Wii Sports - So Just What is it?

The Nintendo Wii console comes prepackaged with the Wii Sports game series. This group of five familiar sports - boxing, tennis, golf, baseball, and bowling -- is the most widely distributed title ever in the long history of console gaming. Obviously, Nintendo intends Wii Sports to be a showcase for Wiimote (Wii remote) technology. The Mii channel, Nintendo's personalized avatar capability, allows players to paste their own facial features on the virtual characters. Advanced gamers likely will be far from impressed by the shallowness of the strategy and graphic development. The package is wildly popular with many less sophisticated competitors.

Getting the Game On

Wii Sports Baseball might remind you of the annual summer All-Star Break homer contest. You hold the remote and swing as if holding a real bat for the hitting. How fast and when you swing are up to you. The strike zone takes care of itself. To pitch, you make a forward, overhand motion. Pitch speed is determined by how quickly the Wiimote makes the gesture. You as pitcher also get to choose whether to throw a screwball, fastball, or change up by pressing either the A or B button or both. The D pad controls your pitch location. The three-inning games are more fun when two people play each other, but the game also does an adequate job of challenging one player.

Bowling checks in as the most authentic Wii Sports game. Gripping a Wiimote in the same position as you would a bowling ball, you imitate the bowling motions. Release the B button to bowl the ball down the lane. Do you want to get a professional spin on the ball? Go for it! The angle you face the virtual lane at affects the direction of your throw. A full game includes 10 frames. Up to four players can square off against each other.

Feel the sweat trickling down your brow. Boxing is definitely the most physical experience in the Wii Sports game bundle for players. Your onscreen character is customized with the Mii image you create using the Wii online channel. The nunchuk links into the Wiimote for this game, and the controller pair sends your movements to the console. You won't feel the actual impact of your landed jabs, so you will find gameplay more like throwing punches in the air. But you get to avoid the blood, fat lips, and bruising.

Tennis is about form and timing. Flipping the remote upward throws the ball skyward as you serve. Your serve or return direction depends entirely on your swing timing. You can make forehand and backhand shots, and you can choose to lob or smash. Return the ball with professional spin. The game automatically moves your character to the ball. Accuracy might not match your skill on a real tennis court. Play singles or doubles. You can also challenge the console if you don't have a live partner.

Patience and focus are virtues when playing Wii Sports Golf. Seasoned electronic golfers will recognize the power meter that rises with harder swings. Pick your ball's estimated path using the inset map and power meter. A monster stroke that overloads the meter will hook or slice your shot. The mechanics of a Wii Golf swing compared to the real thing is a bit hokey. You can cheat and give a low power hit extra juice after it's in the air just by continuing to hold the Wiimote out in front of you. Your choice of sticks is limited to a driver, iron, putter, and wedge. Some holes of the course pose genuine challenges, but some really lack inspiration.

Fun Training and Fitness Twists

Training and fitness sections are an added bonus when the regular game versions don't hold your interest. A player is engaged in a three-sport challenge in the fitness segment. Performance is gauged by overall balance, speed, and stamina from which your apparent age is projected. In the training version, you pick from five different skill levels for each sport. When you make it past each of the levels in two sporting events, Wii Sports unlocks. Unlocked bowling gives you more pins in each frame until you're facing an army of 91 pins in the last frame. The tennis challenge involves successfully returning serves and hitting specific targets. Baseball training focuses on hitting them over the fences, pumping up batting average, and hitting precision. Golf and boxing also include accuracy and skill contests.

Wrap Up

Wii Sports definitely is aimed at a broad audience. It began as little more than a demo of motion activated game technology. Nintendo then built it up to a package of five games that ranges from easy beginners' play for newbies up to a few truly advanced challenges for die hard enthusiasts. Wii Sports' graphics and strategies border on being hokey for some of the games, especially golf and boxing, and hearken to their demo past. Really advanced players will find more true-to-life simulations in other packages, but the appeal to beginning and intermediate gamers more than makes up for this fact with respect to audience breadth.

Wii Gear and Supplies

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