I gave my brother-in-law and sister a Wii for his birthday recently and it seems to have been a hit. The game came with Mario Kart and I bought Wii Sports.
I want to give them some more games for Christmas. They are in their fifties, and while I wouldn’t say they’re technology illiterate they are probably whatever the technology equivalent of a 3rd grade reading level is, in addition to which I’ll add that I couldn’t figure out Mario Kart myself. They love Wii Sports, which is very user friendly.
Could you please recommend some good, basic, easy-to-figure-out Wii games?
Also, is Wii Sports Resort worth owning in addition to Wii Sports?
My brother-in-law is a recreational pilot. Are there any good flying programs that are relatively easy to use?
And for those who’ve bought Wii Fit and the balance board: is it something people actually use for working out or just the virtual equivalent of a dusty exercise bike?
Wii Sports Resort is an upgraded version of Wii Sports (more games, better control) but it might not be worth buying compared to a completely different type of game. However, there is a flying portion game in Wii Sports Resort that is a lot of fun. It isn’t a flight simulator, but you do fly a plane around the resort island by tilting a the Wii Remote (think holding a paper airplane). It is cartoonish but does hit a certain flying “itch”.
Wii balance board is a little better than a dusty exercise bike because some of the exercises are actually games (fun!) and it gives positive feedback. But ultimately, you only get out of it what you put in. Once it stops being fun or interesting, it becomes dusty again. And it never gives as strong of a workout as an exercise bike.
You might check out one of the Rayman games. They’re kind of goofy, require a little bit of coordination, but aren’t all too difficult.
As far as the Wii Fit and balance board goes, like Wolverine says it gets old fast and doesn’t really give you much of a workout. However, last Christmas my wife and I bought EA Sports Active 2 for the Wii, and that does give you one heck of a workout. Basically it comes with a couple of tracking sensors, one straps to your left forearm and the other to your right leg. It keeps track of your heart rate and how many calories you burn during your workout. It also comes with a resistance band (which is kind of crappy, but you can buy a set of after-market resistance bands with handles that work much better). You can select pre-built workouts, have it randomly generate a workout for you, or you can build your own. The balance board is optional - I generally don’t use it for my workouts but my wife does.
They might like Boom Blox. It’s kind of like a virtual Jenga with a touch of Angry Birds thrown in. It’s very easy to figure out and there are lots of levels and different twists to keep it interesting.