Cargodogs

Hey Guys,

I have never owned a gaming console, but now I want to buy one for use with my kids. They're 3 and 5 years old. I've seen other families with the older version of the Wii, and I think it's brilliant. I read a bit about the new Wii U, but I have a few concerns with the Wii U vs Wii.

1) It seems the new touch screen on the controller is quite fragile, and I can see it breaking fairly quickly with kids the age of mine.

2) It seems the U is aimed at the more serious gamers? Does this mean new activity games will be forgotten, and everything will be battlefield games (sorry, I don't know the names of the titles).

3) Of number 2 above is true, I guess that means my main reason for choosing a Wii is gone. What I like about the Wii is actually the casual element, and, more importantly, the fact that my kids have to get up and move around in order to play video games. I don't want them to just sit in a couch and play all day long. I want them to exercise (at least a little) while having fun.

4) I understand the old games are still compatible with the new Wii U, but I would like to see more activity titles developed in the future.

5) As far as I can see, I can still use the old type controllers for the Wii U. Is that correct? And can I use the Wii U with only the old controllers, in order to avoid my kids bashing the touch screen controller in a hissy fit?

I would like to hear what you guys in here have to say about the above. Can I still have my kids play kid friendly games where they have to be active, in the future?

Any input is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,


Cargodogs

1. Get a bumper kit for the gamepad, and supervise when a child is using it, but it is a very sturdy controller

2.Wii U is indeed aimed at more serious gamers, but it doesn't abandon the casual gamer market that the Wii created.

3. Same

4. There are already more "activity" games being developed by both Nintendo and others.  Examples include Mario Party, Wii Fit, game&wario, NintendoLand, and there's a more adult themed spin the bottle game in development

5. Yes, all of the old peripherals work.  Make sure you have motion plus for games that need it.

Well, yes it is for kids, in fact its perfect for kids actually. There is literally a Wii built in the system, its like playing 2 systems in 1 console. You can use every device that was on the Wii. Wii remotes, nunchucks, classic controller, some can even be used on the Wii U.

BIt is almost completely navigateable using the wiimotes (and I assume Pro controller), except the gamepad is required for some games (Like Lego City and I believe Nintendoland, but not scribblenaughts or Sonic racing)

One thing I'd reccomend is create an administrator user with a password and use that with the eShop, and use parental controls on the accounts you want the kids to use. If you want, you can set up individual accounts for each kid to keep their gamesaves seperate.

My four year old lad loves it, i do still worry about him dropping the game pad but just for the hours of fun he gets on Lego City(which he completed) its worth every penny.

Might be aimed at more serious gamers but they arent hitting the target....

Wii U & Wii are for everyone not just for kids , the whole family =)

Get Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U those games are great for kids!

Not a lot of kids game out right now.
And in the system lasting it depends on your kids.
My sin is 4 and had a ds since be was 2 and half and has been doing fine with that. Up graded to a 3ds when he turn 3.
Ad he plays the wii just fine and Mario on the wii u every now and then.

Suprisingly the GamePad is very robust for what it is, Sonic Lost World was just announced, I'm sure the kids would love Sonic.

Might be aimed at more serious gamers but they arent hitting the target....

Lol. Just wondering why you are on a forum such as this, with an attitude like that? I think out of my eight U games, one is rated below "Teen", not that it matters. If all you want is adult themes, go be an adult, work your life away, and quit enjoying awesome games. I had a friend like that. We were all 14, playing, being kids, he was always working. It was sad. No one should throw away their childhood.

Lol. Just wondering why you are on a forum such as this, with an attitude like that? I think out of my eight U games, one is rated below "Teen", not that it matters. If all you want is adult themes, go be an adult, work your life away, and quit enjoying awesome games. I had a friend like that. We were all 14, playing, being kids, he was always working. It was sad. No one should throw away their childhood.

     Has not a single thing to do with a game rating, nor did i have any kind of attitude.... When the big N stated they would be getting core/serious gamers back, i expected to see Nintendo grabbing those big 3rd party releases, not fumble on most of them to still being psbox/pc titles. I understand that Nintendo has been and probably always will be primarily a mario and zelda ect console, but when a company that big (and a legit one at that) makes a claim like that, i think "wow this is awesome, i can have nintendo exclusives AND the third party titles i normally have to have another console for". That sounded like a dream come true to me. Wii U is a great console (which will answer your question as to why i frequent these forums), however, say what you will but Wii U will not pull in the core/serious gamers from other consoles at this rate, and believe me, i would love nothing more than for Wii U to get that ball rolling but i feel that time is running out until the Wii U is a first party console. 

      Also a side note, My 3DS get hundreds of hours more play time than both my 3g and crystal white Vita before you pull the fanboy card next after coming up with that whole game rating tangent.

I think the U is for kids and adults because you have all the games kids would play, and all the games adults would play. Its aimed at every type of gamer casual or core!

Thanks for your input, everyone. It really is much appreciated. I think I'll go ahead and buy one. However, my conclusion, after reading your posts is that, Wii U is no different from other consoles in that it is a "passive" gameplay. It seems that, in order to get the more active gameplay I'm looking for, I will have to make use of the regular Wii part of the console. I guess that is not a problem, other than there will be no new titles in the "get-off-the -couch-if-you-wanna-play" department.

Anyway, thanks again for all your input - both with, and without "attitude". ;-)


Cheers, Cargodogs...

 

 

It is still very early in the WiiU lifecycle thus I can only imagine that more active orientated games will be announced. But indeed, you can use older Wii games too so it is a win-win situation. Looking at the other consoles....they will be more adult orientated than Nintendo.