Wii Play

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Wii Play
Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Wii Series
Platform(s)	Wii
Release date(s)	JP December 2, 2006 AUS December 7, 2006 EU December 8, 2006 NA February 12, 2007
Genre(s)	Party game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone) PEGI: 3+ OFLC: G
System requirements	1 × Wii Optical Disc
Input methods	Wii Remote

Wii Play, known in Japan as Hajimete no Wii (はじめてのWii, Hajimete no Wii^? lit. "My First Wii"), is a video game for the Wii console. It is the counterpart to the games Wii Sports, Wii Chess, Wii Music and Wii Fit. It features minigames that use characters from the Mii Channel. Several of the games featured are from E3 2006 demos such as the Duck Hunt-styled shooting demo and Table Tennis, as well as all new minigames. A Wii Remote comes bundled with the game in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and North America. It is the best-selling Nintendo-published Wii game, not bundled with the Wii, with 11.51 million copies sold worldwide as of March 31, 2008.

 History

A beta version of the game was first playable alongside Wii Sports at E3 2006. However, the games were not put together in a pack-in; they were separate games meant to be tech demos. A notable example was Shooting, which was also a demo on the Nintendo Fusion Tour, which spectators thought was a full-fledged Duck Hunt sequel. Nintendo had yet to announce that the tech demos would be compiled together into a full game.

The game was revealed together for the first time on the Nintendo World event in New York on September 14, 2006. It is here where Mii Channel functionality was confirmed to be included in the game. Also included updated versions of the games playable at E3, now closer to their finalized form.

 Gameplay

Wii Play consists of nine games. All games are designed for 2 players, but can also be played by a single player, with a computer-controlled second player in games where it is necessary. No Nunchuks are required for any of the games; however, players can use a Nunchuk as a substitute for the D-Pad for the Tanks! game if they wish.

When Wii Play is first played, only one game is available. After playing each game another game is unlocked, until all nine games are available. In single player, points are earned in each game and the top 5 highest scores are stored. Getting high enough scores in single player awards the player bronze, silver, gold and platinum medals for that game. It also puts a message on the Wii Message Board saying which game and medal were unlocked, and gives a short tip for that game.

Wii Play uses the Wii's Mii Channel, which allows the user to create a customized avatar that can be imported into games that support the feature. Several minigames in Wii Play, especially Pose Mii and Find Mii, utilize Miis.

 Games

• Shooting Range - Players go through various rounds of shooting balloons, targets, clay pigeons, cans and UFOs. There are targets that have the faces of the player's Miis which give points when the opponent's Mii is shot. Ducks in the style of the ducks from Duck Hunt also fly by and can be shot for additional points. Bonus points are awarded for consecutive hits without missing.

• Find Mii - Crowds of Mii characters will gather on the screen, standing, swimming, walking and doing other things, and the player is given certain details to look for among them. The player then must pick out the Miis that match the objective. The objectives range among finding two to five identical Miis; finding the fastest Mii; choosing a favorite and finding it again; or finding the "odd Miis out" (doing things that other Miis aren't). Single player mode uses a timed system in which the time limit is extended upon finding the correct Mii(s), and multiplayer mode uses a scoring system where two players attempt to get the highest score within two minutes.

Table Tennis

• Table Tennis - This game is, essentially, a game of table tennis, rallying back and forth by moving the Wii Remote. The Mii characters are supported, and are represented in the audience. As the game progresses, the audience grows larger. Multiplayer mode employs similar gameplay with changing service, sides and a "first to 11" rule.

• Pose Mii - A player must move their Mii to falling bubbles using the Wii Remote pointer. The player must also rotate their Mii to the correct angle of the bubble by rotating the Wii Remote. In addition to this, as the game progresses, the poses inside the bubbles change, and the player must select the correct pose. When a Mii is correctly posed in a bubble, it bursts. If three bubbles are not burst and eventually fall to the floor, the game is over. In multiplayer mode, each player has differently colored bubbles, but players can pop one another's bubbles to earn extra points. Bonuses are awarded for not dropping any bubbles in a round. Multicolored bubbles temporarily freeze time, allowing the player to pop all bubbles on the screen.

• Laser Hockey - Played like air hockey, this is a two player game where the players move the Wii Remote to deflect shots and try to score in the opponent's goal. Single player mode is a two minute match against the CPU, and multiplayer mode uses a "first to 8" rule.

• Fishing - Players use the Wii Remote as a fishing rod, to hook specific paper fish and then yank upwards to grab them. Points are added and subtracted depending on the fish caught. A display at the top of the screen shows which fish gives bonus points if caught, and changes every 30 seconds or so.

• Billiards - Players play 9 Ball Billiards like traditional pool games. Players may line up a shot with overhead 2D and behind-the-ball 3D viewpoints. The player can aim for contact anywhere on the cue ball to add spin or bounce, and may change the angle at which the cue strikes the ball. Points are awarded corresponding to the number of the ball sunk (two points for sinking the 2 ball), and three points are deducted from the player's score for each foul shot committed. The game ends when all balls have been sunk.

• Charge! - The player rides a cow and topples scarecrows to accrue points. A time bonus is added upon crossing the finish line, where one second remaining on the timer is equivalent to one point. The player can increase or decrease the cow's speed, and jump.

• Tanks! - This game uses the Nunchuk or Wii Remote D-pad to move a small toy tank about the screen. The player aims and fires shells, which can rebound off of walls once before exploding. Explosive mines can be laid on the ground. The aim of the game is to destroy all enemy tanks while avoiding their attacks. Multiplayer mode may best be described as a blend of cooperative and competitive play, as both players attempt to accumulate the most kills while completing various missions. As players progress through the game, different types of enemy tanks are revealed. Enemy tanks may fire normal bullets, multiple bullets at a time, fast rockets, multi-bounce rockets, lay mines or even become invisible. Only 20 missions are initially available for play, but 80 more (For a grand total of 100) missions and various new enemy tanks are unlocked once the player has earned a gold medal by completing all 20 missions. In multiplayer mode, only the first 20 levels are available.

 Reception

Critical reaction to the game has been mixed, with the game receiving an aggregate score of 58% on Metacritic. The reviewers at Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game varying scores of 6.0, 4.5 and 5.0, stating that while "anybody can play it, including grandma", "[y]ou'll probably be bored in minutes".^[5] gamesTM gave the game a more scathing reaction, scoring it 3/10 stating that "Even the games that do work break down due to a combination of being extremely bland or too repetitive", and even that the strongest game, Shooting, "loses its charm as soon as you realise the targets follow a similar path every time you play".  IGN Australia were more positive in their reaction, awarding the game 8.3/10, saying that it was "effectively being sold at AU$10 on top of the cost of a wiimote" and that "as a training game, it succeeds completely".^[7] Official Nintendo Magazine also praised the game and gave it 91%, describing the games as "surprisingly addictive" as well as citing the value of supplying an additional Wii Remote. Despite most reviews being mixed the game has sold very well worldwide, with over one million copies sold in Japan alone.

As of March 31, 2008, the game has sold 11.51 million copies worldwide. According to the NPD Group, since the launch of the Wii, Wii Play has become the best-selling video game in Canada as of April 1, 2008. As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 2,402,085 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu.