What kind of game system.

For the age group of your kids - the Wii is what you want.  The games are simpler and very interactive.  There are great games for both ages of your kids.  Im still not sold on the Wii U - some of my gamer friends have given it bad reviews, but still rave on the original Wii.  Jury is till out IMO as I havent played it yet.

The Xbox w/ kinnect has a lot of great interactive games too, but IMO is still a system for older kids/adults that also has games that can accommodate younger players.  Playing online with your freinds is what xbox and PS3 are really good for

I wouldnt suggest getting an xbox and letting your kids grow into it as both M$ and Sony have plans for new systems in the next year or two.  (xbox 720 and PS4)

FWIW - I have a PS3 and love it (Blu-Ray is a great feature) I do not have kids, but if I had kids your age, I would also have a wii for them.  The Wii is solid and your 4 year old will get a lot of use out of it.  Your 8 y/o will enjoy if for a few years but he may want an xbox or PS4 in a couple years as his friends start playing CoD.

We played outside and then played my Colecovision (talk about old school).

Anyway, I've found that the xbox games cater to 'older' ages.  You get a lot of younger games with Nintendo etc.  However, as was mentioned earlier, you could certainly grow into the PS3 or xbox.

Not much help, but the colecovision WAS pretty sweet.

Atari 2600, FTW (but Colecovision was pretty cool).

+1 for the Wii for that age range.

XBox & PS3 both tend to position themselves more for the teen gamer... lots of action, violence (the good stuff!).  Those games also tend to have a lot of profanity, etc...

The Wii is far, far more family oriented.

My kids are early teens......we STILL have family bowling tournaments on the Wii every few weeks....its a great time.  You can make the Wii fit any age....nice choice.

When they get older....X-box......family zombie killing sprees.   

Whatever you get.....play with them!!

We have a Wii, and an XBox 360 with the Kinect. I'd say for your kids ages go with the Wii. There are more kid friendly games available for the Wii. I'm not sold on the Wii U yet either. I think it is very expensive, it looks clunky, and there aren't a lot of games available for it yet.

I agree with whoever said make sure you play the games with them. My kids love it when I play, too.

anyone pining for those old games, if you don't recognize the reference, google Ernest Cline. You'll thank me later.

My local comic store has a bunch of used games.  From xbox 360 to PS2 to N64 to Sega Genesis to Colecovision, Intellivision, and Atari 2600.  I don't think they have any of those systems from ~80, just NES to the present.

This, we went through that very progression from the Wii to the Xbox with our kids.  I haven't read much about the new Wii so I can't help you there, but I know the traditional Wii was awesome for little kids.

...Deprived we don't have one.  I have a seven year old daughter.

We have Monopoly, Cluedo, Mousetrap, Guess Who, Operation, Yahtzee, dominoes, playing cards, a trampoline, a bike, a scooter and a pool.  Seems to work okay so far.

We live 1km from a bowling alley - very kid friendly - and about 3km from a mini golf centre which is great fun.  Also live 2km from the beach.  Not sure we'd have time for a game system!

My wife and I have had a Wii for a long time and we and our nieces and nephews enjoy it a lot (age range from three to 8). Heck they love just playing Wii sports resort and nothing else.

We recently (2 weeks or so ago) got an XBOX with Kinect and so far I love it (My training puts a dent in my time available to play Mass Effect) and my wife has been enjoying the kinect games she has gotten. No kids have played it yet.

She has all my favorites - especially the outside ones

When/If my wife and I have kids I am hellbent to extremely limit their screen time in any form. There will be no reason for me to not chase them out of the house to play outside while I am on my dock fishing

She really appreciates any screen time she does get - it's mostly educational stuff from school on our computer.  Angry birds on the ipad of course!  She is not aware of Dance Party - if she were I'd never hear the end of it!