Who's got a Wii?

[LaxScrutiny]

So the kids are asking for a Wii for Christmas, and it looks fun enough for me too...

I got a Wii sports and the fitness plus bounce board, Dance Dance Revolution for the daughter, Cars (ie Pixar) racing & wheel for the youngun and Link's crossbow for all of us.

So what are "must haves" for Wii? What are the lamest things to stay away from?

What about the WiFi attachment? The one I saw attaches to a Windows PC usb and the Wii connects to it? So the Wii has it's own WiFi built in, or I need some other attachment? Is this good/great/essential/useless? What kind of range does the Wii wifi have? Will go from the main floor to the bedroom above (one floor, right over top?)

Any other advice appreciated.

[Kaijufan]

Some great multiplayer games for everyone in the entire family are New Super Mario Brothers, Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Brothers Brawl and the Lego games.

As for the Wifi the Wii doesn't have a Ethernet port, so if you don't have a wireless router you'll need to buy the USB to Ethernet converter if you want to play games online.
If you're connected to the Internet you can also download older games from Nintendo and other systems, along with original downloadable games made for the Wii.

[Hoser]

I just got a Wii, Mrs. Hoser said I could after working 4 months straight crazy overtime. I'm in love with the New Mario Bros. Wii, Beatles Rock Band is fun (I just got both for my birthday) Boom Blox and Boom Blox Bash Party are hilarious fun, and the Lego series are great (although I've heard some rumblings about the latest Indy Jones).
Wii Sports Resort is supposed to be pretty good as well.

How is that Cars game, btw? I've been considering it for my son, since we're going to visit his cousin over the holidays and that cousin is a huge Cars fan.

You can access the wifi directly in the menu, I fiddled with it to see if I could find any local access ports.

[James Bond]

I've had one for a while now. It hasn't been turned on in months, however.

[Aragorn]

What kind of games are you looking for? There's a ton of cheap crappy shovelware that you'll know when you see, so stay far away from those.

The name brands are good -- Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime trilogy, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Punch-Out, Super Paper Mario, Resident Evil 4.

If you want multiplayer there's Mario Kart, Smash Bros., New Super Mario Bros.

[LaxScrutiny]

Thanks all, good advice so far. I've hooked it up one night in secret to make sure it's all working fine, but right now it's reboxed and about to get wrapped. I'll let you know how the Cars game is.

I think for us racing games and multiplayer sports like tennis or boxing will be popular. Both kids love the Dance Dance Revolution game over at a friend's house.

So I just find the WiFi in the menu and it will show me local access ports? My regular home network is wired, but my neighbour said I could use their wifi anytime I wanted, you have to be close to the wall with it though.

[SmoothieX]

I got a Wii maybe 6 weeks ago. It's a blast.

I bought Madden when I got it. It's more of an arcade style than the uber-real Xbox/PS3 version, but I like it because you actually point and throw the ball.

A friend lent us Mario Kart, which is awesome. We picked it up right away.

We got Mario and Sonic Winter Olympics. It is a lot of fun. I'm a real pro at curling! We don't have the balance board for some of the events.

I rented Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit for a get together recently. Both are good party games.

[The Fatman]

The Nintendo WiFi dongle is a tremendous waste of cash. Its range is OK, but it's a proprietary system that only connects Nintendo devices and only when your PC is running, and they charge $50 USD for it. You can find a real wireless router (which will work with ANY device) online for as little as $20

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ue&Order=PRICE

That said, I love my Wii. I have a Ps3, and a decently powered gaming PC.. but the Wii is the only thing that gets any of my gaming time between Virtual Console titles, Rock Band 2, and Mario Kart. Then there's Zelda, Smash Bros, Wii Fit, New Super Mario Bros, Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports, Metroid, Boom Blox, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Resident Evil 4 remix... there is a load of shovelware out there for Wii, but don't let that take away from the fact that there is a huge amount of great games and experiences out there for it. The only people I don't recommend a Wii to are people who only like to play M-rated games, or FPS hounds.

