UPDATE: Congrats to Meredith S. and Matt W. for winning the two Wii U Bundles!
Another product post, sorry, but when Nintendo asked if me if I wanted to give away two Wii U bundles to you guys I couldn’t say no.
Addie was asked to be a part of the Nintendo Kids reviewer program several months ago and she’s been taking her job very seriously.
Originally I set her up to write a portion of this giveaway but her little blurb contained so many ALL CAPS DECLARATIONS FOLLOWED WITH WAY TOO MANY !!!!!!!!! I figured I’d bottle her enthusiasm for another project that we’re working on.
I have always been partial to Nintendo as they don’t offer bloody, nasty games where you could run over prostitutes with cars, or gut pirates with your bare hands.
Plus, it’s what Cody and I grew up on — so while Addie may have been the only member of our family to be formally invited into the program, little boy dreams inside my husband have come true.
Here’s what we are loving so far:
- No need to buy new controllers or games when you upgrade to a Wii U or 3DS, old games and controllers (Wii, Gamecube, DS) work with both platforms.
- Cody loves that the Wii U has an HDMI hookup (nerd.)
- I love that I can set parental limits in regards to online activity.
- Addie loves the controller pad that comes with the WiiU, it’s so much easier to use the touchscreen to make things like Miis or put in passwords or names than it was with a Wii-mote.
- Addie loves the Play Nintendo site as it gives her hints and tricks to games she owns as well as notices for free game downloads, printables (there were Mario themed pumpkin carving stencils for Halloween) and it lets her preview new games to see what she may or may not want to add to her Christmas list. I love it because it’s a site I can drop her off at and not have to worry about the content being inappropriate. If you ever played Nintendo as a kid you’ll appreciate the nostalgic touches to a totally modern Nintendo experience.
- The Play Nintendo site for parents is equally great as it lets parents know what’s available (like a downloadable tour of the Louvre, parents can sneak it onto their kids console but no kid I know is ever going to see ‘virtual tour of the Louvre’ and think GAME ON!) as well as the truth about what’s really happening when kids go online through their Nintendo devices and how parents can control how much their kids can or cannot share.
I have two WiiU MarioKart 8 bundles (ARV $299.99) to give away to two of you. HOW TO ENTER: Click over to play.nintendo.com and play.nintendo.com/parents then leave a comment here about what stood out to you about each of the sites. You have until 10 p.m. EST Sunday, November 16th to get your entry in. (Click the gold question mark box a few times while you’re over there.)
Fine Print and Disclosure: Giveaway open to U.S. residents only. Both winners will be randomly selected from eligible comments and contacted Monday, November 17th and have 24 hours to respond. If no response is received, a new winner will be selected until both prizes are claimed then winners will be announced publicly. While we have graciously received product from Nintendo, we have not been financially compensated and all opinions are our own. Good luck!
making unbreakable - formerly moosh in indy. 
I love that Mario is still a major part of what they do. It makes me feel less out of touch and like maybe the technology won’t beat me.
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I loved clicking the gold question mark. Fun! I really lived the parent site though, I am a little out of the loop with video games, this helps!!
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well clearly I love the gold? Box. But I really appreciate that the website gives parents who aren’t necessarily gamers an opportunity to learn things quickly and be able to interact and converse with their children about the games that they are playing. I also like that it has activities that helps bring the kids off line and still be able to do things that they enjoy related to Nintendo.
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Oh my goodness- the Mii Wishlist/video!! I have a Wii player here who can spend all of her game time just making Mii’s. Too funny.
On the Parent site, love the round round up of Art games. I had NO IDEA THE DS system offered so many kinds of activity.
And I’m with you. I love Nintendo their lack of games that include felonies.
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Being a visual artist I LOVE the art applications at the kid’s site and the how-to/best applications for incorporating art & creativity into the Wii programs. Jessie has an older Wii controller which became the center of fun family nights. Even Ben could get involved by creating his own icons. It took awhile but we actually found a controller on-line that he could actually use (very limited though). This new controller looks like it just might be more “Ben-friendly,” Andy you know how much he enjoys anything that incorporates art and creativity!
