Chances are if you managed to grab a Nintendo Wii around the week of its launch then you also as if by magic became incredibly popular for at least a month, and not without good reason. Regardless of whether you were a seasoned gamer or a cautious newcomer, playing Wii Sports for the first time felt nothing short of magic. No matter how we may feel about the Wii now, for the first few months it could do no wrong, and it’s important that we don’t forget that. Bowling till the early hours almost every day felt like barriers had been smashed down: suddenly everyone wanted to play games. For a lapsed hardcore gamer such as myself it was hugely refreshing just to have other people beating me without me having to purposefully play badly (a practice which is no fun for anyone, I can assure you).

It was brilliant fun, but those of us who had been gamers for years were far from being entirely satisfied. Between the drunken outbursts of laughter and applause there was an tangible buzz of wide-eyed speculation filling the room each night as we marvelled at the potential of this new technology: “Sure, it’s simplistic at the moment but before too long you’ll be able to play games where your movements are mapped out one-to-one on the screen” we’d excitedly explain to each other. Each night new ideas would be demonstrated as we encouraged each other to imagine when these simple ideas would surely come to fruition.

Six months passed and still it seemed like the Wii had barely scratched the surface of its own potential, but still we had a fistful of decent points to disparage the cynics.  After all, we all knew well that most publishers had doubted the Wii’s potential and not invested in producing quality launch titles of any nature, and because of this we’d have to wait at least a year for games to arrive which would make full use of the Wiimote’s stunning potential. We’d keep waiting, they’d surely be announced soon.