Should I get my family (Wife, Two boys, 6 and 8 years old) a Wii or a Mac Mini. Either one will go on our 52 inch LED flat screen.
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M$10 Answers
Plus, there are a lot of cool education games for the Wii, as well. Some of my favorites are:
Big Brain Academy: boosts brain power with fun mini-games and activities. It helps with such skills as, memory, analysis, number crunching, visual recognition, and quick thinking. You can also brawl with other Brains in the multi-player mode.
Smarty Pants: I love this game, as I mentioned before. This would be fun for your whole family because it adjusts the trivia based on the player's age. It's so fun!
My Word Coach: This educational game improves your verbal communication and vocabulary in a fun way.
Plus, the Wii is great for social functions. I don't have children (yet), but my husband and I occasionally have a small gathering of friends over for the sole purpose of Wii playing. The Wii is fun for everyone!
Also, I just learned through @cjd that I can watch Hulu through my Wii. I haven't done this yet, but I am excited to test it out.
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M$Now a Wii will offer a variety of services - you can use it as the game system, a way of watching TV programmes on catchup (Hulu or iPlayer depending if your from US or UK), internet browser, photo manipulator and news directly sent to your Wii (providing you have WiFi). This is definitely suited towards the kids but has some facilities that you and your wife will also enjoy. Be prepared for them to be glued to the TV though...
Now, the Apple TV is an device which allows you to store all your movies, music, TV programmes and photos all on to one device. Now it comes in either 40GB or 160GB - and these are the specs -
Up to 50 hours (40GB) or 200 hours (160GB) of video
Up to 9,000 songs (40GB) or 36,000 songs (160GB)
Up to 25,000 pictures
As you have asked for a Mac Mini in the question, I will address this as well. The Mac Mini will definitely boost the amount of storage for your Mac, ranging in memory's from 120GB, 250GB, or 320GB. These will help you to have more videos, music, files, games and more for your computer.
However, I recommend that you get the Wii for the kids perspective, but then if you want it more for yourself or wife - I recommend the Mac Mini.
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M$
Thanks @demanda, @darcy_logan, @playadude and @lauriem. I really appreciate your thoughts - and I thoroughly encourage you to go ahead and buy a Wii - its more than what meets the eye.
Also, have you seen Wii Speak? It allows you to have conversations on the Wii. It has its own channel and works in many games, such as Animal Crossing Wii.
cjd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Speak
Excellent answer, cjd - we were right on the edge of deciding whether to get a Wii. This pushed us over. I'm making a detailed list of what we need now. Thank you!!
Thanks Ion - but note, that you will need the Wii Internet Channel to do so.
Great answer but I have an Apple TV. I was thinking I could teach my kids more useful things like photo editing, graphic artistry and page layout. I'm probably ahead of myself and should just get the Wii.
Great, detailed, thoughtful answer, CJD. I had no idea I could watch Hulu on my Wii! Trying it out right now. Anything to avoid getting berated again by Wii Fit!
Wow, I never realized I could watch Hulu on my Wii either. I'm going to try to figure it out. Thanks cjd! :) Excellent answer.
This is a great answer.... agree with Lon.
Horrible answer. Now that I know I can watch Hulu on a Wii I want one even more. Thanks a lot!!
If you entertain your boys' friends on a regular basis, they will have a great time in front of the Wii, and frankly, so will you and your wife and their parents. Hands down, the Wii is a great party centerpiece. Just make sure everyone wears the safety straps, because a wildly flung Wii remote isn't just an urban legend!
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@drmatt Why do you think that? I have some friends who had an LCD ruined because of someone not wearing the wii remote straps. Like this:
http://www.wiidamage.com/2007/01/03/gorgeous-70-inch-tv-gets-perfect-wii-shaped-hole/
I think the reminder to wear the straps was a good addition. The risk of damage/injury may be small, but it exists nonetheless, especially with children.
"Wildly flung Wii remote isn't just an urban legend!"
Ummm.... Yes it is an urban legend.
No big intensive argument or analysis on this one.
Are you just trying to get someone to justify your desire to buy a new Mac computer? :P
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M$
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M$Less expensive as well...
Great family games:
Wii Sports (comes with the system and is AWESOME)
Dokapon Kingdom
Guitar Hero (for kids 8+ but watch those lyrics)
WarioWare
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With the Wii you can watch Hulu via the internet channel (I believe it's a $10 on time fee to activate it) on the Wii but take a look at the web site for PlayOn (http://www.themediamall.com/products). They have a media center that sits on your PC and connects to game console - right now Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 but adding a connection to Wii soon. As well as the ability to stream local content from your PC to your TV you can also access Hulu and other internet channels. The Playon app is free for a trial and costs $40 one time according to the website.
Along with my Wii I also have an Apple TV which works great itunes content and once you add Boxee (www.boxee.tv) to it all of a sudden you have access to tons of user generated and network content (Hulu was available up until about a month ago when they pulled out of Boxee). Keep in mind thou if you run a Mac mini with Boxee installed on it as an application you can also do Netflix streaming which adds even more value. Currently you can not do Netflix streaming with an Apple TV running Boxee because of the processor limitation. Also Apple TV will not allow you to play DVD's where a Mac Mini would.
The question you must figure out is if you are looking for primarily a game system or a media center. Wii with Playon seems to look like the best fit for both but you will have to wait until the connector is released which looks to be around spring time. Also in my experience doing any kind of web work on a flat screen TV is tough - the wireless keyboards are not very comfortable and the screen resolution never looked that good to me but maybe with the new Mac Mini that has improved.
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M$
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M$
head
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M$While education is great, with two boys you want to burn off that energy.
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Thank you! I hope your whole family has great fun with the Wii. :)
This is a very good answer, I wonder if there are similar games I can buy for the Mac.