I Need a Wii Bit of Advice

GordonR on 23/03/2015 - 17:07

My daughters are clamouring for a Wii system in order to play various dance, sport and activity games (they are not interested in shooting, driving or fighting games).

I looked online for both new and second-hand systems and was rapidly bewildered by the range of consoles, bundles and accessories available, and which ones were compatible with each other.

So my question is just to ask people with experience: what would be a sensible basic set-up to get for the purpose above?

I have questions like: Is the original Wii console still a reasonable choice? Or is it showing its age too much? What accessories (controllers, balance boards, etc) are essential for the sorts of games they will be playing?

Thanks in advance

Gaming

Comments

  • IdLikeToBeATree on 23/03/2015 - 17:28
    +1

    The wii's are so abundant that you could probably find a pack with all you want for $50 fairly easily. It's old though. If they want dancing games I'd suggest an xbox 360 with kinect as it is a lot better for that kind of thing and not too much price difference

  • the frost on 23/03/2015 - 18:37
    +2

    Try this (descending order of importance, and you could stop at Just Dance if you wanted):

    • Wii
    • One Wii Mote for each daughter
    • Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board
    • Just Dance (quite a few in the series! Generally they're better in the last few years, so 4, 2014 and 2015)
    • Wii Sports Resort (if so, you'll need to make sure that the Wii Motes have Motion Plus in them, or get the addons. Good collection of sports games)
    • WarioWare: Smooth Moves
    • Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party
    • One extra nunchuk (two total)

    That should do you. I had a Wii for many years until I gave it to my sister. I now have a Wii U, also great.

    • GordonR on 23/03/2015 - 20:17

      Thanks for this - just what I needed!

  • gakpie on 23/03/2015 - 18:54

    Title made me laugh, so I had to reply. To answer your questions: the original Wii is still a reasonable choice given your purpose. It's old age is also an advantage to some; cheap, less 'precious', so good for young kids.

    Accessories: 1 WiiMote + 1 nunchuk each, for as many as might play at once; that's all you need.

    Other accessories: 'classic controller' is optional (not all games support them, but they are good for certain game types i.e. 'classic' console controller games); balance board optional (mostly used for Wii Fit, but some (not all) dance games use it; the popular(?) 'Just Dance' doesn't use it)

    Loads of other accessories seem pointless to me e.g. bits of plastic shaped like sports equipment that attaches to the WiiMote. It might also be useful to know that later in the Wii's life, the WiiMote was updated to the 'Motion Plus'. This exists in 2 forms. A boxy attachment for the bottom of the WiiMote, or built directly into the WiiMote (You can tell by a logo on the WiiMote face if it's built in or not). Either way, 'Motion Plus' is not important, and not really needed. Finally, Wii 'Pro' Controller is essentially a nicer replacement for the 'classic' controller. Not needed.

    An eBay search for 'wii bundle' is how I'd start shopping. Around $100 would get you started with something decent. Games from eBay too, or bargain bins at retail.

  • GoldPhoenix0 on 23/03/2015 - 21:58
    +1

    I would recommend buying whatever Wii (or Wii U) you want. The Wii U can play all the old Wii games, and almost all the accessories for the Wii work on the Wii U. But price wise, I've seen plenty of the older consoles for under $50 (~$39) at a local Cash Converters, where a Wii U would be anything north of $300 brand new.

    Accessories wise, the for the games mentioned above, generally a Wii mote or 4 (depending on the amount of friends/family who also want to play) would be pretty sufficient, along with games like Just Dance, Wii Sports/Resort, or any other popular franchise, which you could pick up for less than $20 each.

    Be careful of the type of Wii mote, as there are Standard and Plus varieties of Wii motes, which would be indicated on the bottom front face of it. The Plus variety are compatible with the newer games and is more accurate.

    The Balance Board is only useful for the Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus (and a small variety of other games), so if they are interested in fitness titles, it's an option.

    The bottom line, yes, the Wii console is getting old, and newer titles will not be available on it. But on the other hand, it is much cheaper and has a large variety of games available for it. If you want the console around for a while, the Wii U is a decent option, but at the current price point, it is a large investment for something which isn't that great for (almost) anything not made by Nintendo itself. If you want to trial owning a console without much monetary offset, the Wii is still a great console for what it did, but it is showing its age.

  • GordonR on 23/03/2015 - 23:25

    Thanks everyone for the thoughtful replies.

    Based on this, I think I'll check out eBay or Gumtree for someone selling a bundle with most of the relevant pieces - there are some selling dozens of games and accessories for $100-$200 - then top up with Individually purchased pieces.

    Then I can re-evaluate after a year or two.

    • DrKazanovaKK on 24/03/2015 - 08:21

      Also try local Facebook selling groups.

  • sparkles on 24/03/2015 - 00:50

    Don't forget Mario Kart. Essential Wii game.

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