(Below is part of my latest GameFile column about my recent hands-on and feet-on with "Mario Kart" and "Wii Fit". For the full thing, check out MTVNews.com.)
Game demonstration events run by Microsoft and Sony still consistently feature much more macho Xbox 360 and PS3 entertainment than the kind of stuff at Nintendo's showing last week. The centerpieces of their lineups are usually first-person shooters or action-combat games. Instead, a visit with new Wii games has me asking questions like: "What's this penguin mode here?" (It was a "Wii Fit" balance game that dresses a Wii owner's Mii avatar as a penguin; requiring the player to tilt the penguin's ice floe so he or she can catch fish.) Only at a Nintendo event am I wondering if the female characters parking cars in the middle of the track in the "Mario Kart Wii" Coconut Mall race course can also be based on Miis of friends and relatives. This is console gaming at its sunniest.
Nintendo isn't shy about this kinder, gentler lineup of games. This is the style of Wii game showcased at last year's E3. It's the style of Wii game set for the spring, games designed more to make you laugh or improve your digestive health than to grit your teeth.