[Ood Sigma]

I've had a Wii for a year and a half or so. I really like it even though I don't have a ton of games (Wii Sports, Wii Fit & Metroid Prime 3). The best feature I think is the Virtual Console which lets me play some old games I loved and even try out some new ones (classic turn-based RPGs, etc.)

I'm also going to go ahead and admit to a guilty pleasure: I love watching the Nintendo Week 10-minute show on the Nintendo Channel. It's a good way to stay current on upcoming games and the hosts are fun.

I'm hoping to get a few games (New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, Wii Sports Resort etc.) for Christmas so hopefully I'll have lots more fun to look forward to.

[RobertScorpio]

I got a WII and smaller HDTV for my son, so he wouldn't play the games I got for him for XBOX360, thus cutting in on MY GAMING time!!!....

So we have both TVs, side by side, so he can play his INDIANA JONES LEGOS GAME side by side with my MADDEN 2010. I think I played WII for about three weeks when we got months ago and then just drifted away as he began to take it over. My daughter is getting RESORTS sports game. I have the PBA BOWLING game for WII which is okay, not great..

But XBOX360 kicks butt still, IMO, in terms of graphics and better games for mature audiences..

Rob

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Who's got a Wii? That's rather a personal question, isn't it?

[Samurai8472]

It's much more fun when it's hacked. Then you can play old NES games and backup games.

I'm currently "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reflex" right now

[Islander]

Even with lower graphics and limited selections of mature games, I have enjoyed the few FPS games I've played because of the controls. I'm a mouse type of guy and I never was able to learn to use mini-sticks in these games but the IR pointer of the Wiimote is just as natural.

I've played Red Steel (yes, the sword-fighting sucked but the game overall wasn't so bad as an FPS), Farcry, Call of Duty, Metroid... I also really like Force Unleashed (even if, again, sword control sucked). I'm expecting a lot from Red Steel 2 with Wii Montion+ (and I hope Force Unleashed 2 will do that as well).

Other than that, it's nice to have mini-play type games for party like Mario&Sonic @ the olympics, Raving Rabbits, Mario Party 8... Hours of fun watching each other making fouls of one-self, especially as you get drunk! I recommend the soda shaking game of Mario Party 8...

For accessories, at least 2 Wiimotes with Wii Motion+ and nunchuck, 1 classic controler add-on if you download the old games and 1 Wii balance board. That should be enough to start with. You can get Wii Play when you buy your second Wiimote, it's fun for young kids (and even the less young, sometimes ).

[RobertScorpio]

Islander wrote:

---

Even with lower graphics and limited selections of mature games, I have enjoyed the few FPS games I've played because of the controls. I'm a mouse type of guy and I never was able to learn to use mini-sticks in these games but the IR pointer of the Wiimote is just as natural.

I've played Red Steel (yes, the sword-fighting sucked but the game overall wasn't so bad as an FPS), Farcry, Call of Duty, Metroid... I also really like Force Unleashed (even if, again, sword control sucked). I'm expecting a lot from Red Steel 2 with Wii Montion+ (and I hope Force Unleashed 2 will do that as well).

Other than that, it's nice to have mini-play type games for party like Mario&Sonic @ the olympics, Raving Rabbits, Mario Party 8... Hours of fun watching each other making fouls of one-self, especially as you get drunk! I recommend the soda shaking game of Mario Party 8...

For accessories, at least 2 Wiimotes with Wii Motion+ and nunchuck, 1 classic controler add-on if you download the old games and 1 Wii balance board. That should be enough to start with. You can get Wii Play when you buy your second Wiimote, it's fun for young kids (and even the less young, sometimes ).

Thanks to the BIG BANG THEORY, I now will have to get some steering wheels for the mario-kart game we are getting...

Rob

[Starbreaker]

Super Mario Galaxy is a must.