Martin Hollis, lead designer on the famous 1997 Nintendo 64 James Bond first-person shooter doesn't mind if players don't make the connection between his old classic and his team's firs Wii game. "Bonsai Barber," released as a $10 downloadable game for Nintendo's WiiWare service three weeks ago, is a very different thing from the legendary "GoldenEye."

One's a spy game. One's about giving vegetables haircuts.

"I've been moving, over the years, to trying to make games that are progressively different from anything else," Hollis said during a telephone interview with Multiplayer from the Cambridge, U.K. offices of his development studio Zoonami today. "I tend towards preferring the really new and creative ideas over somebody else's universe."

A barbershop game -- even if it didn't star vegetables in need of a trim -- is new for games.

A barbershop game -- even if it didn't star vegetables in need of a trim -- is new for games. "It's just a complete blindspot for the whole development community," Hollis said, noting that he was aware of only two "shaving" games before "Bonsai Barber," both of them mini-games in "WarioWare" titles. "I think there's so much virgin territory. But many developers are choosing to instead stay in these ruts."

Hollis' game is polished and simple, a first-person grooming game that allows the players to wield their Wii remote like scissors or an electric razor as they snip and shape the branches and leaves sprouting out of the fruit and vegetable characters' heads. They must sculpt specific styles. The trickiest mechanic is that the cutting a branch too low can knock out half a "hair-do," just as recklessly cutting a bush in a garden might cause the shrub to lose its form. Thankfully, a spritz of water grows branches and leaves back. Skill and dedication to returning customers is rewarded.

The game is the work of small team of Zoonami developers who worked closely with producers at Nintendo's home office in Japan to make the game. "We've been working with a group from Japan for several years now to try and develop outstandingly new games for WiiWare," Hollis said. This new game is just one of hundreds of one-sheet ideas Hollis team concocted, one of several they've tested for Nintendo's platform. "We've got prototypes that are still in flight." The "Bonsai Barber" game has been developed in earnest for nine months.

"That's one of our goals, to try and engineer a game would make people say, 'This feels like a Nintendo game.'"

Hollis is tight with the Nintendo people from his days at Rare making "GoldenEye": "We've got a very close relationship with Nintendo, a lot of history together," he said. "The way they work is similar to how I work: always looking for an innovative approach, always looking at it from a user-centric point of view. 'Why is this working for them?' and 'Why is this not working for me?'"

Zoonami's name doesn't appear in the WiiWare listing for "Bonsai Barber." Nintendo's does, as the company serves as its publisher. "I'm completely happy about that," Hollis said. He thinks the game meets the standards the labeling suggests. "I feel that from the very beginning we were trying to engineer a Nintendo game. That's one of our goals, to try and engineer a game would make people say, 'This feels like a Nintendo game.'"

Hollis declined to call out features in "Bonsai Barber" he's particularly proud of. He said he'd prefer to take what he thinks is a "very English" route and let the game speak for itself. Keep playing it, he encouraged. It has its surprises.

As we wrapped up our interview, Hollis deflected a question about recent gaming media reporting about WiiWare sales thresholds. One report indicated that games would need to sell between 2,000 and 6,000 copies before developers would be awarded royalties. "I can keep a secret," Hollis said. When pressed, he added, "The normal deal for a really small retail game is that you have to sell 100,000 units, ballpark. For a larger game you have to sell one million, two million or more… My point of view is that WiiWare is great for creativity and for the business side. All the developers I know feel the same way."

"Bonsai Barber" is available for download on the Wii for 1000 Nintendo Points or $10.

"World of Goo" + "Bit.Trip Beat" + "Cubello" + "Orbital" + "Bonsai Barber"... WiiWare is finally adding up to a satisfying amount of good games for me, as I argue in today's video.

(Videos not viewable by users logging in from Canada or the U.K.)

This week's WiiWare release is a mini-game collection called "Family & Friends Party." As its name implies, it's meant for you to play with your family and friends. But for ten bucks, is this "Party" worth it? We tested it to find out.

***

"Family & Friends Party"
Gammick Entertainment
1-8 players, Rated E for Everyone
1,000 Wii Points ($10)

My boyfriend and I chose the "Team Attack" mode, which was two players vs. the CPU (it allowed us to play with one controller). There was also "Triangular Party" for three players (sounds kind of kinky), and "Family & Friends Party" for 4-8 players.

