The Nintendo Wii was the must have gadget of last Christmas and this year it promises to be just as successful, but even if you can get your hands on one how much will it actually cost for you to get it up and running for all the family to enjoy? The recommended retail price of the Nintendo Wii is £179.99, for that you get the console a Wiimote, Nunchuck controller and a copy of Wii Sports. While it is an attractive price point, assuming you can find one as cheap given their short supply, it only provides you with what you need for a single player. Now if you have a family of four and want to enjoy some multiplayer fun after your Christmas dinner, you will soon see that the console purchase is only the first step and true price you pay will suddenly begin to spiral.

While a number of games for the Wii don’t actually require the Nunchuck controller, in order to fully kit four players out so they are ready for everything you are going to need three additional Wiimotes retailing at £29.99 each and three more Nunchuck controllers at a cost of £14.99 each. That is a staggering £134.94 extra you will need to pay to the whole family to enjoy this family console. Of course while the Wii has a copy of Wii Sports bundled with it, it is reasonable to assume you may want a couple of other games to enjoy over the festive period. Standard new releases retail at £29.99, but if you want this Christmas’s’ big game Wii Fit complete with balance board that will set you back another £69.99.

So if you want a Wii for a family of four this Christmas with Wii Fit and another game it will cost you a huge total of £414.91. Bare in mind that that is at the recommended retail prices and given the huge demand could well end up costing you even more. The Wii is a great system and it would be unfair to completely single Nintendo out for these kind of extra costs as they also exist on other systems, but the Wii has been marketed specifically at families with communal play in mind and as such perhaps it would be a little fairer if Nintendo were more transparent about the true cost of what they are selling.