NEWS: My Wife Likes Playing With My Wii

GEEK: My Wife Likes Playing With My Wii

Okay, so I know the “Wii” pun is the most overused on the Internets right now and I promise this will be the one and only time I use it. The truth is, my wife actually does like playing my Nintendo Wii. This is huge.

My wife and I have known each other for nearly eight years, and throughout our time together, she has been more than a little perplexed as to how a grown man can enjoy video games so much. It's not that she thought it was a bad thing, necessarily; she just didn't get it. I could never get her to play with me. Ever.

It kind of sucked considering how much I love my video games. I've often wished that she would share in the experience with me, but no such luck...until my Wii came along.

She had seen the ads on TV and said it looked “gimmicky.” While I didn't necessarily disagree with, I wanted a Wii in the worst way (having already made my informed decision between a Wii and a PS3. More on that later).

I happened to be at Wal-Mart (something I’m not proud of) at the exact time the electronics department got their shipment of three Wiis in. I, of course, tried to buy all three (hello eBay!) but they wouldn’t let me. I did score one for myself though.

I was so excited I literally almost hit another car on the way home, but as fate would have it, I arrived alive and immediately hooked up my Wii. My wife was there to witness the first game I played: Tennis from the Wii Sports disk. I played one best of three game. Needless to say, it was awesome.

Then I had the shock of my life.

“Let me play it once,” my wife said.

After I recovered from the initial astonishment that my wife was actually asking me to play a video game, I was faced with a serious dilemma. I had only played one game and she was asking me to give up the controller. Under normal circumstances my response would have been a heartfelt “Hell no!”

But this was my wife asking me if she could play a video game. This was something I had dreamed about for nearly a decade. I tenderly handed her the controller. She started to play. She started to smile. She busted out laughing. She was playing a video game and she was loving it.

I could have died a happy man right then and there. Fortunately, I continued on. We switched back and forth through the rest of the night, playing our way through the disk (she kicked my ass in bowling) and had a great time bonding over video games.

Finally, my dream was realized—but it kept getting better. My wife has generally regarded money spent on video games as totally wasted. That’s why I about fell over dead when she called me from the store a few days later to inform me that they had extra Wii remotes and ask if she should pick one up so we could play tennis against each other.

Uh, that would be a “yes." So she did. We even got "his and hers" colored skins for the remotes (blue and orange). Now we Wii together all the time. Life is awesome. Thank you Nintendo, for providing the Wii to a happy marriage.

Awww! This story made me happy =)

That's so cute. I want a video game romance. haha.

I here stories like this all the time at work, "the misus has hated gaming yet now she wont let me have turn she is almost as addicted as me to games now" it is good that there is now a cominality between the sexes but more so a way to show those who have never go into the gaming scene an inlet that is fun and exciting .

hhahahah thats such a cute story me and my girl have bonded over the ds as well, nintendo make good bonding systems

I haven't yet played a Wii yet but I hear it is a lot of fun. What is it exactly that make women love the Wii so much? How is it different from other video game systems?

When I was home from college over the winter break, I was working in the electronics department at Wal-Mart (I know, but hey, they pay for some of my tuition). We got one in, no one was around, so I picked it up. I get it home, and plug in Wii sports. I play for about 45 minutes, and my Dad comes home.

Now, let me paint a picture here. He is a 6'5", 240lb retired USMC drill instructor, and a retired police officer. He regarded my video game playing as my way to let out steam. He saw me playing bowling, and he said "that looks stupid". I load up golf, which is one of the few things that my father and I can do together, weather and work permitting. He watches me play a game of 3 hole. He says, "Fine, I'll give it a try". So, I go and take a shower and get some work done on my law school applications. I come back about 1.5 hours later...and he is still playing. I ask him how he's doing, and his reply, "This is the best thing ever. I've almost mastered golf on expert mode!"

It almost broke his heart when I took it back to school with me.

Thank you, Nintendo, for helping my father realize why video games are fun.

I think the fact that, for the most part, it is easy to stand up and play for the first time, especially Wii Sports. You hit the ball. After you get the timing down, it gets easier.

Also, it is just plain fun to not only play, but also watch. I've had almost as much fun watching my Father, 63 years old, and my cousins, 7 and 9, play as I've had playing myself.

This is exactly what my gf and I have been going through. She loves my Wii, I'm super excited!

It seems like a lot of work to swing that controller around though. When I play video games I like to sink down into the couch as low as I can and move as little as possible. Even the thumb movement required by other systems are a little much for me.

Me and my husband waited in line for 26 hours or so for our Wii...and it was definately worth it!! It is my favorite consol. I have always loved video games, but the Wii made me fall in love all over again. There are so many games that we can play together. Right now we are playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance, which is a lot of fun!
I love nintendo!! ^_^

hehehe.. videogame romance. thats special. i wish i had a girl who loved videogames as much as i did.
then again, even just a girl would be nice.

Strangely, I was able to find an extra nunchuck with very little trouble, but not a second remote.

Anyhow, I can totally relate to this article. My girlfriend is mostly a fan of 2-D platform games (ala SNES) as am I. Those games are generally fun because there's little to figure out in terms of controls. Usually it's just move, jump, attack. With 3-D games on a game pad, it takes a while to figure the controls out before the game actually becomes fun. Usually my girl would just get bored in the "getting to know the controls" part of playing a game and never get to the fun part of playing a game.

On the Wii, the controls are mostly intuitive (swing to swing, point to aim, etc.) So she can almost immediately skip to the point where the game is fun and keeps her interest. I suspect the reason so many other people are turned on by the Wii is similar to this.

show me a joystick that comes close to beating mouse and keyboard and I'll use my TV for something

aw, look at all this bonding. *tear*

my bf has a wii, too. i love it. especially creating the characters. i created 7 in the past half hour.

haven't played video games since the sega genesis.
that is, until the wii came out
now i can't quit :]
the boyfriend loves it
(except when i want to play zelda at the same time as him!)

If only I could get my g/f off my 360 I would seriously consider getting a Wii.

Video games may help to bond, but be careful because if it's too much fun it may just backfire on you...

Show up on their doorstep with a wii in hand

"She had seen the ads on TV and said it looked "gimmicky." "

WOW this is the same way I felt about the article after reading this...

What a cute story.

Soo...what if I want a Wii and the mister wants a PS3?

He needs to have his head examined.

Everytime I try to talk about it, he starts in with,

"But it's got blu-raaaaay!"

Like feeling like my DVD collection is obsolete is a good thing.

Typically I do prefer the game selection on Sony, though.