[Note: All screenshots were taken from my HDTV with a digital camera.]

The character selection let us choose a Mii or a pre-made character included in the game. It's clear that the game-made characters would not win any beauty contests. I went with my Mii and my boyfriend picked the guy who looked sort of like Gandhi (or Ben Kingsley, whichever you prefer).

The game randomly chose which mini-games we had to play. We had to complete each type of mini-game in less than 10 turns to win. For each mini game we finished successfully, we were awarded gold coins (more about the usefulness of these later).

The first game we got was telepathy, which asked me and my teammate to try to think of the same thing when given a topic. Like "a brand of luxury car" or "a brand of computer." After it showed the concept, it gave me a countdown, and when it reached one, we were supposed to shout out our answers at the same time. And then the game, using the honor system, asked us if we had succeeded.  (For the record, we did succeed and said, "yes." Scout's honor.)

There's also a Charades mini-game, which asked one player to avert their eyes while the other was shown the subject that they're supposed to act out. At the end, the game asked if we succeeded, once again using the honor system in hoping that you don't cheat. The same goes for the drawing portion.

By the way, here is my amazing drawing of a TV. Can you tell I won a drawing contest at my school in the 2nd grade? (I don't mind if you frame it or put it on the fridge.)

There were also other games like spelling, which flashed a word then asked you to spell it backwards; Rock, Paper, Scissors where you play against the CPU and simply hit a corresponding d-pad button to select your choice; and a mini game that was exactly like "Simon," the four-color memory game.

Now back to the gold coins I mentioned earlier. You can use them to buy chances to play the mini-games that you need another shot at. Or if you're stuck on a certain game, and you have enough coins, you can use the currency to buy completion of the mini-game.  Buying your way through a mini-game? I get that this is a "casual" game, but if players are unable to complete any of these mini-games on their own, the games are ridiculously hard or the player is wildly incompetent.

We weren't keeping count of the turns, and before we knew it, we got to ten games before we completed each kind of mini-game. FAIL.

Verdict:

Mini-game collections: Love 'em or hate 'em, they're here to stay, and it's clear that some are made better than others. "Family & Friends Party" isn't only generically named; the mini-games included were some of the least imaginative ones I've ever seen. Charades? Rock, Paper, Scissors? Win, Lose or Draw? Simon? "FF&P" took traditional games we know and did nothing to make them more fun. Whether you're with a large or small group of friends (or family), you're better off playing these the old-fashioned way.

-- thatgamecompany co-founder and "Flower" mastermind Jenova Chen in response to a question about the affect of digital distribution on games

As I did last year, I've compiled a list of the games that I played for fun in 2008. One list per major gaming platform.

(Check out the rest of my 2008 Gaming Playlists for other platforms, updated daily until New Year's.)

Today's entry is all about WiiWare, Nintendo's new-in-'08 download service for original games.

What did I play? And why didn't I finish any?

Take a look below:

My 2008 WiiWare Playlist
(Games I completed are italicized)

1) Art Style: Orbient - This is a game about manipulating the gravity of heavenly bodies to create planetary systems. It was wonderful when I played it as a Japan-only Game Boy Advance game called "Orbital." It's good on Wii, too.

2) Lost Winds - I tried this gesture-the-wind side-scroller when it launched in the spring but didn't finish it. Then I ran out of room on my Wii and needed to make space for another game -- probably the next one on this list -- so I had to delete it.

3) World Of Goo - This may have been the best game I played on the Wii and one I feel guilty about not finishing. A game this good, this good-looking and clever in its gameplay, deserves to be finished. I will make the goo balls build more bridges and towers. I will finish this game in 2009.

(Game I missed - "Tetris Party")

WiiWare Games of 2008: Played 3 / Finished 0

What did you play? And what did I miss?

As reported on the NeoGAF message boards, during a financial report today, Nintendo revealed "Made in Ore" as a DSi Store-only product -- not yet announced for outside Japan -- that lets you make your own "Wario Ware" mini-games.

That's already cool on its own. Here's the kicker: Nintendo's also releasing a WiiWare title called "Asobu! Made in Ore," which allows you to import that custom-tailored "Wario Ware" mini-game and play it on the Wii with friends.

