Often times buyers have been unable to find a local Wal-Mart, K-mart, target or circuit city with a Wii in stock for them to buy. This leads them to searching the Internet to buy Wii online. Sometimes this also returns fruitless or discouraging results as trying to find a Wii at this point in time has been very hard to do. I was deep in the "How can I find a Wii? Where do I find a Wii?" syndrome that many are in now when one suddenly turned up for the retail price on a website online and I snagged it as soon as possible.

Not everyone is this lucky but with determination it can be done! If you choose to try and find a Wii for retail price online or locally, your trying will pay off. Sooner or later you will find one and you will only have to pay the retail price. If you don't want to play this cat and mouse game, or if you need one really quick then there are many places to buy Wii online. There are sites online that always have the Nintendo Wii in stock and the prices can range from just over retail price to retail price plus $100. It really depends on how quick you want one and how much patience you have. For those of you who want a Wii as soon as possible, I have some auctions and Wiis for direct sale listed below.

Another benefit of playing the Wii can be and expansion of your brain's abilities. Games like big brain academy and brain age. These games have been proven to help your brain manage its use of your memory more efficiently. They also help with short term recall, functional thinking and problem solving. Doctors and scientists have said for years that the brain is like any other muscle in the body; it needs exercise to stay healthy and at its best performance levels. These games were designed to introduce your brain to functions that it may not do on a daily basis to test its strength and then it gives you an indicator of your performance by using a number or a grade. As you are having fun playing the game your brain will actually improve in these areas and you will be given a new number or grade to show the progress you have made. Who would have ever imagined that a new, physically innovative game system like the Nintendo Wii would also have games that are more relaxing to play and require less energy than most other Wii games and still have added health benefits? Doctors have actually suggested these games to folks with learning disabilities, brain injuries and memory problems to help them expand their brain's function and abilities, all while the player is having fun or competing against friends of family members.

The quickest, easiest way to buy Wii online at this point is to go to eBay and buy one with buy it now or bid on one that is near end. Despite what other people have said, you can still go to ebay and get a decent price on a Wii. Here are a few tips to help you cut costs on a Wii at auction. Here are the questions you want to answer as you look at the auctions:

Q: Is the Wii used or new?
Tip: of course a used Wii is going to sell for a lower price than a new one. If you can live with a used Wii then this is the way to go. If you have to have new, there are plenty to go around on eBay, so keep looking.

Q: Does the seller have a fair shipping price?
Tip: ok, some sellers get nuts with their shipping price, I have seen people charging $50 for plain, U.S. postal service shipping. Keep looking until you find one with a fair shipping price. Some sellers offer free shipping, just keep in mind that everyone will be willing to bid higher than normal on free shipping auctions because of the potential savings. Also keep in mind how fast you want the Wii after auction end, some shippers have the option for faster shipping but you are going to pay a premium.

Q: Does the seller have a receipt with their Wii?
Tip: This goes without saying that you want one with a receipt if possible. Especially if the receipt is from a Wal-Mart and there is a Wal-Mart near you. This would make it easy to return if there was a problem or to work with Nintendo if you should have to use your one-year warranty.

Q: Does the console come with any accessories?
Tip: sometimes auctions will end with a very high price just because they have an accessory that one particular bidder can't find. To get the cheapest Wii console, just bid in auctions with the console only.

Q: When does the auction end?
Tip: sometimes auctions that end at 3 a.m. end a little cheaper, you can imagine why. But 3 a.m. at your house isn't 3 a.m. all over the country. As a general rule, if you find auctions that end in the middle of the night on the East Coast (eastern standard or eastern daylight time) those are the ones that end cheaper.

Q: What is the current high bid on this auction and why did you put this question last?
Tip: I put this question last because it matters less than the other questions do. The final auction price is going to be a number that you cannot control, it will be whatever the bidders on the auction are willing to pay. The seller's shipping price and his auction terms are set in stone legally through eBay and he cannot change them. By eliminating the auctions with unfavorable terms first, which is done by asking the questions above, you will be shaving dollars off of that end price before you are even done bidding. Remember here, you do not have to go crazy with your final bid. If you think you can bid 5 or 10 dollars more with a minute of auction end and win the Wii, then by all means do it! Still nervous? Look at this, if you followed the questions above then you might have potentially saved yourself some major dollars over some poor soul who won an auction with $60 flat-rate shipping price and 4 Wii-motes that inflated the price of the auction $40 too much.

Keep your eyes peeled, follow these tips and use your own good buying instincts and you can buy a Wii online cheaper than you might think. UPDATE: I have listed some Nintendo Wii auctions below that you should look at while keeping all the above tips in mind.

Doctors in this country and abroad have documented many, many cases where the Wii was the best medicine. Some people have scoffed when I have brought this up in conversation, as if those professionally trained docs who keep us alive and healthy have no idea what they are doing. Whatever your opinion may be, hospitals and doctors have been embracing the Wii for the way it helps the body improve hand-eye coordination, balance, endurance and even muscle strength.

