Wii Question - What do I need?

Didn’t the balance board come with it? I got mine all in one kit.
Did you get the software for Wii Fit?

CORRECTION: The box says Wii Sports (not Fit).

I think that makes a difference!

Yeah if you are wanting to get your kids Wii Fit as well, that is sold separately. If your kids like fighting games, I would suggest Super Smash Bros Brawl. Its not that violent either (no blood or extreme violence) its mostly just nintendo characters fighting.

Also try Wii Play, it comes with another controller and a game.

Animal Crossing is very fun too! (It’s my favorite – even though the Wii fit was bought specifically for me for my birthday…..)

Get the game called “Boom Blox”. It’s fun for the entire family, no inappropriate content. It was coproduced with Stephen Spielberg for what it’s worth. If you like Jenga you’ll love the game (the game is far far more than “just Jenga” though). Great for all ages.

You probably will want to buy more controllers since the console only comes with one. If you buy Wii Play, you get one controller and the game in a bundle. It’s well worth it. I have two controllers and I find that’s enough for most games (some let you share controllers between players).

My kids love Wario Ware. It is a fun multiplayer game that is fun for adults too!

I’d say Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart. Both are great for all ages and crazy fun to play.

I second Mario Kart!

That is my current favorite video game.

I was just playing Defend Your Castle over Thanksgiving, that was a blast.

TetrisParty, available on WiiWare, is actually a lot of fun. You can even play it by using the balance board if you are into that. It’s very cheap and slightly addictive.

I think getting a balance board and extra controllers, one more wiimote and nunchuk, is a good idea. If you don’t know, the wiimote is the rectangular control and the nunchuk the one that sort of has a pistol grip. Having those will allow your kids to play so many more games and get a lot of exercise while playing. ;)

For each player, you need to have a controller and a Nunchuk. Each is sold separately (fyi), but you’ll spend around $40 total for each set/player.

The Wii Balance Board is included with Wii Fit (a game title for physical training/exercise). The balance board is used in several other games as well (i.e. snowboarding and skateboarding games).

You may want to consider doing what my wife and I did-subscribe to a monthly GameFly account. It’s free for the first month, and functions like the Netflix subscription system (you order games online through your PC, and they ship the titles for you for rental). You can evaluate the games that way, and if you decide to keep the games, they often charge you a reduced rate for the sale.

We kept the GameFly subscription ($19.99 per month for unlimited rentals), and have used it as a cost-effective alternative to “a la carte” renting ($7.99 a pop) or impulse buying (spending $50 for a game you haven’t previewed is ridiculous!). This has been a good way to find out what the kids like, versus amassing a pile of games that are seldom played.

Be warned-the accessorizing can become addictive! Get one additional controller at a time, and little props like the gel controller covers, the Wii steering wheel or golf club add-ons are a waste of money.

Wii Carnival is fun.You’ll find all the typical carnival games and it can be played by all age groups.

Lurve (and thanks) to you all for the great info and insight.

Here’s a point of note; after enough people started complaining that they had thrown their wiimote through their TV, Nintendo gave in an announced that they would be giving away free grip covers for the controllers. I don’t know if they’re included in the box or not now (they weren’t when I bought mine), but there should be a website where you can go and request to have some sent to you, free of charge. I’ll try and look it up.

Anyway, as far as games go, I definitely second Mario kart, Animal Crossing, Wii Fit, Wii Sports and Mario Galaxies. For kids that age, I would also suggest Elebits, in which you use the Wii-mote as a beam gun to capture little electrical creatures all through town, or Super Paper Mario, where you play through a colorful plat-former that’s both 2D and 3D at the same time. You could try getting them Zelda: Twilight Princess, if you think they’re old enough for it. The ESRB rates is as T for Teen, but as far as violence goes its not to bad. Enemies don’t die, they simply go ‘poof’ in a cloud of purple/black smoke, but the concept art is very stylized and wicked looking, so whatever you think is appropriate.

The grip covers were included in the Wii my sister got recently…so were the new locking clips for the wrist strap.

Thanks, that’s good to know!

i love Guitar hero, i have it for the Wii the graphics are not that great, but the game is the same as it is for the PS3 or 360.

Wii Play, Mario Kart, Super Paper Mario, Wii Sports, Animal Crossing

I’ll think of some more in a little

Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Wario Ware are all a blast and totally family friendly!

Mario Party 8 is a great one… and I really want to try the new Animal Crossing! I love the Gamecube and DS versions ;)

Also there are tons of old retro games that were on past Nintendo consoles (ex: NES, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64) that are lots of fun to play are not that expensive. All you need for this to work is a wireless connection and a credit card to purchase Points in the Wii Shop channel and your set.

You don’t even need a credit card, you can buy cards with Wii-points in a game store. Those cards come with a code that you can then enter in the WiiShop-channel.

Yes I think a Point Card for the Wii would be a great idea, so long as you are able to connect the console to the Internet. Since it doesn’t have an ethernet port you need to connect it through wireless internet. If you don’t have a wireless router, you can buy a Nintendo-branded USB dongle that will broadcast a wifi signal for it to use provided the computer is running.

I have purchased a few Super Nintendo games through Virtual Console that I own in real life simply for the fact that I don’t have to set up that console each time I want to play. I find the prices are very reasonable.

I agree, the retro games are a lot of fun, plus there are a lot new and interesting games to look into, like the Homestar Runner series. Just make sure that, when purchasing online, you know what kind of controller you need to play the game. A good majority of them can be played simply with the Wii-mote, but some will require you to have the Wii Classic Controller. That would be a wise investment.

Once again I must tell you all how helpful you’ve been – I really appreciate your expertise!

The Wii also playes gamecube games. I’m just sayin.

bodyhead raises a great point. Keep an eye on your local classifieds, people sell their old games there very often, you can pick up a few Gamecube games as well as Gamecube controllers (which will also work on the Wii) for less than buying them used in a video game store. I recommend Pikmin, Super Mario Sunshine, any of the Legend of Zelda games.

A note about games – games based on films (such as a Finding Nemo video game) are for the most part awful games that are not worthy of the price they demand and will most likely not be appreciated by your kids. Before buying any game, I recommend doing a search for it on a Game rankings-style site and evaluating what’s been said about it – I find the amalgamated scores provide a good insight into the game’s quality.

@dynamic and body

Yeah, we used to have a Gamecube, but then we got a Wii, and we still play our Gamecube games on that as well as Wii. :)

for Wii Sports all you need are Wii controlers and you also need the nunchuck controllers for games like boxing.