Expert: Alexander Hodgkiss - 11/16/2008

Question
We just bought a Wii system for us and our 6 yr old, but have a bit of buyer's remorse. We can return it. My son is 6.5 yrs old. He has a Gameboy and Leapster, and loves to play my older nephew's Playstation and Xbox. He enjoys Star Wars, anything to do with Animals (we noticed the Wii Zoo Hospital and Vet games, Horse Riding, etc. But he loves the traditional "battle" and racing games (Mario Cart, race cars, etc) and any of the airplane, military or flying type arcade games. My fear is that the controllers on the Wii will be a bit limiting for him (or am I wrong?) Also the set we got doesn't include a steering wheel, although I have heard it's not a great one anyway.



The other options to buy for him are Xbox or PS3, but the man at Toys R Us felt the games were more geared for Teen and Adult. Yet I think that applies to both.



For now we got the Carnival Arcade game and the Star Wars game for Wii....spent quite a bit of $$ and wondering if we perhaps got the wrong system for his age and ability. Would love your opinion.



PS - he masters and does well with the Gameboy games on his own mostly - he figures it out on his own - like Star Wars, Scooby, etc. Thanks! :) Linda


Answer
Howdie Linda,

If the question is about the Wii being too difficult to control, I would say you have nothing to worry about.  The controller for it was designed to make it easy-to-use for all ages.  I'd have yo agree that the Xbox 360 and PS3 would be better for someone in their teens.  While they do have games for younger people, they're few and far between.

If you're looking for more games like what you described, there are some on the Wii, just not as well publicized (Call of Duty for example).  Also, you may want to look at the Wii Shop Channel that is on the system.  You can purchase online and download some really good games.

Overall, I think the Wii is the best system for someone his age, and the controller shouldn't be a problem for him to handle.  Hope this helps.  Take care.

~ Alexander