Genre: Sports
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo

As a title geared towards orienting people to the Wii's hardware, Wii Sports makes use of visuals that hardly impress; other than the sharp and colorful golf game, simplicity and clean lines are the order of the day. I think this is a deliberate move from the game's developers-- this title is meant to emphasize that the Wii less about technical prowess and is more about aesthetics, sharpness, and of course a new way of playing games.

Utilitarian sound effects and some simple elevator music impress only a little more than the graphics do. They work well enough and never get in the way, but they are more filler than anything.

I had a really hard time assessing this title's gameplay, and I think that says a lot about what Nintendo is trying to accomplish with the Wii. This game is basically a collection of mini games that vary in quality. The best is probably the bowling simulation, and the worst is the boxing. But what all of the games share in common is that they feel very natural and, with a little practice, second-nature.

My most prominent memories of the NES, which Nintendo once used to resuscitated the entire video game industry, consist of Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. In packaging Wii Sports with the console, Nintendo is hoping that this title is the modern day Duck Hunt, and to that end, it does a great job. It's novel, fun, and demonstrates to great effect what the Wii is all about.