Wii Sale

I haven’t purchased many games for my Wii. The truth is I don’t have a lot of time or money to spend on video games. But one day I got an email from my brother letting me know that he had purchased Mario Kart and suggested the rest of the family get it so we can play together online.

So that started my Mario Kart envy.

I went out and purchased the game along with a couple of steering wheels. It turned out to be some great family fun.

My kids love it. Granted, they don’t win many races, they still have fun.

My six-year-old daughter plays by herself and generally takes last place. It is quite easy to pick up. She just has to hold the gas and turn the wheel.

My 3 year-old son on the other hand has a more difficult time. I generally help him steer and together we can win some races.

If I just want to let them play together, there are some courses that let them just drive around and collect coins or try to pop other racers balloons. This is generally more enjoyable for them.

My wife, who is not a video game fanatic also enjoys Mario Kart. I can still hear her telling me that our family will never have video games. Her tune has certainly changed! She can get quite competitive in her little go-kart!

For me, I enjoy playing on my own and unlocking new vehicles, players and stages. It can be a nice stress reliever - unless its a close race, then it can get stressful!

The steering wheel controls are much more responsive than I expected them to be. I wondered how well it would work. We have Wii Play and the cow racing can be a little hectic with the controls. The steering wheel actually performs quite nicely.

That being said, if I am playing by myself, I will generally use the numchuck controller. Why? It gives me more precise handling and I find I can usually win by a greater margin. We currently only have one numchuck control and I hate to use it playing against my family because I think it gives me an unfair advantage. Besides, I’m just too darn good, even with the steering wheel!

To be honest, I have never video came console since the original Nintendo, so I can speak to how the game compares to past versions of Mario Kart. While I have played the game in the past with others who owned it, I never did know much about it and generally lost every race. Now, after only a couple of weeks worth of practice, I think I would feel comfortable challenging my old friends to a game of Mario Kart!

And on that note, I think I could. They may live miles away, but all it would take is a phone call and we could get online and play each other if they also have a Wii and a copy of Mario Kart. How cool is that?

At first, I wasn’t all that excited on getting Wii Fit. It was sitting in a box at my parents house when we decided to open it up and give it a try (they found it when it launched and it had been sitting there for a while - unused). After setting up a character and doing the first “fitness test” everyone (wife, kids, parents) became interested in their “fitness” scores too. Soon it was a fight for who would go next.

Initial assumptions was that Wii Fit would be gimmicky … and not really achieve what it set out to do. I was wrong. Although you can “cheat” your way through some activities, most of the time the Balance Board will hold you accountable to doing each exercise/activity correctly. For example, during a yoga or strength training exercise, the balance boards is used to ensure that you are keeping your weight evenly distributed and performing the moves correctly. I can get a good workout if I combine a good mix of “aerobic”, “yoga”, “strength” and “balance” exercises. I found it best to start with “aerobic” to warm up and to end “balance” when finishing.

So far, I’ve enjoyed every aspect of Wii Fit. From the daily “fitness tests” that track some sort of progress (even if it is not the ideal way to calculate fitness)… to all the exercises and activities. It is fun to watch the kids do the hula-hoop game, or the ski-jump, and to see who holds the current records. Tracking the records keeps me coming back to try to place 1st in the various activities only to later be beaten by one of the kids… which leads me to try again to get on top.

Instead of getting a treadmill or other exercise equipment, Wii Fit is a cheaper alternative that costs less and take up even less room in the house. I would highly recommend getting Wii Fit to any family. It provides a fun and competitive way to stay in shape!