I am a gaming dad. I have two sons who are currently in the under-10 crowd, and we all play video games. It's just something we do, and it is a great way to bond with my kids. We have a lot of consoles - SNES, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, PS1, PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox 360. This isn't a hardware or gaming review with staged photos, it's my experience over the last 72 hours and how the Wii changed the way my family plays games - for better or worse - with an unsanitized glimpse at us playing. Since the 360 was the last addition to our gaming family, I'm also going to compare out-of-the-box experiences between the 360 and Wii.
But first -
How I got screwed by Toys R Us
In my opinion, Toys R Us is using underhanded sales tactics to push their extended warranty. I did not preorder, and I did not wait in line. My local Toys R Us claimed that they had units in stock when I called. I drove the seven miles and got in line, which was short - only two people in front of me, and neither of them were buying a Wii. Lucky me.
When I asked for a unit, I was told by the "R Zone" clerk that they were out of individual Wii units. They were now only stocking "bundles". This "bundle" is not officially-sanctioned. It does not come in a bigger box with factory-packed extras. No, the Toys R Us "bundle" consists of simply a standard off-the-shelf Wii, upon which you are forced to add a game, two accessories (which don't even have to be official Nintendo accessories), and the extended protection plan from Toys R Us.
I was forced to purchase these "extras" if I wanted to walk out of there with a Wii (which I was told they had in stock) - I was offered a Wii Starter Kit which is made a company called Bensussen, not Nintendo. This is a collection of cheaply made, useless items like controller covers and a game carrying case. This "starter kit" is $30.00. This thing no doubt has a huge profit margin built in for Toys R Us. The clerk actually left the counter and brought me right to it, and told me that it was part of the bundle. I asked if there were other, more useful accessories that would fulfill the "bundle" requirement, and found that I could purchase an SD card (made by a third party), and an extra Wii controller (sans Nunchuk!).
I intended to buy an extra controller and memory card anyway, but that's not the point. I certainly would not have gotten my 1 gb SD card at Toys R Us for $59.99! I would have gotten it from a reasonable online retailer at a much lower price (at this writing, I found a Kingston 1 gb SD card for $19.99 online). I certainly did not want the $30 pile of garbage that they threw together and called a "starter kit". My intention was to go there and buy a Wii, an extra controller, and a game.
The last part of the "bundle" is the extended warranty. I never buy the extended protection plans. It doesn't matter if they are a good idea or not, I just don't buy them on principle. Toys R Us didn't give me the choice. I was planning on spending under $350, but instead ended up forking over more than $430. I walked out of the store with a Wii, an extra Remote, Legend of Zelda, a 1 gb SD card, and the extended protection plan.
They told me they had them in stock, but they never qualified that by telling me to bring an extra hundred dollars because I was gonna be buying their extra crap. Boo on you, Toys R Us.
Enough of that now.
