GamePLAY versus graphics finally decided

I like / love games with playability. I applaud games machines that encourage physical activity. The Wii does this in spades - yes some folk may challenge the 'intellect' challenge that it does / does not provide (my wife falls on the side of not intellectually challenging enuf).

I'd the fortune to play a few holes of golf on Wii sports with my wife and two children at the weekend. Brilliant family fun. The PS3 or X360 have not captivated this as yet - Nintendo rule in the family fun department

I've yet to see any worthwhile Wii titles aside from Wii Sports itself that encourage actual physical movement (re: no wrist-flick-only work) in a non-waggle fashion....
(as well as a non-wail-the-remote-around-as-fast-as-you-can-to-do-something-in-the-game manner.....)

I think it's a good idea, like many board games, to get the people involved with each other and discussing what they're doing and having social interaction outside of the game itself. But also it's still nice to get the mental stimulation too.

velcro ankle weight transmitters with an rpg slant, oh the future.

Yeah my friends and I have good fun with Monkey Bowling on GameCube and Monkey Target and also Tiger Woods golf, it's a very social thing which is nice.

im looking forward to -force unleashed- for some lightsaber wiimote action

Nintendo destroys in the family fun department. What family has a family fun night of cutting each other up with chainsaw bayonets in Gears of War? Lol

That is exactly my thought, too. People can say all they want about a game like WoW being a social experience, but it is still built for a high level of immersion. Moreso with a multiplayer shooter.

Games can be divided into a simple two categories:

-Those that demand attention, interrupting the flow of real life for extra impact. Comparable to escape fiction. Fun, indeed, but only really make sense when the surrounding atmosphere is devoid of potential fun itself. That is, the people you want to interact with are not present!

-Those that require attention, and blend with -- sometimes require contribution from -- one's day to day activities. Generally seeming more mundane and less obvious, but as a general rule of thumb they can be very rewarding games because they are built to have an experience spreading beyond just the computer, integrating with the world outside them rather than denying its existence.

Those games that are built to blend with everyday life and the real world are the ones that work really well as group activities where everyone is in the same room, and that is where Nintendo often hits the nail on the head.

hmm, I've never really been a social gamer myself. The only multiplayer game I really enjoyed was settlers 2 on the amiga with split screen and each player having a mouse and their own little realm to manage and expand.

That worked great, I never enjoyed anything else Multiplayer much, and that stems to an kind of social gaming really. I guess I'm just not the kind of person that these games target.

My worst nightmare is going to a party and having to play that damned bioard games like Cranium where you have trivial pursuits, pictionary, charades and word games all mixed into one. <shudder>

I hate charades, but I love the other three. I wonder if I would enjoy Cranium?

Social games are fun, but they rely on social interaction to make them so. The fun is derived from the company that you're in - the comradeship - rather than being located in the games themselves.

Many people are deceived by games on the Wii. Not that it matters of course - fun is fun, regardless of where or how you get it.