Why we didn't get a Wii for Christmas

I wanted to share a column I wrote Monday for the Mercury News on our decision not to get the Wii this year. Enjoy:

by Chris O'Brien

Before the holidays, I knew exactly what I was going to write in this space.

My wife and I were planning to buy a Wii for Christmas. It would be my first video game system since my Atari back in the early 1980s. And I expected to wax joyfully about our family's plunge into the world of video games.

Except things didn't quite work out that way.

We did buy a Wii. But 24 hours and one panic attack later, I returned it with immense relief.
Perhaps this makes me a traitor to the economy, or an unwelcome Luddite in the gloriously high-tech Silicon Valley. But before a geek lynch mob hunts me down, let me explain why we opted — mostly — for a tech-gadget-free holiday.

I've had almost no interest in video games since I was in junior high school. I came of age in the Pac Man-Donkey Kong generation. After bowling league on Saturday mornings (yes, I was on a bowling team), I'd head for the arcade and play Galaga or Ms. Pac Man. But as games became more complex, more lifelike, I lost interest. I owned the first Atari, and I played Frogger on it.

But that's about as far as it went.

When I became a columnist almost two years ago, I felt pretty comfortable writing about most topics because I've covered just about everything in my decade in Silicon Valley. But video games were a definite blind spot for me. As the XBox, PlayStation and Wii consoles made video games one of the most popular and lucrative forms of entertainment,

I abstained.

Filling in that knowledge gap was one of the ways I rationalized getting a Wii: I needed it for work. Yeah, that's it.

But really, my interest in video games has been rekindled because of my two kids, Liam, 7, and Kalian, 4. They've become increasingly curious about computers. My wife and I, like many parents, have been trying to strike a balance between letting them explore computers, and keeping them from becoming techno-obsessed shut-ins who spend all day online and have no friends. Our current rule is that each kid gets 30 minutes of "screen time" once a week to play games online, surf the Web or print out coloring pages.

Beyond that, Liam has been playing with Wiis when he visits friends, or his cousins in Scotts Valley, or believe it or not, our local YMCA. The Wii seemed by far to be the most family-friendly gaming system. And with the price falling to $199, this seemed like the right time to dive in.

So the week before Christmas, I drove over to the nearest Best Buy. And that's when the anxiety set in.

There were plenty of Wiis in stock, so no problems there. I picked one up and was asking an employee a couple of questions when he noted that the console came with only one controller.
Hmmm. One controller + two kids = eye-gouging fights Christmas morning. I knew I needed another one, which cost $49.

Then I began looking for a couple of games to go with it. I knew we'd be paying a bit more for these. But as I looked at some games we wanted, like "Lego Rock Band," I realized that I needed other controllers, like a microphone, drums or guitar. These could run another $100 or more if I got all of them. So I passed and didn't get any games, figuring they could just play the games that came with it for now.

As I examined the box, I realized that I had forgotten that the Wii could also be connected to the Web. The problem here was that our cable modem is in the kitchen (don't ask) and the TV is in the living room. Guess that's a headache I'd have to figure out later.

As I was finally checking out, the cashier asked if I wanted any batteries. "Batteries? For what?" I wondered. She explained that the controllers ran on batteries. Gulp. I grabbed a package of rechargeable batteries, for about $30.

Having spent about $90 more than I expected, I had a few knots in my stomach on the way home and was kicking myself for not doing my research. Bad columnist. Bad.

Back on the couch, as my wife and I were discussing this, we also started trying to figure out what the new policies governing this device would be. Would we still have only 30 minutes of screen time a week? Could they play it every day for 10 minutes? One thing was sure: They'd be asking for it every second of every day.

Cue the panic attack. The next day I returned the whole thing. No questions asked, thank you very much.

Come Christmas morning, I knew I had done the right thing. First of all, had there been a Wii, it would have overshadowed every single other gift. As it was, Liam was excited by his Lego sets and Bakugan ball. Kalian was tickled by her Groovy Girls dolls. (Our attempts at gender-neutral parenting have not been 100 percent successful.) And both of them have been enjoying some basic board games we got this year: Trouble and Operation (which technically is a consumer electronic device). All of these would likely be gathering dust on a shelf somewhere if we kept the Wii.

Now, it's not like we're anti-video games. In fact, Liam's favorite activity during his screen time is to play "The Hunt for R2-D2" on the Lego.com Web site. And Kalian likes to play some Barbie games online. Both of these are free. The graphics are richer than anything I could have imagined back in my Atari days. Why shell out $10 to $30 for new games when there are so many free kids games online at places like the Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network sites?

Now, in all likelihood, we will probably — probably! — get a Wii next year. But for now, the kids seem quite content with the other consumer electronic gadget we did buy this year: a calculator.
If I can maintain that childhood innocence, that appreciation of simple things, for one more year, then passing on the Wii this year was the right move.

Contact Chris O'Brien at 415-298-0207 or cobrien@mercurynews.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sjcobrien and read his blog posts at http://www.siliconbeat.com/.