Will Wii or won't Wii this holiday?

November 17, 9:10 PMDC Home Parenting ExaminerLisa Linden Fee

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Video games are a popular holiday item for children and will be again this year. Nintendo has announced that they will have plenty of Wii's this holiday season, but some experts are skeptical as to the actual availability as the holidays get closer. I checked at Game Stop on Friday and the Wii was available. If the situation gets more dire as the holidays get closer, there are websites dedicated to tracking the availability of Wii's such as www.wiitracker.com.

My children each have a Wii on their holiday and birthday lists. We already have a Playstation 2, but that is the extent of our electronics inventory for the kids. Limiting the amount of time that our children use the Playstation is a constant battle as it is and I don't know how having a second game system will help.

If we were to get another game system though, the Wii would be it. It seems to be family oriented and allows kids to be more active. It actually looks fun for parents as well.

Many families that we know have multiple game systems. I wondered if it was the norm. The Kaiser Foundation found that in 2004, 80% of the children they studied had more than one video game system in their house and 30% had more than three.  

Limiting screen time for kids is tough, but what are the pros and cons of playing video games? The National Institute on Media and Family says that there are positives and negatives to video games. Some of the positives include fine motor and spatial skill practice, practice in problem solving and logic, experience following directions and just plain fun. Some of the negatives include possible social isolation, the violence that exists in many video games, lack of independent thought or creativity and more. The Institute gives these tips for parents:

• Make sure that homework and chores are done before playing video games,
• Avoid first person "shooting" type video games,
• Play games with your child,
• Explain to your child why you object to certain games,
• Talk about the content of the games, and
• Check the ratings and read online about the content of the games.

Will we give into the pressure and get a Wii? Only Santa knows for sure!