what do i need with the WII?

paddlepop

Ok i am totally new to all this Wii stuff and its time to bite the bullet and invest in one for Christmas. We are going to wait until the sales...but Amazon have a good offer on for 95 Stg for the Family package. We are a family of 2 plus 2 girls aged 4 and 6. So i guess i need to ask the question...what do i need? What does it all mean??:D
Am i right in saying i need the console, a remote (is that a controller? ie does every player need one?) and a nunchuck(what exactly are they and how many do i need??) I know there are the accessories like the Wheels etc so i can get them as needed. My 6yo has the DS lite-does this interact at all with the Wii? She loves mario kart so that would be a great game for the 2. Also the Disney princess game would be great and the Dance one as they love all that. Any advice is welcome as i have no clue!

ryansrock

Next year the new Wii U is coming out which will be able to play brand new HD Wii U games unplayable on the current wii. So please consider this before buying. The Wii is also a considerably poor console in comparison to the Xbox & PS3, but your kids are young and female, so they won't care about that. Now time to answer the questions,
To play, each player needs a controller(aka remote/wiimote). A lot of games such as Mario Kart Wii need a second controller called a nunchunk which plugs into the original controller for when you don't want to use a wheel. The wheels are actually just pieces of plastic used to make it feel like driving a car in driving games. You can just use the remote at its side if you want. For some games the DS can interact with the wii, but for most games it can't.
Hope that helps. Wii's price has come down a lot recently.

Wetai

If you've got any GameCube games and might want to play them on the wii, make sure you look for the non-latest model - the newest one is slightly slimmer (and probably slightly cheaper), but they've removed the GameCube compatibility.

nitromaster

You get one remote and one nun chuck with it. (The nun chuck is held in the left hand and is connected to the remote for certain games)
It looks like this: http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/videogames/detail-page/B000IMYKQ0-1-lg.jpg

A lot of games require just the remote, no nun chuck. But the best option would probably be to get another remote and another nun chuck at the least

Both Mario Kart Wii and Just Dance only require remotes, so should be able to play them in multiplayer with just a remote each.
Not certain but i think the disney princess game requires a remote + nun chuck, but it's only two player so you should be grand if you just have two nun chucks!

There's a couple of games that require a "Wii remote + motion plus" (Wii Sports Resort, Red Steel 2, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword). You should get a Wii remote with the built in "motion plus" with the wii (Basically the motion plus improves the remote's capability) but if getting a second remote you might end up buying one without it. (and hence you may need to get an cheapish add-on for games like the above)

I'd suggest getting a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword if either of the adults are interested at all in video games! It's a great game and it comes in a great value bundle with one of the improved wii remotes. (and the wii remote is gold. too cool :P)

Regarding the DS Lite: You can temporarily download demos for certain new DS games on the Wii (it changes on a weekly/monthly basis) and transfer them to the DS Lite. (they're deleted once the power is turned off)
Also if she has Pokemon Pearl or Diamond for the DS, there's a corresponding Wii game "Pokemon Battle Revolution" which allows her to battle with her Pokemon monsters in 3D on the big screen and control the action with her DS!

I'd also suggest Go Vacation as a possible title to look into buying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3Q-NeCAAQo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3Q-NeCAAQo

Seems to get good reviews and looks like there's loads to do!

K.O.Kiki

A component cable (red/green/blue) on flat-screen, or SCART cable on older tellies is a must if you don't want your games to look like a blurry mess! (unbranded are usually fine)

The Wii Wheel is a cheap piece of plastic, all it does is hold a Wii Remote controller.
Try out the SnakeByte mini controller, it's got decent reviews and might suit smaller hands better.

When you get the console, note that there are 2 different standby modes: YELLOW (consumes 8W/hr) and RED (consumes 1W/hr). You can switch to RED by holding power or setting it in settings (set your parental locks, too).

Ignore the WiiU (in fact, I say this about any console in its first year).