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THE PERENNIAL QUESTION OF how well the Wii game controller works in practice was answered for many at the Big Boys' Toys expo this month, but with the popularity of the Nintendo stand and the restriction to just Wii Sports Tennis, we took the opportunity to extend the weekend with some time alone with the Wii before it headed back with Nintendo to Melbourne.

The tennis game in Wii Sports was apt for the expo, and true to expectation most punters came up in groups of two or more friends, highlighting the demo's social appeal as well as the curiosity value in the console's novel control system.

Before the show opened we warned Sony how many wireless controllers were stolen during the Xbox 360 Roadtrip in March, but Nintendo already had the Wii controller tethered to the floor. Unfortunately this made gameplay somewhat restrictive, as our attempts to mimic our real tennis swing sometimes came to an abrupt end, but of course this is not the concern of the home-dwelling Wii gamer, room space notwithstanding.

And the best news is that you can actually swing the controller like you would a racket, or a bat or a sword for that matter, and it works. But there's a saying worth remembering from the Forumula One world champion of some years ago, back when they had Formula One world championships and when PlayStation first announced that being cool was as important as being friendly for a games machine. His pronounced key to success was to figure out how a simulation really works without comparing it to reality.

So it is with Wii Sports. As keen as we are to tape that controller to our tennis rackets and golf clubs and snooker cues and see how realistic we can make things, it's the people that play like geeks that are going to win here. Odd-looking motions are going to win out over what works in the real world.

Obviously the extent to which this applies depends on the particular game as well as the hardware. In practice most people are likely to compromise, slaking their thirst for a bit of a stretch but realising the need to conserve energy.

The most tiring game on Wii Sports is baseball. There's no plate running to worry about - that's all automated (just as player movement and positioning is with the tennis), and thankfully Nintendo doesn't even bother to display the running, just the fielding followed by the result in runs or outs. Batting feels absolutely precise - from a nicked foul to a solid fly ball, even bloopers just feel like the natural result of your own actions. We found holding the remote with two hands was a waste of enery, and one did the trick.

As pitcher, you can easily tire from attempting all sorts of throws so here's where it's particularly important to understand how to deliver without over-exerting your arm. The A and B (trigger) buttons combine with your swing to effect spin and velocity. Fastballs and changeups are as intuitively delivered as curveballs and sliders.

The snooker/pool game has the annoying trait of asking you to use the controller like a laser pointer to determine the impact point of the cue on the white ball. We'd rather use the D-pad. As you can imagine, shots are hit with a sliding motion of the controller. It's moot whether this game is any better than others that use the thumbstick for power - an acquired taste, perhaps, but either way not as appealing as the other mini games.

We love the golf game. In fact it's hard to decide whether we like this or the tennis the most. Just as the tennis lets you paint the lines once you get used to the controls, the golf game allows for unthinkable precision. You have to tone down your swing compared to the real game, but this is aided by a power bar which you can check with practice swings. The distance marker on the course has four points of reference which correspond to the same on the power meter. At the same time, how straight you swing forward determines the impact on the ball. You can draw or fade but this requires a consistently offset motion, so there's no confusing skill with error. We had trouble imparting backspin where necessary, and again this is similar to the tennis, but anyone experienced in the likes of Links, Everybody's Golf or, to a lesser extent Tiger Woods, will have a handle on the putting and the short game, as always, is the key to low scores. We could go on an on about the golf but we'll leave it there. However, any game that makes escaping from bunkers a pleasure has got to be good.

The ten pin bowling game is the best rendition of this sport we've yet seen. Super Monkey Ball did well but had an unrealistically versatile spin system and the directional settings had nothing to do with sport. Here you simply swing your arm and turn your wrist to do pretty much what you would do out in the real alleys. Even fouls are something to be wary of. Our gripe is that the pins bounce around even less realistically than in Monkey Bowling, which inevitably leads one to feel robbed of a pin or two, or occasionally gifted an undeserved strike.

Our briefest experience in Wii Sports was the boxing. This is just too easy - start fast and don't relent and your opponent will be on the floor in seconds. This makes us wonder how it will go once we use our own Mii characters, whose abilities improve with experience and results. Unfortunately the boxing is only for one player - we also don't like the splitscreen tennis format but this is likely to be the reason here, unless there is some kind of accident paranoia from Nintendo of America or the two players standing next to each other don't wonder why they shouldn't just turn around and go at it for real. The lack of any need for facilities in this game sets it apart from the others and this may be the real reason. But it's fun while it lasts, and this game requires the Nunchuck so you can play with both fists. Everything is possible from blocking to dodging, jabs to hooks.

We also managed to get through the first level of The Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess and will have our report on that soon.

Show me the screenshots!