The Nintendo Wii was released on November 19, 2006, to the United States. It was a highly anticipated console that involved control by player movement and motion. On the graph below, the Nintendo Wii beat every seventh generation console sales in the first half of 2008. It aimed to reach a wider demographic than any of the other consoles. I believe that it accomplished its goal. The Nintendo Wii is the best seventh generation gaming console for families because of its low prices, wider variety of players, family togetherness, and less-mature games.

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Nintendo’s goal when the Wii was released was to have it reach a wide variety of players such as children, teens, and adults. When it comes to video gaming, children and teens are a majority. A study on pewresearch.org shows that 97% of teens play video games and 53% of adults 18 and over play video games. They also said, "Younger generations tend to dominate the gaming world." Nintendo did what has never been done before with console gaming. The nypl.org blog says, "Fast-forward to today—libraries have moved from gaming programs for children and teens to Wii gaming for adults of all ages." The site also says that Wiis are being used at nursing homes as well. Nintendo was able to make a console that catered not only to young people, but to many adults.

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Many of the seventh generation consoles have complex video games that require many buttons to be mashed and a high knowledge of how to actually play the game. About.com said, "Sports games are becoming more complex and now have more added features than ever before." Working at Best Buy I learned that the Wii has only two primary buttons causing it to be less complex than other consoles having from 8-15 buttons. They are the A button on the front and the B button on the back. There is also a motion controlled sensor on the front of the Wii controller. In some games, such as bowling on Wii Sports, you only have to move your hand to control your character instead of pressing buttons giving an ease to playing the game. It is also easier because gamers don't have to memorize button locations on a controller and instead they have to simply move their hands.

Overall, the Wii is mostly a family based console. It has a low price for the console and low prices for games. The games are less violent and are rated for all ages. They also only require a few controls to be used so it’s easier for anyone to play. The games also are party-like games that are fun for the family. This console has been increasing in sales ever since it was released. It will continue to be the best gaming system for families for years to come, or until its successor is created. If anyone wants to have cheap, entertaining, family fun then they should definitely buy a Wii. “For the value, the family friendly dynamics, and the versatility and uniqueness of play - the Wii has my vote for best system of this generation's consoles. (gather.com)”