Wii Rules!

LOS ANGELES -Not every parent whose child wants a Nintendo Wii this holiday season will be able to get their hands on one. Instead of Tickle Me Elmo, this year parents will stalk the aisles of retailers and surf the Web in hot pursuit of the tiny, white "waggle box." The $250 kid-friendly console has already been on the market for a year, and more than 13 million are already in the hands of gamers."

Nintendo is making as many Wiis as it can," says IGN GamerMetrics analyst Nick Williams. "There's a limited supply, a continuously high demand." Though Microsoft's Xbox 360 sold more units than the Wii in September due to the launch of "Halo 3," analysts predict the Wii will be back on top in October, selling as many as 450,000 units.

The Wii has made headlines for entertaining the elderly at retirement homes and putting motion-based controllers in the hands of many non-gamer moms. But the system has also delighted very young children because of its easy-to-grasp style of play and lack of button manipulations. Many parents, understandably cautious about putting 6-, 4- or even 2-year-olds in front of a videogame console, seem to have warily endorsed the Wii because of its anti-couch potato imperative and shallow learning curve.

And although older gamers might find it limiting, the Wii's online functions are currently limited to a Web browser and sharing avatars. Instead of pairing players with random gamers around the world in chat rooms like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Nintendo's system encourages multiplayer action in the living room.

"We hear all the time from parents that they take a look at the Microsoft Xbox 360 controller or the Sony PlayStation 3 controller and they get instantly intimidated," says John Davison, co-founder of What They Like, a start-up that in mid November launched a Web site called Whattheyplay.com devoted to helping parents learn about videogame content.

While Microsoft's Xbox 360 team aims to make its machine as family-friendly as possible--on Nov. 8 the company announced a new feature called the "Family Timer" that allows parents to set automatic game-over times before bedtime--Xbox 360 thus far hasn't positioned itself as the child-friendly game platform.

With so many veteran Wii owners and wanna-be Wiisters hinting at which games they'd like to unwrap in December, parents must now take on the daunting task of vetting their kids' wish lists for age-appropriate and appealing titles.

Fortunately, the nature of game development for the Wii platform has evolved some bedtime enforcement techniques of its own. Some of the most in-demand and kid-befitting games are played in bite-size two-minute chunks.

With titles like Nintendo's own "Wii Sports" (which comes with every Wii), Sega's "Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games" and Take-Two Interactive's "Carnival Games," kids choose from among several mini-games that don't elicit refrains of, "Mooooom, I need to get to a place where I can save my game before I quit!" With mini-games, mothers can graciously grant the kids one more round of Wii baseball or one last ring toss--and still pack them off to bed on time. These games last literally only a few seconds, or a couple of minutes, at most. Beyond the quick mini-games, titles like Capcom's "Zack and Wiki," LucasArts' "Lego Star Wars" and Activison's "Guitar Hero III" are perfect for playing together with friends, and especially with older relatives. These three games allow adults to take on the role of guide without spoiling puzzle-solving and discovery for kids, and their tongue-in-cheek jokes should keep parents entertained.

Not sure your kid is mature enough to battle it out with Guns 'n Roses' Slash and a rock-and-roll devil in "Guitar Hero III?" Some aren't ready for the content, but don't worry about their ability to get the hang of the game. "Little kids are very good at "Guitar Hero" because they have no nostalgic point of reference about how 'Sweet Child o' Mine' should sound," says Davison. "I've seen 5-year-olds play a perfect game."

Which Wii games should parents avoid? Well, there are obvious no-nos, like Take-Two Interactive's "Manhunt 2," a horror game about a murderer that Target won't even stock on its shelves. "Metroid Prime 3" and "Resident Evil 4" also glorify shooting things up. Other innocuous titles, like the ever-popular "Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," and "Super Paper Mario," are simply too difficult for most new gamers.

Some of the most anticipated new Wii games just won't be out in time for this year's holidays. "Wii Fit," "Super Smash Bros. Brawl," and "Mario Kart" are all expected in early 2008. That will, of course, give kids something to covet for upcoming birthdays.

The best way to find out which games are most appropriate and most enjoyable for your child is, of course, to play along. But many parents don't. A survey conducted in October by AOL Games and the Associated Press found that 43% of parents say they never play games with their kids. About 30% said they've joined in, but never for more than an hour.

Meanwhile, another survey by the NPD Group found that between the ages of 6 and 8, kids form videogame-playing habits that will determine how "serious" they'll be about gaming as big kids. "This appears to be a critical age at which to capture the future gamers of the world," says NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

Parents of young children can either withhold game machines, play along with a watchful eye, or look the other way. Either way, the Wii will be impossible to ignore.

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