After living with our Nintendo Wii for a good six weeks now, I thought I'd post a half-term report on how we, as a family, are living with this extraordinary little console. There are other excellent reviews on the in's, out's and wherefore's of the Wii but I thought I'd give you an idea of what it's like after the initial excitement has died down. I also mention Wii Sports which, considering it comes free with the console, I thought to be a pertinent addition to the review.

We bought our Wii at the beginning of November 2007, just before the big boom in demand. We paid 230 for it off Ebay and it came from Germany as it seemed to be the only place it was available. The RRP is 179.00 and yes, we have paid over the odds but as the old saying goes, 'Long after price is forgotten, quality is remembered' (or something).. Since then, demand has sky-rocketed and for the second year running, the Wii has been the 'must-have' toy (console?) to own. But why?

It's an interesting phenomenon. Having played computer and video games for nigh-on thirty years (as I realised with horror the other day), not since we received our very first pong game made by Binatone, plugged into a black and white portable has the whole family able to become involved in a computer game. I think this is where the popularity lies. Sure, the PS3 and Xbox360 have better visuals, better multimedia and all the rest but the humble little Wii is the only one that can engage the whole family and actively seeks to do so. While Microsoft and Sony have been involved in one-upmanship in terms of technological advances, Nintendo have obviously stepped back and decided to re-invent the console as something anyone can access. That's not to say the Wii graphics are bad because they aren't - they're probably on a par with a PS2 (I would say) but you're not buying a Wii for that. The Xbox and PS3 have great online games (as do PC's) but it's still mainly a solitary experience for the person sat at home. The Wii turns this around completely thanks to its revolutionary control system.

A case in point: Over the Christmas period, we had the obligatory family gathering where everyone and their sister turned up on our doorstep expecting to be fed and entertained. Within half an hour, my 72-year old mother was scoring strikes on Wii Bowling and jumping up and down in excitement (well, as much as her dodgy hip allows). They weren't bothered about frame-rates or dolby surround sound or processor speeds, all they

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