Wii Had So Much Fun

This weekend, I hosted a party along with Nintendo, that brought (mostly blogging) mamas together for an afternoon of fun and gaming on the Nintendo Wii. So far Nintendo has hosted 24 of these parties across the country, and they are smartly tapping into women, and especially mothers, who are the decision-makers in the family when it comes to large purchases.  Get the women hooked, and their family will be a Wii-owning family. I think it's safe to say, that the strategy worked yesterday.

The theme of the party was "Mom's Night Out," except we all got together during naptime to par-tay. One of my favorite restaurants, Zibbibo (the Restaurant Lulu group's Palo Alto outpost), catered the affair and, most importantly, brought along a bartender to mix up mojitos, margaritas, and cosmos to keep the mamas "hydrated." It was a hot day, after all.

I jokingly told the Nintendo folks that they could expect moms to: 1. show up on time and 2. immediately get down to the business of having fun. I was right. With only three hours to spend away from the kids, these moms weren't going to waste any time. Oh no.

The Nintendo folks set up 4 tvs and Wiis in and around my house (after first moving out most of my furniture and vaccuuming the floors!) while I drank an iced coffee and read the paper. The caterers arrived and set out a beautiful array of food, and we even had passed hors d'oeuvres cuz these moms deserved nothing less.

We had a tremendous time playing the sports games (boxing was especially fun and fun to watch, and we got a sneak-peek at Tiger Woods Golf...so cool). In fact, back to boxing, I think a "Mama Fight Club maybe in the works... Several mamas even channeled their inner rockstars to have sing-offs and dance-offs playing the "not-yet-released" Nintendo Boogie. It was great to see old blogger friends and meet new ones.

It was fun to hear so many mamas talking about how freaking awesome the Wii was and how they liked the idea that it gets you up off the couch. You can't sit down to play tennis or golf or bowl, and I'm all for any activity that gets a family up and moving together. I'd rather jump around with the Wii than sit down and play a board game any day. And this is coming from someone who is not a gamer. I have never been into video games, but now I am completely hooked.

By the end of the party, after we were chock-full of paté and Humboldt Fog cheese and truffle honey and crab cakes and dessert, and after we had sweated off all our make-up, all the guests were treated to party favors on behalf of Nintendo.* If Nintendo had brought Wiis to sell, I dare say many mamas would have purchased one on the spot.

We all had a fabulous time!! And, if you have a Wii, do you just love it to pieces?

*(I was treated with a Wii, but can't keep it according to the terms of my Blogher ad contract, so I've got a give-away in the works. No matter anyway, my hubs bought one on Craigslist, pretty much the only place you can find them nowadays...)

Comments

[Raquita]

MAN! I really want to host one of these parties! GHEESH! To be a cool kid on the block!

I'm glad you guys had a good time no body threw the remote through a TV huh?

[Ivy]

LOL, I'd love to host one of those parties too. I saw Cooking Mama is one of the games for the Wii and I've GOT to get one now!

[Donna]

I was like you, Stefania -- not interested at all in gaming, and the Nintendo people totally turned me into an evangelist for them (so much that I've taken to carrying my little DS with me so I can do Sudoku or Crosswords while I'm waiting for my kid to finish gym).

It looks like you all had a great time at your party!

[jenifer]

wow..i am amazed that nintendo targets torwards moms with video games...super different and smart on their part. i am not a fan of video games in the home with kids but it still sounded like fun...at least the food and drinks part! i know a lot of guys that would be jealous, haha.

[jenifer]

wow..i am amazed that nintendo targets torwards moms with video games...super different and smart on their part. i am not a fan of video games in the home with kids but it still sounded like fun...at least the food and drinks part! i know a lot of guys that would be jealous, haha.

[Your Mamma]

send the WII to your mamma

[Grrrlfriend Jess/Jessica Ashley]

Sounds fabulous! Very, very cool way to spend the evening with other mamas.

[Mom101]

We have one and for me it's more of a social thing than a solitary one. It's too fun to have people over to play those Wario party games (THE BEST!) which are like being stoned without being stoned.

I don't know what Nintendo Boogie is but something tells me I must own it immediately.

