Wii Party Gets Physical

We often talk about the balance been real (as in physical) games and electronic entertainment in our household. The Wii has helped blur this divide somewhat, but there is still no getting away from the fact that most of the action is on the screen.

Having enjoyed Wii Play, Wii Fit and Wii Sports in our family room I've been excited to read about new ideas Nintendo have in store for us with Wii Party.

Although there are a bunch of minigames much like you would find in any Wii game, there are a few House Party games that I think we will be making most use of. These games get players to physically interact with the Wii Remote and the space they are playing in. The game unfolds in the room rather than on the screen. And I really like this idea.

Hide 'n Hunt: One player hides the Wii-motes in the room. The others are invited back to race to find them from the sounds made by the Wii-mote speakers.__ __

Animal Tracker: players listen for the animal sounds coming out of the Wii-motes and grab the one matching the picture.

Time Bomb: The players pretend the Wii-mote is a bomb and must pass it around without shaking it.__ __

Word Bomb: Each player has up to 10 seconds to say a word from a given category. If the player doesn't say a relevant word and press the A Button in time, then the bomb explodes and it will be game over.

Buddy Quiz: One player chooses to be the 'Buddy' and then has to answer questions. The rest of the players then have to predict how many they will answer.

What's most excited me though is how this combines our family's passion for board games and videogames into one neat package. It will be a real challenger for our after dinner entertainment as well as after school treat for the kids.

With the game already selling very well in Japan, I can't wait until 3rd October when I can get my hands on Wii Party myself.