So this Thanksgiving my wife and I went over to her parent’s place and brought along the Wii since she had talked it up so much over the past four days. Now, her parents are not gamers in the least. Her father played EA’s NHL titles on the PC in the mid 90s, and besides the occasional game of Tetris on the original Game Boy, I don’t think her mother had played a game since. Nintendo stated that this system was made to get gamers and non-gamers playing together and I wanted to see just how easy this would be to accomplish.
Both of my wife’s parents were big into bowling when she was a child, so out of all the Wii Sports games we figured this would be the one to get them playing. After hooking it up, we were able to convince her father to give it a try first. Here is some video I shot of what I think is his second or third time using the system. As you’ll see, he’s still asking what all of the buttons do, but he’s able to bowl a nice frame for just starting out.
Continue reading for further results from the Wii Experiment.
Eventually we were able to get my mother-in-law to play after she saw how much fun her husband was having with this “fake bowling.” Amazingly she picked the whole process up rather quickly and, as you can see below, was able to bowl a strike on her second frame.
We ended up bowling on the Wii for six hours straight. Every time the game finished we would get to the screen which gave us the option to “Play Again” or “Quit” and my father-in-law would yell, “AGAIN!!!” This might have been partially due to the amount of adult beverages we consumed throughout the evening but hey, we needed to give this bowling experience a bit of authenticity right?
The more we played the more advanced tactics were used. My father-in-law eventually figured out how to put spin on the ball, and after a few frames of experimentation was able to hook it into the pocket and pull off more strikes. My wife continued her domination over everyone and reached a personal best of 214. She even broke Pro level and has 1075 skill points. Needless to say, two days after the event all of our arms are hurting. Who knew that a video game that isn’t very demanding physically could wear your muscles out so much?
I think this just goes to prove that Nintendo’s Wii is truly a system that anyone can enjoy. The controls are so intuitive that you don’t even need a gaming background to play them. The fact that experiences picked up in real life, such as bowling for ten years on a league, can be applied almost seamlessly towards playing the game is a credit to Nintendo’s innovation. Plus it can get your father-in-law to do this:
Having over 25 years of gaming experience, Zach knows a thing or two when it comes to one of his favorite entertainment activities. Additionally, he has also written many articles previewing and reviewing titles which can be found in various places around the net, including VGBlogger.com. 
Dood, I think I was smiling the entire time I watched those videos. It’s good to know that this system is reaching out like that, and honestly…you should send those vids to Reggie Fils-Aime and tell him it’s PROOF that the Wii is good for age 8 to 80! I love watching these videos, with an older generation picking up new technology like it’s nothing.
And yes, it makes arms very sore…so find a good masseuse!!
I’m telling you, Guitar Hero proved that interactive gaming is great for all ages. That I knew already first-hand. But I’ll be damned if Nintendo didn’t pick up that torch and RUN with it!
Incredible. This is solid proof that anyone can play the Wii… If people start buying the Wii for the same reasons as the DS, Nintendo will have this battle in their pocket…
Awesome! I did the same thing with my husband, and we brought the Wii over to HIS house as well as mine. His grandmother, who is 65, was playing tennis with his younger brother, who is 10! I love this system, and I’m glad you’re enjoying it too. It truly is a ‘revolution’!
Fantastic videos! I cant wait till the 7th December when it come out here!
Nice story to go with the Videos.
Well done
December 8th isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing videos of your family with us. It’s good to know that the Wii is going beyond just teenagers and 20 year olds. FYI: I found this entry on digg.
Clearly Incredible. I wish the Wii will deliver always this kind of fun in his lifetime. Even my father played a few games of bowling with me oO. The last I played against him in a VG is when Super Mario Kart was released on snes xD. Anyway great videos, but tell your father-in-law to wear his strap lol! ^^
My whole family was off the couch clamoring for the remote 10 minutes after unpacking the system and setting it up. Once I get my second remote, I’ll be taking it into work to see how many people I can get hooked on it over lunch hour…
Same situation here, but with the wife. Frowns on video games in general, but played wii sports for hours the day I brought it home, so much that she was sore the next day.
Thanks for sharing the videos, but you gotta remember to strap up if you’re gonna play. All those clips had your inlaws without the strap on. You’d probably feel horrible if the controller slipped out and broke their tv.
Not 8-80, try 4-80.
My 4 year old can bowl strikes and play tennis with me!
I plan on buying the Wii after all those who really have to have it by Christmas have done so. This would be the first new system I’ve bought since the Sega Master System I got in 1988 or so. I remember seeing a talk given by Joe Decuir at the Classic Gaming Expo in 1998. Joe was one of the designers for the Atari 2600 and wrote the game Combat, which came with the console. Joe said that the most important thing for him about combat was that kids could play it with their grandparents. Good to see Nintendo getting back to the roots!
This is really, really great … and the only reason why I would ever get a gaming console for my family.
I understand their enthusiasem. My Wii has brought me much entertainment when their is nothing good on T.V. Just one quick note of caution about the video. They are not wearing the strap, and the nice, big t.v. is the first thing in front of them..
Hey thats awesome seeing that, nintendo is onto a winner with the casual and hardcore gamer. I used to be hardcore but work and social life has turned me to a casual gamer and the wii is perfect to fit into my life. It’ll be the first ever console I buy on launch! Kudos to Nintendo
In europe it is Dec 8th in Australia it is coming out Dec 7th, can’t wait!
hehe nice
esp. like the reaction the dude on the last video.
“thats what im talkin’ bout! yeah baby!!”
genius 🙂
If a TV could be broken from throwing a remote at it I’d have a newer TV many times over. If remotes could do that much damage FOX News would be in a class action lawsuit to replace millions of TVs.
Use the strap because a new WiiMote is amazingly expensive…very smart, Nintendo.
For the record, my 72-year old mother-in-law who’s originally from the Phillipines played Wii Sports Bowling for over 30 minutes last night…she would have played more, but the brat kids were hogging it and being a bit too loud.
So in just a little under an hour, we had a 72 year old, a 45 year old, a 33 year old, a 31 year old, a 10, a 8, and yes…a FOUR year old playing Wii and having a blast doing it.
Nintendo really has hit the nail on the head…graphics and processing power aside, what they’ve created is something that can span the generation gap as well as the non-gamer to gamer gap.
It’s amazing…and brilliant at the same time. If Nintendo can capitalize on their success with a strong gaming library, I foresee Nintendo claiming a very prominent spot…almost close to the it’s heyday of yesteryear.
Well, Zach…I finally got my mom to try out the Wii Sports. She had gotten a little sick (literally) watching Red Steel (all the flashes and such), but dood…she picked the Wii-mote up at 1pm. By 4pm, she was at 900 skill points on bowling, about 500 on tennis, and about 500 on baseball!!!
This is a woman that couldn’t play a game past Super Mario Bros. and anything side-scrolling, because she couldn’t even grasp the idea of moving in a 3D world. Now, she’s kicking my ever-loving ass on the Wii!!!
Above that, with all her physical problems, the exercise she’s getting is doing her good. She said she’s able to move around much easier today, and she’s pretty sure it’s because of the exercise from the Wii.
If there is any nay-sayer about the Wii, then that person just has to be an idiot and not like fun!!!
The real question is this: what are these casual gamers going to do when they get tired of playing Wii Sports? I assume nintendo has something slick up their sleeve… Maybe a timely release of Wii Play in the States?
Sigh.. I need to save up the necessary funds and get one of these toys 🙂