked the golden question of the employee who was very patiently helping us. "Do you have any new Wii's?" He goes back to check and comes back with a huge smile - they had gotten a truck in that morning with 3 Wii's, and had one left. I bought it on the spot, along with an extra remote that came with another disc of games.

Gave it to Anthony Sunday morning, a little early, but I couldn't wait another week (his b'day is this Saturday) and figured it would be fun to play over the long weekend. He flipped out when he saw it - was SO excited and surprised. As soon as we had it hooked up (which was surprisingly easy) he ran across the street to get his friend and the 3 of us played it all day Sunday and yesterday. I ran out and rented the Mario Soccer game as well as some Marvel comic fighting game...

I'm really glad I got it. It's not perfect, the accuracy is a little off, which can be frustrating if you miss a shot because of it, but it's SO fun! I'm not a video game person, but I love playing the Wii...I suck at baseball, can hold my own in bowling, and am pretty good at tennis...haven't tried anything else yet.

I want to try Madden 08 for it, from what I've seen you can do the interactive stuff with it, which looks so cool...

[twothree]

I'm really glad I got it. It's not perfect, the accuracy is a little off, which can be frustrating if you miss a shot because of it, but it's SO fun! I'm not a video game person, but I love playing the Wii...I suck at baseball, can hold my own in bowling, and am pretty good at tennis...haven't tried anything else yet.

Congrats on finding a Wii.

Sometime the accuracy can be improved by adjusting the sensitivity of the remote in the options menu. Also, make sure to choose the correct option for where the sensor bar is located.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Congrats on finding a Wii.

Sometime the accuracy can be improved by adjusting the sensitivity of the remote in the options menu. Also, make sure to choose the correct option for where the sensor bar is located.

I also suggest trying both the bottom and the top of your TV for the sensor bar. Depending on the TV, I've found that it sometimes works better in one position to the other depending on the size and location of the TV.

[oliegirl]

Cool - thanks for the suggestions. I haven't gotten to get in and play with the settings since we got it, I'll wrestle the remote away from Anthony tonight and see what I can do :)

[Fidatelo]

One thing I've become frustrated with now that I have a larger TV is the range of the sensor bar. When I sit on my couch I'm too far back, the pointer just doesn't work very well from there. If I move a couple feet closer, problem solved.

Anyone know of a way to extend the range, short of setting up a bunch of candles on top of my plasma?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

One thing I've become frustrated with now that I have a larger TV is the range of the sensor bar. When I sit on my couch I'm too far back, the pointer just doesn't work very well from there. If I move a couple feet closer, problem solved.

Anyone know of a way to extend the range, short of setting up a bunch of candles on top of my plasma?

That's just a problem that gets slowly worse as the screen size increases. I played on a 20 foot projector screen and it obviously didn't have great control. The 65" TV played a bit better, but still some control issues. Adjusting the sensitivity of the pointer helps a bit.

[Celeval]

Have you tried this: http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=802612?

I don't know anything about it, but when I picked up our wii, they had a product (might have been this one, might have been another) that was a replacement sensor bar that supposedly extended the range.

[Raiders Army]

I just moved our Wii into our youngest son's room (6 years old). He loves it and we don't have to have our main TV monopolized.

I am, however, questioning some of his Miis and their names.

[lordscarlet]

I just moved our Wii into our youngest son's room (6 years old). He loves it and we don't have to have our main TV monopolized.

I am, however, questioning some of his Miis and their names.

Six? With a TV and a Wii in his room?

[Fidatelo]

That's just a problem that gets slowly worse as the screen size increases. I played on a 20 foot projector screen and it obviously didn't have great control. The 65" TV played a bit better, but still some control issues. Adjusting the sensitivity of the pointer helps a bit.

The sensitivity and size of TV isn't the issue, it's the range of the LED's inside the sensor bar. The only reason screen size comes into play is because you stand/sit further back from larger TV's. If the sensor bar had stronger LED's it would work from further back (or if you use candles with large flames).

