At some point tomorrow a nice man sent from Amazon will deliver a large box to our doorstep at home containing a Nintendo Wii, and several games for it. The decision was not an easy one to make. For the first time in months we had some “play” money, and I thought long and hard about how to spend it.
We have not been a part of the latest generation of video game hardware. We have an attic filled with everything from the humble Sinclair Spectrum to the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Dreamcast, and more.
There is more to the Wii choice than meets the eye.
Having video games around the house as “just another thing” stops them from becoming yearned for or played endlessly. Our daughters spend the odd five minutes playing, but are otherwise involved with dolls, drawing, colouring, making things, or running round the garden like savages (we think this is a good thing in these days of over-parented princesses).
Our youngest daughter has various mild developmental issues - mainly to do with motor skills, attention span, and balance. Playing something bright and noisy such as the Wii will stealthily improve her no end - in the same way as forcing her to walk to and from playgroup has stopped her falling over.
My better half and I could do with some no-brain activity that we can play together at the end of the day (and you can keep your naughty thoughts to yourself before you post them to the comments). I know I’ll get thrashed at “Wii Play”, but it’s playing the game that counts, isn’t it?
The alternative to a Nintendo Wii was a Microsoft XBox 360. While they are cheaper than they once were, they have no wifi built in. This is significant because our television is many rooms away from the network cables. The games also promote sitting down to play them, and are aimed at the 20-something age group (shooting, driving, hitting).
It’s worth pointing out that our box of Nintendo goodies should arrive tomorrow. Not sure if I will get a chance to wire it all up tomorrow evening, but we have friends hopefully visiting on Friday that have a Wii, so they can show us the ins and outs of it.
Now we just need to find this “Wii Fit” thing somewhere - I’m guessing it’s going to be out of stock all over the planet for months yet.