How to throw a Wii party

Today on Future Tense (RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes) I talked with Julio Ojeda-Zapata of the St. Paul Pioneer Press about Wii parties.

Across America, friends are gathering in groups to play games together on the Nintendo Wii.

Julio writes about Wii parties in today's paper.

Want to know more? Wiiparty.net and Evite will help you organize Wii parties.

I still don't have a Wii, but I'd like one. The new Tiger Woods game for the Wii looks especially compelling. But I must take issue with how the San Francisco Chronicle's Peter Hartlaub describes golf in his review of the game:

The more you think about it, the more it becomes obvious that golf is God's punishment for the upper middle class and the rich.

The sport is frustrating to learn and impossible to master and costs a ton of money. You're encouraged to dress like a complete fool and drive one of those emasculating little carts, and almost nothing about golfing makes you more attractive sexually. If it weren't for "Caddyshack" and the occasional hole in one, golf would arguably be a complete waste.

This 6-handicapper says ouch! I'm not rich or even upper middle class; golf can be expensive but there are plenty of opportunities for inexpensive outings; I always walk instead of driving an "emasculating little cart"; and I find golf to be a rewarding way to spend time (nature, exercise, mental discipline, applied physics). As far as golf making one more sexually attractive, well, no comment.

Here's video of a Wii party I found on YouTube:

And here's a little demo of the Tiger Woods game for the Wii:

Nintendo's Wii seems perfect for party-gaming, since it provides such a spectacle -- not just the game, but the players themselves. But it seems to be a format that lends itself best to sports games.

Not being a fan of sports games myself (though I was surprised to find, several years ago, that there was a particularly engaging golf game on the Nintendo 64). I come from the Atari 2600 crowd -- first game I owned was Space Invaders -- and I tend to view sports games as the bottom of the barrel. Fortunately, the PS2 is still going strong (I'll be picking up recently-released God of War II this weekend).

That said, I don't think I could pass up an invite to a Wii party -- and congrats to Nintendo for upping the ante on interactive videogaming.