For a company routinely criticized for their approach to online and previous attempts at connectivity, that's surprisingly progressive and cool, no?

But Amaya hasn't seen a dime from his work on "Cave Story." He released the game as freeware on the PC. Once people fell in love, they started porting "Cave Story" to others platforms -- PSP, Mac, everything.

There had been no movement on producing a proper port of "Cave Story" until Nicalis Inc. head honcho Tyrone Rodriguez decided to make Pixel a pitch.

His pitch started simple enough.

He simply sent Pixel a note to the e-mail listed on his website: "I drafted an e-mail to Amaya introducing myself," said Rodriguez, "telling him about my industry experience, my interest in the game and, with his permission, what I'd like to do with 'Cave Story.' Mainly I e-mailed him to gauge his interest in doing something commercially. I figured, if he said no, that'd be okay, but I wanted to give the game a chance. After a few months of e-mails, we managed to agree on everything."

"Amaya really appreciated his fans and their continued support. He understands that 'Cave Story' wouldn't be what it is today if not for them."

GoNintendo's Kevin Cassidy told me "Cave Story" is the only game that's ever made him cry. I've never shed a tear while playing a game before. Though Cassidy's story is a tad more extreme than what I've heard from others, the feedback has been nothing but praise.

"I'm going to sound biased because of involvement with the game," cautioned Rodriguez, "but 'Cave Story' was different to me. The graphics, the sound, the control, story--everything about the game felt like it could have very well been a commercially-released game, but probably back in the late '80s or early '90s. The only way I can describe 'Cave Story' [is that it] probably should have been on the NES (technically impossible) or maybe SNES, but somehow was locked away or forgotten about. It still reminds me why I loved playing games as a kid and how much I enjoyed the 8- and 16-bit eras."

At first, there was some discussion between Rodriguez and Amaya over which platform to bring "Cave Story" to. Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and WiiWare were all on the table. WiiWare became their top choice.

"We needed the approval to release it on WiiWare and run it by them [Nintendo] since it was already a PC game," continued Rodriguez. "However, we let them know that it wouldn't just be a port, but a new version with some exclusive content. They agreed and it's been great since. Nintendo's WiiWare group has been extremely supportive and helpful throughout the process."

Rodriguez said it was even Nintendo's idea for "Cave Story" to make its WiiWare debut at their fall media event a few weeks ago. The "exclusive content," by the way, is new music and revamped art, in addition to extra gameplay that's so far been kept a secret. "Cave Story" fans, is there something you'd like to see?

Having only spent 15 minutes or so with "Cave Story," I can hardly have much of an opinion about it. But it only takes 15 minutes for the passion of the game's creator, Amaya, to shine through.

"I know he's [Amaya] looking forward to finally playing 'Cave Story' alongside a worldwide audience," said Rodriguez. "Amaya really appreciated his fans and their continued support. He understands that 'Cave Story' wouldn't be what it is today if not for them."

"Cave Story" will arrive on WiiWare before the end of the year.

Related Posts
My #1 Nintendo Fall Summit Game — ‘Cave Story’

*The average "Super Smash Brother: Brawl" owner in America has played the game more than 61 hours since the game's February release.

*The average "Wii Fit" consumer has played that exercise game more times than the average "Okami" fan has played Capcom's wolf action-game.

*And "Sin & Punishment," a Nintendo 64 game that was never sold on a cartridge but just had a sequel announced for the Wii in part on the strength of its sales as a downloadable game through the Wii has sold more than 29,000 copies through the Wii Virtual Console.

These are just some of the findings in our second (well, third, sort of) number-filled breakdown of Wii software usage stats.  We're dong this monthly and we can pull numbers for any Wii game that's been out for at least a month. Who needs NPDs?

See below to learn a LOT about the performance of 14 Wii games, from "Boom Blox" to "Guitar Hero III" to "Rock Band" to... does anyone play those WiiWare games?

WII SOFTWARE USAGE AS OF OCTOBER 5, 2008

The following statistics are pulled from the Wii's Nintendo Channel, which allows users to persistently share their play history for any disc or downloadable games played on the Wii. These numbers do not reflect overall usage of these games on the Wii but instead reflect usage of the more than 1.2 million Americans who are sharing info with the channel. We think that's a pretty healthy sample size!

