Nintendo fans, get your sweatbands ready.

It is no surprise that the Wii-mote has opened up endless barriers for console games, it has added another dimension to the way we interact with the games, movement.

The upcoming launch title from Nintendo, for the Wii system, Wii Sports promises to live up to more than just being a nice tech demo as some people are calling it. Yes, at first I also felt that way, but then again I also felt that Yoshi Touch & Go was just a tech demo for the DS and that is still one of my favourites for that system.

In yet another surprise from Nintendo, they recently announced that Wii Sports will be coming as a pack-in game for the launch of the Wii in the USA, Europe and Australia (this will be the first launch pack-in game since Super Mario World at the launch of the SNES). The price of the Japan system is lower then the rest of the world because of the fact that it does not come with Wii Sports, but the Japanese will be able to purchase the game separately, it will be bundled along with an additional Wii-mote.

The game features 5 different sports: Tennis, Bowling, Baseball, Boxing and Golf. All the games are quite basic to play and rely on the intuitive response of the players movement to play the game. For instance, in the golf game the players shot will be automatically lined up towards the hole, the only input you will give is the actual swing of the club. Depending on how hard you hit the ball or if your club was skew or not will judge where the ball lands up.

Tennis will be the only 4 player simultaneous game. Players will be presented with a split screen image, one for each side of the court so that it is easier for the players to determine how they should hit the ball. Each player’s character will automatically move towards the ball. It is then up to the player to play the correct hit, whether it be forehand, backhand, volley, punt or smash. In a press release Nintendo have stated that the controller will be sensitive enough to pick up the exact velocity and angle of the Wii-mote and that it will be possible to add spin onto the ball and do all kinds of tricks that you would be able to do on a real tennis court.

The boxing game will be the only one that uses the features of the Nunchuck controller. Players will hold the two controllers to control where their fists are in the game. To block the player will have to raise his arms in front of his face, and every now and then try to get in a quick left, right, right. The boxing will feature a two-player split screen mode.

Baseball will see the players standing at the home plate swinging at balls that the CPU tosses towards you. Again, it is all about the angle of the bat and the amount of force, you will also be able to add spin and do other funky stuff like that. There is a two-player mode that sees one player pitching the ball whilst the other bats (split screen again).

Last but not least is the bowling. You guessed it, you move the controller as if you were bowling a bowling ball towards the screen. You can add spin and make the ball curve as it hurtles down the alley and make yourself look like a real pro in front of your friends.

It is all about the movement, Nintendo really want to get across the feeling of actually playing the sport, without the risk of injury (or is there?). It is also presumed that the speaker on the Wii-mote will play all the sounds associated with the different games. The sound of the ball cracking against the wooden baseball bat, or the swoosh and chink of the golf club as you send your ball hurtling towards the sky.

Wii Sports is the first installment of the Wii Collection of games. The Wii Collection of games has been specifically tailored to the console to encourage non-gamers to try their hand at gaming. Other Wii Collection titles that have been announced thus far are Wii Music, Wii Play and the recently announced Wii Motor Race.

All of the Wii Collection of games will take advantage of the Mii account features on the Wii. Your character that you play with in the games will be that of your user account that you set up in the consoles interface. In the future it is believed that the Wii Collection of games will be incorporated into WiiConnect24, Nintendo’s online gaming network, and will have features such as worldwide tennis tournaments and keeping a top 100 list of the furthest home run hits in the baseball game of Wii Sports.

If you’re going to be buying a Wii, you’re going to be getting this game, so it’s best you take a look at it. Nintendo is obviously positive enough about it to include it with the launch, this will be the first game that a lot of new Wii owners will play, and it’s going to give the all-important first impressions of the console. You can expect them to produce something well polished, smart and in the end, fun to play. I’m excited about it, you should be too!

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