OK getting past the stupid name, I'm thinking of getting the nipper one of these for Christmas as opposed to the more expensive XBox 360 which doesn't have a great deal of games that appeal to me errr him

Questions
1. Will I be able to get one before Christmas
2. Will I be able to get a better price than £179.99, if so where


Why Wii
1. Gamecube compatible (have lots of GC games)
2. Motion sensor control (Remote & Nunchuk)
3. New Zelda game (pre Christmas)
4. New Super Mario game (post Christmas)

Could be faced with an uphill battle of getting one at all at a reasonable price AKNel No chance whatsoever of getting one for less than £179

I had one of pre-order from Play.com but thay gave me backword (v.v. late in that day).

I have ordered mine from Argos which was one of the few sites which still purported to guarantee delivery...

http://www.wiifind.co.uk/

Be careful though quite a lot of sites are not guaranteeing delivery for the launch date (although the rumour is that there will be more released between 8/12 and Christmas...)

On the selection - top choice for kids and non-gamers generally.

My decision based upon the fact that the Kids love the Nintendo DS over the PSP - the games are just in a different league. That coupled with the friendly controller and GC compatability (if you've had a GC before) means that it's a no-brainer for kids...(IMHO)

Not too worried re: release date, as long as it's here by Chrimbo

Get any promise in blood - I wouldn't trust a lot of these bigger places...

If PC World will guarantee delivery before Christmas their £259 offer of

Wii, extra wiimote, Zelda, Super Monkey Ball looks good(ish) value

180+30+80 = £30 saving

I love the look of the Wii (can't help but smile at the name), especially the remote thingy as shown on Zelda advert.

I echo the sentiments about guaranteed delivery, ive sourced mine now so thats one issue sorted...but I was on 4 waiting lists and 3 backed out of their pre xmas guarantee within 4 days of launch !!

Picked up ours on Friday 8th, release date (only pre-ordered it 2-3 weeks prior) Missus won't let me play it until Christmas - not even just to check it it works

Got Zelda, Wii Play + extra controller and Wii Sports - should keep us busy for a week or so....


Some friends ordered through a different company (big high st brand) and got downgraded from first batch to second with no pre-christmas guarantee. We got upgraded from second batch to first batch, cannot fault GAME who have been awesome this year (World Cup FF game - we won the best mini-league and got 20 games and now this). They even gave me an extra tenner off because of the points on my card

Ours was delivered last Friday - wrapped up for the kids for when we get back from hols. Also got Sports, Play (with the extra Wiimote), Zelda, Madden Football and Rabid Rabbids (or whatever it's called)...can't wait to fight the kids off it!!

Played on one on friday at my brothers house (one of his flatmates)
Its a very imprssive peice of kit, boxing is by far the best games (on that Wii sporrts thing) leaves your arms like jelly in the morning. Make sure you get a few more conrollers as its good with one but i think it would be great having 4 player doubles tennis

Is that like when you buy someone something that you want? I bought my mum a football for Christmas, hope she likes it.

Absolutely! Had to keep telling myself that it was the kids' present as my fingers twitched during the wrapping process.

Without a shadow of a doubt, what other reason is their to have children

Apparently it has been upgraded to a 'family' present as the boy wants a bike (fool)

Don't you just hate it when they want to play outside with their mates

I have one! Its wrapped under the tree so i have taken to telling the wife its for the best that i test it early just to be sure.

So far she hasnt budget altho she is waivering.

Highly amused to see 3.2m hand straps recalled/replaced because the launch ones are a little flimsy and they have been flying around living rooms all over the world as people cant hang on to them!

Lets all be careful now, we don't want a trip to the hospital.

http://www.wiidamage.com/

http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/

what's funny about the wii is that people are now actually putting in the physical effort to simulate the sport... who why not just put on some trainers and go do it properly?

p.s. i still want one

That means leaving the house Mad, and who wants to do that.

Then of course there is the don't want to look a twit effect - or 'Look at the Fat guy in the tracksuit'

and most importantly the difficulty setting that allows you to beat World class Athletes

No-one has said this to me yet, they might be thinking it but they are not saying it!

Just opened my wii (xmas gift from MrsY) early

Wow what a lot of fun wii sports is, playing multiplayer must be even better. Before i played i had to make a mii (my avatar). I hadnt heard anything about mii's but Nintendo have gone overboard with them, you can make 100s and have them all mingle with one another in a plaza. Quite why i dunno but i reckon the 8-10 year olds will love it.

Here is my thoughts on Wii Sports (included with the console)

Tennis: just swing the wiimote. Very simple, curiously addictive. Won my first game 3-2.

Baseball: Bat & pitch. A friend of mine loves it, i wasnt so impressed. Won my first game 4-0

Golf: Hardest to master. First 3 hole beginers round +4 (including missing a tiddly putt by over hitting it so hard it went back off the green. Probably has the longest life span for the solo player.

10 pin bowling: 152 on my first go. Great fun. My favourite on the pack.