[ex-fan]

Hi Stefania,
i used to love your blog. I've been reading it since 2003.
Now every time I come here I get disappointed. In almost every post you talk or "mention" some sort of product, website, brand... I feel like I'm advertised to in a very sneaky way.
I used to check every link or a product you liked because I trusted your opinion and I knew nobody is paying you to "blog" about it. Now, I just get annoyed.
I generally don't care about adds on the website, because I just ignore them, but I can't escape them when you blog about it. I know you probably don't care about *my* opinion, but I thought I'd let you know. I miss the old posts - fun, witty and without constant marketing pitch.
bye. Good luck with everything!
You have a lovely family.
ex-fan.

[Stefania/CityMama]

Dear ex-fan (with the fake email address so I can't personally respond to you),

I do care about what you think! I try to limit my product mentions to Friday Link Love. If I'm not blogging everyday then those come up more often with fewer posts in between. I also make it a point to mention that someone has given me something to try and only give my thumbs up to things I would actually buy and use. I keep those mentions to products that are accessible to everyone and particularly helpful to moms (like juice or laundry detergent). No one is paying me to blog about these things--I get samples, I try 'em. I let you know what I think. I tell readers my thoughts just as if I were talking to my friends. Thanks for your comment. Point taken.

[MyKianaKeiki]

The Wii rocks!! Gets you off your ass and can get your heart rate going. Can't wait for the Wii Fitness game to come out with the balance board.

[Heather]

My first thought was that if I got one of these babies, I could convince David to go for the gigantoid LCD tv I've been wanting. Manipulative, I know, but it's win/win, no? Given that my husband and I are both poor school teachers, I'm not ashamed to be waving my hand wildly about like Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter to sign up for any kind of givaway contest. As for the ex fan, I for one, as someone who works outside the home and never has 2 seconds to find out what is happening in the damn world, adore coming here and finding out about just about anything!

[kelli]

I would love one of the Wii machines. It sounds like lots of fun -- and I would share it with all of my Mom friends!

[Veronique]

Drat! I am so sorry I missed it! We ended up trekking up to SF for a visit to the Zoo.

[radzilla]

i woke up this morning wondering why my shoulders(?) ached. and then i remembered. i got clobbered by super-g in wii boxing. rematch, baby! take no prisoners!!

[Kier]

Timing...I got my Wii today and hooked up another mom girlfriend who'd been searching. We cleaned our local Target out of Wiis by 9:15 in the morning. A pleasant surprise benefit of the first day of day camp...early shopping.

[maddy]

The Wii is lots of fun. It's pretty easy to play Wii sports games while seated (my DH and I do all the time), but the kids don't know this. The boxing is my least fav, and I like tennis the best. The kids like boxing a lot, though.

[cryitout]

The Nintendo campaign is seriously misplaced. Yes, moms are in charge of major household purchases - like, don't ever buy a car without consulting one. Never. Ever. You'll be sorry -- but video games I think fall into the man realm in most houses. Which is to say, I'm trying to get up the nerve to buy one.

[Linda B]

o.k. I just want to say that I am not a mom and I am not young..(46). My hubby bought a Wii and I increased my heart rate and sweated while BOWLING! I got up the next day and my shoulders were sore! LOL. That is just WRONG! I love your blog and think you and your girls are just CUTIE PIES! If you want to talk about something, I want to listen.

[supergena]

Radzilla!! REMATCH.It is SO ON!! I will virtually kick you bootie any day. CITYMAMA, Wii all had so much fun. That was the best party ever! I want a Wii now...

[Tricia]

My son saved up and he finally purchased one a month ago. I have to say, I do enjoy it. Bowling, golf, and baseball are all I tried, I'll have to check out the boxing!

[Joelle]

It definitely is amazing how they transformed the way we play games. I have a Wii myself and sports game it comes with is probably the best game they make. Thumbs up to nintendo!

[honglien123]

Hm, I could have sworn I commented...anyhoo, it was great finally meeting you! We did have so much fun, thank you again for inviting me and allowing me to bring my posse. My post on this is SO overdue.

[thisKat]

I'm glad you posted about this. I was a little surprised by the whole set up, but I never would have paid any attention to Wii since I abhor video games. You've saved me from being totally lame when the subject comes up.

[Steve Smith]

I'm not sure if I could bribe my mum into hosting a Wii party although it would be a great idea for a birthday party, and doesnt cost anything either :)