I got a Wii! (Now what?)

The Game Room
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I got a Wii! Whee! It was a Wiim* that kept growing, and a co-worker spotted them on for $279.99 at Toys R Us. (I hope that’s a good price; Canadian dollars.) The store is the mall that’s just across the road from the office. So we both put on our coats, told reception we were taking lunch early, and dashed over. We have obtained Wiis! (And have done our part to stimulate the economy, too.)

So… now, what? I didn’t buy any games yesterday because I wasn’t sure what I or my husband would like to play.

I have managed to hook the thing up, which surprised me since I’m not good at that sort of thing (and have a nasty cold to boot) and managed to connect to our wireless router. The only glitch was trying to get it to display on our television. I searched and searched for the auxiliary setting where Wii would display again and again, searching the television, the remote, hitting all the buttons on the remote, peeking around the back, and so on. I checked the settings Nintendo suggested for our television and tried all those, over and over.

I didn’t check to see that Wii was actually on. :slight_smile: It wasn’t. Once I turned it on, all was there.

I’ve played bowling (okay), and tennis (more fun). My tennis learning curve was steep and I had a good time with that. I made a “Mii”. I made a Mii to be my husband. I looked at the news and the weather. I played some golf and want to play some more. Now, what? I guess I have to purchase the “internet channel” (a version of Opera for Wii, from what I gather).

What games are fun? Is Wii fit any good? Wii yoga? Can I play a Mario game where I have to move around? What other games are good? (I am not a big fan of gore/violence, though.) I want to have to move a bit to play–my usual computer games are little online games that only involve my mousing muscles. We don’t have any other game systems except an ancient Gameboy someplace, so we don’t have a library of games already. Are games easy to download?

Can I play something with my co-worker since she’s now a Wiiperson, too, and most definitely wired with broadband?

Although I want to play for fun and movement, I will likely not be using it as a serious workout system. (It’s a long story and I am working out now with my very own personal trainer.)

What are your tips and tricks and best enjoyment experiences?

Wii!

*Whim. :slight_smile:

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Wii yoga is part of the Wii Fit game. That costs about $90 since you buy the balance board peripheral along with the game. I like it since it hits my “must unlock achievements” button that works well with MMORPGs. It tracks your weight/BMI and time spent exercising. It’s kind of odd in that a lot of emphasis is on “balance” and posture. Exercises are in 4 categories. There’s Yoga (obvious), Strength Training (stuff like lunges), Aerobics (hula hoop simulator, step class, jogging, boxing), and Balance (simulated ski jumping, ball-in-a-maze puzzles, “heading” soccer balls).

Fun goofy games:

  • The Lego series: we have Star Wars: The Complete Saga and it’s lots of fun for 1 or 2 players. (If you only have one Wiimote, buy Wii Play packaged with the controller.) I think you need to buy a Wii Nunchuck attachment for this one.
  • Rayman’s Raving Rabbids: crazy little minigames like shooting plungers at the rabbids, throwing a cow like a hammer toss, etc. May also require Nunchuck.
  • Sam & Max Season 1: slower-paced game, point and click puzzle solving with a sarcastic/rude sense of humor. A dog and a rabbit as barely-competent, often-violent (cartoony) private investigators.

If you’re into that sort of thing, I think both Guitar Hero and Rock Band 2 are available for Wii; I have the latter for our PS3 and adore it. Play drums, guitar, or sing your heart out.

Oh, I think the Mario games that get the best ratings are the Mario Kart and Mario Galaxy (?) games. I played both on a friend’s Wii and they’re quite fun!

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Now what? Now you strain something in your shoulder throwing fastballs and playing golf. Then you develop what DoctorJ describes as “Wii elbow.” Then you get Wii Fit not long before going on vacation and it bitches at you about missing a whole week of exercise.

What games are good totally depend on your tastes. A lot of the games that game geeks ooh and aah over bore the tits right off me, and the ones they dismiss as a mere collection of mini-games are ones that I really like. For stuff that gets you moving around, I rather enjoyed Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. As for Mario games, I can’t really think of any that involve more movement than shaking the remote. Super Paper Mario is pretty dang cool, though, and Mario Galaxy is hands-down one of the prettiest games I’ve ever seen. (And it’s the only 3-D game I’ve ever been around that I could play. Most of them, I get nauseated just watching other people.)

Some of the games you can play against other people online–I think you can with MarioKart and Smash Brothers. I’m not sure about how it all works; if I’m playing video games, it’s generally because I’m trying to get the hell away from people for a while.

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Okay, maybe Wii Fit will be on my list! (Just don’t tell my husband.)

Raving Rabbids sounds like fun, and I’ll check out the Lego series, too. We have two nunchucks and two Wiimotes (is that what they’re called?) since my co-worker suggested I get them yesterday and there was a deal on the two. She also mentioned a game where you ride a cow. That sounded like goofy fun.

Not sure about Guitar Hero, as I have a “real” guitar that I should be playing more often.

Mario Kart and Galaxy sounds like they’d right up my virtual alley, too!

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Great, sounds like you have the ideal gear setup. (Yes, the official term is “WiiMote” or something like that.) My only other suggestion might be a charging station for the Wiimotes; they come with rechargeable batteries, and you rest the Wiimotes in them to keep them charged. You’d still need to think about the battery level in a Wii Fit’s balance board if you get that, but that’s not so bad. It takes 4 AAs.

