need help to make sure wii works for kids during trip to italy

The Wii sold in the USA only takes 110 volt power. You'll have to take a power converter with you to convert the European 220V power to 110V.

Most power converters have built in plug adapters, so the converter's male prongs will fit the European-style sockets (2 round posts that fit the sockets in Italy and France), and the converter's female outlet is a US-style socket (2 slots) into which you will plug the Wii. Just be sure to test before you leave to make sure the Wii plug will plug into the converter OK. If your Wii has a 3-prong plug, you may need another adapter to let the Wii connect with the converter.

All this would have been avoided if Napoleon had conquered the US and standardized us with Europe. Oh well.

Places like Radio Shack have what you need. I think I got mine in the travel section at Wal-Mart (by the luggage).

You'll also need to make sure that the transformer puts out enough power to fit the needs of the Wii. If it is too small of a convertor you're just going to blow the convertor fuse when you plug it in. Can the kids be happy with a PSP? Sony is dual voltage and it is smaller to pack.

You do know that there is a different signal over here don't you? For example, dvd's and videos purchased here will not work on your tv in the states and vice versa. I am not too sure if your wii will even work here.

I was able to charge the Wii with just a plug converter, no power adapter was needed (can anyone verify? It didn't blow any fuses).

On another note, I sympathize with the need for children's entertainment. I nearly had a heart attack on an 8 hr flight recently with my 3 year old when the portable dvd player died 30 minutes into the flight. You can imagine my dismay. After a tear or two over not getting to see "la bella addormentata" (sleeping beauty) I must say she handled it with the utmost dignity.

Your WII migh not work in Europe because the TV's signal there are PAL/Secam vs NTSC in the US. I would do some research on this or even call wii manufacturer.
For the power thing you might need a converter and an adapter.

Your American purchased Wii with US games will probably NOT work over here. Ours didn't. The US is on the NTSC system and Italy is on the PAL... so we had to buy a new Wii and new games to run on the European system. I'm not so sure I'd haul all that to Italy as you'd have to bring a US TV also! Here's a funny post on my search for a Wii last year in Italy: CLICK HERE

The reason you can't play european/american/japanese games of on different versions of Wii has nothing to do with PAL or NTSC. Rather it's because of a region code that's programmed into the game software--very similar to movie DVD.
There are unofficial patches you can make to your Wii that will allow it to play different games with different region codes...you can find out more by doing a google search. Wii has a multi-standard output so it will work with any type of TV or monitor:Pal or NTSC

You are correct Michael in your code answer - and the codes work on different "systems"... but the gist is they are designed for different parts of the world...

Long story short... Ours did not work work on an Italian TV!!!! And a US TV would not work here without a connection and conversion box to TV only available to military and Embassy personnel stationed here in Rome - that's not us... I've been to the houses of friends who are embassy and military and they all still have US TV's and US Wii's they brought with them but they cannot interchange Wii games bought here. So they all buy their games through Amazon (APO box) or the BX in Naples and other US bases...