14 DAY TRIAL // 
Gamers are thought to be lame fat guys that sit on the sofa all day hacking and slashing or shooting monsters. This is the general non-gamer opinion, but Nintendo created the tool that makes a fat gamer a phat one, and that?s slang for cool. The Wiiysteria barely started and everyone wants the new console from Nintendo plus the release titles. Wii Sports is one of those and I had the privilege and pleasure of having fun with it. Play one of the five sports, some available for multiplayer modes that can even gather 4 friends around the new console. It's perfect if you want to have fun by playing in-door tennis or baseball, lose weight and make a party more interesting.
The Basics Before starting to play Wii Sports ,you'll need to setup a profile and create a Mii, your own avatar and character that suits your style. It might be a little critter with beard and long hair of the average blond Dee-Dee. Don't expect photorealistic characters as the MiiS are as beautifully designed as are the icons from your Windows XP. Your profile can be saved on the Wii or on the Wiimote and if you chose the latter, there's a cool feature that allows you to load your Mii on other Nintendo Wii consoles out there.
Also, you'll be given the opportunity of choosing what hand to use during the gameplay and that should help you a lot, especially if you're a lefty. There's not much else to say, before passing to the game modes, except for the fact that you can pause the game at any time by pressing the + button. Also, the guys at Nintendo seem to care about their customers a lot since they filled the game with indications and tips on how to use the Nunchuk and Wiimote in order not to get hurt or hurt other people.
Tennis It's options time again, with the Tennis game included in the Wii Sports pack. You'll have to choose a right or left swing and the type of game you want to play: single game, best of 3 or best of 5. There are different skill levels for each of the players you choose when playing a single or multiplayer game. It doesn't matter that much in the double games, since you're playing with a human opponent that can be as good as you are. This is not the standard one-on-one tennis that you'd expect as all the matches are in the doubles category, but the critter that will be playing in your team won't bother to do anything. It's very unlikely that you'll get to control the other player, but that will only happen in the case of short balls that can't be reached normally. In case you're stuck and you don't know why, check out the sign above you player's head for the ?server? sign.
While playing Wii Sports with my friends, I witnessed some of the most beautiful moves to ever be done in tennis and even Federer or Nadal would be jealous. If you think you've missed something or the referee has, check out the replays, as there are tons of them to watch. Each game will be followed by a series of applauses and the crowd can go nuts if you take a ball through with a superhuman effort. You'll hear the audience whistling, they'll receive tennis balls in the head, but the real action happens on the green field. Don't expect quality from the music or graphics, as Nintendo relied mostly on the gameplay when they produced Wii Sports. In the background, you'll hear some arcade piano music and the Wiimote will make a sound similar to the one of a ball that's just been hit. Couple that with vibration effects and we've got a virtual tennis racket.
Back to the visual aspect, you'll see that the people from the audience have no feet, but that's normal for the whole Wii Sports collection as the guys from Nintendo forgot to implement feet for the in-game sportsmen. At least the characters are convincing and while playing, you'll see that they act like they really mean it and they can become angry or sad if they lose a game. Tennis and in fact the whole Wii Sports was made exclusively for multiplayer and it will be highly entertaining to take your console and your Wiimote and Nunchuck to a party. Games are played in split-screen, which is not that bad, especially if you have a history with consoles games rather than PC titles. Each match equals a couple of experience points that can upgrade your character and make him play better next time. However, he's not the one to blame if you're not playing so well in the next game. Did I mention the controls? They're extremely basic; just swing your Wiimote around like you were using a tennis racket and press the A button to throw the ball in the air if you're serving. There's no need to use the Nunchuck for the tennis game, but nevertheless, try not to hit anyone in the head with the virtual racket.
Baseball Wii Sports' baseball game is not a competitor for games like MLB 07, but rather a fun way to get relaxed and practice your aim. Don't worry about the official rules of baseball, as we didn't quite get them and still we had a mountain of fun. You can be the pitcher or the thrower in this baseball game and honestly, I prefer to be the pitcher as it's more challenging and entertaining. You can throw fastball if you reach the speed of 104 km/h or foul balls if you throw the ball at random. Like in real life and the famous baseball-related saying, three strikes are enough to take you out of the game. Each time you'll see the ?Change? sign on the screen, it's time for a couple of Miis to enter the screen and set a formation for the final play.
Once they're arranged, you can start swinging your bat and I'm very fond of doing fun moves like spinning the bat around or warming my wrists while holding the Wiimote. You'll see those moves on-screen and the whole sensitivity concept is pretty neatly designed. While pitching, the animation shows you the whole process that has the crazy Miis running around trying to get the ball, or losing it. This is clearly and arcade game designed for its gameplay and there's no need to talk about the graphics or sound, because they're nothing special. Voices are childish and so are the animations, so the kiddie target public will feel right at home with this title.
