wii or not?

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DS 8 and DD6 have both requested a DS for xmas. I feel a Wii would be better as it can be a family activity rather than a 1 person thing. And we have games on mobile phones for when out and about if necessary. But I'm really unsure whether to take the plunge or not. DS would watch TV all day if I let him and DD is not much better. Will it become the bane of my life, them pestering me constantly to use it?

thought I would be inundated with opinions but obviously not......

to be honest, i would get them the ds's they have asked for

Wii is brilliant, more sociable than DS.
But many DS games have a two or four player option (think it's called DS download play or something - there's an icon on the back of the game box) so they can play 'together' on separate DSs using a single copy of the game.

We have got a wii and ds, the kids play with ds all year round, the wii only gets used at xmas or when we are having a get together. Me i would say ds would be used more.

We have the wii and ds , ds 9 uses the wii mostly. We keep it downstairs on the only tv so he can't be on it all the time.
dd's 3 and 6 use the ds more as the wii is harder esp for the youngest.

The pester thing will happen whichever way you go because you'll probably want to limit time on a DS too.
BIL is giving us as a family a Wii this Xmas. I'm hoping we will use it together more & it's probably better for eyes than squinting at the small screen on the DS.
But DS has a DS as do most of his friends & they talk/share games quite a bit.

If you're going to be going down the route of 'proper' consoles the X-box with Kinnect is loads better than wii, imo.

For younger children though, the DS is much easier to use, more educational value and very handy for travelling.

My two have one each and they play together with them often. Dd1 knows how to make them connect and they can vs each other on games like Mario Karts. Dd2 cannot use the wii, she doesn't have enough hand-eye co-ordination and gets very fustrated with it, although some of the Nick Jr games she can manage a bit, she prefers the Kinnect as it follows her and she doesn't need remotes. It makes it much easier for her.

We have a Wii and both kids have a ds - they are 9 and 6. The wii is more of a family activity as it's on our main telly. The ds is good for long car journeys. I think they are both really good for different reasons and especially as long a you set firm ground rules at the beginning to prevent overuse. There are some amazing deals for Wii at the moment - around £99 for Wii bundle including Wii Party which we love.