If you've been following this blog religiously--and why shouldn't you be?--you'll already have read Paul's excellent preview of Wii Sports Resort a short while ago and then also wondered my coverage of Nintendo was so light during and directly after E3. Well, because of the hectic nature of E3 I just didn't get as much time to spend with Nintendo's goods as I had hoped to, which is why I was pleased that Nintendo chose to hold a "mini-E3" for a select group of journalists this past week, allowing me to get to grips with some of their great upcoming titles--including Wii Sports Resort .

I'm singling out Wii Sports Resort because it's the game I had the longest hands-on time with--in fact, in comparison to the crowded floor at E3, where I would have been lucky to get a go of one of the many activities it offers, I managed to play every single one.

As a result I managed to gleam some pretty interesting facts. For example, the simple fact that Wii Sports Resort is going to make your Wii Sports diskc essentially useless. Why? Because it includes new versions of Golf and Bowling , both of which make use of the Wii MotionPlus to great effect. Now, spin in Bowling is much more subtly effected by the way you throw the remote (er, remember, not literally) and Golf features a fantastic improvement in that your hits really are accurate to the way you swing the remote. If you slice, you really slice. It's worlds away from the original title, which (arguably) only showed up how flawed the original, MotionPlus-lacking Wii Remote was.

But the most excitement has to be held for the new activities they've added. Everyone points out Archery as the stand-out, and I won't argue. Using a clever combination of the Nunchuck and the Wii Remote, you pull the Nunchuck back as if it were the string of the bow, and aim with the Remote. It's astonishing in the way it feels like you're really performing the movement, and letting go of the Z-button--to launch the arrow--honestly feels as thrilling as if you really were performing archery. Especially when you hit the target well! It makes a real mockery of Nintendo's last attempt at something similar, Link's Crossbow Training , which used the lamentably poor Wii Zapper (does anyone still use that thing?)


There are more games than that, though. My secret favourite, actually, might be Canoeing . Actually misnamed in the game I played--any good Canadian would be aware that my little Mii was kayaking--it was as realistically tiring as canoing can be, with the rythmic sweeping of the Wii Remote oar reminding me of the canoe trip I made to Algonquin Park last year (the most shatteringly exausting, but beautiful, holiday I've ever taken.)

Wii Sports Resort doesn't just look good--I can confirm that it plays well, and genuinely is the flagship title for the new MotionPlus. The only issues I have with it are the kind of errors only a core gamer could see--much like Wii Sports , the game lacks a meaningful progression in several of its games, but it's been improved over the previous title. And of course, if you want to enjoy some of the games (which can be played by four people) you're going to need not only four controllers but four  MotionPluses. Eeek.