Should We Get a Wii?

We have a Wii and it is great for the younger kids. They don't play it as much now. I also have the Wii Fit, and I used it for a while. Whether my kids are standing or sitting I still count it as screen time, not as exercise time, but id they are active while they play it is a bonus.

We've had the wii for a while and I was annoyed my son was sitting so much! Just bought the Wii fit and he (at almost 8) LOVES it and is moving and exercising inside. So only buy the games that keep you moving, and I recommend the balance board. There's a nickelodean wii fit that looks great if he likes Diego and Backyardigans, if not a Mario and Sonic Go to the Olympics that might appeal to him havent tried them. I bought the wiifit and balance board thru Craigslist it was like new in box for half the price!!

K.:

I love our Wii!! We canoe and play Jeopardy! We bowl, play tennis and even have Light Saber fights!!!

I have thought about the fit plus!! But haven't done it yet.

Instead of buying new - check on your local craigslist or freecycle. There are people who aren't using them anymore as their family's have outgrown them...

We got our first Wii six years ago when they first came out, the kids still play with it though we had to replace it when it stopped reading.

Buy the balance board used at game stop or something like that. Most people get bored of them and sell them like new.

Yes you can sit and play. It took my kids about a week to figure that out.
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After looking at the other responses, you can still get the older Wii but they are no longer making them. You can still get the games for them as well and actually there aren't many games yet that are specifically for the Wii U. We have the Wii U and the older Wii.

ALL GAMES CAN BE PLAYED SITTING DOWN!! I felt I needed to shout that, sorry if I hurt your ears. Perhaps I have clever kids but every last freaking game can be played sitting down.

If you and your kids want to be forced to stand up I suggest the Xbox with Kinect. That puppy has three cameras, it can see you. You MUST stand up because YOU are the controller. Yes we have that as well. I have more than a slight addiction to technology.

The Xbox has a killer zumba, wipe out is hysterical to watch the kids play, just tons of games and exercise stuff!!

I have had my Wii for about seven years (or so...close to when they came out) and my entire family uses it.

First, we ALL use it for our instant watch Netflix and the free YouTube channel. We don't have cable, and Netflix costs only seven or so dollars...it's awesome.

We all use it for playing games...and yes, there are a ton of games you can sit down to play. Of course, there are plenty of active games that require getting up and moving around...it's all in what games you select.

We don't have a big screen...our TV isn't even flat! :)

There are lots of different sports games...we only have the one that came with the Wii, because we didn't get it for the exercise value. My arms get plenty tired sometimes playing fighting games, looking like a maniac and swinging them all about. :)

Anyhow, we love our Wii.

Oh my get it !!!!!!! I have 5 year old girl/boy twins and with the cold weather now its a great way to burn some of that everlasting energy !!! plus its fun too.....we just bought a used system with the balance board from a friend, which is an addition system in the house and the kids love the games too..... its just plain fun !!! do it !!!!

We really enjoy our Wii.

Our girls LOVE Just Dance. That really gets them moving the most.
A Mario Brothers game came with ours and after a year of not really playing it at all, that's all one wants to do. That one is a sit down game. Another game the girls are very active with is Wii Resort Sports. It has a cool sword game where you chop items up like cupcakes, diamonds, eggs, etc. You have to chop in the direction the arrow shows. That's been a favorite. Really, with the Wii, we've found out you can be as active or not active with it as you want. We've played golf sitting in a chair and just moving our wrists. But that's us adults :-). The kids are usually very physically active and love being physically active with it.

I had thought about the Wii Fit, but I haven't decided on that yet.

It's well worth it to purchase a charger. With the wrist straps on, ours is sometimes harder to get them to click into place, but they make different ones. That saves $$ big time so you don't have to purchase batteries all the time.

One thing to note though, is you definitely have to watch out for each other while playing. You get so engulfed in the game that you can accidentally hit the other person in the head with the remote and if you're swinging pretty hard to do something, (baseball or tennis for example) it can really hurt. We've had that happen on a few occasions. So, hopefully, you have plenty of space for each person playing.

Hope this helps a little.

i don't think you can sit...no games i can think of let you. (looks like after reading the other responses, there are some, but they're easy to avoid)

it's just like any other "toy" - some kids/people get their use out of it, some don't.

we love ours, my husband has a couple game consoles but the WII is the only one my son and i get on. it's not like typical "video games" - the controls are easier, imo, PLUS it's great because of the physicality of it...

i love sports resort, that's my favorite :) i have like you, wondered about the Fit stuff...haven't gotten it yet - but i S. looking at craigslist. they're on there all the time. good luck!

