Please help a mom out...so many questions!

[DanieBark]

My son has a Nintendo DS. We are debating on which system will allow him to play Nintendo DS games on a TV. Will a Game Cube work with DS? Will the new Wii work with a DS?

Can someone please explain what the Wii actually does? I swear I'm not dumb. I've researched Wii's all morning and can't find anything except vague blurbs about how cool it's going to be. What I really need to know is...what does it do? I'm confused if this is a new platform altogether or other platforms get hooked up to it?? Could someone please give me a brief overview or point me in the right direction to the get the answers.

I'm so looking forward to response. Thanks so much!

PS...not even the Nintendo website was helpful.

 

[Jenova]

This happens around launch time, it's hard to get information on what the system actually does. This video shows very well on how the Wii works: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ARQKcWJHRp0

But just to explain it, the Wii is an all-new system/console, and yes, it has connectivity with the Nintendo DS. Although, I am not so sure that it allows you to play the DS on the big screen, but you don't realy need that, because I don't think your TV has a touch screen. xD (the gamecube has no connectivity with the DS.)

Anyway, the Wii is, in my opinion, the best console out of the 3 next-generation ones. The controller, called the Wii-Mote, is motion sensitive. It senses all 3 dimensions in a vector of space.

So basically what that means is, you can do things, and your charector on screen will mimic you. For instance, if you are playing Zelda, when you swing the Wii-Mote like a sword, the charector also swings his sword. In first person shooters, you actually point and shoot, instead of just using a joystick on a controller.

The Wii comes bundled with a game called WiiSports, and that game has 5 mini games in it. They are: Baseball, Tennis, Bowling, boxing, and golf. And for each game, you swing the Wii-Mote like you are actually holding the real item you use for the sport in your hand. In bowling, you actually make a motion like you are throwing a bowling ball.

Now the Wii isn't just for hardcore gamers, it is actually desinged to try to get people who haven't played games before get into video games. (Of course, it is also great for experienced gamers.) Some of the games are very easy to learn, and you can pretty much just pick up the Wii-Mote and play.

Now you may be wondering that the Wii-Mote might not work, and it's just Nintendo saying it will. Well, I have played it before, and I can personally tell you that it works just fine. As well as video game reviewers who have spent many hours with the Wii will tell you that it works amazingly, and the Wii-Mote is very accurate.

I hope you decide to get it, it's a very good system, and your whole family will enjoy it.

EDIT: As the person below me has said, there is even MORE to the Wii, and it would actually take an hour or two to type EVERYTHING out in detail. There is even something that nobody else knows, and Nintendo will reveal it when the Wii launches on November 19th.

 

[conorlap]

The Wii is a whole new nintendo console with a unique controller that uses a sensor bar to communicate with the console so that movements from the controller will be picked up by the wii and it will then appear on screen in game.Eg move the controller like thrusting a sword to make the character on screen thrust his sword.
The wii can communicate with the DS but no great info has yet been released by nintendo although I doubt it if the Wii will allow the ds to be played on the television screen. Seriously the Wii is going to be one of the best consoles around and for $250/€250 its very cheap!!!
The wii is also compatible with Gamecube games but you need to buy seperate gamecube controllers to plug into the system as the Ordinary wii controllers will not work with gamecube games.

I hope I've covered the basics of the Wii. There is so much more to the Wii too but it would take me all day typing it all out!!!

 

[christicehurst]

Also the Wii is more suited for the family style of gaming too. So it's a win-win for fmaily members from the gamer child to the mum.

 

[DanieBark]

Excellent information. Thank you!

Two more questions, if I may...

Are there Parental Controls, other me saying, "NO"? Are there parameters that can be set to ensure my son isn't getting inappropriate internet access?

Also, do you know of any outlets that are still taking pre-orders (ones that will actually get filled)?

Kind regards,

Danie

 

[christicehurst]

I would think there will be some parent controls but that's a issue that I personally haven't seen being dicussed yet. The browser should have their settings.

Don't know on which stores are taking pre-order. I'm in Australia and EB are still taking Pre-orders.

 

[Jenova]

Excellent information. Thank you!

Two more questions, if I may...

Are there Parental Controls, other me saying, "NO"? Are there parameters that can be set to ensure my son isn't getting inappropriate internet access?

Also, do you know of any outlets that are still taking pre-orders (ones that will actually get filled)?

