We bought our Wii in 2007- my husband went down to Best Buy in the middle of the night and waited on a line that snaked around the building in the hopes of maybe scoring one of these elusive consoles.
He DID score one, and we’ve been playing almost daily (which is pretty amazing for a console and games that are more than three years old!) since then.
A snap to set up, incredibly easy to use. The Wii-mote is a game control like no other- simply wave it like a magic wand and the sensor bar, which comes with the console, picks up the signal and communicates your position and movement to the Wii so that you can twirl, swoop, smash, lunge, jump your heart away as you play.
Our whole family has gotten a lot out of this console. I’m 36, female, and NOT a gamer, and I’ve found myself gravitating towards puzzle games, fishing (!!), the Endless Ocean series, brain teasers, and the Wii Sports Franchise, my daughter (who was a little over one year old when the Wii arrived) has always been able to play along and now is addicted to the many games out for preschoolers (Dora/Diego, the different Disney games- especially Princess and the Frog, Carnival Games, Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort) and my husband, in his 40′s, does everything from Zelda to playing poker on the Wii.
We spent a significant amount of time playing together, but we also play alone.
I think, in many ways, the Wii has become our “family board game”. It’s a life saver in summer and during Florida Hurricane Season, when it’s rainy and too hot to go outside. We can all gather together and get our mind off the gloomy weather for a bit.
I’ve always had game consoles since I was a little kid- everything from Atari 2600 (which I MOURNED until the Wii came into my life), Super Nintendo, Xbox. The Wii has not only shocked me with how much use it’s getting, but the fact it’s STILL getting so much use- it’s novelty has NOT worn off at all, which is rare for any technology, especially game consoles.
I can’t recommend this enough. Definitely a GREAT investment- instead of spending $20-50 for each member of your family on a toy/gadget that loses it’s luster, get the Wii and make everyone happy for a long time. And you will be more than ready to go with both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. Even though we’ve had both games for a while (we’ve had Wii Sports forever since it came with our Wii), they are still the games my family always goes back to.