Occupation therapists have been adding the Wii to their regimen of physical therapy sessions with much success. The patients have more motivation to use the Wii because of its challenging environment and the fact that it is fun. This is in deep contrast to the tried and true physical therapy that has proven highly effective, but highly boring over the years. The Wii is helping patients re-build vital range of motion, muscle control and balance after such traumatic occurrences such as brain, spinal cord injuries and stroke. Patients have also reported feeling more motivated knowing they get to use the Wii during therapy versus older methods such as throwing balls and tying laces. Therapists have been assigning the Wii to injured subjects for hours at a time each day and they are seeing great results. There are also instances where the Wii has been used to treat patients who have low stamina or energy because of chemical treatments used for such illnesses as cancer. The Wii has been helping these patients to build stamina and stay physically active, even if it is for short periods during the day.

Everyone I talk to about their Nintendo Wii seems to lean toward either boxing or golf as their favorite game. And it does not seem to matter that half of them are complaining about one of the two or both. In this new, motion controlled world of games it seems as if people are more driven to try and make a success story out of a game they don't find fun or even playable to begin with. Take Wii sports boxing for example. When I first started fighting it seemed like I could land lefts all day but just couldn't seem to get a right punch in (right is my prominent hand). After some practice and swearing and, well sweating I seemed to have got it right. The sore arm from trying to figure out just how to land that right hand has since become accustomed to 20 rounds a night.

Before I caught Wii mania I would have returned the game to the store or taken it back to my favorite used video game store for a trade in before I would have put all this effort into it. This seems to be the general consensus amongst Wii gamers. Now those players are investing "sweat equity" if you will it seems as if they are even more involved in the game dynamics and more determined to succeed. Perhaps it takes us back to a time when we were competing in gym class (do today's kids even play dodge ball anymore?) or perhaps it taps the very nature of man, a sort of programming we have to overcome challenges and problems as we progress. From my standpoint all I can say is "wow". I have never seen so much sheer will and effort put into video gaming in all my gaming days. This article is dedicated to all you 40 year olds who are perfecting your bowling score and all the 13 year old Wii players who are taking on the entire nazi army with a zapper gun.

Early on in my Wii experience it dawned on me that others may need some Wii sports boxing help seeing as how I loved the game but was having a hard time myself. My particular problem was that I didn't seem to be able to land any good punches with my lead hand, which for me is my right. I could throw left jabs all day and even aim between the body and head with my left but for whatever reason even when I got a punch off with my right it was way over the head of my opponent. It turns out I had several problems that kind of lead up to this that I managed to fix along the way.

#1 the first time you box the on-screen instructions point out what you really should be doing. Now since you are reading this you have probably already played and have missed the opportunity to read them or those pointers didn't work for you. The same pointers are actually in the instruction manual for Wii sports toward the back.

#2 you can go to the practice mode from the Wii sports screen where you pick which sport you want to play. It is an icon to your right and about half way up the screen. There will be two icons there, one is the one you want and one is the Wii fitness test, which you don't want. This is a very good place to see the actual mechanics of your punches without someone trying to clobber your face in. This is actually a mini-game where you punch a punching bag. You can learn a lot about your hand position and stance here just by punching the bag.

#3 some people have reported that holding the nunchuk and Wii-mote in their closed fists as they punch helps them land more punches correctly. I tried this and didn't have horrible results, it did work better than what I had been doing but my new technique yields much better results

#4 here is what I have done to help me out greatly; hold the Wii-mote and nunchuk straight up and down close to my chest. When I want to throw a punch with either hand I just flick the respective controller forward like I am trying to drive a nail with the back of the controller. Before I was going full-force and punching just like I was punching a real-life opponent. This was very fun but too many of my punches were not registering and were landing in places where I didn't want them to land. With this new technique I am blocking quite well while I am picking my punches. Also this way I always have at lest one hand in front of me blocking. When you flick the controllers out you want to primarily move the top of the controller versus the bottom. Think of it as ringing a bell, just one good ding and then bring it back in its original position. Your hands should never really travel more than 10 to 12 inches from your body doing this. The great-added benefit here is that your hand is back in place in front of you blocking and getting ready to land another punch very quickly.

#5 don't be afraid to weave side to side and lean back while holding the Wii-motes in from of you. You will never make it to the pro score of 1000 if you don't weave and give the opponent a chance to miss. When the opponent misses you will see time slow down and a blur effect around the opponent's fist whizzing by your head. During this slow time you can actually size up the opponent's position and land a punch that really opens him up for more. When you get good enough you will want a large portion of your punches to be these counter punches as they apparently do more damage and keep the opponent off guard for just a second longer. I have landed as many as 10 punches in a row with the weaker opponents by counter-punching.

#6 when you find yourself getting pummeled in Wii sports boxing weave to the side and give your self time to get back in rhythm, which is very important. If you find your opponent following you, weave to the other side and if he follows you there go toe to toe with him and just try to aim one good punch, many times this will end his onslaught and get your rhythm set up again.