I forgot, Super Paper Mario got good reviews too. If you have a Blockbuster or other video game rental store near you, try renting the games first to see if you like them.

The original Rayman’s Raving Rabbids is on sale at most stores for around US$20; there is a sequel (RRR2) and a “party” game that I haven’t tried. Those are a lot more expensive, so try to grab the first game to save money and see if you like it.

I think the cow-riding is part of the WiiPlay game, which is a bunch of minigames that help train you to use the controller.

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IMO the Wii is best as a social experience. Carnival is a lot of fun with friends & booze. Winter Sports too. Monopoly is pretty cool (if you like Monopoly).

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The Party game uses the Wii Fit board btw.

I’m going to try Raving Rabbids again, but so far I haven’t enjoyed the first one at all (it was recommended as a fun easyish game that my son could play by a friend but he got frustrated after about five minutes and turned it off).

De Blob is a fun game. I’ve been playing that recently. If you like the mystery type games there are Nancy Drew, CSI and Agatha Christie games. So far I’ve played CSI and Nancy Drew, and want to get Agatha Christie.

The Lego games are fun. I’ve got Star Wars and I played Indiana Jones on DS not Wii but I had such a blast I expect the Wii version would be fun too. Batman is pretty cool also, and you can play from either Batman or villain perspectives.

Wii Fit is lots of fun, though IMO the yoga sucks (I prefer to do a proper yoga session, not piecemeal as the Fit does it). The games can be surprisingly hard to do when shifting your balance but my friend’s and I break it out and take turns from time to time (that’s the plan tonight!)

Wii is fun as a social thing. My group of friends and I often hang out and play stuff like Mario Kart, Super Mario Party, Wii Fit or DDR.

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Raving rabbids is my MOST recommended game for the Wii, because it’s such a fun and easy pick up and play kind of game, and has a WICKED sense of humour.

The latest is Raving Rabbids TV party. I’ve played that, and I think it’s the best of the lot, because it has far less downtime, and you have more control over what minigames you want to play… Raving Rabbids 2 was pretty good, but has quite a few games that were rather incomprehensible to the novice gamer.

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Williams Pinball Hall of Fame—we love it! Especially Funhouse and Whirlwind. You might want to try out gamefly.com, sorta like netflix for games. You can try them out and decide if you want to buy.

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Wow, I’m a terrible putter. Game-shopping this afternoon, though! Thanks for the suggestions.

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I just got a Wii around Christmas. I am not a “gamer” at all - this is my first system since SNES in 1997 :slight_smile:

These are the games I’ve enjoyed so far:
Super Paper Mario
Mercury Meltdown Revolution (You’re a blob of mercury and you beat the level by strategically tilting the board to roll you to your goals)
Guitar Hero III & World Tour
Carnival
Rabid Rabbits
Thrillville - Off the Rails - MINIGAMES only (games that have nothing to do with the real rollercoaster building game, just a bunch of extras that use the Wiimote in clever ways)
Wii Sports (of course)

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Was that the Toys R Us at Mayfair Mall? I want a Wii, I go by there quite often, and that’s only about $250 more than I can afford… :slight_smile:

I tried the WiiFit at a house where I was babysitting, and I loved it! I’m not sure how much exercise many of the activities really are, but I could happily do the slalom and ski jumping games all day.

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The Fit board is used in other games too; I think there’s a snowboarding game that uses it, and some trainer from the reality show The Biggest Loser created a fitness game to go with it. I don’t know how good they are, though.

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I bought my wife a Wii and the Wii Fit last week, She really likes it

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It was at Mayfair!

I probably shouldn’t have spent the money, but…

I’m posting from the Wii!

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Go to the shopping channel and get the WiiWare version of World of Goo. That and Mario Kart are all I need for hours of entertainment.

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World of Goo sounds like it would suck my husband in. :slight_smile: I like the idea. Raving Rabbids is on my list.

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World of Goo is a definite, and there are some levels where you will definitely want to be on the couch with your husband to help. The game uses only the Wiimote for control, and so you are manipulating Goo one-handed. Co-op mode allows you to be his helping hand.

Mario Kart is a blast, but I’m still not used to the new control scheme. I imagine that a few hours of unlocking stuff will fire me right up.

The Rabbids TV Party is definitely the best of the bunch, and has the best party games. The other entries in the series require you to beat each minigame in single-player mode before you can play it as a party game, which means that by the time you’re ready to actually play it at the party, you have a massive advantage over your guests. Since the clumsiness is part of the fun, it can be disappointing. TV Party is much sillier and more free-form, and has a “Wheel of Randomness” at the end where the final standings are shown… and then one player gets a spin of the wheel and can win enough points to take first place, or lose enough to be bumped out of first. Everyone still knows who “won” but it leads to much hilarity and good-natured grumbling. :smiley:

Wii Fit feels like it ought to have been bundled with the console; the Balance Board is a great peripheral and the fitness application makes it a lot of fun. The only downside is that I don’t think you can have two balance boards hooked up at once, and switching off between Miis is complicated, so if two people want to work out together, the only real option is jogging (Wiimote only, and only Player 1 gets credit for the workout). Other than that it’s fantastic.

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If that doesn’t justify a purchase, I don’t know what does. :wink:

(I’m still figuring out how I can get my roommates to all get together and buy a Wii. Especially when one is moving out soon and another one can’t stand the rest of us. But perhaps the Wii will bring us together!)

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Once you’ve got your Wii in your hands, what else can you do but play with it?

d&r