Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Wii thing?

we are a tech-no family... we all love gadgets WITH BUTTONS!

So we jumped on the Wii band wagon early.... The Wii is comes with fun sports games that get you moving.... which is wonderful for DS7 as he is less then coordinated. Also there is a add on piece called a Wii fit. It's all about getting in shape. They also teach balance and coordination. I have to say I am very impressed with it.

Here are good game suggestions- there is tons of junk out there.

Wii Sports. - comes with the game- and fun

Endless Ocean- teaches about the fish.

Wii Fit- comes with extra piece- teaches how to stay in shape and balance

The good thing is it's very physical, so he can't play that long- he tires out. Which is saying a lot as he is very hyper.

We are on the bandwagon now, too.
We have not had any system other than pc in the house, so this should be pretty exciting. (so much for keeping it simple this year..Lol!)

We are getting 'Sonic Unleashed' a full-on video game for ds8 and probably 'cars' for our cars fanatic, dd2.5. After that I am looking at Brain Age I think it's called (much less expensive than the other two) and I might get the 'Fit' with the balance board for me me me early next year sometime - it does look pretty darn cool. Later we will probably get the lego star wars games, but we have them for pc and they work really well on pc, so no rush there.

I am still a little confused about all the controllers.

My DSs play at a friend's house, and they love Wii Sports. I'm thinking about getting it so that they'll have something to encourage them to move during the winter and burn off some of that excess energy, preferably in ways that don't hurt one another or my walls...

It looks like it's going to be a looooooong winter!

I just heard good reviews about wii outdoor adventure, which also comes with a mat. There are a lot of games requiring movement, like running and jumping, and one that requires 2 kids to work together as a team too.

(can't seem to find a link - maybe it's called outdoor challenge, but my friend said adventure...)

Okay, this is off topic, so let me know if you want me to start another thread if we're not done with Wii stuff. What can you all tell me about the Nintendo DS handheld? Can you buy educational games for it or is it all just junk? Pud wants a "modern video game system" but we're not yet ready to jump into a Wii or PSP or something. He has an old (from 1994, ancient, he says!) Super Nintendo.

Thoughts on the Nintendo DS? What are good games to go with it? Is it easy to use? Easy to buy games for? Pain in the neck?

I have thought about it, but not researched it...the main drawback that I can see is that the kids I have seen playing with this in public seem really into it - so it is super hard to get their attention!
I think you would just have to set up boudaries before getting it.

The kids do seem to love it!

I am a huge fan of Rock Band. But I will warn you that many of the songs that I have hummed along with, because I didn't understand the words, have more disturbing lyrics that I had imagined.

We finally "broke" into the world of home tech (besides our computer) with a refurbished PS2 that DS13 bought cheap on Amazon. The only reason I allowed this was because I had a real hankering to sing in Rock Band. So DH and DS bought me Rock Band to go with it. We are really having a fun time as a family--I sing, DS plays drums and DH is on guitar. Since one of the things I didn't want was DS alone in front of the TV playing games mindlessly, this collaborative game has really avoided this situation, since we mainly play as a family.

DS 9 is getting a Wii for Christmas along with several games. DS has the brain age for DS but really hated it so we'll skip that one for the Wii for now. He loves playing the games that make you move around at his friends house. Like Kriston, I'm hoping to use up some of that energy when the weather outside is frightful.
And DH got me the Wii fir at my request! I can't fit gym time into my schedule right now and am feeling like a slug. I'm hoping that it is as good as the reviews I've read.

Squirt, there are alot of good games for the DS. There is an entire line that are foreign languages, vocab, logic pussles and such along with the garden variety entertainment. There is a really fun Chess game that DS has loved.

Grandma got Ds7 this 2 years ago at the urgency of my sister in law. At first I was not to happy.... he plays it to death, but it's a great thing for him in that he has something to talk about with other kids. All the kids have these or have played them at some point. It has turned into a great ice breaker and topic for conversation for him. It makes him fit in.

The games are expensive for us.... but if you get them used they are cheap, plus they have things unlocked already, which is apparently a good thing?

there is a few brain games that are sort of fun. brain age and suduko.... a few others

We are getting a Wii for Christmas as well. I will get Wii Fit when the stores have them in 2009. I also heard the Outdoor Adventures is really good and will probably get that. I got DH Wii FIFA Soccer 09 for Christmas. It got really good reviews on the page I looked at and we're a big soccer family so I think it will be fun for all.