TV, Video Games, & Board Games

We don’t have TV. Well, we have a TV but we don’t watch cable or satellite or even have an antenna. Ryan and I made the choice to stop watching television more than 3 years ago and we haven’t regretted it once.
We don’t believe, however, that the TV box itself houses the devil. Our TV is used to watch movies and we have a few gaming systems the kids and Ryan enjoy on occasion, although we don’t allow the kids to play them often. Video games are definitely a special treat around here.

Shopping for a gaming system can be fun – especially when when Nana and Grandpa Al are the ones footing the bill. We looked around quite a bit, read a ton of reviews, and priced different systems at different places. Although everybody seemed to be out of stock after last Christmas we were happy to have a good online shopping mall, like ShopWiki with over 30,000 stores and numerous buying guids, to aid in our system and pricing research.

Even though we limit our kids’ video gaming time, our family time sometimes finds us laughing in front of the TV while playing the Nintendo Wii we ended up choosing, to our kids overwhelming satisfaction. Although I don’t find this system to be a necessity it has definitely brought us all quite a few giggly memories and I love that we can all actively participate. Even Ben at age three is able to swing his virtual golf club and send the ball in the right direction. Mario & Sonic Olympic Games is a riot! The Wii is definitely the best gaming system I have ever played or seen. Actually, I don’t like video games at all so for me to like a gaming system even a little really speaks well for it.

Many other systems are popular, too, but not as interactive as the Wii. My husband would definitely enjoy an XBOX360 with its numerous games and accessories like the Halo 3 wireless headset, but we know that won’t be happening any time soon. We also have some friends who love their Playstation 3 but the Wii is the only gaming system that even comes close to fitting our family.

After much product research and learning what video gaming options were available last winter we came to one conclusion. Well, actually, we came to two conclusions. My husband concluded that there were too many options to just choose one.
I decided that one was more than enough and board games were actually a better investment. It is true. Although I really do like our Wii I find it more enjoyable to sit around the table and play a good game of Catan with the kids. Or Farkle, or Apples to Apples (the kids edition) or Last Word, or Piratology, or 20 questions, or…

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