We get hands-on with Nintendo's follow-up to Wii Sports

This is what I'm talking about. This is the new, gaming for everyone Nintendo at its very best. This is what the Wii promised from the very beginning, finally realised nearly two years after its release. This is motion sensing gaming the way it should be.

Once again, I'm sitting in front of a wide screen television in a down town LA hotel with Matt Wilson, a demonstrator from Nintendo of America. Having been left speechless by Wii Music, I'm now praying Wii Sports Resort, the follow-up to console pack-in Wii Sports, will act as a slap in the face, shocking me from my stunned stupor into child-like video game enthusiasm once again.

It does.

For those of you who didn't see Nintendo's announcements at E3 2008, the Japanese company revealed Wii MotionPlus, a new accessory that clips on to the end of the Wii Remote and provides proper 1:1 motion in a 3D space. What this means is that the Wii will finally be able to accurately match your movements in games.

As Wii Sports pretty much served as a glorified tech demo for what the Wii could do when it was launched, Wii Sports Resort serves a similar role for the Wii MotionPlus. I begin our hands-on with a Frisbee-throwing game called Disc Dog, and get my first taste of how the new technology works. I see my Mii in third person, standing on a sandy beach. He's holding a virtual Frisbee in his right hand, standing at a right angle to the dart board style target on the sand ahead. A super cute panting dog excitedly waits for me to throw. I need to match the Mii's position if I'm going to be able to accurately throw the Frisbee at the target in the distance.

Isn't the dog cute?

But first, Matt asks me to move and twist the Wii Remote to get a feeling for the 1:1 movement. As I lower, raise, twist and turn the controller I see the Mii mimic my action in real time and with almost zero lag.

It's all in the flick of the wrist, Matt says. I don't need to press any buttons, the game just knows when to release. I give it a shot, moving my arm back and then flicking to throw. And yes, somehow, magically, the game just knows when to release. The Frisbee flies, the dog chases and, where he catches it in his mouth the game spots, awarding you a better score the closer you are to the centre of the target.

An encouraging start. But I can't imagine Frisbee throwing, even if it does work the way it should, will keep my attention for long, even with friends playing the multiplayer mode. What I'm about to play, Sword Play, however, is a different story.

One of the best games at E3 2008

Matt tells me to hold the Wii Remote with both hands as if it were a sword. He then tells Simon, our associate video producer and genius camera man, to take a Wii Remote and do the same. The screen splits vertically in two, like the boxing in Wii Sports, and I see Simon's Mii with sword in hand in front of me.

I'm itching to jump straight in and slice Simon into finely cut pieces, but Matt wants us to practice first on virtual wood and, oddly, terrifyingly giant pencils. I slowly move the Wii Remote about and, brilliantly, thrillingly, my Mii mimics my actions perfectly. A log appears. "Slice it," Matt encourages.

I begin with single slices, carving the wood in two. I imagine myself as some sort of samurai god slicing bamboo in a Japanese forest, perhaps with scores of ninjas closing in on my position. Then, I get cocky. I start slicing back and forth, from side to side, trying to carve the wood into as fine pieces as possible as quickly as possible, before it disappears. I'm sweating - it's hard work, but it's just about the best thing I've played at E3 so far.

And it's about to get better. I face off against Simon. At first we simply swipe at each other wildly, clumsily, without strategy or forethought. But then, as we realise our berserker rage isn't getting us anywhere, we begin to slow down, trying to block and anticipate each others' moves. I swipe strongly up down, smacking Simon on the head and pushing him back until I win a ring out. It's brilliant fun.

We didn't enjoy this so much

Finally I play Power Cruising, a game that will rekindle memories of Wave Race 64 in every Nintendo fan's mind. By holding the Wii Remote and the Nunchuck like bicycle handlebars, I turn the jet ski left and right and through markers on the course. It's actually quite difficult, and no-where near as fun as the sword slicing action I've just experienced. It's all too easy to lose concentration and allow the controllers to lower or twist so they're not positioned correctly, since they are not attached to anything. I get the impression you'll get used to it, but the immediate thrill of playing Power Cruising doesn't come anywhere near to the immediate thrill of playing Sword Play.

Wii Sports Resort has reignited my gamer soul, a soul crushed by my hands-on time with Wii Music. I'm not in love with Wii Sports Resort as much as I'm in love with what it means for the future. "Someone has to make a proper lightsaber game for the Wii now," I beg Matt, as if he can pull some strings and make it happen before I have to leave Nintendo's E3 hotel suite. Finally, finally, the Wii is realising some of that tremendous potential it promised back at E3 2005.

Why will Wii Sports Resort sell by the bucket load? Because it's the sequel to the game which convinced millions of non-gamers to buy a £180 video game console with a funny name. It therefore makes perfect sense that Nintendo is choosing to bundle the new MotionPlus accessory with what is likely to be the system's most successful game.

Wii Sports Resort is due out exclusively for the Nintendo Wii next spring.

http://www.videogamer.com/wii/wii_sports_resort/preview-1112-2.html