Nintendo Wii Games the Whole Family Will Enjoy

The Wii comes bundled with Wii Sports, a masterful game that both shows off the motion sensitive controls for the Wii, but also a game that has appeal far outside traditional gaming audiences. Anyone who has cared to pay attention has heard the numerous stories of senior citizens running Wii bowling tournaments and parents rediscovering a passion for video gaming. Everyone who has tried to buy a Wii will know that the appeal of the Wii has also resulted in chronic shortages of the little white machine. By all standards, the Wii is a formidable success, a success that has caught almost everybody by surprise, including the game developers who all seems to have expected the more powerful and advanced offerings from Microsoft and Sony to be the market leaders. Unfortunately, this has also affected the number of quality games developed for the Wii, a lot of developing houses simply didn't get on the Nintendo wave soon enough, and as a result there are too many rushed, unoriginal, and lousy games publish for the system. As the Wii keeps pulling further and further ahead, there is no doubt that game developers will refocus their efforts to bring high quality products to the Wii, but currently and headed into the Christmas season, there is huge amount of poor quality games that has been rushed to the console.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season comes this list of the highest quality family games available for the Wii, there are many great games already published, and also many games that will bring the family together in much the same way as Wii sports can. Any of these titles will provide hours and hours of gaming bliss for the entire family, that is after all what the Nintendo Wii is all about.

Mario Kart Wii
Mario Kart moves to the Wii and it is an absolute masterpiece! The racing is as hilariously competitive as always, there are more characters and track available than ever before, the game is beautiful and most importantly, extremely fun. Mario Kart is one of Nintendo's killer franchises, and the company has done everything right with this one. Four players can play against each other on a split screen, the many different ways to control your vehicle means that anybody can pick the game up and play, regardless of skill level and previous gaming experience. The game even comes with a steering wheel that fits the Wii controller that makes controlling your car very simple. Everyone will have an absolute blast as they fly through the courses and try to take each other out with a number of weapons and dirty tricks. In addition to being an excellent family game, the game now has a very robust online mode where you can race people from around the world, should your own family be tiered of you blasting them off the track with your red shells of doom. This game is must have for any Wii owner! The game could be in short supply though, so if you can find one in the store, you will not be disappointed if you pick this one up

Carnival Games
This game will not get any endorsements from the traditional video game crowd, but that's because the game is not for them. This game is tailor made for families that wants to play together. The game features a ton of different carnival type games that are easy to play for anyone and appeals especially to children. All the favorites are included, like ring toss, darts, the shooting gallery etc. etc. Many of the games can be played by four people at a time, or the players take turns trying their skills and luck. The players win prices and prize tickets that can be exchanged for items for your character to wear, which is just one more factor that keeps you coming back to this game. This game provides lots and lots of short game sessions, that you'll love playing with your kids. This game has to be played with other people, the game has little to offer in single player mode as almost the entire appeal of the game is in competing against each other.

My Sims
This game is not a multi player game, only one person can play at a time, but I include it on this list because it is a game that has great appeal to girls as well as boys, and because the people who are not playing, will still have a good time watching the game being played. At least in our family, this game is a great hit with the kids who could play this for hours and hours if we let them. In the game you play a builder who needs to restore a near deserted town to it's former glory, by building items and houses that appeal to the residents of the town, you will attract more and more people who wants to move in. The game focuses heavily on the building aspect, and lets players design the town just the way they want. The game requires that you explore the game world and find materials that will satisfy the demanding citizens in the town. There are also a number of social interactions in the game, but these are not really necessary to advance in the game. Still, kids will love to have their character sit down and eat pizza or go on a picnic or even take a dip in the fountain in the main square.

Boom Blox

Boom Blox received some notoriety for being designed by Steven Spielberg, and although a great vision for movies doesn't necessarily mean you can design a great game, in this case the results are brilliant. The concept of the game is very simple, you need to demolish structures made up of different sized blocks. Whomever removes the most blocks wins the round. Simple. The game does add some extra elements, like exploding blocks and different variations of levels and how you interact with the blocks to keep the game fresh for a long time, but the core game play remains extremely simple. The simple controls are the big strength of the game, and it is one of the games that uses the motion sensing features of the Wii controller most successfully. When playing the game it really feels like you are throwing a bowling ball, or carefully pulling out a block from the tower without toppling it. The simplicity of the controls means anyone can play this game and enjoy it, even if they have never touch a video game controller in their life. The game can be played by up to four people, and with a massive amount of different levels and play modes, and the excellent level editor where you can create your own custom levels, this game will have the family playing together for a long time.

Mario Part 8

This classic franchise makes it way to the Wii, where it provides more of the same that has made this series a huge success. The game requires up to four players to compete in many different 'mini games', short simple games, in order to advance around a playing board. Players will find themselves competing in all sorts of reasonable and not so reasonable challenges, from hitting baseballs, to shaking cans of soda, or walk a tightrope. Many of the mini games makes great use of the motion controller, guaranteeing many laughs as the whole family shake, wiggle and flail their Wii remotes about.

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree

Test your brain power with memory games, math problems, pattern recognition, quick thinking and more. This game really shines in the multi player mode where up to eight people of all ages can compete against each other. Most importantly, the game is great fun, surprisingly many will say, as it features math which is not considered fun by most people. The game easily delivers a delightfully frenzied feeling of competition and quick wits, and will get everyone yelling out answers and suggestions to 'help' along the players.

These games are some of the best and most accessible multi player games available for your Nintendo Wii. There are many other games that are excellent games in their own right that I have not included here, the focus of this list is on games that everyone in the family can enjoy and play together, especially for families with younger children. Any of these games will be a great pick up for the amazing machine known as the Wii.