Community Newsletter: Q&A forum: To Wii or not to Wii? That is the question.

It's as simple as if he wants the Wii, get him the Wii, except for the fact that there are no Wii's out there. You will have to either camp out at one of the local stores or pay through the nose on Ebay, which is what I did.

Get him a wii, what is happening with Nintendo these days is exactly what happened with 8/10 years ago with playstations, most of the good game devs moved from nintendo to sony and now is the same but backwards.

I can't think of game titles that I like which can't be find on wii and ps3 or wii and xbox, with the exception maybe of Halo 3. A lot of people says that wii is a console for kids, but if you consider that the audience range playin wii is from 10 to 90 yrs old that proves the opposite.

There's only one incovenient with wii games and is that the game from third companies are not much promoted as the games developed by nintendo. So I recommend your son to visit gamespots and site alike to find information about the differents games. I disagree with your brother in law, I own the three consoles, xbox360, PS3 and Wii, and I rather to play 4 hours each day with wii than with the others two consoles which I strongly considering to sell since I don't use them too much.

Another recommendation: Try to buy all the controls, believe me is really annoying to have only one control and the rest of the family wanting to play it.

I'm not really into game systems, but I love the Wii. I only bought one after I tested my friends' systems, you should definitely let him test it out at the mall kiosks or at electronics stores or even at friends' houses. I'm in my early 20s and I play with my cousins, ages 8 and 13, and they love it too. I also have a coworker who collects all the systems and he uses the Wii more often than the other systems.

The best advice for this situation, you could ask him which game system he prefers. Plain and simple.

PS3 DOES have games for it. They are actually more diverse and MORE fun than the Xbox 360. I try, and try not to let it get to me, but whenever I read a comment about the PS3's lack of games, especially when I own one, I get a little mad. It's not the generosity that this guy offers its the lack of his opinion. Thankfully, I can share mine as well.

ooops...your son is 12 years of age...please skip my first sentence.

I think you should get the Wii. Besides the fact it makes you active, there are great games for it including Carnival games, etc. I currently own the Wii, and it well worth the money. The graphics in my opinion are above average, it has Wifi, and can be expanded to 4 controllers, besides the fact that as of now,some games can be played online with other players. Overall, the Wii is well worth its asking price, compared to the PS3's price of $400 and over.

Actually, just being able to get one at this point may be your biggest challenge! :))

I personally have been gaming since 98 and if a game is fun and will keep you glued to it it really does not matter what console its from.
Now talking about advantages and disadvantages the Ps3 brags on its incredible HD graphics, the xbox360 has great online gaming capabilities the wii is innovative. But the possibility that the console may end up under a pile of dust is the same for any.

The Nintendo Wii will be much better at keeping your son active. And as far as outgrowing it goes, I would not worry. He would not out grow it for at least a few years (by that time the system will be obsolete anyway). Nintendo Wiis are great fun, and although it does not have as good of graphic quality as the other two competitors, its unique game playing experience is unmatched.

As a person that is currently an owner of all 3 major systems, the PS3, Wii, and 360, I would have to say the system that gets the most play is the 360. It is suitable for all ages, while I always feel the Wii IS aimed towards the younger crowd. 360 has games that range from Viva Pinata all the way to Assassin's Creed or Halo 3. When it comes to playing online, 360 takes the gold hands down. It connects you to anyone all around the world and is very well maintained to keep the experience as enjoyable as possible. Playstation's is free, but a terrible experience because they don't try hard enough to stop cheaters.
The Wii, although has many strictly Nintendo games such as Zelda, or Mario (the two biggest), 360 also has it's share of games. Halo 3, one of the greatest selling games of all time is only for that system, and eventually every kid wants to get a piece of that game. The graphics on the 360, although don't match up to PS3, are just amazing, especially when you brodcast it onto an HD TV, or if you get the Elite HDMI. Since your son is already 12, only one more year until he is a teen-ager, and becomes more fascinated with games like Halo. He will probably want to play online, and the best experience is through the 360, so why not give him the best? All in all the Wii just doesn't seem like it will last for more than a year with him, especially if he has any friends with a 360. Once you start playing xbox, you don't want to stop.

I got one for my son's birthday in August and they were hard to find back then at a reasonable price!! My son has a great time playing it; we had people over for Thanksgiving and everyone got a chance, except me!, to play the Wii. It was fun! Since your son asked for a Wii and has done well in school, I would get him the Wii. The sports games are good to start off with and I'm sure that there will be other games that will be age appropriate for the older kids.

Ronda: My son (40) and daughter-in-law (40) and our two grandchildren (ages 8 and 11) use the Wii all the time. It will be a long time before they lose interest.

The sad thing is at this point, Christmas 10 days away, it may be impossible to get a Wii. A couple weeks ago I had to get in line at 2:00 am to get one for my nephews. They are tough to get. Anyway that should tell you something. The Wii is for all ages. Not just for all ages, as you could say about any game system, but it is incredibly fun, interesting, and entertaining for everyone. Daycares are getting them, as well as nursing homes, and just about everybody in between. There are many wholesome games, as well as others. Games the whole family can play, as well as individuals. It connects to the internet but it is safe. The only people that can communicate with you are other Wii consoles that you uniquely accept. And no one can even send a request to your Wii for you to approve unless you give them your very big and random wii console number. So no strange Wii requests have come into our home on our Wii. Just from friends we know personally. That's just to make it more fun and safe with all your Wii pals on the block. You also get the weather channel and news channel on your Wii. The little box does it all. I heard something new coming called Wii Fitness. You will be put on a health program and the Wii will monitor your progress. Has a scale and everything. As you get meaner and leaner so does your Mii.

I can't recommend any of the other game systems before the Wii. I think just the opposite from what you have been told. If there is one game system out there that would hold a longer term interest, a life time interest, for someone I'd think it would be the Wii. I know a few teenagers that have had theirs a year now and it is still going strong with them. They actually lost a couple pounds also. They were getting on the heavy side. One other thing that doesn't hurt, the Wii beats them all in price.

After we managed to get some extra money this summer, one of the things we got was a Wii for our family. We figured that they might we harder to get come Christmas time. We already had policy set on access to any video games good grades and good behavior as well as time limits which we monitor with a kitchen timer. We like the Wii because it is backwardly compatible with Gamecube games and the Gamecube accessories, including the Dance Dance revolution pad. This has helped the return on investment on Gamecube, even though the system itself is not used the very large investment we have in the games is maintained even extended as the kids continue to play those old titles and get more of them from the used game store. The new game versions need to do a little catching up to take advantage of the functionality of Wii motion sensitive controllers. It has helped a great deal that the whole family can play the Wii games as we have enough controllers. Another thing that helped with the decision was the majority of the kids friends have Nintendo systems and either already had or were going to get a Wii.

Your brother in laws' advice, to my mind is sound. I and my family (two sons, 13 and 10) are huge gamers, and have been playing through PS1 and PS2, through N64 and Gamecube and PC. We have a xbox 360, which we all play. I considered purchasing a Wii this holiday season as well, but like you indicated the titles were very juvenille. I don't have a problem letting my kids play T or M rated titles, so most of the stuff that Wii puts out would be a step down in terms of action and interest. The only draw, I felt was the uniqueness of the product, but that still wasn't a selling point enough to go out and get it. As well, from what I've heard and the bit that I've seen, the Wii's graphics aren't nearly as good as PS3 or the 360.
I think that ultimately the Wii in your case would collect dust and you'd be kicking yourself even though you didn't spend as much but for the waste.
Hope it helps! Happy holidays.