The speed of the ball can go up to 150 km/h and that was a personal record of a friend of mine, because usually everyone got something between 104 and 116 km/h. Take a look around to become amused by the huge ?win, win, win ?panels that the crowd displays or laugh at the fat characters with no feet that float around the field. In the multiplayer game, the roles are pretty clear: one guy throws and the other one pitches. Synchronization is everything and if you're a good thrower, you'll see stuff like screwballs, curveballs or splitters happening. You're the one that will set the ball's trajectory to the left or to the right and when you press the direction buttons on the Wiimote, it will vibrate and give you a pretty awesome feeling.
Bowling Some may probably wonder what's a bowling game doing here, since it's an in-door sport that doesn't usually require serious gameplay and button pushes. It's as intuitive as the other games in the Wii Sports collection and all you have to do is raise the Wiimote a bit in the direction opposite to your TV set and swing it towards the TV screen, while pressing the B button to throw the ball. The player can move his bowling ball to the left or the right before throwing it and he can also orientate the ball towards the direction that he pleases. All you have to do is press the A button and a trajectory will appear giving you the opportunity to make the perfect setup for a strike. If you want to get a closer look and there's only one pin left, you should try pushing the forward button on the D-pad.
In the background, players can see other bowlers having fun, performing strikes or missing all the pins. Don't forget to check out the score tables, especially if you're in a duel with a human opponent. A familiar wooden sound will accompany the ?shocking? event of the bowling ball hitting the pins, but there's nothing more to it, considering that the animation didn't impress us. Replays are here specially if you managed to do a beautiful throw that knocked all the pins down, although it started off with a deviated trajectory. No feet for the other bowlers and many exclamations throughout the gameplay are nothing new if you've played the previous two sports on this collection.
Golf Golf is also an option if tennis got you tired and baseball got you frustrated. Choose a 3 hole game and a difficulty level set on beginner, intermediate or expert if you're having a Tiger Woods karma. If you aren't late for school (yet), you'll have enough time to play the whole 9 hole game and enjoy Nintendo's title to the fullest. Sticking your finger in your mouth and pulling it out to measure the wind's speed is not very fashionable nowadays, so you should thank the producers for adding a wind indicator concept to the game. You'll find out the wind's direction and its speed measured in meters per second and you'll get around the field by using a pretty well-designed map that appears on the right side of the screen.
If you've tried the baseball game before, this will be extremely familiar, because it's all about swinging the club after pressing the A button. After the hit check out the length of your strike, measured in yards and admire the fairway while aiming for the faraway flag that signals the presence of a hole. When playing golf in a one-on-one mode, players will take turns, being allowed to hit the ball once, each time. Different distances and terrains require different clubs so you're going to need either the iron, the driver, the wedge or the putter. Change them by pressing up or down on the directional pad. When you'll finally take the shot, the vibration function kicks in making the strike more realistic. The funny names that show just how good you were while playing the game are still here and you'll see stuff like ?bogey?, ?birdie? or ?double bogey? written on the screen after reaching the hole. Of course you may be some sort of master and get a hole-in-one, but I doubt that's possible in Wii Sports.
Boxing You may be no Rocky Balboa, but thanks to Wii Sports, you can start fantasizing about that, while listening to ?Eye of the tiger? and punching virtual enemies with your Nunchuck and Wiimote. Yes, this is the only game in the Wii Sports collection that features the use of the Nunchuck. It's logical since we're using both hands to box, although Muhammad Ali could have knocked us down with one hand for sure. If you think that tennis was a tiring game, wait till you play the boxing challenge that the Wii Sports pack offers you. The crowd is more agitated than ever and the little critters go nuts around the ring, like it was the last boxing match of a great title challenge. The health bar will get depleted in no time during the match since the boxers like to fight offensively, rather than protecting their faces. When you hit the opponent in the right spot, some sort of bullet time will be triggered, but get over the joy fast, because the enemy can surprise you at any time with a series of killer punches.
If you're knocked down to the floor, don't worry about getting defeated as the referee only counts to 4 and you're back up on your feet. Too bad that the same applies to the other boxer...It's pretty frustrating when you start punching the other guy and he parries you killing series and then starts his own and you'll be forced to retreat and parry. This may not be the Warner Bros cartoons, but you'll see sparks when punches hit you in the face. In the multiplayer mode, the game is highly entertaining, but you'll need a pretty large space to play it if you don't intend to REALLY punch your friend in the face. Remember, real punches do hurt and leave real marks.
Conclusion Wii Sports is not only the perfect game for a teenage party, it's a party itself and it has all the symptoms of one: you get dizzy after too much of it, your arms and feet hurt after a couple of hours and you can make new friends. The Tennis game is by far the best of the Wii Sports collection, followed by the Boxing game and maybe Bowling. Nintendo's title doesn't rely at all on the graphics and sound, it's like it was the opposite of the next-gen consoles, becoming the Godfather of pure gameplay and innocent fun, effort included.
