Monday, November 17, 2008

To Wii or Not To Wii


To Wii, or not to Wii: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler as a parent to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous pleading,
Or to take arms against a TV of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To spurn—to scorn,
No more; and by scorning to say we end
The twitches and the thousand natural tics
That kids are prone to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To spurn, to scorn;
To scorn, perchance to play — ay, there's the rub:
For in that rejection of video games what envy may come,
When we have played Guitar Hero with friends,
This must give us pause—there's the fun
That can bond a family while strumming "Livin' On a Prayer."
For who could blame the parents who would join
Their children in revelry and laughter
As the adoring crowds applaud the avatar to Star Power!
The mirth of play, and the merrymaking
That patient dexterity of hand and eye!
Oh, what then when Rock Band calls to you?
Not only guitars, but drums and microphone join
To make music and fun together as a group!
But that the dread of something after playing--
The tantrums, the craziness, the hyperactivity which,
When endured, can cause the parents' hair to grey.
The refusal to settle down and sleep in a room
From whose bourn no parent well escapes, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience (together with economic recession)
Does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great fun and merrymaking
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the act of purchase.



To Wii or Not To Wii?



25 comments:

kristenhcubed said...

HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!!!!!!

Guess what our kids are getting for Christmas?

Loving the adaptation.

Lena said...

lol, that is great! Well, we have Wii'ed- but my dh and I both grw up with video game playing familiws. Mario Kart tournaments ensue at every family get together on my side!

Lindsay said...

Ha...we are getting one. But I am buying it a little differently then the normal way to purchase things. Check out this site: http://www.yournintendowii4free.com/
I almost have all of my points to get the Wii. You have to spend a little money on some of the trials and you have to totally keep track of everything you are doing. Let me know if you want to see my spreadsheet on how i have done it. My sister is doing this as well. Her friend did it last year and got a Wii and this year she is going for the PS3. It's crazy, but hey, it works. Let me know if you wanna know more!!! PS...very clever little poem/writing.

Jillo said...

Whoa Mrs. Shakespere, this is fabulous! This is the exact thing we are asking ourselves right now. But thus conscience, together with economic recession, doth make cowards of us all.
Never wiser words were spoken.

Chelle said...

That is definitely THE question! I love, love it!

Jared and I have both been decidedly opposed to getting any kind of gaming system since we were married. Neither of us grew up with them and we both felt like we were none the worse off because of it. But after some careful consideration this year we we have decided to ask Santa for one. It's looking likely that he'll deliver, given the fact that he's already delivered it and it's hiding in our closet :)

I was initially concerned because it's just one more thing to monitor, but we'll just have to set the ground rules and be consistent in enforcing them. We are excited about it. We're hoping it will mean fun times for our family and it will be one more reason for friends to like our house (as long as I'm not a grouch about it).

April (Thorup) Oaks said...

You are brilliant!!! I'm impressed with your writing.

We got one last year and Wii love it :)

Foltron said...

It's not even a question. If you're in a position to get one you do it. Let's say you get buyers remorse. The holiday's are upon us and you could always sell it on Ebay. Worse case you get your money back.

As far as the games go, there are plenty of titles that are age appropriate. Wii Fit is fantastic. I know from experience. The Wii Fit allows you to create your Mii and set goals for physical fitness. It provides yoga, balance games, strength training and aerobics. The Wii will track your progress and will allow you to enter in data from non Wii Fit activities.

Okay that's enough about the Wii Fit. It seems you already know the greatness of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Did you hear that Apple is in the works with Guitar Hero to release the entire Beatles catalog?

There are the Brain Academy games that are nothing but educational. Really, you can't go wrong with the Wii. Just set your limits from the start and if contention arises simply put it away. K and M will get over it especially with the imaginations they have.

The Rat Life said...

“To Wii or Not To Wii”

This is my answer…
The Balance
Make a balance so the bad doesn’t out way the good.
Set Goals~
Set Time~
Goals ~ Earn the play of Wii
Time ~ Set the timer so all can have fun
with the understanding of all knowing when we stop.
Then ~ Plan a calm activity to settle the mood…
Then…if all was respected…
You can earn the playing of Wii again.
We do not allow video games Monday ~Thursday
For we seen this rob our time
of extra learning…creativity…reading…communicating with each other…
Then on Friday, Saturday, Sunday
They are free to play with given permission.
Are we challenged at times…yes…
Do we challenged them back…yes :)
Remember in Little Men ~
When they could have a timed pillow fight…
With respect they could have fun again the following Friday
…without respect they lost that fun…
I think there is much fun and learning…
When we set guidelines.