Games are ranked in order of average play time. The game we're tracking that has been played the longest by its average user is at the top of this list.

If there are more games you want us to track, let us know!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Released March 2008)

Raw data for "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 45,521,783 hours (up 3,821,783 hours)
As of 9/1: 41,700,000 (est.)

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 18,936,949 sessions (up 1,836,949 sessions)
As of 9/1: 17,100,000

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 61 hours, 24 minutes (up 85 minutes)
As of 9/1: 59 hours 59 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 25.54 sessions (up .89 sessions)
As of 9/1: 24.65

Analysis: Which game do people play for the longest time on the Wii? The one without motion control that's not designed to appeal to moms and that's awfully similar to its predecessor. It's also Nintendo's love letter to the company's hardcore fans, who, in turn, appear to be loving this game back.

***

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Released October 2007)

Raw data for "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 18,631,399 hours (up 1,360,563 hours)
As of 9/1: 17,270,836

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 10,651,330 sessions (up 851,330)
As of 9/1: 9,800,000 (est.)

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 57 hours, 7 minutes (up 37 minutes)
As of 9/1: 56 hours, 30 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 32.65 sessions (up .65 sessions - est.)
As of 9/1: 32 (est.)

Analysis: Can "Guitar Hero III" catch "Smash Brothers Brawl" for the top spot on this list? Only if people spend more than 37 minutes a month playing it. Come on, "GH" fans! Those "Smash" people gave their game 85 minutes between September 1 and October 5. Play more.

***

Wii Sports (Released November 2006)

Raw data for "Wii Sports" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 42,932,506 hours (up 3,360,420 hours)
As of 9/1: 39,572,086

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 35,480,726 sessions (up 2,635,944 sessions)
As of 9/1: 32,844,782

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 34 hours, 45 minutes (up 20 minutes)
As of 9/1: 34 hours, 25 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 28.72 sessions (up .16 sessions)
As of 9/1: 28.56

Analysis: Two conclusions: All the new Wii owners play a ton of "Wii Sports" as soon as they get the system. Longtime Wii owners don't stop playing this game.

***

Mario Kart Wii (Released April 2008)
Raw data for "Mario Kart Wii" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 13,082,304 hours (up 1,682,304 hours, est.)
As of 9/1: 11,400,000 (est.)

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 7,307,768 sessions (up 1,107,768 sessions, est.)
As of 9/1: 6,200,000 (est.)

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 24 hours, 48 minutes (up 66 minutes)
As of 9/1: 23 hours 42 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 13.86 sessions (up .76 sessions)
As of 9/1: 13.1

Analysis: Released in the shadow of "Grand Theft Auto IV," "Mario Kart Wii" is probably the biggest console game of 2008 that the gaming press didn't aggressively cover. Meanwhile, gamers played more than an hour of the game, on average, just last month. Most games can't boast that kind of support.

***

Rock Band (Released June 2008)
Raw data for "Rock Band" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 850,102 hours (up 323,270 hours)
As of 9/1: 617,832

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 414,339 sessions (up 127,051 sessions)
As of 9/1: 287,288

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 24 hours, 43 minutes (up 126 minutes)
As of 9/1: 22 hours 37 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 12.05 sessions (up 1.53 sessions)
As of 9/1: 10.52

Analysis: What did I just write about the amount of time logged in September for "Mario Kart Wii" players? The "Rock Band" Wii usage blows that out of the water.

***

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Released August 2007)

Raw data for "Metroid Prime3: Corruption" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 5,719,804 hours (up 283,857 hours)
As of 9/1: 5,435,947

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 2,652,141 sessions
As of 9/1: [not logged last month]

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 21 hours, 14 minutes (up 3 minutes)
As of 9/1: 21 hours, 11 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 9.84 sessions (up .02 sessions)
As of 9/1: 9.82

Analysis: And here we have the first of two hardcore-gamers' games. You can see how much people played "Metroid Prime" when they got it. The average matches the time needed to complete the game. But, as a result, note how the averages are barely budging up in the last month. That sends a signal that people are not going back and re-playing games like this.