Boxing: Need to attach the nunchuck for this. Its like a second wiimote that plugs into the main one so you have one in each hand altho the nunchuck doesnt have half as man buttons. Swaying to avoid punches a nice touch. First go i k'od my opponent in the 3rd round, 2nd go i got the same result.

CY rating for wii sports 75%. Interactive angle is great fun but the games dont seem to have too much of a longevity to them. Be warned if you play too long you will start to sweat.

Do we prefer it to the 360 ? Dont think I could afford both when i dont have the time to play either

you opened your gift early? shame on you!

can i come round and play?

I am spending xmas day at the Parents, boxing day at the Grandparents and back to work on the 27th so i wont get any time to play it. Im off from today till the 27th so i asked if i could open it early.

Wii or 360? Hmm, ive only played Wii Sports so it maybe a bit too early to say. The Wii is innovative and fun but im not sure how quickly (or tired) you will get playing it. 360 certainly the gamers machine, Wii the machine to drag out and play with your mates.

If you have kids under 12 you have to get a Wii. I watched a 5 year old beating on his dad at ten pin bowling in tescos. He loved every minute of it. Not sure Dad was too impressed.

a quick clip round the ear, followed by a boot up the arse and the natural order will be restored.

btw - mad jnr (nearlly 5) keeps beating me at jenga

I took the wii to my parents.

My 6 year old niece flattened her boxing opponent in literally 15 seconds on her first go (took me 3 rounds) and she proceded to complete another 3 first round KOs and a 2nd round KO in her next 4 bouts.

We had a 4 player game of ten pin bowling.

20 something year old sister won (80 something nan bowled 2 of her goes, a spare and a 9:shock:)
6 year old niece came 2nd
50 something year old mum rolled home 3rd
20 something year old brother came last

I think this highlights everything thats great about the Wii. It allows 80 somethings to compete with 6 year olds and beat on 20 year olds!

Everyone loved it and i mean LOVED it.

Got to echo CY's thoughts above, awesome family entertainment.

Wii Sports

10 pin bowling is already a family favourite - so much so that Mrs AK insisted we went into town to get another 2 controllers. My best score is 159 but the boy (11) has a hi of 173 and Mrs has 163.
Boxing is incredibly tiring, Golf is OK, baseball is fun and the tennis is pretty good too but the 10 pin bowling will keep you coming back to this game for a long time.
Also has a fitness level which tells you how old the game thinks you are (69) for my opening effort yesterday and you are only able to carry out one test per day - the kids were 73 & 74

Score 82%

Wii Play

Comes with the extra wiimote which makes it an essential purchase, games are pretty simple but you have to play each of them to open up the next. Games include
Duckshoot (excellent)
Table Tennis (horrible)
Laser / air Hockey (ok)
Cow Racing - you have to knock scarecrows over (great fun)
9-ball Pool - (ok)
and 4 more that I don't remember

Not quite as good as Sports but good nonetheless and effectively free as you get a £29.95 value wiimote with it.

My score 70%

Zelda

Haven't really got started on this yet, the boy played for an hour last night without really acheiving much. Looks to be classic Zelda

Fruitfall

Bought this today, not played yet but intrigued - Man in the shop was telling us how good his Wife (who doesn't play games) thought Rayman was. X-Man what's it like...

Internet connection

Not done this yet, but will do over the next few days, then I think we can set up an online community and compete against each other.

My Wii fitness level was 40 & 36 (i did both the same day?). Is that better or worse than you?

Havent really played ten pin too much (maybe 8 frames), my high score is 161. Its fascinating to see how many people roll their wrists when bowling, that ball veers all over the place!

I have Tony Hawks downhill jam, havent tried that yet so i'll report back once ive given it a go.

40 & 36 is way better than me / us. Aged 20 is the best available score. Twice in one day would suggest that you have 2 Mii's set up and have done one for each

No defintly only one mii (have heaps after yesterday tho, the 6 year old loved making them).

Maybe i played after midnight the second time then, i was up late.

Had a 4 player game on the bowling.

215, 191, 161 & 135.

The 215 was all strikes/spares under the 10th when i choked and left myself a horror split.

Update

got my fitness level down thus over 4 days 69 46 42 29

Bowling Hi-score 194

also found the training mode where there is a great Bowling mini game. start with 10 pins and a row gets added with each role (10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45 etc up until 91 pins. You have one ball at each round and get double points for a strike. I have managed a 45 pin strike and have a best score of 507 pins and a Silver medal

ZELDA - Currently 3 and a half hours in, the game is pretty much flawless and I've only scratched the surface. There are just so many ways in this game that they use the wiimote and nunchuk. Have just met the Twilight Princess and am currently in the guise of a Wolf heading back into the Twilight realm.

To sum this game up - IF you have a Wii, you MUST play this game, if nothing else it will fill the time until Super Mario Galaxy arrives in the Spring.

My Score 92% Undoubtedly the best Zelda game since Ocarina of Time and may yet surpass that for excellence....

FRUITFALL

Tedious puzzler with a small lifespan. Will be a bargain bucket but within 3 months (already reduced to £20)

My score 45%