Toys R Us a fitting place for Wii launch

Stan Beer
Saturday, 04 November 2006 04:53

Opinion and Analysis

The much publicised US launch of the Nintendo Wii games console at the iconic Times Square Toys R Us store in Manhattan is appropriate. Having been to the store on a couple of occasions, it's full of fluffy toys, action figures and plastic paraphernalia. As a high end toy, the Wii will fit in perfectly with the demographic that visits the store.

Toys R Us president Ron Boire has been quoted as saying that the Wii has the potential of bringing parents and children closer together. He is probably right to a point. On the day that parents leave the store with their dewy eyed kids yapping at their sides like terriers waiting to get a treat, parents that have bought a Wii will be as close to their kids as bread is to butter.

For a day or two or maybe even stretching it to a week, parents and kids may forge a special bond playing Wii Sports together. Then the parents who aren't gamer fanatics will tire of wielding the Wiimote for endless hours of simulated sports and leave the kids to enjoy their new toy.

Those parents who are foolish enough to connect the Wii to their living room TV may sooner or later question why they have let their kids take over their home entertainment center with a device that doesn't do anything but play games. At that point they may buy a cheap TV and banish the Wii to their kids' bedrooms.

Meanwhile, some will question why they didn't spend a few hundred extra to buy an Xbox 360 with HD DVD or PS3 with Blu-ray player so that the family could get together and watch a high definition video on the increasingly available HDTV monitors.

No doubt some families will enjoy playing a few games of electronic table tennis or other sports games together. However, for true all inclusive family entertainment with no limit on the number of players, nothing will beat a good family movie on a large high definition monitor with surround sound.

Yes Toys R Us certainly is a fitting place for the launch of what really is an expensive toy.