***

Okami (Released April 2008)

Raw data for "Okami" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 668,882 hours (up 283,857 hours)
As of 9/1:[not logged last month]

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 257,701 sessions
As of 9/1: [not logged last month]

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 18 hours, 28 minutes (up 37 minutes)
As of 9/1: 17 hours, 51 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 7.12 sessions (up .22 sessions)
As of 9/1: 6.9

Analysis: On the other hand, we've got "Okami," which has been averaging fewer hours than it takes to complete the game. The average play-time is going up, a sign that more people who own it and getting further into it.. and maybe reaching the end?

***

Wii Fit (Released May 2008)

Raw data for "Wii Fit" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 2,804,987 hours (up 521,158 hours)
As of 9/1: 2,283,829

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 2,107,169 sessions (up 431,427 sessions)
As of 9/1: 1,675,742

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 15 hours, 26 minutes (up 60 minutes)
As of 9/1: 14 hours, 26 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 11.33 sessions (up .74 sessions)
As of 9/1: 10.59

Analysis:The average number of sessions per owner is up, but aren't people supposed to be using "Wii Fit" a few times a week? Shouldn't that number be higher, even if some people have only had the game for a few weeks?

***

Boom Blox (Released May 2008)

Raw data for "Boom Blox" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 675,042 hours (up 110,556 hours)
As of 9/1: 564,486

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 316,898 sessions (up 55,219 sessions)
As of 9/1: 261,679

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 11 hours, 32 minutes (up 24 minutes)
As of 9/1: 11 hours, 8 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 5.41 sessions (up .25 sessions)
As of 9/1: 5.16

Analysis: "Boom Blox" gets a nice uptick in its numbers, showing that people who have it are still playing it.

***

Carnival Games (Released August 2007)

Raw data for "Carnival Games" Wii usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 1,234,389 hours (up 118,086 hours)
As of 9/1: 1,116,303

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 899,743 sessions
As of 9/1: [not logged last month]

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 8 hours, 30 minutes (up 9 minutes)
As of 9/1: 8 hours, 21 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 6.19 sessions (up .12 sessions)
As of 9/1: 6.07

Analysis: Compare this to "Boom Blox," and it looks like long-time owners aren't playing this game that much any more.

WII WARE LISTINGS

***

Final Fantasy: My Life As A King (Released May 2008)

Raw data for "Final Fantasy: My Life As A King " usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 560,884 hours (up 58,373 hours)
As of 9/1: 502,511

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 248,440 sessions (up 28,349 sessions)
As of 9/1: 220,091

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 14 hours, 39 minutes (up 23 minutes)
As of 9/1: 14 hours 16 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 6.49 sessions (up .24 sessions)
As of 9/1: 6.25

Analysis: Show me a WiiWare game that's compelled people to log more time in it. I haven't found one yet.

***

Lost Winds (Released May 2008)

Raw data for "Lost Winds" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 112,318 hours
As of 9/1: [not logged last month]

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 107,878 sessions (up 10,654)
As of 9/1: 97,224

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 3 hours, 31 minutes
As of 9/1: [not logged last month]

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 3.38 sessions (up .18 sessions - est.)
As of 9/1: 3.2 (est.)

Analysis: Not much growth for this game. But has this been a solid performer? We can judge its growth next month, once we have more multi-month numbers to compare.

***

Super Mario 64
[Numbers drawn from Virtual Console usage, not the N64 release]

Raw data for "Super Mario 64" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 1,526,657 hours (up 88,253 hours)
As of 9/1: 1,438,404

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 1,445,368 sessions (up 78,937 sessions)
As of 9/1: 1,366,431

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 10 hours, 56 minutes (up 7 minutes)
As of 9/1: 10 hours 49 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 10.36 sessions (up .08 sessions)
As of 9/1: 10.28

Analysis: Look at this. In September people played "Super Mario 64" on their Wii more than 1.4 million times. Think about that.

***

Sin & Punishment (*NEW ENTRY*)
[Numbers drawn from Virtual Console usage, not the N64 release]

Raw data for "Sin & Punishment" usage

Total play time by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 63,787 hours

Total sessions by Nintendo Channel Users
As of 10/5: 102,197 sessions

Average time played per player:
As of 10/5: 2 hours, 8 minutes

Average number of sessions per player:
As of 10/5: 3.42 sessions

Analysis: Take the total number of sessions logged in this game. Divide by the average number of sessions per player. The result? Evidence that at least 29,000 people have downloaded and played this game. Bring on the Wii sequel!

