If you can believe it, it's now been around 13-and-a-half years since the Wii first burst into our living rooms, taking the world by storm thanks to its virtual takes on tennis, bowling and the like.
If you were old enough at the time, you'll likely remember the stories that would circulate around the time of the console's launch, mostly consisting of stock issues and headlines about old people being 'addicted' to it - seriously, that was a thing. We wouldn't necessarily expect these types of stories to still be popping up in 2020, but that's exactly what's happened this morning.
Local news outlet Harrogate Informer has shared a charming story on residents at Windsor Court, a care home in nearby town, Wetherby. A domestic assistant at the home, Leown Botten, organised the donation of a Wii console, setting it up for the residents and teaching them how to play. Harrogate Informer says the residents are now "hooked" to Nintendo's machine, taking it turns to enjoy everything it has to offer.
"I have been really enjoying playing our new games," says 85-year-old resident, Brian Green. "I wouldn’t have thought I would have ever be able to play video games, but the Wii is brilliant and so easy to use! I have been loving our tennis and golf matches."
The care home's manager, Paula Mountjoy, has said that the console has brought residents together, helping them to get exercise and have fun.
It's great to hear that the Wii is still being enjoyed to this day. Wii Sports is still a cracker, even now.
[source harrogate-news.co.uk]
Comments 58
I wonder if Nintendo will ever re-release Wii games with some type of adapter to use Wiimotes.
Wow, Wii is almost 14 years old ?
Love the White color of Wii, both machine and game box. One of the most beautiful Nintendo product.
We still have one at the office. We actually had a Wii bowling tournament there a few months ago.
Wii Sports is one of the greatest games ever made, and Resort was WONDERFUL!
I wish Nintendo had done one for Switch.
The WiiU one is hit and miss, baseball is definitely a hit!
Let's hope they weren't cursed with Game Party. We should all band together and donate some of the best games to these guys. It gets to a point where you kinda get bored of Wii Sports and Mario Kart Wii
Heartwarming story. More of this please!
@mrmememan Donating Wii consoles and games to care homes is a great idea! I hope someone picks that idea up and runs with it
I think in terms of original library, it’s the best Nintendo console ever.
Two great Mario 3D games, 2 Zeldas, Metroid Prime 3, etc.
Besides that, great hidden gems like: Deadly Creatures, Little King Story, Muramasa, Okami (the best version), Madworld, No More Heroes 1 and 2, Lost in Shadow, Zack and Wiki, and so many other games!
Also, the Wiiware portion have some true unique titles!
I love the Wii!
I still have my Wii plugged proudly into the main TV along with Switch and PS3. It is still such a great console. The last game I played on it was about 2 months ago; Lost Winds: Winter of the Melodias. Such a beautiful game that is now lost forever since Nintendo permanently closed the Shopping Channel.
@SPL64 It should be considered a national crisis that the ReBirth series is still locked away on the dead Wii Shop.
It would be such a home run if they released a Wii kit for Switch. Along as they treated those who purchased from the shop fairly I can’t see how it would go wrong.
We bought a Wii on a great deal for some lockdown exercise and got twilight princess which I’ve never played.
Regret selling mine back in the day.
if the Nintendo Wii (and possibly the Wiil) is/are still hit(s) than maybe Nintendo should consider making some of the Wii and Wii U accessories compatible with the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo released a GameCube controller adapter, so maybe its about time for the Wii to get a little love...lmao
However, the GameCube controller adapter needs an update or two. it needs a home button so that we won't need a second controller plugged in for if we want to take a snapshot or want to return to the home screen for when we want to play another game.
the GamePad should be helpful in Super Mario Maker 2. the dual screen feature thing on the Wii U was helpful in the original Super Mario Maker. looking at the TV to view the entire level that you are currently working on and at the same time being able to use the GamePad for viewing and editing a part of the course that you are interested in creating or making changes to.
What a wonderful story. It's nice to see older folks having a blast. When I am that old, I'll still be playing Nintendo games. Hehe
Can Switch Joy-Cons do everything a Wii-mote could do? Time for another Wii Sports! Those old Wiis won't last forever and care homes will need to replace them at some point.
My grandparents play their wii every other day. They actually just bought another one on eBay a few months ago just in case their “wii bowling” stops working. That disc has never left their console in 10 years 😂
My grandpa passed in his mid 90s, and spent the last decade of his life at a care facility where he played so much Wii Sports Bowling that it was mentioned in his obituary. He was always really active, and it was great for him to have a source of competitive pride late in life after his body began to fail him.
@Tipehtfomottob same! I really see no sense in parting with my Wii any time soon; even if they release the majority of its best titles remastered for Switch, there are far too many quirky little oddities on it that I'd be loathe to part with
To date, there's still nothing like Wii Sports on Switch, so...yeah.
Nintendo should create a "mini" version and sell it in perpetuity. Not doing so is basically the equivalent of board game companies saying, "Okay, Monopoly/Clue/Life/etc was a success, but we're stopping production forever and moving onto new board games! If you want a copy, go see the second-hand market and pay hundreds of dollars!"
Remember folks, your Wii U is also backwards compatible with Wii games...use it to the fullest!
@cyrus_zuo I thought golf on the WiiU was awesome!!
Until they’re able to make a Switch TV only model, it’ll still be a hit in this demographic for years to come.
One of the greatest consoles of all-time. Fact.
