12.21.06

The Wii: Officially Mother-approved

Posted in games at 11:28 am by wingerz

I started gaming in the late 80s. Over the past two decades, the only time my mom ever picked up a controller is while cleaning up after me. After hearing about Wii family success stories, I figured I had a pretty good shot at getting my mom to give it a try.

I made my sister create a Mii first so that Mom could see how easy it was. Then she created her own, giggling as she clicked on some of the sillier noses and mouths. We started out with a few rounds of tennis. Mom played the way she used to play real tennis - by swinging with a big upwards component, which translated into lobs on-screen. Her timing was a little off, but she hit most of the balls that came her way and we won a few matches against my sister and Wilson.

Then we played three holes of golf. Egged on by my sister, I went for the small island of green on Hole 3 and quickly hit the 15-stroke maximum. It was pretty disheartening, but meanwhile Mom beat all of us (check out the intense look of concentration). Hoping to get my dad to give it a try later; he was off napping somewhere.

In related news, Wii Sports was named Gamasutra’s most important game of 2006. I can’t argue with the award, since I’ve seen it capture the attention of people who traditionally don’t play video games, including our upstairs neighbors, our VP, and Mom.

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