Christmas gift to household

[Tidey]

Has anyone bought a games console as a shared gift to all of your family? Has it worked out well with everyone sharing it? I'm thinking about getting a Nintendo Wii as a gift to the house, DS would be over the moon with it and DP and I would like it too. DD a bit young at 3 but would probably have a go anyway.

Just wondering if it's a bit weird to buy a present that's partly for myself and what others' experiences of doing this have been like?

Haven't done it that way, but did buy a Wii for my sister's children (10, 8 and 5) the other year and the whole family loved it.

So, this summer, DH and I bought one for our house (DDs 2, 4 and 6). It's been a big hit with the two older DDs, and the upside for DD3 is that I have time to spend with her while the other two are having their Wii-time.

Go for it - family presents are a great idea.

Not weird at all. When we got a Wii, it was for everyone, from everyone IYSWIM.
I would get some extra wii remotes and a party game that you can all play together.
The Wii is a more sociable console than some of the others.

We've always done family presents, although it was normally a board game or one game for the PC or something like that when we were growing up.

I've carried on the tradition and usually get a stack of books that I know DH and I both want to read, or a game for the Wii.
We go to my parents over Christmas and I will always take a household present - usually some nice port or something, and a board game that we can all play together.

DS is only 2.4 so his requirements are very different from everyone else atm!

Yes. We already had a PLaystation and i thought a Wii would be fun and more interactive so we got one as a family gift a few years ago.

I was also partly conscious of the fact that my DS is an only child and I didn't want him to have a Playstation, Nintendo AND a Wii! So the PLaystation 2 is DH's, the Wii is whole family, Nintendo he bought himself out of birthday money and the Playstation 3 was this year's birthday present which we only gave in on as a lot of games are not even being released on PS2 now.

Thanks for the replies. I thought I could then get some games for everyone to join in with, and maybe a specific game each so that everyone gets their own present to use with it too, IYSWIM.

i did last year. its great, the kids love it, but i have played on it probably all of 3 times in the last year.

That's the thing, Buda - DS already has a PS2 and an DSLite, but the Wii seems like far too 'big' a gift to get just for him, so I was hoping that buying it for everyone might be better.

I need to start researching the cost of buying all the extra controllers and stuff then!

We're doing it this year - the Wii is for all 5 of us, and everyone is getting a game.