J Fo said...

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

But remember this: to thine own family be true, and it must follow as the Wii the fun, and Thou canst always sell it on ebay!

Love Hamlet!

a skateboarder who plays guitar. said...

Hey coming from the "kids" view the only time I ever really get rowdy’ed up is if someone is trash talking me as I play (c‘mon you cant even do that or ha ha ha gotcha again I’m soooo much better than you) , it gets pretty frustrating. Anyways so long as you keep it fun the
Kiddie’s should enjoi it .

Chelle said...

Hey "the rat life" - I love your suggestions. We already have a weekend only policy on the television so I suppose it just makes sense to extend that to the Wii as well. Nice to see that you are doing it and finding success. I like the idea of earning the privilege to play. When we run into problems, I know who I'm coming to for advice :)

Swawa said...

Haha, I lovvve the Wii my sister has one and it's sooo much fun and there's so many cool games that you can buy for it, such as Wii fit (which by the way you can do yoga). Also I'm slightly with SWPG where you don't always get wound up with the games... and if you do you put it away for a while.

Emily said...

awesome.

i had to memorize that speech in high school, and i'm surprised how much of it i still remembered as i read through yours.

bythelbs said...

Brilliant. Seriously. Could you enter this in some kind of contest?

And definitely "to wii". It has been one of the best investments we've ever made for Christmas.

Unknown said...

THIS IS BRILLIANT!!!!!!!


My sister just tried to talk me into getting a Wii---but it is not to be for me!!

Boquinha said...

Omigosh! THANK YOU for the very nice comments!! I'm so flattered!! And thanks for all the Wii feedback, too. We're leaning toward getting it, I think.

Lindsay, whoa, that site is wild. They'll give you cash, too?! And it's legit? Wow! How involved is it and do you get stuck with signing up for stuff that keeps on sending? Very curious indeed . . . thanks for sharing!

Thanks, too, for all the suggestions from everyone as well. Lots of good food for thought here. So if we get a Wii, will all of you want to come visit? (Or not, since it sounds like most of you have or are getting Wiis!). :P

And Greg, the Beatles?!! I'm sold! That would be a HUGE HIT in our house!! With all of us, but especially with Maxim! And Brain Academy? Very cool.

Rachelle, "the rat life" is a great place for parenting advice. She has 7 children and is CONSTANTLY getting compliments on how great her kids are (and they are!). Heh, two of them are teens commenting on this post!

lbs, a contest? Me?? Wow. Thanks! That's a mighty big compliment coming from you (Is this burning sensation normal? Bwahahahahah! I love your writing!).

D'Arcy, you can play at our house. :)

Boquinha said...

By the way, I love the cleverness in these comments . . .

Swawa said...

Oh yes, we will definitly be coming over. :P

Em said...

Wii love it! The Star Wars game is great! I seem to remeber that someone in your family is a fan:) We are on a budget and don't have a ton of games but still love it a year later.

nicole said...

Yep I succumbed er rather Santa did(its a whole gift for the family and pretty much all we're doing)-but we are going to have to be careful...William has a weakness albeit near obsession with it(as he does with all games/sports) and we've only played it a few times at friends/family member houses. Apparently there are even some games you can play with people on the other side of the world.. since even their grandma has it now I'm hoping for a little family bonding.

nicole said...

oh and that poem was pure GENIUS!

HWHL said...

This is VERY clever, my dear!

From a practical perspective, we were a "NO VIDEOGAME" family until 2 years ago (when our son was 10 - he's really the only one who plays with it). We finally "caved" and bought a Nintendo GameCube.

Do you know who INSTANTLY became addicted? My husband!!!!

We've since upgraded to a PlayStation2. Hubster and J enjoy it. My daughter and I have never gotten into it.

But yes, I remember the anguish over "should we or shouldn't we"....

LOVE your Shakespearian adaptation. I can just see you standing center stage, under a spotlight, issuing your heartfelt soliloquy. :-)

HWHL said...

btw - your "Gratitude Door" is mentioned on my blog today! :-)

Boquinha said...

Thanks, all, for the comments on this post. What fun! I can relate to so much that you're all saying. We'll keep you posted . . . :)

Robynne said...

That's awesome, and very deserving of being "stumbled upon"!! ;) And yes, we wii!!! :)