A year ago one of my brothers gave a Wii (the original) to my three girls for Christmas. They still love it. We still get games for it, and they still make new games for it. They may not still make the original Wii but you can still find new ones right now. I would probably look on Amazon to see if you can get one at a better deal. My computer is acting like a little biotch because it's crashed twice this past week, or I'd do a quick search for you to help. :-(

I hate the thing at times because it's very easy to have it on for hours and hours in a single day. You have to be sure that no matter which version of it you get, that you institute some rules about limiting play time. It doesn't replace the fresh air outside although it's GREAT about increasing activity indoors especially in the winter when the weather doesn't allow going outside.

No, it's just screen time and more of it. It's addictive and not really much exercise. We don't have one but I've seen them.

But do what is right for you. :) I know they are popular games!

I scanned your prior responses and no one said this so I will...they are NO LONGER making the original Wii. They have a new one that the old games will NOT work on. I think they are calling it Wii U, or something weird like that. So if you do buy one, get the new one or you will have spent all that money for nothing. I do like our Wii, and I'm fat so trust me, you can sit thru ALL the games, even bowling, lol. But all our kids can and do play on it and one is moderately retarded and she LOVES bowling and does well at it. Go to a place like Game Stop, they are experts and can help with all your questions. Good luck!

We got the a Wii for my kids for Christmas. I got the Wii fit balance board. Wii fit comes with lots of active games where you have to be standing on the board and moving your body. Running in place, bicycle pedaling motion, step aerobics. It is definitely active and my kids have fun with it as well as me. Wii Just Dance is one my kids love that is very active as well. We also have Super Mario Bros. This one you just sit to do.

So depending on the type of games you have it can be active or not active.

The Wiii is fun. We have it.
It is for the WHOLE family.
The fitness stuff & sports stuff, kids AND grown ups can use.
Its all fun.
My kids like it.
But they go in spurts using it.
Ours is not used all the time nor everyday.
But that is just fine.

Yes, you can exercise with it.
But you need to be standing. At least.
But you can play the games while sitting... moving just your arm/hands.

If you buy the "bundle" its a good way to get it plus the fitness or sports games/activities.

The fitness set, also has a personal fitness evaluator thing, it tracks your weight/BMI etc. And its fun.

Yes, go for it! Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort are all excellent games for you two to do together, or each of you alone. To keep it novel, the Wii is seasonal in our house. We pull it out each fall and pack it away each spring. The kids are so excited (ahem, as are we!) when it comes back out, and we spend a lot of family time cheering each other on, taking turns etc - it has worked out really well. Some of the games, like the Lego adventures (Star Wars, Batman etc) can be played while seated. Those are more like video games, but the sports ones all encourage movement with their play. It's fun. We've had ours for almost 5 years and it's still a blast.

Go to Gamestop, or get online, you can get a used one for half that much that works just as well. My dd is 3 1/2, she loves Mario Kart, we got the racing wheels that the controllers snap into. Mario Party is also a good one for little kids, with short simple games. Most of the games we have you play sitting down though.
For used we paid around $70 for the WII, which came with a controller and nunchuck. It was $80- $90 for one with the WII sports bundle. Mario games were around $20 and other ones were $5-$10. Everything worked fine. They gave us a month to return it if anything went wrong.

The other thing too is that the Wii can be used to buy/play movies through your TV through Netflix. We got rid of our cable last year when we bought the Wii and purchased Netflix (less than $9/mo) and we watch TV show reruns and movies. But my daughter also plays her games, my husband loves the basketball game on the Wii Sports, and my daughter and her friends love doing the dancing Wii programs when she has friends over. You move around no matter what you play, so you're constantly getting at least some exercise in. We even bought a wheel so she could play the Mario Bros. racing games.

I myself just bought a meditation Wii program that I am dying to try out. There's something out there for everyone to try. Definitely worth it, in my opinion.

I just got a Wii for my son. He loves it. The one I got had the Wii resort/sports game included. It has so many games, its worth it alone. I also bought him the Just dance Wii game, and it is a lot of fun, and you definetly move a lot. It has great selection of songs on it as well! I would recommend it !