As for sensitivity, everything controls just fine as long as I'm standing within about 8 feet. I just need some way of boosting that range.

[stevew]

Six? With a TV and a Wii in his room?

You want to be adopted or something? :)

[lordscarlet]

You want to be adopted or something? :)

[offensive remarks]I want to see children raised without being spoiled.[/offensive remarks]

[Marc Vaughan]

I think he'd love it. There are a few games that don't really appeal to the hardcore folks on this board that would appeal to a 10 year old kid.

I bet he'd like Elebits.

He'll love it - off the top of my head I'll recommend:

Wii Sports
Wii Play
Mario Party
Paper Mario
Sonic
(that should be enough to make a serious dent in your wallet initially ;) )

If you 'can' then I'd get it hooked up to the net personally, this is mainly because you'd be surprised how much fun a 10 year old will get from a lot of the retro games and at $8 dollars or so for most of them they're a heck of a lot cheaper than the new ones (for example - my kids played the original Paper Mario from start to finish which took them ages, my youngest (Keegan - 4) is addicted to Mario64 and is better than I am at it ... sad but true).

[oliegirl]

He'll love it - off the top of my head I'll recommend:

Wii Sports
Wii Play
Mario Party
Paper Mario
Sonic
(that should be enough to make a serious dent in your wallet initially ;) )

If you 'can' then I'd get it hooked up to the net personally, this is mainly because you'd be surprised how much fun a 10 year old will get from a lot of the retro games and at $8 dollars or so for most of them they're a heck of a lot cheaper than the new ones (for example - my kids played the original Paper Mario from start to finish which took them ages, my youngest (Keegan - 4) is addicted to Mario64 and is better than I am at it ... sad but true).


I signed up for Gamefly yesterday, they shipped Paper Mario and Madden 08 (OK, that one is for me). I got it connected to the net last night but didn't realize you needed "points" to download the old games. His birthday party is this weekend so I'm planning on downloading a couple of the old games before then. Right now he's really into the Mario Striker Soccer game, and of course the Wii Sports game...we played a couple rounds of tennis last night, and even though I lost, I held my own and forced the deuce/advantage thing back and forth a few times.

Question - what do the candles have to do with the sensor bar? I've seen a couple comments in this thread about that but have never heard anything about it before.

[Fidatelo]

Question - what do the candles have to do with the sensor bar? I've seen a couple comments in this thread about that but have never heard anything about it before.

Sorry I didn't mean to hijack this with talk of candles, but since you asked :)

The sensor bar simply emits infrared light, which is what the remote uses as a reference point to determine where to show the cursor on screen. If your sensor bar breaks (or is eaten by a dog, like my first one was), you can replace it with candles while you wait for a new one, since candles also emit infrared light.

THe problem with the sensor bar, that I'm discovering now, is that it's little LED's are fairly weak, so the range is about 8 feet or so before the pointer starts having troubles (all other functions of the remote, including tilting etc, are fine, just pointing at stuff). If I were to stick a few candles up on my TV I could likely get a much stronger range, but I don't really want fire and hot wax near my new plasma. What I'd like is an option to purchase a stronger sensor bar, one with a 15 foot range or something.

[Celeval]

What I'd like is an option to purchase a stronger sensor bar, one with a 15 foot range or something.

Most places I've seen Wii accessories have had one. As the ebgames link I posted above didn't work so well, here's a Best Buy version: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8267396&st=wii+sensor+bar&type=product&id=1170290206406

[Fidatelo]

Most places I've seen Wii accessories have had one. As the ebgames link I posted above didn't work so well, here's a Best Buy version: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8267396&st=wii+sensor+bar&type=product&id=1170290206406


Awesome! I've seen those but they always just seemed to be touting the wireless aspect, I guess I never bothered to read the details of the description.

Thanks!