Wii Points® are a great way of getting extra and very inexpensive games to play on your Nintendo Wii®. This is a good thing given that most new games for the Wii® cost about $50 US Dollars (USD). Soon after Nintendo® initiated the Wii®, they initiated a point system, similar to iTunes®, which allows you to download games off the Internet for home play. Most of these games are at least ten years old, if not older, and are game classics from older systems made by Nintendo®, Coleco® or the Sega® game system. You do need to know a couple of things about Wii Points® in order to obtain them, and to use them.

Electronics and gaming stores sell cards with Wii Points®, in the form of gift cards, usually starting with about 2000 points per card. Just don’t spend any more than a penny a point. Some unscrupulous companies charge as much as $25 USD for 2000 points, which is overpriced. Most companies charge a standard $19.99 USD for a 2000 point Wii Points® card, and if you have Internet connectivity on your Wii® you’ll pay exactly 20 USD for 2000 points. You can buy points, at this juncture only on the Wii®, in smaller amounts than the 2000-point increment.

You can’t access Wii Points® unless your system is connected to the Internet. If you aren’t connected, don’t bother purchasing the points, and make sure if you’re purchasing these as a gift that the person’s Wii® is connected to Internet service. When you are connected, you can visit the Wii Store, which allows you to look at a variety of games available for point purchase. The oldest games cost about 500 points, and newer ones may be between 800-1000 points. You’ll also need a certain amount of memory on your Wii® in order to hold the games. If you plan to buy a lot of the old video game classics, be prepared to pony up for extra memory for your system. However, since the games are stored on your Wii®, you won’t need to maintain Internet connectivity to play them.

When you search for games to purchase with your Wii Points®, you can search by older systems, new titles added to the queue, or through the entire list of available games. This list has been expanding constantly, so you should always check new listings if you have points to spend. Furthermore, if you run out of points, you can buy more of them on your Wii® if you have a credit or credit/ATM card.

Do remember these older games, though classic, may not dazzle you with graphics. They are older and some of them certainly look it. But if you’ve been hankering after old racing, adventure, sports, or run and shoot games, you’ll have many to choose from. Some suggest Wii Points® are really aimed at the parents of young Wii® owners, since they give older folks who don’t have the lightening fast, hand/eye coordination skills possessed by their kids, the chance to revisit classic video games they played when they were young. You may also need to make some adjustments in terms of game controllers, but most games offer you instructions on how to work the newer controllers to achieve maximum gaming fun.