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17 years ago my husband, Ben, and I met when we played Super Mario Brothers at a party. I am terrible, so he kept giving me lives. True love. When I went to the websites the bright colors reminded me of how happy these games made me. We didn’t curse at the screen or get overly stressed when we didn’t do well. It was just plain fun! My favorite thing about the parents website was the gift guide. I am really having trouble deciding what to get my kids who are not teens, but not little anymore for Christmas! Thinking a WiiU would be a great gift!
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I would love to be able to pass down my Nintendo love to our 3 kids! I like the parental guide part on the parent’s site. I also like the friends section so you can read about each character.
This would be such an incredible Christmas gift for our family!!!!!! (I like Addie’s use of multiple !!! :))
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I love that the parents site tells about the games that I don’t have the time or interest to play myself. The fact the main site allows you to search things by character… My son is autistic and VERY VERY interested in TOAD.
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Oh my goodness! I love that that this is actually geared towards kids!!! How refreshing! This is such a fun giveaway! I am crossing my fingers and toes and hoping I win!
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Games for art-loving kids!!! ????
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I like the Parent’s guide, I had no idea about all the protection they had in place. Also I didn’t know Nintendo featured Pokemon, my son is a fanatic! He would go crazy over some Pokemon games.
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The Pokemon Art Guide for sure would appeal to my gang! (Also, thanks for the Gold ? block tip! Screenshot on round two means Bullet Bill saved to my phone!)
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I’m not telling you how many times I pushed the gold question mark box. But it was a lot. Love that I can go to the sites and get information about what’s appropriate for different ages. Also, it wasn’t overwhelming since I know nothing about video games and confused easily. #slowmom
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I loved looking at both of the sites, took me back to when I was a teenager and I was stuck on a Zelda level for MONTHS!!!!
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Definitely kid friendly and fun!! That gold box was fun and made for a few extra smiles! I’d feel comfortable with my son playing.
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I like how easy it is for kids to navagate through the website. The colorful icons make it fun to see favorite characters. The parent site is great to keep parents up to date on all things Nintendo. Both websites are fun & helpful.
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Oh my gosh! I have an art lover so i love the guide for artist kids and the art gallery. Very cool!
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Love their websites! The kids immediately heard the Mario sounds when I clicked the gold box and ran over to see what I was doing. We checked out the art tutorial and clicked through some off the character pages – what a great layout for kids. The parents site was nice as well with the gift guides being well laid out and helpful.
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I liked looking and remembering the games I used to play. Also liked the gift guides!
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The nostalgia! I’m old enough to remember when Princess Peach was Princess Toadstool…ah, the good old days. I love the graphics, the colors, and the ease of navigating both sites. What fantastic tools! Thanks for sharing! (The gold “?” was TOO much fun!)
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Mario Kart is what brought me and my MUCH younger brothers together when I’d come home from college. It is one of the few games that all five of us would play together and we still laugh over how awful I was! What fun memories! I’d love to share wii u with my nieces, nephews, and all the other kiddos in my life.
I love that I could show off the Louvre to my kindergarten class after I visit for real next month! So cool!
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My kids would love the character section, and I like that the parent section helps me pretend I’m still relevant. Lol
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Love that they have games for art loving kids!
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Love that Mario is still front and center….but my kids would go nuts for all the pokemon!
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I like that there is a safe place, Wiiverse, to learn ask questions…and it is closely monitored. My little boy is a Mario addict, but this Mama could use some tips to helping him pass levels. 🙂
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I love that the sites are so user-friendly. The character backstories are a lot of fun, too. (Team Princess Peach!)
My gal is a budding artist, and what a fun way this would be to encourage those skills.
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my daughter and i like playing animal crossing together – so i love a kid-safe space for her to check out AC related stuff!
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Great parental controls and we love Mario. Can’t tell you how many hours I spent playing mario brothers as a kid
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Please let me win! Mario and gift guides on both sites..what’s better than that!?