CONCLUSION

Thoughts? Feedback? See a way we can present this numbers better? Let us know. Otherwise, feel free to dig into the stats and share your analysis. And tell us which games you want us to log. Next month, there should be numbers available for "Wario Land: Shake It" and, hopefully, some of the summer's WiiWare games.

(Credit to comic book number-cruncher Marc-Oliver Frisch for unknowingly inspiring some of the elements of this series)

Check back in early November for more Wii number crunching.

Related Posts:
September Post Covering July and August Numbers -->  Wii Software Stats Update: “Brawl” Dominates “Kart,” Hardcore Single-Player Titles Stall
June Post that started this -->  Nintendo Channel Reveals Hard Truths About Wii Play, Boom Blox, More

"Tetris Party" aims to provide "the ultimate 'Tetris' workout," joked Tetris Online VP of marketing Casey Pelkey to MTV Multiplayer at Nintendo's fall summit last week.

Incorporating the balance board into "Tetris Party" wasn't originally part of the plan for Tetris Online or developer Hudson Soft., but "Wii Fit"'s success started planting ideas in their head.

"We knew that the balance board was going to be a success for Nintendo," said Pelkey. "So when we first started to talk to Hudson about the concept, they loved the idea. Initially, we knew that controlling the tetrimino was the obvious solution, but we were trying to think 'How do we take exercise to the next level? How do we actually make it the ultimate 'Tetris' workout?'"

Right now, the balance board allows for basic "Tetris" controls. You lean left to move pieces to the left, you lean right for the opposite effect. Moving forward, however, drops the pieces faster -- but so does leaning backwards. Squatting rotates the pieces. It doesn't take long for someone to look like a complete loon.

"The natural tendency when you lean forward and it starts to drop faster is instantly to lean backwards to stop it," he said. "Well, that also makes it drop! So, you're working your core! And when you're trying to shift, well, you don't want to shift too much. … You have to be really precise in the middle, so your core movement is really interesting."

The companies behind the game had a different idea for the balance board at first, one they ended up ditching in favor of the simpler approach described above.

"Originally, it started by walking on the balance board, like stepping," explained Pelkey. "Stepping would advance the actual tetrimino blocks. If you stopped, it would basically pause things and limit your view [of the next pieces]. So we quickly found it worked, but it added a dimension that would basically confuse gameplay with this idea of always having to walk. We didn't want to add any monotonous action to it."

As development winds down on "Tetris Party," Pelkey said late nights are prone to fits of laughter, as people jump on the balance board and try to survive.

"It's quite the workout and we've been testing that mode with different people and seeing from an endurance standpoint, where can people go with it," he said. "There's no doubt that people are breaking a sweat on it and so that's kind of been our tagline -- break a sweat with the Wii balance board on 'Tetris.'"

You might not have ever wanted to sweat with "Tetris," but...now you can.

Related Posts
My #5 Nintendo Fall Summit Game — ‘Tetris Party’
‘Tetris’ License Holders Want You To Win One Million Dollars Playing Competitive ‘Tetris’
Where In The World Is ‘Tetris DS’ — Why Games Are Discontinued

***

Have a hot tip? Is there a topic that Multiplayer should be covering and isn't? Will you play "Tetris Party" with the balance board? Drop me an e-mail.

There were very few genuine surprises at Nintendo of America's event. "Cave Story," however, was one of them.

I've heard of "Cave Story" before -- but never played it.

Before touching the in-development WiiWare version -- much of the revised artwork isn't there -- all I knew about "Cave Story" was its legacy as an Internet indie sensation.

Now, I understand why everyone loves "Cave Story." It's a fantastically interesting throwback in sound, design and style to gaming's past (try telling that to "Mega Man 9") developed with a modern eye. Hardcore fans who have felt neglected on the Wii, "Cave Story" is the experience you've been looking for. It was initially described to me as "Metroid"-like and that's a very apt description.

I just still can't believe only one person developed the original version, but it's encouraging that one man's labor of love will soon become something more.

Plus, GoNintendo's Kevn Cassidy told me it's the only game that made him cry.

No game has ever made me pull out the waterworks. I wonder if "Cave Story" could change that. "Cave Story" should arrive before the end of 2008.