Should I Buy a Wii?

I personally think the Wii is a great console. Hardcore gamers will probably not be as impressed with it, as it lacks many of the bells and whistles of consoles like the XBox 360 and Playstation 3. However, due to its innovative motion controls, which you will not find on other systems, even veteran gamers will probably find the Wii to be worth owning.

If you are not an experienced gamer, the Wii is the perfect starter system and even has things to recommend it for people who are not especially interested in video games in general.
First of all, the size and the aesthetics of the Wii are very appealing. It is small and compact, not bulky like the next-gen systems sporting huge hard-drives. It can stand vertically or lay flat, so it is easy to find space for it in your entertainment set-up (but remember that it needs some space on all sides to breathe, so don’t wedge it in somewhere too tight).

The Wii is easy to set up. Follow the instructions in the manual. You will need to connect to a power source and connect the A/V cables that come with it to your TV (more high end cables are available for purchase if you really want HD graphics, but they are not necessary for the full experience). The other thing that needs to be connected is the thin black sensor bar that comes with the Wii. This picks up the signals from the wireless controllers and can either be mounted on top of your TV or right in front of it, along the edge of the surface that the TV is sitting on. The sensor bar is small and hardly noticeable, so it won’t obstruct your TV viewing or anything like that. Set-up should only take a few minutes.

The Wii also has very fast load times. It starts up in a matter of seconds. The menus are easy to navigate with the point-and-click remote controller, and there are lots of onscreen prompts telling you exactly how to use the controls.

The Wii is the most inexpensive newer system on the market. It retails for the very reasonable price of $250 (though you will probably want to invest at least $60 more for a second set of controllers, which I will discuss further in another post). Even when you buy extra controllers and such, the Wii is much cheaper than a PS3 or XBox 360. The games are usually cheaper too. Newer titles cost around $49.99 (versus $59.99 for PS3 and 360 titles), and there are plenty of titles on the market for $20-$40, so it is much cheaper to build a collection of games than with other systems. Keep in mind that the Wii can also play GameCube games, but you will need GameCube controllers for that.

And the most important reason to buy a Wii… it’s fun! Virtual tennis or bowling with your friends is a blast. It can be enjoyed by all ages. Little kids, older adults, and anyone in between can enjoy playing Wii, and it is not difficult to learn at all. The Wii is the only video game system that can give you anything close to a workout. It gets you up and moving for games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit, which is certainly an innovation in gaming, generally considered to be a sedentary hobby.

For all these reasons, I think the Wii is an excellent choice even for someone without much gaming experience.