Comments on: Renting before buying games to save money

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:50:13 +0000

I don’t have a Wii, but when my roommate did, the game we loved was WarioWare: Smooth Moves for Wii. It’s this one game with lots of smaller games within – crazy stuff like who can “blow up a balloon” faster or “run down a road.” I haven’t played for a while, so I can’t remember them all, but I swear it’s fun and doesn’t have a story to follow or anything like that. It’s fast-paced and would be awesome for parties or for you and Shane to play together.

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:04:45 +0000

I understand Wii Sports is supposed to come with every Wii, hopefully it came with your used console. I have been having a lot of fun with just Wii Sports. Oh, and making Mii’s, I love it. I made about twenty Mii’s for people we know – it’s like making caricatures. My disabled son and I have been doing bowling tournaments, and I like playing tennis. There’s also a practice area to get better on the sports. I like warming up with a couple of tennis games, then checking to see Wii “age” (which is based on speed, agility and stamina). I think I would like the Dance, Dance Revolution but I’ve never heard of We Cheer, but it sounds like it would be fun. Oh, and we also found that Ross Dress for Less had some accessories in the men’s gift section – the tennis racket extension, the baseball bat, the steering wheel, the golf club. Much less expensive than the sets available at Costco, or online. But I have to say they are kind of a dud, except for the steering wheel, my son says that makes the driving games more fun.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:10:10 +0000

Hi Kacie,

I don’t know about you and Shane, but at the rate Joe goes through video games I would recommend looking for a local store rather than going to GameStop or a big chain like Best Buy. We’ve found a locally-owned trade-in place in Bloomington, and their prices on both new and used games are much better. Becoming a member also gets you better value for your trade ins and occasional coupons and things, and the staff is friendly. They also keep a log of customers’ requests and will try to order in any games you want that they don’t have in stock. Joe and I won’t go to a mall chain video game store again! I don’t know if there’s any place like that in Pittsburgh, but good luck!

Also, one of my favorite Wii games is American Idol Karaoke Revolution. You can sing by yourself or compete in an American-Idol-style tournament. It’s always a hit when I have people over. You do, however, need to get a USB microphone, but one comes with the game. If you get two, you can sing duets! I also love Mario Kart and Zelda: Twilight Princess, but I am a huge nerd who has loved the entire Zelda series since childhood. The newest game looks beautiful on the Wii though, great graphics.

Have fun with your Wii!

–Rachel

By: Woogie

Woogie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:35:09 +0000

My husband is playing Boom Blox right now. It is a great game. I loved Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario. I second Mario Party 8. We play that one when we have people over. Everyone loves Mario Kart.

I buy a lot of games off of half.com.

By: Mrs. Money

Mrs. Money — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:24:23 +0000

I’m going to second the Animal Crossing recommendation! That’s pretty much the only game we play now. If you do get it, you may get addicted too! Let me know if you want any more info on it. I’d be happy to tell you all about it!

By: Kacie

Kacie — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Joanna — I sure wish I could borrow some games! I don’t know anyone locally who has one. Dang.

I hope that GameFly will have a fast mailing time for me. Pittsburgh is one of their mailing centers, so maybe that’ll help speed things along.

By: Catie

Catie — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:55:21 +0000

I use bigwords.com–it lets you compare prices on media items: textbooks, DVDs, books, CDs, etc., and tells you whether or not a seller is reputable. Pretty cool!

By: sarah

sarah — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:52:16 +0000

We’ve had a similar experience to Jennifer with the turnaround for GameFly – it’s certainly not Netflix turnaround times! I got Hubby a discounted 6 month membership gift certificate for Christmas. It’s worked well as an alternative to buying games, but we’ve also found that he’s held on to some games longer than he would have otherwise just to avoid the turnaround time for a new game.

They also don’t seem to send games in order quite as well as Netflix – so be sure that everything on your list is something you REALLY want to play because you never know when it will get bumped to the top of the list and show up!

By: joanna

joanna — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:50:13 +0000

Do you have any friends with Wiis? Could you borrow the games instead of renting, to try them out? It seems like everyone we know owns one- I’d probably borrow their favorite games (or play them at their houses) & get their recommendations to decide which to buy.

By: Vanderbilt Wife

Vanderbilt Wife — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:00:35 +0000

Never mind about emailing–it’s e-Rewards. :)