NJ Mom

BTW, I do see that there are posters here who know the difference between a video game and real life, both when playing a video game and when discussing real life events. I appreciate seeing the sympathetic comments.

And surely it would be total coincidence that most, if not all, of you would proudly proclaim that you have no problems engaging in anti-social media. Whether movies, video games, whatever. How many times have I read, "I know it's a video game and it's not real."

No, I don't think violent video games and movies lead to violence. But I do think they can facilitate a disconnection between people and their fellow human beings, especially if someone chooses not to foster their empathetic side.

This woman is dead because of a stupid radio stunt that probably sounded great in the pitch and then someone didn't research the possible ramifications.

This is a mother of three who wanted to win the system for her children, who will now be burying her. She's not a dumbass and there is no Darwin award to be given. This is sad event.

I played Gears of War tonight. I hunted, chainsawed, shotgunned, and curb-stomped with heart pumping and a huge grin. But my heart breaks for this woman and her family, people I don't know, because I understand what hope she probably had going into the contest and how her family is feeling now. I can imagine the tears her children, her parents, her partner, her friends are shedding tonight.

BTW, the article says "after the contest" and it appears it had been over for hours. She was already back at work and had probably already gone to the bathroom, but the damage had been done.

Try, just try, to imagine that your parent had gone to that length for you and it turned out this way. Would that be the epitaph you'd choose for their gravestone? "What a dumbass"?

"A Wii purchase for my family is not driven solely by whether someone else likes it or not, but how they're using it."

Should have been clearer on that one. Neither of these is the "sole" driver of our purchase. Our purchase, if there is one, is going to be based on a number of considerations. However, with regard to other people's experiences the consideration is not just whether they like it or not, but also how they are using it.

@funkonaut: Yeah, I probably am a bit anal about it, although I don't always consider that to be bad. For my family there are financial considerations for what would be a secondary system as well as considering how my family games. I have great kids, but they do get excitable when playing games and I don't want them and their friends waving Wii-motes and nunchuks in the vicinity of a 61" HDTV. Nor do I want to rearrange my living room on a regular basis to make additional room for playing the Wii.

As far as the questions, they're just part of how we're looking at the current crop of systems and how they're playing out in the marketplace. A Wii purchase for my family is not driven solely by whether someone else likes it or not, but how they're using it. We're not yet convinced by the Wii and, yes, we're looking at other people's stories to see if our concerns are being realized. We are gamers, but I don't owe anyone - Nintendo or my family - a Wii purchase if we cannot find a compelling reason to make it.

And perhaps it is *because* we are gamers we are holding off. We have a number of non-video games that are fun to play, but they aren't played regularly because as good as they are, there are others that are better. We have other non-video games that only come out for family gatherings or a party game night. So I do want to know if that's how the Wii ends up for some people, because it's one thing to pay $30 for a game that only comes to the table a few times each year and quite another to pay $400-$500 (which would likely be our initial Wii investment) for a console version of the same.

So, yeah, as fun as the Wii may be it will take time for us to determine whether the Wii is going to be worth our money or if it would be better spent elsewhere. Part of that is seeing what games continue to come out and part of it is seeing how people really are using the system. In the meantime we have a number of other family-friendly and fun options.

I probably should have mentioned in my previous post that we still get lots of lovely Nintendo social gaming through the DS. Three of my children each have a DS and I have a DS Lite. Whether Mario Kart or Clubhouse Games, we love the DS and have a ball playing them.

I do enjoy hearing the positive stories of non-gamers taking to the Wii. But I still question whether the Wii has made them "gamers" or just "Wii gamers." Does their Wii become the equivalent of the battered box of Trivial Pursuit hauled out at the holidays? Will there be an ongoing revenue stream as they pick up Red Steel, Call of Duty 3, Tony Hawk, Mario Galaxy, and future games? Or are they satisfied with the Wii Sports that comes with the system because the system is only intermittantly played? (These questions are regarding the non-gamers who like the Wii.)

As far as the gamers who discovered an interest for the Wii, will they pick up multi-plats for the Wii or their other system? Will they make duplicate multi-plat game purchases so they have it on Wii and their other system? Is the Wii their primary or secondary system, or is it equal?

These questions are why we're in wait-and-see mode. We haven't said "no" to the Wii. We've said "no for now and we'll check back later." So I appreciate both the positive personal reviews and even the negative perspectives. We tuck everything away so that when the time comes again to discuss and decide, we'll have more info at our disposal. Hopefully in six months and a year people we'll be beyond holiday get-togethers and we'll see how the Wii has flourished with non-gamers in the meantime.

We're still in wait-and-see mode for the Wii. I have four children, the oldest 13 and the youngest 8, but their dad and I aren't convinced this is the direction for our family and, to a certain degree, the reports are bearing this out.

We are a family of gamers with two linen closets and bookshelves full of board/card games, boxes and bookshelves full of various RPGs dating back decades, and an Xbox 360 on one HDTV and an Xbox and GameCube on the other (with a history of video/console gaming also going back decades).

And, yet, despite a love for gaming in general and Nintendo franchises in particular, we just can't bring ourselves to commit to a Wii right now. After numerous discussions around the pros and cons, the cons always win. While we appreciate that it could be an occasional source of group hilarity and fun, we just can't see it as a regular system or one that we could leave the kids with unattended as we can with the other systems. (Unattended as in we don't have to be sitting there monitoring/managing their game time and not to mean we don't know what they're playing; we set their game library and they know what they can and can't play.)

I think the Wii is well-suited to party gaming, family get-togethers, and to many gamers who will appreciate and enjoy the experience it offers. But despites its broader appeal, it's still not a one-size-fits-all solution and it hasn't shown itself to be well-suited to my immediate and extended family.

Alex, I imagine because cutting inventory in Japan wouldn't make the Xbox 360 a viable alternative while that possibility exists for North America.

As far as the Wii as an "alternative," I figure Japanese gamers were already planning to get it and it isn't an issue of changing one's mind and picking something else "instead."

I thought that was 400,000 for North America, so is the 150,000-200,000 estimate for North America or just the US? And if just the US, what does 150,000-200,000 represent in relation to the original distribution for the US?

No whambulance or crying here, although I am sorry I may have to cross this off the 'suggested presents' list for Christmas.

No, despite having four children and a gaming family I'm not getting a Wii this year. Since the Wii cost for MY family would be hovering in the $500 range (console, 3 additional controller/nunchuk combos, LOZ:TP, and a VC game or three), we decided to just get the GC LOZ:TP this year and look at a Wii for next year. (The Xbox, Xbox 360, and four DS's (one is mine) get the most use anyway, so it's ~$500 for something that won't be the primary system.)

Hopefully the GC version of LOZ:TP can be purchased online; I know it's one the kids have been looking forward to for awhile now.

#63/Joe P.
"Just who are all these people that are so eager to buy a 360, yet haven't already done so?"

~~~~~

People waiting for a price drop or "value" pricing (bundles).

People waiting for THEIR "must have" games to hit the shelves. For some that's Gears of War. For others Mass Effect. Still others, Blue Dragon. For another friend of mine, John Woo's Stranglehold. When that game hits, she'll upgrade her family Xbox to an Xbox 360.

Or maybe they're waiting for that final game that rounds out their magic number. That mental voice saying, "When the system has 4 good games that I really want, that's when I'll get it." So maybe Viva Pinata isn't a system seller, but it might fill the last slot in someone's magic number.

Lots of reasons why people who are eager for the system don't have one yet. Honest. There really are.