Kind regards,

Danie

Yes, the Wii will have parental controls. For instance, you can go into the system's menu, and make a password. Once typing in your password, you will be brought to the parental controls screen, where you can make to so your child can't play games with a certain age rating. (If you don't know, on video games there is something called an Eserb rating. There are different ratings, most common being "E for Everyone," "T for Teen," and "M for mature.") You can set it so you're child can go no higher than E, or T, or M.

Also, if you are concerned an the amount of time your child plays, you no longer need to just tell him to get off. (Well, you still need to.) If you tell him to get off, and walk away, he still has a chance on playing the Wii even more. Well, the Wii keeps an automatic log on every game you play, in order, and the amount of time you played it on that date. It is very organized, and can help very well with watching your child.

As for internet restrictions, there probably is an option, I just don't know about it. (You can allways just shut off your wireless router or take the ethernet cord, that works too.)

And if you want to get a system ON launch day, you are going to need to camp out at best buy, at least a day before it comes out. (november 19th) But if you will be getting the Wii for christmas, you definately will get one. There is supposedly 6-11 million Wiis comeing by the end of the year. So after launch day, call your local stores frequently to see when a new shipment comes in, if you are unlucky enough to not get it at best buy.

By the way, if you haven't seen this in my post above, I found a video that shows how the Wii plays. http://youtube.com/watch?v=ARQKcWJHRp0

 

[Arcadium]

Look, yes the Wii has compatibility with the DS (The gamecube no) and yes, you can play DS in the TV, but only as the upper screen, I mean, your TV becomes your Upper screen, but that is not ready for launch (I think)

Also if your son owns a DS (It can be the normal DS or the DS Lite), the best thing you can do is buy your FAMILY a Wii, not for your son, and get at least 2 games appart of wii sports (which comes with the wii)

Oh and if you have any other question just ask it, we are here to help

 

[Link_of_Hyrule]

there will most likely not be a ds player for wii maybe possible because the controller is kinda like the touch screen in a way but nintendo has not announced this plus he will be too busy with wii games to care about playing ds on tv

 

[nintendowiigaming.piczo]

u most be the best mom ever my mom hate's video gaming.
and the answers u have got are really god. and correct.
there are some games to the DS that can be connected to the wii and do all kinds of stuff. like pokemon revelution battle or what it's called for the wii, with that game u can chose your attackfor your pokemon on your DS

 

[White-Wolf]

just some info ect.

Well the wii is not quite a next gen console compared to the xbox 360 and ps3. It’s the least expensive of the three (but not the cheapest in terms of quality), but built to be fun. Its not a multimedia box like the xbox and ps3, but only plays games with a few other features, but it wont play dvd's although it has a dvd drive. Maybe a firmware upgrade will allow you to play dvd's, but just assume that when you buy it that it cant play dvd movies.

It supports 480p but no other hd resolutions. It works fine on a normal TV. I think its the best console to get your kids. The xbox is mostly violent games or sports games and the ps3 is alot of money, and its unknown if it i will have bugs on its first release. Sony has had problems making alot of the ps3's and with all its production problems, I would be weary buying one until the first few batches are reviewd so you can find out if their are any defective ones. The xbox 360 btw has a high percentage of getting a broken one out of the box hehehe X Box... think... ahhahah... sorry um, and they tend to last only a few months then break. Search for "360 red ring of death" or "3 red ring of death" or "red ring of death" to find out more info on the xbox 360's problems.

What I’m saying is I’m worried about the ps3 and if it wont have the same problems. Alot of ps2 on its launch had problems, and considering the difficulty of making the ps3 (hence the 600$ price) that it wont ship with lots of faulty versions.

Nintendo has a clean record in terms of console releases and bugs. When they make something, they make sure it works... period. Buy with confidence.

Sorry, I know you didn’t ask about this, but if your kid asks for a ps3 or 360 and you don’t want to pay its very high price, you can say they break alot ect... and be telling the truth.

 

[Arcadium]

just some info ect.

Well the wii is not quite a next gen console compared to the xbox 360 and ps3. It’s the least expensive of the three (but not the cheapest in terms of quality), but built to be fun. Its not a multimedia box like the xbox and ps3, but only plays games with a few other features, but it wont play dvd's although it has a dvd drive. Maybe a firmware upgrade will allow you to play dvd's, but just assume that when you buy it that it cant play dvd movies.

