If ever there were two things that were meant to never be mixed, it is marriage and video games. I am not saying that there are not marriages between gamers that work, however on average, these two things seem to be almost diametrically opposed to each other.

Perhaps it is because most of the time women view video games as immature and a waste of time. Or maybe it is because given free reign there are gamers who will mortgage their houses to the hilt to pay for their gaming habits.

Whatever the case, I know I am not the only married gamer who has had to spend time convincing their significant other that buying the latest gaming system was not a waste of money (while still wondering why we had to paint the house a new color). Yet most of the time this works out. It just takes making your spouse see the value of buying the new system.

Image by włodi via Flickr

I am the first to admit that in some cases this can be a daunting task. After all, some people (not just women), honestly think that video games are an evil inflicted on the world for its sins. Even those who have a less zealous view will often have a negative opinion of video games.

My advice, show them the benefits of a new game system, but not just any system, the best system to do this with is without a doubt the Nintendo Wii game system. I don’t say this because I am being paid by Nintendo (wouldn’t’ that be nice), I am saying this because honestly its features are much more family friendly than the other systems out there.

Think about it, when they argue video games are not active, refer them to the sports pack (boxing for fifteen rounds works out everyone), when they say that there is no education, point them to the myriad of educational style games such as the Big Brain franchise. If they throw…”young children have a problem using the game”, point out the huge amount of titles designed just for younger children.

I am sure that if you do your homework any rational person will agree that video games can be good for the family (in moderation of course). Then once the Wii has come in, it is only a matter of time before you can start to get the other ones in as well.