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I loved all thee cute videos and that the site is easy to navigate for my 5-year-old. I liked the 5 things you didn’t know about Princess Peach because I’m a feminist and she finally got a chance to save Mario for once.
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I loved how each site was geared toward their target market. I, too, loved the gold block. So.Much.Fun. I love my original Wii as there aren’t a ton of “buttons and knobys”. I haven’t purchased any other gaming system since the PS2 (other than the Wii) because of how many things you have to try to press to play a simple game.
I love that the websites are also so easy to navigate and have things like quizzes and downloads. I could totally let myself get lost there, too.
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The first site is very busy and confusing. The parents site seems better laid out and easier to navigate.
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I love the collaboration of Pokemon and Art, two of my sons favorite things….pair that with video games and he would be set! I am crossing my fingers and toes hoping to win!
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Liked those sites and will let my kids go to playnintendo.com. I also can’t wait to drop my new Mario knowledge on them. Also, I need Cody’s shirt for my husband’s Christmas gift!
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@KateB, I know you are all on pins and needles to see if I found the shirt. Found it on Amazon. Very excited!!!
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I love the guide of games for kids who love art because I have one of those kids!
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the pictures of beloved characters will definitely appeal to my daughter, but the parents’ site has so many great tips to help do art projects, which I admittedly am terrible at.
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Wow. I had no idea about the wealth of info at play.nintendo – but what immediately struck me was the article entitled “A Handy Guide to the Best Games for Art-Loving Kids”. So many ideas for my art loving 7 yr old. Great giveaway!
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I always appreciate that Nintendo is backwards compatible. And, being a Mario girl, I love sharing that with my kids.
Parental controls also keep this mom happy.
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The parents site was super helpful to knowing the characters my teenage son talks about. Also liked seeing what were great family games! Loved seeing how popular those Mario brothers still are.
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I love that Nintendo is still so popular! We would have a great time playing with our kids. The art section for kids is fantastic. The character section is fun and I think I might actually use the parent section.
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Love the classic characters, and LOVE the parental controls!
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I have a new lover of all things Mario. The activities are great for a 5 year old and his little brother. I also love being able to explore each character more!
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Of course it was the gold question box. On the parent’s site, I liked finding out about all the art games for my art-loving son.
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I think it’s an interesting sign of the times that the setup of the sites is Pinterest-like. It’s a little chaotic for me, but it’s nice that there seems to be a little something for everyone! Nice to know the sites are there for support, too. I would love to have a Wii U for our house because my husband’s PS1 and PS2 have died out and we’ve been pondering getting a new system…
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I love that Nintendo is totally family friendly and we can play with all five of our kids. On the website, I thought the gift guide was awesome and fun to play around on. On the parent site I liked that it had ways to tie in your kids other interests – specifically games for arty kids.
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play.nintendo.com= The quizz section stood out to me. I like them, especially the personality one 🙂
play.nintendo.com/parents= I like how informative this section is; I especially like the ‘Handy Guide to the Best Games for Art-Loving Kids’ because, well, I consider myself an art loving kid! 🙂
The first time I hit the gold box I jumped!
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I immediately clicked on the holiday gift guide because I don’t know what to get my kids!!!! Love that they have a deals section. And on the parents site- helpful to see the recommended creative games since Ivy is so artsy and also really into the DS lately but only has a couple games.
We don’t have the Wii U – would love to win! Thank you!
Steph
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I love the gift guides and the suggestions for art loving kids. My kids are always talking about different games and I find myself googling things so often just to keep up. It is great to know Nintendo has this resource for parents.
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I love the gift guides and the suggestions for art loving kids. My kids are always talking about different games and I find myself googling things so often just to keep up. They recognize that Mario music from a mile away though and know it must be good. It is great to know Nintendo has this resource for parents.
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I love that it’s all things Mario, still after all these years! Mario has evolved from the days I could only make him go from the left side of the screen to the right, but it’s pretty cool my kiddos can play games with the same characters I grew up playing with!
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