It supports 480p but no other hd resolutions. It works fine on a normal TV. I think its the best console to get your kids. The xbox is mostly violent games or sports games and the ps3 is alot of money, and its unknown if it i will have bugs on its first release. Sony has had problems making alot of the ps3's and with all its production problems, I would be weary buying one until the first few batches are reviewd so you can find out if their are any defective ones. The xbox 360 btw has a high percentage of getting a broken one out of the box hehehe X Box... think... ahhahah... sorry um, and they tend to last only a few months then break. Search for "360 red ring of death" or "3 red ring of death" or "red ring of death" to find out more info on the xbox 360's problems.

What I’m saying is I’m worried about the ps3 and if it wont have the same problems. Alot of ps2 on its launch had problems, and considering the difficulty of making the ps3 (hence the 600$ price) that it wont ship with lots of faulty versions.

Nintendo has a clean record in terms of console releases and bugs. When they make something, they make sure it works... period. Buy with confidence.

Sorry, I know you didn’t ask about this, but if your kid asks for a ps3 or 360 and you don’t want to pay its very high price, you can say they break alot ect... and be telling the truth.

That information is so damn wrong, the wii is not for kids!

 

[yosh64]

hey

I'm not sure if you are still around, but I recently read that there is also some form of parental control over the Nintendo Wii web browser, but details about this have yet to be announced.

Edit, I done some digging, and found where I read this. See http://gonintendo.com/?p=7849.

Edit, I thought I'd try to directly answer some of your initial questions.

what does it do? I'm confused if this is a new platform altogether or other platforms get hooked up to it??

The Nintendo Wii is actually an entirely new gaming console, and sits by itself. Although I think the Nintendo Wii has many other nice features.

Will a Game Cube work with DS? Will the new Wii work with a DS?

I don't think there have been any announcements about the ability to play the Nintendo DS on a television, and I actually don't know of any solution for doing such a thing. I also doubt that such a feature will ever be produced by Nintendo, but who knows???.

Edit, I think the Nintendo Wii wikipedia page contains all/most of the information you are looking for. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii, which contains information about parental controls, Nintendo DS connectivity, and lots more (just browse over the contents menu/listing).
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I think its the best console to get your kids

@Arcadium: I actually agree with White-Wolf. Also, how can you say the Nintendo Wii is NOT for kids? I think it's for people of all ages , and very much suitable for kids.

I think the Nintendo Wii may also be quite well suited for social gaming, as I think there are quite a few easy to pick up and play party/mini games that you may beable to enjoy along with family and friends. Although you may need/want to purchase additional Wii Remotes, which seem to be quite expensive, priced at US$39.99. Hmm, but maybe alot of these party/mini games will allow the usage of a single Wii Remote, that is handed around to others players when it's their turn to play.

Anyhows I hope I helped, I think my best advise would be to try it out . Sorry, I know it's primarily for your child(ren), but I wanted to make note that others in the family may enjoy it also, but I dunno.
---

Another edit, I thought I'd try and quickly write something about the Nintendo Wii difference.

The defining thing about the Nintendo Wii is its Controller. Unlike regular video game controllers, the Nintendo Wii Remote changes the way games are played. No longer are you limited to pushing buttons, but rather you can use motion. So with motion, players are brought further into the experience, and learning how to play is much more intuitive, making games easier to pick up and play. The Nintendo Wii Remote can also act as a pointer device, not only is this used to enhance gameplay, but makes navigation of interfaces/menus faster and easier.

Not only does the Nintendo Wii have the ability to play Nintendo GameCube games, but also you can download and play a selection of video games from a variety of past consoles. These are seemingly packed together and known as the Virtual Console, which simulate/emulate each consoles hardware through software. The current supported consoles are the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, and TurboGrafx-16.

Finally, I thought I'd mention to you about the Wii Channels. These are designed from a concept simular to television channels. These make up the main interface to the Nintendo Wii, and provide a means of launching each Nintendo Wii program, such as starting a game, or opening the web browser. There are quite a number of additional channels, I think the most commonly useful would be the News and Weather programs.

I think the Nintendo Wii is stylish, small and power efficient, and takes away alot of the things that scare non gamers away from video games.

cya

 

[White-Wolf]

That information is so damn wrong, the wii is not for kids!

Its not? how so? Saying its for kids, does not say that its not for adults However. I'm getting it and i am not a kid.

It is good for kids because it actually has titles for kids (adults too), and it is the cheapest of the consoles and is not bloated for its price, and you get exactly what you pay for, A very fun game system.

 

[NeMeZyZ]

great now u confused the lady!