Nintendo Wii

[Anonymous]

I was just wondering how many of you have these at home? I’ve been reluctant to have one in the house, but have noticed lately that the kids are sitting in front of the TV more now that winter has set in. I’m generally very against these and have protested quite a bit to dh, but lately have been thinking that some of the fitness games would be fun to do (for myself and the kids). Is it worse than watching TV? Someone please knock some sense into me… I’ve been looking them up on ebay recently.

[Anonymous]

We have one. We, actually, just got it for Christmas from the InLaws. I have to say, it definitely gets you moving. I’m looking into getting a fitness game for it as well. I’d say it’s not as bad as watching tv. It’ll get them up and moving and it’s a great time for the whole family! HTH!

[Anonymous]

Thanks Amber. I can’t help thinking that it would be fun!

[Anonymous]

we love it!!! Our physiatrist calls it “Wii – abilitation” as it definitely helps Carter move!!! We have had it since June and definitely like the kids playing together, working together on some games, and generally the whole family can play together…. We do have to limit it during the week when there is school and they only get one hour at night, but on the weekends and the holiday weeks, we are pretty lax….seems to somewhat regulate itself…..

I’m a fan! But I also married a technology/electronics junky, so he is a big influence as well!!!

[Anonymous]

I just got to experience a Wii over Christmas! Wow…what a workout! I told my family if the Wii had been around since the invention of video game systems…there would be no childhood obesity! LOL! It definitely gets you up, active and moving. Not to mention how it encourages family time together. I think it would be a great idea! You MAY be able to find them cheaper in some stores than on ebay. There are some good post-holiday sales right now.

If we had a little extra money right now…I’d definitely be getting one + the Wii fit!

[Anonymous]

“wii-abilitation”… that’s really clever! I did read about seizure warnings on it, which concerned me a bit, but I think it’s primarily for light induced seizures, which aren’t an issue that we know of. Also wouldn’t use it on a big TV. I brought the idea up to dh, and he was all over it! s&h’s mum2009-12-28 10:27:10

[hellbennt]

I want one for ME, but then the kids would use it, LOL!
I don’t know but I’m on the fence…
my main reason is that I want the kids to PLAY while they are still young- right now jonah is playing leggos and ari is watching/helping- they are getting along better and better…we have so many games and puzzles and books and jonah is just getting into reading on his own (started the magic treehouse series!)…all of this is not to say that they don’t watch tv!
Tv time is limited to non-school days. They’d still be watching now if I didn’t tell them to turn it off and find something else to do…

anyway: if you think/know you can set limits, then go for it!
I’m jealous!

[Anonymous]

I definitely can’t set limits… as seen by the amount of TV they watch… way too much imo. When they come home from school for about 1 hr. Then sometimes another 20 minute show before bed. A bad routine that allows me to make dinner. That’s so great that you don’t let them watch on school days, I wish I had done that. Same thing though that I initially wanted the Wii for me.. the exercise stuff (though who knows when I’d play)! The downside is that the kids would use it. But is it better or worse than them sitting there watching TV for 2 hours. I’d definitely limit to only on weekends and only for an hour or something like that, but who knows, that was always my intention with tv as well.

[Anonymous]

sounds to me like it would definitely be better than just sitting and watching TV. we don’t have any TV right now (can’t afford it) but we still end up watching a lot of movies—-and kevin just discovered recently that you can rent them from the library.

we’ve been going to the library more, but more for books, not the movies, he just picks a few up when he goes.

we got a game system for christmas that will play our old nintendo and super nintendo games—-we are way out of date in the gaming system program at our house. but, now i can play dr. mario, which is about the only game i will play, besides tetris. by the way, i am the queen of dr. mario at our house!LOL!

i read somewhere that the Wii system was really good for the elderly to get them up an moving. i doubt that we will ever get one because by the time we could afford any games to go with the system, they will have come out with a new system…….such is our life!LOL!!

we also got a portable basketball hoop for our kids and a basketball for each of them to avoid fighting over the ball. i’m looking forward to being able to shoot a few hoops myself. hopefully the kids will get out and use it when the weather is warm.

[Anonymous]

We got the boys a basketball hoop, too!! Their favorite gift and Santa gave them each a basketball….. That was a BIG hit here!

I know they were in most stores for $199 and that comes with Wii Sports, but Walmart was having a sale that they would sell you the Wii for $199 and then issue you a $50 gift card at checkout…I think?? they can’t sell it for less, but that is how they are getting away with it by issuing the giftcard?

Let us know what you decide….I am a big stickler about limiting the types of shows the kids watch, so they don’t get to relate to other kids at school with some of the “mature” shows the other kids are watching, so this was a good thing they would have in common with the other kids. Also, with the Wii, a LOT of the games are all rated E for everyone, so there is not that issue with the games showing too much violence, etc… and that was a big thing for us….. (playstation, has more mature games, etc…)

[Anonymous]

We love the Wii! It is great exercise!!

We had played it prior to Christmas at my BIL’s house and knew we wanted one!

My FIL got us a Wii Sports bundle (with 5 games) for Christmas as a family gift and then my hubby got me the Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board b/c he knew I wanted it sooo bad! Let me just say, what a workout!!! I LOVE it!! It’s WAY better than sitting & watching TV. With the Wii Fit Plus (which is the newer version of the old Wii Fit) you can customize your workout. It has about 15 exercise “games” yoga and strength exercises.

Kaden, who is a professional video “gamer” anyway , loves the Wii Bowling and the Boxing. Landen and Kaden box eachother and its really good exercise for them, and can I say, it is absolutely hilarious to watch? It’s def good family time!!

[Anonymous]

I got a wii with the wii fit for my birthday in April. I used it pretty much only when Cooper was napping until I found out I was pregnant and kept falling off trying to do the balance games! It was rather funny to watch!. That being said, Cooper loves to do the bowling with dh as well as the baseball and tennis… he isn’t even 3 yet, but I figure it can’t hurt for him to work on his hand eye coordination (which I am horrible with!). We also have a PS3 which dh plays his guitar hero on and I can say that the only reason I even let Cooper in the room when that is on is b/c he gets his little toy guitar and “jams out” and dances while DH is playing which I figure is good exercise as well. Cooper is a total couch potato esp now that I can’t really get in the floor and play with him since I may not get back up! So I think if you use it wisely it can be a great thing for the whole family.

[Anonymous]

I think I may go for it. Seems like something active that we can do indoors in those great Canadian winters… though high tech, if we limit it to weekends, should be a good active time for the family.

[Anonymous]

I had tried to convince my husband for a long time to get one. We have one at work– I work on an inpatient rehab center (head injuries, strokes, etc) and so I have played it a lot there with the patients and it’s so much fun. We have had 99 y/o patients play literally and it’s so much fun and you’re up on your feet.
Like anything else, put a limit on it. We got ours for christmas…. Griffin has been playing it too much so as soon as school starts, it’s going to be limited. And I think summer time may just put it away– we live on a acreage– too much to do outside!

[Anonymous]

We just got a Wii and I am planning on getting the Wii fit plus for it. I figure it is better than just sitting around watching tv

[Author]

Posts