Nintendo Wii Console (Includes Wii Sports)

Wii (pronounced 'we') is Nintendo's new home video game console that represents a radical step into a new era of entertainment. For years, video games have been growing in popularity but also in complexity. With Wii, Nintendo changes the way you play by maximising the fun and minimising the fuss. The Wii console makes you feel less like a player and more like you're in the game. Frenzied sword battles are no longer confined to pushing a button. With Wii's unique Wii Remote controller, Nintendo puts you in the middle of the action. Forget about pushing a button to start a golf backswing. Wii lets you swing the club! Don't push a button to swing a sword, actually swing the sword. Video games have always been a part of you, now you get to be a part of them. Step up to the next level of gaming. Over time, gaming has become overwhelming to people. The Wii console returns gaming to simpler times while innovating game development at the same time. The unique Wii Remote gives parents and grandparents a chance to play games with their children. It gives gamers and traditional non-gamers a chance to share the same experiences in this new generation of gaming. For those who grew up with video games, Wii shows that games have not outgrown them.

In a nutshell:
As if the idea of five games in one package didn't sound a good enough deal on its own the Wii's best multiplayer compendium comes free with the console.

The lowdown:
Clearly realising that they need to provide some quick and obvious reasons why the Wii Remote is such a good idea Nintendo have packed in this compilation with the console, which includes simple versions of tennis, golf, baseball, bowling and boxing. The four player tennis game is the obvious stand out as you swing the Remote exactly as you would a real tennis racket, with the game seeming to almost magically interpret your movements into the game. All the other games work in a similar way, as you hold the Remote like a golf club or ready it like a baseball bat - you can even use it to gently roll bowling bowls and add some subtle aftertouch. The graphics make be purposefully basic but these are the games to instantly prove why the Wii is going to be such a revolution.

Most exciting moment:
While even Wii Tennis can be played with very minor movements of the Wii Remote the boxing game actively encourages you to act things out properly. You hold up both the Remote and the nunchuck to simulate your two hands and then duck and weave as you switch between trying to pummel your opponent and dodging or blocking their own attacks.

Since you ask:
You can use your own customised Mii Channel character in any of the games for that personal touch. The idea was originally just a joke featuring caricatures of Nintendo's top brass for a press conference, but it proved so popular that Nintendo ensured anyone could make their own character to play with.

The bottom line:
Five of the best games on the Wii and they all come free with the console!-HARRISON DENT