@TG16_IS_BAE
Very true!
And some other games like: Excite Bike, Lost Winds (I and II).
@GrizzledVeteran
The only thing it’s the absence of the pointer function.
I actually think the Wii probably could have sold a couple of hundred million units if Nintendo had just kept selling and supporting it to this day. In fact, I always thought the Wii U should have just been a peripheral for Wii anyway, as many people thought it was when first announced, and I think that actually would have made far more sense, cost less ultimately, been more satisfying and just been a bigger success for both the Wii and a hit for the Wii U as a result. Just imagine that, a Wii that had everything it already had (including the Wiimote and the Virtual Console and so on) and also had the Wii U peripheral and all the extra games and features that came with it too. . . . Now that truly could have been something special--and maybe even a bit more so too if the Wii U [add on peripheral] had been able to be used anywhere in the house as most people expected it to when first announced.
@SPL64 Yes!!!!
@keihtg agreed. Charge $80 for it with
4 Wiimotes
4 Nunchucks
Wii Sports Resort
Wii Play
Wii Party
Mario Kart
New Super Mario Bros
𝅘𝅥𝅮 Grandma Wii love U oh yes Wii do 𝅘𝅥𝅮
Still got mine hooked up to my CRT in my bedroom! Mostly use it as a media player and emulation machine these days but did play some Mario Galaxy 2 in celebration of its 10th anniversary.
@C0NNERS What games do you think we could do? Maybe we could start a thread on this
Must be all that Homebrew and emulator goodness they are hooked on.
Once it goes past midnight, Residents get to crack on House of the Dead Overkill and the party really starts .
They're playing hipster "hidden gems", like: Fragile Dreams: Farewell ruins of the Moon, Kororinpa, Another Code: R and Zack and Wiki.
Still have my original white Wii from launch day and in addition to an extra white one, i have a black one, and a brand new factory sealed Red Wii in the Vault! On top of all this, I also have 3 modded Wii’s two of them which have 2TB external hard drives loaded with GameCube and Wii retail games and My modded red wii has 1237 Cube and Wii titles alone, not even counting all the retro game systems included from Atari 2600 thru the Playstation 1 with most having full game libraries! Absolutely incredible!! Mine till they die!! 😃👍😉
@mrmememan Great idea. Start a thread and throw it open to the Nintendo Life community. Your idea may set good things in motion 👏
after playing 51 worldwide games the bowling looks better but we had so much issues with the motion controls. wii bowling anyone could do it.
The Wii is the only reason Nintendo is still relevant
Nintendo took a huge step backwards when they got rid of the sensor bar, motion aiming sucks
Since I hacked my Wii to play GC games and other things, I still play my Wii as well. It's a great console and still one of my favorite modern consoles to this day.
Kinda shocking they wont make a switch sports game
This is why so many Wii's on the second hand market have urine stains
@Anti-Matter #BlackWiisMatter
The Wii is literally the only video game console I own where I purchased every single game I ever wanted for it. Other consoles? I may only own 50-80% of the titles I wanted, but Wii had so much shovelware on it, there are only around 18 titles I wanted for it.
If you’re over the age of 65 or under the age of 7, I’m willing to wager that you believe that the Wii is the only video game system to have ever existed and it is totally the hottest new thing.
@NTELLIGENTMAN
I prefer White color for all my consoles and handhelds.
@computernut Mario galaxy would be nice
Thus is a really sweet story. I'm also loving the comments advocating donating old Wii consoles to nursing homes (I just got back my Wii mini and it might need a home).
I mean I’m currently using my Wii U to play the Wii version of Pikmin
@stevep
I Agree. FPS like Call of Duty are awesome with the combination of nunchuck and wiimote.
Also, every single other game to “shoot things”!
Dead Space, Link’s Crossbow Training, house of the dead, Ghost Squad.
Even World of Goo is best enjoying on the Wii.
Playing Wii with my 9 year old daughter during our COVID staycation has been the best experience of this otherwise terrible year. She slices Wii so much. It’s crazy to think about how successful this system was and why. To see those same reasons keep it going over 14 years later. Wow.
Just never liked this console. Had some fun with the bowling and Mario Galaxy is amazing, but too much shovelware and I couldn't stand the controller. However, the Virtual Console still goes unmatched in retro gaming goodness.
My nephews have an Xbox One and yet still play their Wii more often.
i always say, the older you get, the more conection you get to childhood behaviour, they just want to have fun.
Not realy my favorite console, but its concept was realy unique and i understand why so many people love the wii.
Strangly, i realy loved the wii-u though, so maybe i pick one up this year so i can play some wii games i missed. I almost play any zelda and mario game on every console, and it still bothers me i had to miss galaxy and skyward.
The Wii is a huge hit in my house right now. I just set up my Wii (U) so my kids could play the simple motion games and they are loving it.
The Wii U is really a great console, two full machines in one with so many options for games and ways to play.
@JDavies I learned my lesson on the N64. NEVER. SELL. NINTENDO. CONSOLES.
@RandomNerds No kidding, I’ve sold most of them so it would take a lot of time and effort to collect it all. For now the kids will get their history lesson on the classic minis but I would love for them to try wii sports and boom blox too.
@JDavies Boom Blox was awesome
@JDavies My kids are loving Endless Ocean (can't go to Aquariums right now) and Wii Sports Resort (they call it frisbee dog). I hope you can find a cheap one for your kiddos.
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